NT Rangers - Bad Ends 1 - Vanity Items (Patreon)

The conference room was dimmed with pictures moving across the screen at the head of the room. Lacy was doing a demonstration for the Rangers of both team 1 and 2. Kara was sitting back at the head of the table, zoning out a little bit. She blinked and stopped herself from nodding off, one of her ears drooping down, only to shoot up as she stopped herself from sleeping. She wiped some drool from her mouth.
“Uhh-.”

“Is something wrong, Kara?” Lacy asked with very slight annoyance. It meant that her usual bright smile was a few degrees down from where it usually sat. Her brows raised as she stopped the slides to look at Kara pointedly.
“This is a pretty important presentation, okay?”

Kara nodded. “I'm really sorry, Lacy. It's just that...” She looked around the table at the various Rangers.
“We got done dealing with world ending threats and now the problem at hand is... Fennek on the loose? If it's Goblins I think we got this. Their tech is kinda nasty, but we can manage since yours is better.” She offered confidently. The confidence was in Lacy.

`This girl's got a good head on her shoulders. Fennek's number 2 for a reason.`

Lacy sighed. “I can't say I'm not flattered, but Fennek might be less of a threat to the world, sure, but they pose as big of a threat to individuals. Like you for example.”

Kara couldn't help but laugh. “Me? I'm a Great Master. My Soma's fully developed. What can they do?”

Lad chimed in, leaning over the table to try and reach Kara. He spoke in a calm, non-accusatory tone. “With respect, Kara, what they can do to you and us is what's being presented.” Lad gave Lacy a polite nod. She smiled and nodded back.

Kai chimed in. “Mom, why don't you summarize the points for Kara and continue. She's gonna listen now, right?”

“Uh huh. Right.” Kara nodded.

`Pfft. I'll listen, but Goblins can't beat me. I'm not just a Great Master, I got more than a thousand years of experience.` She sat back and listened a bit more closely.

Lacy cleared her throat. “What we're tracking recently is a Fennek Chop Squad. In the simplest terms...  Big Game Hunters. Only their targets are high profile people. Fame, Infamy and Strength. All they want is to be able to take prizes back to Fennek to act as vanity items for the powerful Goblin families.”

“Wait... Vanity items? Out of people?” Kara interjected.

“That's correct, but please don't interrupt, okay?” Lacy cocked her head to one side as she asked that before continuing.
“In Fennek Culture the top Families that split the power to run various parts of their state, and the state enterprise project power through their possessions. Most of the time those 'possessions' are people. Non-Goblins.”

Lad raised his hand. Lacy pointed. “Yes, sweetheart?” The reaction to Lad was night and day compared to the reaction to Kara.
“How is this legal?”

“None of it is. Of course, it's all done under the table. The persons are acquired through criminal channels to fill certain needs and even if slavery is outlawed due to their Alliance with Tinta-Mara and the Seraph States, they can still have subjects enter into 'agreements' for 'pay.' But it is an obvious loophole. In essence, they figure out a way to get what they want through any means and fake whatever paperwork or circumstances they need after to make it legal. Okay?” They all nodded.

“Good! Finally, what we are dealing with in Orr is a Fennek subsidiary that gathers and trains 'mounts' illicitly for Fennek's high society. Or, the Goblin Chop Shop. This is their work.” Lacy changed the slide after catching Kara up, finally. They were speechless. On the slide was a picture of a person. At least, the could assume it was a person. From the top, the eyes were obviously Tek. Replaced. They could see this by the small seams in the white of the eye, and the long lashes. Tek-Eyes were programmable and could have the pupils take any shape the owner wanted. In the image, the pupils were stylized gold hearts.
“This was taken from a 'legitimate' mount. According to the owners.” She rolled her eyes.
“Observe the pupils. The symbol is typically tailored to be a coat-of-arms for the family they are to belong to. The reasons for this are obvious and it's how we're going to not only catch these criminals, but also trace the acts back to their Masters in Fennek. We'll actually be able to pin it on them and get some results with a bit of pressure.”

The hair looked the same as normal hair, but it was collected at the back into a tight pony-tail that seemed to pull at the forehead with how tight it was. The tying had the effect of making the girl's auburn hair look more like a mane. Around her neck she had a collar that covered the length of her neck, two thick loops at the top of her neck and the bottom joined at the sides by solid bars with loops and straps attached.
“The collar is perma-seal. It's a material that's as flexible as leather. Before it's activated it easy to cut and shape but the process they do involves putting it on then sealing it around the neck into one piece before activating it. Once activated the perma-seal is as tough as steel. They serve dual purpose. With the bars at the sides, it prevents the mount from bending her neck in any way they don't want. The collar has a more practical purpose which is mostly just to hold the reigns. In some cases the Goblins will use the bars on the side of the neck as handles, as well.” Lacy explained, pointing further down. She sighed.

Where she pointed there was a front and back view. In front there was a covering that wrapped around the upper torso below the collar bone. It was made out of tight black material with studs in the shape of the golden hearts that made up the crest, along with a big emblem on the front in the center of the same.  When looking at the back, Kara could tell immediately there were no arms at all. It was smooth and the covering wrapped around entirely and covered the two spots at the shoulders where the arms were severed. On the back, where almost all of them thought the arms would be restrained there was instead a nice, angled brown saddle with soft leather like the seat of some luxury bike. Hanging from the studded portion of the covering at the sides were stirrups.
“The Covering serves two purposes. First is to cover the spot where they heartlessly removed the arms and create a sleek appearance with the Family Crest showing up again at the center of the chest prominently, and in the studs that are used for securing the other pieces. The Saddle at the back is angled so that the Mount must be constantly leaned forward somewhat uncomfortably to provide a smooth ride. Hanging at rib level, the stirrups are to direct the mount in a more 'traditional' sense, despite the subjects being sentient...” Lacy looked disgusted.
“Moving on.”

The middle and lower torso had little to speak of. The nipples were pierced with gold hearts hanging from bars and the breasts were of course not hidden at all. Something that was notable to Kara was the fact that the woman had perky breasts and a tight, muscular stomach with wide hips. