The bullhorn called out again as John walked toward the entrance of the cave with Kara slightly to the fore. She decided to go with her master without needing to be instructed. The situation warranted that someone with actual combat prowess be involved with the original meeting between the two groups.

When they arrived at the entrance she put one arm out and waved it a little. "Area clear," she said. It was the call made when two parties met in the wild during a tense combat situation. She let them know that the interior of the cave was neutral with no current hostiles.

"Understood!" called the man with the bullhorn, "Do you need help? We are the mobile defense force out of Vagrant Falls."

She glanced to her master. John nodded tersely and she replied, "We have minor injuries and two poisoned. Help would be appreciated."

"Understood. Can the injured be moved?"

John nodded again and she responded with a simple, "Yes."

The mobile defense team sent in two medical personnel to assess the injuries of John's harem while he explained the situation to their rescuers. The entire briefing took only a few minutes, as did the treatment of the injured party members.

The dead Demi-Humans were beheaded then piled up before being burned. Their heads were placed in storage containers for accountability purposes. The surviving injured hostiles were captured via control collars, and treated as best they could be in the field while the team waited for transport to come pick them up.

"Do you want to keep one?" asked Sergeant Starling, leader of this defense team.

John considered the Demi-Humans in front of him. By law he had no real right to them since he did not captured them himself. However, he wouldn't turn down a gift. He had to make up for his loss of ammunition, after all.

"I could use a flier. Thank you," said John without hesitation.

Starling nodded and gestured toward the least damaged members of the surviving Demi-Human swarm. "Pick one you like. Your group deserves a little something. These stupid bugs have been getting out of hand of late."

John gave the man a polite nod then unleashed his approximation of a pleasant smile before walking over to inspect the unconscious Demi-Humans on the ground.

Sergeant Starling shuddered slightly in memory of the man's expression. John's smiles were not quite as pleasant as he would have liked for them to seem. Some might question whether or not he was secretly a serial killer.

John let his scanning equipment look them over and then nodded when he saw one he liked. While the girl he viewed was not the highest level of the ones he could choose from, she seemed to have something about her that made him think she might be worth taking on. The fact that she had the most curvaceous form and beautiful face out of all of the unconscious Demi-Humans was obviously coincidence. He didn't notice such things as much as he noticed her vital stats. She was not the highest level but she was quite a strong specimen of her breed. Besides she looked vaguely familiar.

When the succubuzzes attacked he had seen a single leader. This Demi-Human resembled her greatly and it seemed fitting that she might be the one he took on. Of course, he'd had only moments to notice her before they ran for their lives.

"I'll take this one," replied the man while pointing down at his choice.

Starling nodded. "Makes sense. She's a swarm leader."

John blinked at the man, but chose not to ask how he would know that. There was little difference between her and her swarm sisters. In his mind it would be a bit like sexing chickens at birth.

The sergeant chuckled at his expression then unleashed a smile of his own. "Most people can't tell the difference. If ya look at them closely you can see markings on their exoskeleton. See the pattern there," said the man while pointing at the girl John chose.

A careful nod was John's only response. He knew little about this particular subject and did not want to speak over the man. His voice seemed to carry the weight of an authority on the matter. Such people should be listened to with utmost care.

"Well, see the pattern on the other 'girls? Notice a difference?" asked the sergeant.

John looked carefully at the armor the black haired Succubuzz leader wore then at the neighboring girls. He saw little difference save for the existence of a slight lightning-bolt pattern on the leader. The other girls had uniform horizontal ones that ran perfectly parallel.

The red and black patterned armor itself seemed rather pointless to the man though. It only covered the unimportant parts and there was very little of it. The chest, groin, and abdominal section were unarmored and clearly naked.

The only thing the armor seemed to cover was her ribs below her breasts and along her sides. She had what appeared to be natural vambraces and greaves guarding her arms and shins. Otherwise, she was naked. If anything it seemed like her natural armor was designed solely to act as a fetish instead of providing actual defense.

"I see. She also has longer hair," said John.

Starling nodded. "Yeah, that can be a good identifier sometimes too. It's different with every hive. Some of them are hard to pick out. This one was pretty easy in comparison."

John discussed the various Succubuzz hive patterns in the area with Starling for a while before the mobile force parted ways with the small harem. When they were alone again John turned to Mindi and took note of how she was sitting down against a nearby tree.

Her legs were tucked up against her breasts with her tentacles wrapped around them, and her chin rested atop her knees. She wore a glassy-eyed expression, but it was obvious that she felt some sort of emotional turmoil as tears slid down her cheeks.

He called out to her and she lifted her chin slowly from her knees and looked at him with tear-stained eyes. For the first time since becoming a tamer the man had to fight down the urge to actually comfort one of his subordinates. The expression on her face caused a strange sensation to well up from deep inside. Whatever that sensation was, he did not like it. John shoved it back down in the depths where it belonged.

He could not show weakness. She disobeyed and was punished. She may have the face of an innocent young girl, but he knew the truth. She was at best, a weapon. Weapons must be properly controlled or they were a danger.

She did not respond but she did look at him for a moment. Her eyes remained locked onto him, neither accusing nor inviting. There was a strange emptiness in her gaze that made John struggle with the bizarre sensation from before once more. What was the source of that strangeness within him? Why did the sight of such a useless creature looking at him with an empty expression cause his stomach to churn and the sense of taste to leave his tongue?

"Do you want to ride up front awhile? It's your turn," he asked her with an even tone. It wasn't even a lie. It really was her turn.

A conflicted look crossed her face for a brief moment then she allowed the slightest of nods to occur. A tiny acceptance, but the subtle nod did not go unnoticed by her master. The strange sensation that caused his stomach to churn, subsided slightly. Perhaps it was something he'd eaten, and he only ascribed it to her presence? It was a definite mystery, something to be solved after contemplation and perhaps a little research.

John gestured toward the truck and nodded. "Go ahead when you're ready."

Mindi blinked at him then bit her lower lip. Slowly, she rose to her feet. A loud sigh escaped her lips then she trudged over to the truck with her tentacles drooping and her eyes downcast.

"Kara, you have the gun. Tera and our new teammate need to rest for a while," directed John.

The Steel Valkyrie nodded to him and fought down the urge to salute. "What should I do if she causes problems?"

"Use your own discretion," said John.

Kara smiled warmly. Those were the best sort of orders to be given.

The quintet took off down the road at a steadily pace not long after. An hour passed in awkward silence before the man glanced over at Mindi and saw how she hugged the door and looked everywhere but at him. The churning sensation in his stomach returned.

Eyes shifting toward the road ahead, John frowned. He might need to have a full physical evaluation soon. The oddness within him was quite uncomfortable.