Mature Content Warning: This story involves scenarios of graphic combat, explicit sexual scenes, and general adult content. If you are offended by such things, why are you even reading this?

Author's Note: I decided to go ahead and post chapter four since several people wanted more. I have six total chapters written, and perhaps another seven or eight to write after that before this story is complete. I had planned to post one chapter per week, of the first draft to see what people think, but I'll post the remaining chapters of what I have written over the course of this week since nocturne is on a one week Hiatus.

Unfortunately, I have several stories that I am working on for fun and for profit, so after the sixth chapter is up it will go back to weekly-ish updates.

I do proofread these chapters, but this is still a first draft and sometimes misplaced commas and the like will pop up. Forgive me.

Chapter 4: Soldier On

Several days had passed since John and his new harem had set up shop at the travel center. He had not made a fortune but he had acquired more than enough funds to get them to the Southern March. He was a firm believer in staying comfortable during any sort of work and the moderate climate that the Florida Preserve provided during even a harsh winter was far better than the freezing cold of the northern regions.

Mindi rode in the back of the truck as they moved along the well policed highway. Roads in general were difficult to maintain for various reasons. However, the main highways between regions and states were of vital importance for travel and inter-regional commerce. Side roads and other paths might be there one minute and gone the next. These main arteries had to remain intact. As such, police cruisers and United Self-Defense Force troops were seen in passing every half hour. Every twenty-five miles of road would be guarded by a separate defense force station. It was not a perfect system but at least there would be a few dozen troops and their Demi-Humans to handle any immediate dangers in their jurisdiction.

The United States was one of the larger countries in the world, albeit small for a global empire. The seven regions and fifteen states were hard to police at times due to feral and anti-government militia forces. Wars cropped up now and then but at least the treaties were holding at present.

Between the occasional Native Assembly members who wanted to leave their nation and retake all of North America and the lands belonging to the PRC (People's Republic of California) America had enough to deal with, without having to worry about the war-mongering Canadians and the ever encroaching people of West Mexico.

Mindi could care less about geo-political issues at present, however. Her tentacle had fully healed but her heart had not. She had hoped to start her own center for the advancement underprivileged water type Demi-Humans. Growing up in an orphanarium really brought home the nature of how cruel this world could be to those without citizenship. Now she might very well spend the rest of her life as someone's bio-weapon sex toy. It was enough to make her cry at times.

Tera was sitting next to her watching the asphalt drift by at a good speed. The wind bit against her a bit despite her heat field. Her master had only allowed the two of them to wear the most basic of clothing. A thing cotton t-shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. Apparently they were on restriction until they proved their worth. It was typical carrot and stick behavior but they had no choice. Besides, there was a very small chance that he might help them sue their former tamer if they cooperated. Unfortunately, that meant biting back their anger and facing the harsh reality of being an owned Demi-Human.

Kara manned the gunner's seat and kept her eye on both the reluctant but currently obedient new comers and the world around them. It was her job to keep them safe in transit. No harm would come to her master. Her wonderful, wonderful, master.

John drove the truck at a reasonable speed down the road. There was no speed limit outside of inhabited areas, but he was not overly reckless. The truck and what it currently carried was his livelihood. Even if he walked away from the wreck without a scratch he would have to start over from the beginning.

He did, however, indulge in the radio for a time. He chose the local rock station and indulged in the luxury of bobbing his head to the lyrical style of Pink Kitty, an all-Catgirl band. The lead singer tended to scream her lyrics a bit, but the overall sound of the group was interesting.

As the hours passed he began to grow tired and knew he would need to stop for a while. He was also vaguely concerned for the welfare of his girls. It wouldn't do for them to get sick. Hospital fees were expensive even when you had full-coverage insurance.

