Captured by the Yandere Space Pirates

The Kingdom's secret laboratories burrowed beneath the royal palace, a labyrinth of steel passages and shadowed cells.

Machines pulsed, their vibrations threading through the walls, mingling with the faint wails of captives trapped in darkness.

Holographic displays flickered with genetic data, their sterile light glinting off vats of viscous fluid and rows of surgical instruments, the air sharp with antiseptic.

Vanes held her newborn daughter close, the infant's warmth a fragile tether against her chest. Her shapeshifter blood, a perilous secret, branded them as targets in a Kingdom that hunted their kind. Her green scales shimmered under the lab's harsh lights, her pale eyes darting with dread.

Gin, her husband, stood rigid, his scaled form tense, fingers gripping a stolen keycard, its edges slick with sweat. His breath was steady, but his knuckles whitened, the weight of their escape pressing hard.

They were prisoners, their shapeshifter essence warped by scientists forging weapons for the King's conquests.

Their daughter, a hybrid, was a coveted prize—her blood tagged "volatile" in the lab's logs, too wild to harness. Tonight, they would escape or perish.

The lab's corridors twisted like veins, their metal floors chilling Vanes's bare feet, the air heavy with blood's coppery tang.

Vents hissed chemical vapors, stinging her eyes. Alarms erupted, a screech that raked her nerves. Crimson lights pulsed, casting her scales in a bloody hue.

Gin took point, his gaze sweeping for threats, the keycard their faint hope. "Keep near," he whispered, voice taut, devotion to his family fueling each step.

The infant stirred, tiny hands clutching Vanes's frayed gown, her shapeshifter instincts flaring, a faint shimmer crossing her skin, suppressed by her mother's touch.

A sentinel probe whirred above, its scarlet lens pinning them. Gin pulled Vanes behind a scalding conduit, its surface etched with the Kingdom's sigil.

The probe's scanner buzzed, lingered, then drifted off, but heavy boots echoed—guards closing in.

They dashed through a junction, the clamor overwhelming, armored figures emerging, visors flashing, plasma rifles whining as they charged.

"Stop!" one barked, voice booming. Gin whirled, talons carving through armor. The guard collapsed, blood pooling, his weapon skidding.

Vanes gripped her daughter, pulse racing, scales tingling as she suppressed the urge to shift. Her drive was to protect, not fight.

"Run!" Gin urged, pushing her onward. A laser grid snapped to life, its beams sizzling with deadly intent. Gin flung a scavenged rifle, shorting the grid's sensors.

They lunged through, Vanes's gown charring, the child's wail cutting sharp.

Another guard charged, meeting Gin's fist, visor splintering, a groan escaping as he fell.

The passage shuddered, walls grinding as the lab's AI defenses reconfigured the maze. A steel slab dropped, nearly pinning Vanes, who dove aside, her daughter's cry spiking.

A second probe swooped, its stun dart grazing her shoulder, numbing her arm. She staggered, pain searing, but Gin crushed the probe against a wall, circuits sparking.

They veered into a side passage, its lights stuttering, pipes spewing scalding mist. A trap sprang, blades spiking from the floor, their tips glinting with toxin.

Gin yanked Vanes clear, a blade nicking his thigh, blood dripping. Guards' shouts swelled, their rifles' hums trailing.

Vanes's breath caught, her daughter's weight straining her faltering arm.

A third probe locked on, broadcasting their position. Gin ripped open a wall panel, severing wires, plunging the corridor into shadow.

Emergency lights flared, casting jagged silhouettes. The floor quaked as a blast door descended, gears wailing.

Gin slid beneath, jamming his talons into the gap, muscles bulging, scales grinding. Vanes slipped through, muffling her daughter's cry, Gin following as the door sealed, cutting off a guard's curse.

A vent hissed, leaking green chemical haze that burned Vanes's throat. She coughed, shielding her daughter's face, eyes watering.