The master of his domain used his GPS to locate the nearest training center travel lodge and nodded to himself. He'd passed one about three miles back but did not want to turn around. The next one was roughly forty miles away. He cranked up the heat a little bit since it was getting dark and decided to push on. It was rather chilly in the cab of the truck and he certainly didn't see the need to allow that sort of thing. In the back his two newest acquisitions huddled together for warmth as the biting wind generated by their method of travel swirled around them.

...

She dived behind the counter to avoid the incoming gunfire that sprayed across the area she had just occupied moments before. As the sole remaining security officer of training center 112 she was charged with protecting the occupants residing with. The raiders had become more brazen recently in their attempts to completely ransack this outpost. They were five miles off of the main highway, but they were at least thirty miles from the next ASDF outpost. This caused the location to be a favorite target of the local Demi-Human bandits.

The bandits called themselves Team Nightfall. They were a rough crew of misfit Demi-Humans and their human subordinates. The southern regional directorate had been trying to rid the area of their nefarious influence for over a decade. Unfortunately, they were too well versed at hiding their tracks. They were able to live in the wilderness in small pockets due to their physical prowess and they were constantly renewing their membership by capturing feral Demi-Humans and having their pet humans tame them into normality.

A few more shotgun blasts rang out as the Officer tried to move away from her hiding place. Despite her skill and experience dealing with these modern day inland pirates she had little chance of getting out of this situation alive.

The attack had been too well planned this time. The other security personnel had been taken out quickly. The bandits had falsified records and sent in an infiltrator to pose as a security team member. Their transfer orders had appeared legitimate. The infiltrator had even managed to maintain their discipline and act like a typical field operative for over a month before the attack happened. Once the assault began though, she quickly turned on the rest of the team and took them down with silent, deadly, accuracy using their internal defense grid. The only reason Jessica had survived was one she found herself unable to be proud of.

Jessica noticed the panic button that Samantha, the receptionist, would normally press had she still been alive. She slammed her balled up fist down on the hard metal button sending the alarm signal out to the local tamer populace and the ASDF.

She doubted she would survive long enough for help to arrive but maybe they could still protect the tamers and their Demi-Humans who were still locked in their rooms. The bandits even now were going door to door to collect sleeping Demi-Humans and valuables.

Every training center was equipped with 'riot control' systems designed to render the occupants unconscious in a singular or global manner. Had the control system operator not been the girl who had infiltrated the center they would have been able to render all occupants unconscious globally and remained that way until aid arrived.

The gun play stopped and she immediately raised her weapon and fired off a few rounds to remind them she was alive. All she did was play for time now. Her weapons fire drew the ire of the invaders. While their leadership was obviously intelligent enough to provide tactical plans of reasonable cunning the grunts of the operation did not seem to know or care that they were wasting ammunition. Their only duty was to kill the security officers or to suppress their actions.

While the rag-tag band of invading Demi-Humans suppressed the lone defender of training center outpost 112 another individual was yawning softly while listening to vaguely tolerable metal bands from the early 90s. Something about that generation had been lacking compared to the decade before. At any rate John's reverie was broken as the radio screeched out a warning tone followed by an imperious voice announcing a tamer all call in progress.

He glanced down at his scanning equipment and saw the green system light flashing quickly. It meant he was being tapped for this assignment.

"Well, fuck. Wonder what's going on?" muttered the man as he pulled the truck over to the side of the road and hopped out.

"What is the matter master?" asked Kara quickly without taking her eyes from their sweep of the surrounding area.

Tera and Mindi stopped shivering long enough to notice the conversation and turned to find out what was happening.

"We've got an all call in progress. So, far it seems to be 'trouble at training center outpost 112." replied the man thoughtfully. He was registered as being near enough to the trouble zone that he would have to investigate. There had been no further instructions beyond the call to action at present.

"What happened?" asked Tera as she shuddered lightly. Her heat aura was slowly warming her back up now that the wind had died down. Mindi was especially glad of that fact as she was far more subject to hypothermia than her harem sister.

"I don't know. They haven't reported that yet. It's possible they don't even know."

"You gonna call it in master?" inquired Kara after glancing down to look at the one she worked for.

He shook his head slowly. "I don't know what kind of trouble it is. For all we know someone out there might be listening in on the police band. I would prefer they not know we are on the way."

"What, you're gonna respond?" asked Tera incredulously. He didn't strike her as the kind of guy who really have two shits about anything or anyone but himself.

"It's my job. Beside that point the location of the all call is the travel center we were heading to anyway. We're around four miles from there now. Either we respond or we don't. If I ignore the all call I'll lose my license and you three will be taken to a re-education center. So I plan to check it out, if for no other reason than to send in a situation report and at least act like we did something useful."

Tera nodded. That sounded more like it. He wasn't rushing off, guns-a-blazing to save the day. He was covering his ass.

"What is the plan master?" asked Kara curiously. He wasn't seriously suggesting that they saunter over to a trouble zone and ask what was happening was he?

John gazed up at her for a moment then a thought occurred to him. "Kara. You have some sort of visual adaptive armor system right?"

She nodded. "Yes, I can blend in with my background in general. It takes time though."

The man considered then nodded. "I might be able to help with that. It's easier for me to enhance existing abilities in someone than it is to add new ones. I might be able to improve your camouflaging system for a short time so that it blends in better with the background as you move. It won't be true invisibility but its dark and that might help if you move as stealthily a possible in all that armor."

"Wait, your brilliant idea is to send her in to take a look?" asked Mindi incredulously.

John agreed with her. "Yes, actually. She has a high-end armor system, great accuracy with her weapons even in the dark, and I trust her to get the job done."

Kara tried to fight down the smile forming behind her armored faceplate but she found that she could not. He seemed to have sincere respect for her abilities. He also made several good points.

The three discussed the plan a bit more then John hopped back in the truck. It wasn't until he was two miles away from the center that he realized the crucial flaw in his plan. His only physical protection of any real note was about to walk off into the night and leave him alone with two Demi-Humans of moderate capacity and a lot of anger toward him.

Roughly a mile from the center John pulled off the road altogether and parked in a somewhat hidden location. He worked with Kara for a brief few moments using his trained magical skills to enhance her own natural ones then they tested their radio communication equipment. When everything was a go, he sent her off toward the center with strict instructions not to engage unless she absolutely had to. Her duty was to report to him and return. Anything else could prove lethal for all of them considering the situation.

She ran off toward the center at a full sprint in her civilian guise. Around the half-mile point she would armor up and slip off onto a side road that was displayed on his maps. This road would lead to a short path that ran to the center. While the threat might be aware of that route it was more likely that whatever was happening would not include spies along that road. If that were the case then it was more than likely they had already been spotted this far out anyway.

He turned to Tera and Mindi gazing at them lightly for a brief moment. "This is your first chance to prove yourselves worth the effort to keep around. You will provide an over watch of the road from these trees."

Mindi snorted at him and began to say something she might regret but Tera answered with a sulky sounding, "Fine."

The man nodded to her and then to her far more reluctant harem sister before explaining where he wanted them to take up positions. He would remain with the truck and monitor the radio while awaiting Kara's situation report. He wasn't certain how professional all of this was, but it seemed like a reasonable plan at least.

He didn't trust the girls to actually watch his back but the locaters on their collars told him where they were. If anything it at least kept them away from him for a time while he dealt with being more vulnerable due to the absence of Kara.

As he checked over his radio equipment, the aforementioned Steel Valkyrie was trotting along at an incredible pace. The ability to move at a good speed was one of many perks which existed among the Demi-Humans who had enhanced abilities. She couldn't really run that much faster than top human athletes but her strength, durability, and endurance were such that she could maintain those levels of capacity for long periods of time compared to the average human. This all translated to the ability to run a mile in roughly two minutes flat at a dead sprint. It did not take long for her to arrive at her turn off and armor up.

As soon as the armor formed around her the magical enhancements her master made kicked in and amplified her natural ability to blend in with her surroundings. She moved from easily spotted bio-armored weapon to a moving transparent image that only the most observant individuals would notice.