Gin guided her through the fog, his breath ragged, the toxin stinging his wounds. An electrified floor panel sparked ahead, its grid pulsing. Gin leapt, pulling Vanes with him, her feet grazing the edge, a jolt tingling her legs.

They landed, her knees buckling, the child's weight heavy.

They reached a sealed door, its panel etched with cryptic runes. Gin swiped the keycard. The reader blinked red, denying entry.

A fourth probe hummed closer, its scarlet beam sweeping. "Come on," he growled, swiping again. The reader sparked, smoke rising, then went dark.

He drove his talons into the panel, wires sizzling, sparks stinging his flesh.

A guard's bolt scorched the wall, singeing Vanes's hair. Gin's talons triggered a surge, the reader flashing green, and the door slid open, revealing a rusted service tunnel, its air thick with mold, a faint glow at its end.

They bolted, the passage narrowing, plasma bolts hissing past, blackening the walls. A ceiling beam groaned, rubble cascading, forcing Vanes to duck, dust coating her daughter's swaddle.

The tunnel trembled, a strut snapping, grit choking the air. Gin hauled Vanes through a tight gap, her gown ripping, scales grazing metal.

A bolt clipped his shoulder, charring scales, and he grunted, urging her forward. A fifth probe's beam locked on, its alarm shrilling. Gin smashed a pipe, steam erupting to blind its sensors, but the walls shuddered, a section collapsing, the roar drowning guards' shouts.

Vanes gagged, eyes burning, her daughter's wail piercing. "Almost there!" Gin rasped, blood streaking his thigh, his talons scraping the wall.

A sixth probe darted in, its stun dart sparking against the wall. Gin hurled debris, shattering its lens, but guards breached the rubble, rifles blazing.

An automated turret emerged from the ceiling, its barrel spinning. Gin shoved Vanes behind a fallen beam, bolts peppering the metal, sparks flying.

He lunged, ripping the turret's wiring, silencing it, but a seventh probe swooped, its scanner pinning them. Gin kicked it, metal crumpling, but a guard's bolt grazed Vanes's arm, searing her sleeve, pain flaring.

They reached a maintenance hatch, bolts corroded, hinting at freedom. Gin pried it open, metal screeching.

Beyond sprawled a cargo bay, crates looming, scarred by old blasts, a shuttle parked at its heart, hull gleaming, ramp down—a slim chance.

A trapdoor yawned beneath Vanes, its spiked pit gleaming. She vaulted over, clutching her daughter, landing hard, knees buckling, her numbed arm throbbing.

A guard emerged, rifle raised, but Gin's talons slashed, blood pooling. Another fired, the bolt grazing Vanes's leg, heat stinging.

She scrambled aboard, scales fading to pale skin, brown hair, dull gaze—a human guise to blend. Her daughter squirmed, scales glinting, pale eyes wide.

Vanes fished a vial of human blood from her gown, stolen from a lab tech. Her numbed fingers fumbled, pricking her skin, mixing her blood with the human's.

She fed a drop to the child, whose lips parted, scales vanishing, skin paling, eyes shifting to brown—a human mask, a mother's desperate gambit.

Gin guarded the bay's entrance, talons flashing, guards dropping, rifles clattering. "Launch the shuttle!" he shouted, a bolt scorching his arm, flesh sizzling.

An eighth probe swooped, its stun dart sparking his scales. He smashed it, circuits crunching, but more guards poured in, a net launcher priming.

Vanes strapped her daughter into a seat, hands shaking, tears clouding her vision. Her fingers wrestled the controls, engines roaring, the shuttle quaking, ramp open.

Guards swarmed, crates shattering under bolts, shrapnel biting the air. Gin battled, blood dripping, his thigh wound slowing him, staining the floor.

A net launcher fired, electrified webbing ensnaring him. Volts surged, his roars twisting to screams, scales flaring.

"Go, Vanes!" he bellowed, talons ripping the net, only for a guard to tackle him. More rushed in, rifles primed, visors icy. A ninth probe's beam targeted the shuttle, its missile pod humming, alarm piercing.