She walked steadily along the dirt side road and kept her senses trained on the world around her. The occasional sound of gunfire had increased dramatically as she had gotten closer. Back at the truck she had thought that was what she was hearing. The sounds were emanating from inside the center. She considered the fact that the building might be dampening a lot of the sound. As far off the road as they had been they would have had difficult noticing the noise.

Her trained senses noted a disturbance off to her left a brief second. She stopped dead still and let her magically enhanced active camouflage system render her virtually invisible. Precious seconds passed before she heard voices whispering.

"I saw something moving!" whispered a feminine voice vehemently.

Kara's enhanced hearing picked up the words easily despite the attempt at silence. Whispering was worse than talking softly as it was actually louder in general.

Another voice replied, "I don't see anything. Shut up. We're almost done here."

It took her a moment to locate the owners of those voices in the dark but soon she zeroed in on them and took note of their general lack of skill at hiding their presence. When she was passing through quickly they were unseen. However, a careful observer such as her would easily spot them even in the dark.

She could not ID them like her master's equipment but she had a general idea of what they might be. One of them had a roughly feline cast to her features and the other looked like some sort of fighting type from the muscles. They could be almost any type of Demi-Human really, but she knew they had to be part of the trouble inside. Her master had asked her to report in. However, if she moved she would give her position away. If she sat still then she couldn't report.

There was only one option. She was less than a dozen feet from them and another twenty yards from the connecting path to the center. Her gunshots would be heard for miles around. However, she did have another weapon at her disposal. She simply had to await her chance.

The two Demi-Humans began arguing again and as they turned away from her she skittered forward as quietly as possible only stopping a few feet from them due to sudden renewed interest in her location.

"I... does that tree look bigger?" asked the feline type Demi-Human. She was looking straight out from her hidden position noting a vague fishbowl effect. It was subtle but everything seemed slightly distorted.

"Yes! I told you I saw something. It's weird isn't it?" asked the possible fighting type.

When the feline type turned to agree with her she was horrified at the sudden appearance of a glowing blade of energy inside the eye socket of her long time compatriot. She was about to scream in shocked terror but the blade swept toward her far too quickly. It readily separated her head from her shoulders. The entire confrontation took less than two seconds but the slow motion terror on the girl's face would remain for a while yet.

Kara disengaged her plasma sword and radioed back to her master. He might be angry at her, but she could not leave these Demi-Humans alive and make contact as well. Her skills did not include methods for subduing the enemy and that left only overwhelming lethal force.

Quietly she reported back to her master about the recent actions and her suspicion that the center was under attack by an unknown force. His voice came over her communicator in a soft tone. "Good job. Anything else to report?"

She glanced down at the rapidly cooling corpses then reported back, "Mission objective was almost compromised by hidden sentries. I was forced to eliminate the obstacle."

He did not answer for what seemed like hours, but finally he replied, "Understood. Is the mission objective compromised? Can you continue safely?"

"No, master. The mission is not compromised at present. I can continue."

John replied back, "Continue on. I need a full situation report to send in to the authorities. If I send it before then we might be compromised."

"Understood."

The radio chatter ended and the girl moved out. She had to get as close to the center as she could without being spotted. Her master did not think her enhancement would last more than a half hour tops. So far she had plenty of time as she had moved with expedience.

The nigh-invisible Steel Valkyrie moved the last half-mile down the path and slid into the woods off to the left when she saw the end in sight. Carefully she moved forward with as much stealth as she could muster. It was difficult going at times due to the underbrush but she used the centers lights and the occasional bit of moonlight filtering through the forest canopy to help her find her way.

Several minutes were spent traipsing through the woods but they were minutes well spent. She was hidden securely and had a solid view of the parking lot and interior of the building. The ballistic glass of the door was shot full of small holes with spider webs of cracks moving outward.

The gun battle must have been intense at one point. However, the occasional flash of light and slightly muted sound of gunfire told her that the battle was not over yet. Even as she sat off to one side she saw another round slam into the ballistic glass. Her visual acuity allowed her to see movement whenever light flashed inside the darkened room. So far, she believed there might be as many as four crouching figures aiming at one, maybe two, hidden figures behind the reception desk.

She could not reliably determine who was a defender and who might be an attacker, however. Her acuity and ability to recognize targets quickly was one thing. The ability to recognize whether that target was friend or foe in such a manner would take more situational awareness than she had at present.

She noted a side door opening however. The angle of her view was such that she could see a bit of the side of the building as well as the front. The sight of four gun-wielding feminine forms carrying people over their shoulders like sacks of grain could not be ignored. These invaders were kidnapping and ransacking the place.

When they dropped off their load in their truck they went back inside. They obviously had more to acquire. The windows of the truck were darkly tinted so she could not be certain if anyone was inside. If they were intelligent they would have a guard on the truck, and possibly a driver ready to move out as well.

She guessed there had to be at least ten enemy combatants then. The number of fighters in the entrance seemed to make little sense unless the larger group was the aggressor. It was a guess, but a safe one.

She radioed her master. "Master? I have spotted four known enemy combatants and believe there may be six more. They are heavily armed. How do I proceed?"

Her communicator crackled to life not long after. "Do you see anyone at risk presently?"

She blinked at his concern for the welfare of another before replying back. "Yes. There may be between two and four security personnel attempting to fight off combatants. There are also at least four combatants transferring captured prisoners."

"How are they transferring the prisoners?" called his curious voice.

"They are piling them into a large truck."

"Can you disable it from your position without giving yourself away?"

She considered for a moment then replied. "I cannot. However, it would not take long to relocate and take out their tires."

John remained silent for a moment then replied. "Take out the tire then. If you are not certain who is a combatant and who is security do not fire upon them. Tell me when it is does then remain hidden and do not press the assault further until you have confirmation."

"Understood."

The Steel Valkyrie began moving into position as John spent a few moments fiddling with his radio equipment. The ASDF response team should be arriving within the next ten minutes if their response time was the norm.

He heard two slightly muted shots off in the distance. Less than a minute later his communicator crackled to life with Kara's voice. "Objective accomplished. Awaiting further orders."

He considered the protocols he'd heard on various military classes and television shows. He had spent his six month sojourn in the selective service when he turned eighteen. However, that was a lifetime ago and he had never seen any action. It was hard to recall everything from that time period. This led him to respond with, "Follow previous directives. Will contact with further instructions."

"Understood."

He sent out a call on the police band using his tamer number and found that it took two minutes to receive an answer.

"Tamer 65790-B, this is ASDF 1-12 out of Hillsborough. Please state the reason for your call. Over."

He responded back with, "ASDF 1-12 Hillsborough, Tamer 65790-B, my team is currently answering the all call at site 112. I have a situation report. Over."

The dispatcher was silent for a moment then responded back, "Tamer 65790-B, ASDF 1-12 Hillsborough. Be advised you are now responding to call sign T-Alpha and the response team enroot will answer to ASDF-Alpha. Acknowledge. Over."

"ASDF-Alpha, T-Alpha, acknowledged. Over."

"T-Alpha, ASDF-alpha. Please transmit situation report. Over."

John filled the response team in on the situation as Kara had related it to him. Their response was an acknowledgment and a directive to withdraw from the area to a safer location so that they could rendezvous with a secondary dispatch team.

John acknowledged their directives and called Kara over their communicator to order her to fall back. He followed that up by calling out to Tera and Mindi as well. Several minutes passed before Kara arrived but once she was on-site their part of the current mission was over. John pulled out of hiding and drove off to the rendezvous point to await the ASDF team heading his way.

....