Vanes froze, her human guise faltering, eyes locked on Gin. Her daughter's coos urged flight, but love rooted her.

"Gin!" she cried, fingers clutching the controls, engines screaming, the probe's missile pod glowing.

Gin's gaze met hers, fierce and unyielding, bloodied scales catching the light. "Live for her!" he roared, talons carving a guard's throat, blood spilling. He lunged at another, drawing fire. Bolts slammed his chest, scales fracturing, blue shapeshifter blood pooling. His sacrifice was a bulwark, his devotion a beacon.

Gin collapsed, talons twitching, guards overwhelming, boots striking, rifles charging. Vanes sobbed, her human guise splintering, hands slamming the controls. The ramp sealed, engines surged, and the bay faded, Gin's form lost, his sacrifice a scar eternal.

The shuttle tore into the void, the Kingdom—a vast mega-station orbiting its fading star—dwindling.

Cannons fired, bolts grazing the hull. A pursuing probe clipped the wing, metal shrieking, its missile pod active.

Vanes banked hard, the missile streaking past, exploding against a derelict satellite, shrapnel pinging the hull.

The child cried, her human form trembling.

Vanes murmured solace, her vow to live for her daughter binding her to Gin's memory.

The space metro loomed ahead.

Vanes piloted, her human guise steady—pale skin, brown hair, dull gaze. Her daughter mirrored her, brown eyes calm, tiny hands grasping Vanes's gown.

The shuttle docked, the airlock hissing, seals leaking ozone.

The platform opened to the scenery biome, its air warm, scented with artificial blooms. Lush vines draped over polished walkways, holographic skies shimmering blue, dotted with fluffy clouds.

Wealthy residents in sleek tunics strolled, their laughter jarring against Vanes's grief, their lives a stark contrast to her own.

She slipped through the crowd, heart raw, Gin's roar echoing, his bloodied form a specter. Her love for him was a wound, her love for her child a bastion.

The biome's vibrancy felt like a mockery, its manicured paths and bubbling fountains a facade hiding the Kingdom's cruelty. Vanes's guise was flawless, her steps wary, avoiding the gaze of a patrol drone, its lens glinting under the false sky.

The metro to the Backdrop biome waited, its rusted cars rattling, air thick with oil.

Vanes boarded, blending with passengers—workers and laborers, their clothes patched, eyes downcast.

The journey was long, the car shuddering as it descended into the Backdrop, the Kingdom's slum where the worthless were cast aside.

Beyond the cracked windows, no artificial sky shielded them; only the endless dark of space stretched, stars glinting coldly, a testament to their exile.

The Backdrop's residents shuffled in ragged scraps, faces gaunt, eyes hollow from hunger and neglect. It was a tomb for the jobless, its rooms packed with surplus bodies—mere insurance for the Kingdom's mega-station, their lives valued at nothing, discarded like spent fuel.

Scrawny children scavenged scraps, making the only audible sound in this silent place.

Vanes glided through the crowded corridors, brown hair tucked under a hood, child swaddled, brown eyes veiled.

The air reeked of rot, walls scrawled with faded graffiti—pleas for work, curses against the Kingdom.

Her steps were cautious, skirting an enforcer's visor, its reflection catching the starry void.

She found a tenement room, walls scarred, floor freezing, a jagged window framing the void's starry sprawl.

Thirty occupants crammed inside, their tattered rags barely clinging, breaths fogging in the chill, their existence a forgotten digit in the Kingdom's logs.

A lone bulb flickered, casting harsh shadows, the air heavy with unwashed despair.

Vanes claimed a corner, her human guise unremarkable, child calm, brown eyes soft.

The room's voices were muted, movements listless, a cycle of hunger and sleep.

No one cared to know about her, she was just one in many here.

She fed her child crumbs, from the food packets being delivered to them occasionally, her tiny lips parting, her brown eyes bright, her human form a fragile mask, her shapeshifter blood a secret, Vanes's fingers trembling, her dull eyes wet, her human guise a shield, her love a vow to protect, to live, to blend, to survive.