Jessica awoke in darkness to find the ceiling of the medical center greeting her. She had taken the occasional glass or metal fragment as well as a solid shot to her right shoulder just before help had arrived. Her body armor had reduced most of the damage to her but it was still enough to spin her sideways from the force of the shot and cause her to slam her head into the corner of the reception desk.

Not long after she recognized her surroundings she also noticed that an ASDF command representative was waiting in her room.

"So, sleeping beauty awakens?" asked the lieutenant as she stepped forward. Jessica knew her own kind when she saw one and tried to render a salute. Her superior merely waved her down and replied, "No need for formalities. You saved a lot of people last night Sergeant."

"Sergeant? I'm only a private...” she mumbled loudly.

The lieutenant class Officer laughed politely and shook her head. "That's just an old way of saying you've been promoted for your efforts."

"Oh? I'm not sure what to say about that."

"There's nothing to be said. I'm mostly here just to get your report on the situation last night and to inform you of your promotion."

"Mostly?"

"Well, I was also curious to see the lone security division survivor from the 112 massacre."

"It was that bad, huh?"

"Yes. Almost all of the staff and security were killed in the raid. Many tamers were killed in their sleep as well. The bandits only wanted Demi-Humans, drugs, and equipment." replied the ASDF Officer

"Dammit." muttered Jessica roughly as tears began to form. She'd let them all down.

The lieutenant noticed her tears and the expression on her face and took a guess. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. You performed an admirable job."

"No." replied Jessica hollowly.

"No? You survived against all odds and brought in the aid the center needed. How can that be anything but extraordinary work?"

The law enforcement Demi-Human sighed softly and said. "It's how I survived."

Jahna, the lieutenant, considered her words carefully for a moment then simply asked, "How did you survive?"

Jessica took a deep breath and let it out before turning away. It took a few minutes but finally she admitted, "I was in the woods using the bathroom."

"Uhm... OK. Why?"

Jessica winced. "I can't use public restrooms."

Jahna blinked at her then shook her head slowly. She didn't like them much either but this was a little much. "You survived because you were taking a crap in the woods?"

"Yes, ma'am." replied Jessica with an embarrassed tone.

The sudden trilled laughter of her superior didn't help matters much. The poor dear would never live this down no matter how many medals she received.

...

The road to the Southern March was a long and winding one but John and his girls were making good time. The extra cash they had made from their assistance at the center definitely sped them along. His team had received a five thousand dollar allotment due to helping with the raid and even better was the permit he had received.

He was able to use it to bypass regular hunting laws in the region he was heading too for a few days. The Florida Preserve was well known for bug types, plant Demi-Humans, elves, reptilian types, and pretty much any warm weather loving Demi-Human an individual might desire.

Typically a hunter or tamer was only allowed to capture Demi-Humans for one week in the area with a capture limit of three per day. It was a preserve after all. With the permit he was allowed to stay an extra week, though the capture limit would still be in effect.

The Southern March had no capture limits but they were farther south near the key islands. Those islands were their current destination in the short term as that was where the Orange Cup would take place.

He glanced over at Mindi as she sat in the passenger seat and casually noted her boredom. Each of the girls was allowed to sit in the front now in rotating shifts. Eventually he would buy another truck and decide on who would get to be the driver. That sort of job position was similar to being considered a beta due to the responsibilities of safeguarding and maintaining the rig.

The Kraken glanced at him briefly then closed her eyes and made a point of turning away from him to stare out of the window. She wanted nothing to do with the man if she could help it. She'd do 'her part'. She just did not want him to think she did it because she wanted to.

John briefly considered asking her about her life, her goals, and her dreams. The moment passed and he turned away. She may prove to be useful in the future, but honestly he didn't see a reason to care about any of her ambitions. She had talents he could take into consideration but she had done little to prove her worth yet.

The fact that they had done as he directed the night before was what had earned them the privilege of riding up front in shifts. At some point they might even earn underwear, socks, or even shoes.

....

AN: So here's chapter 4. I decided to unleash a little combat scenario that had entered my mind.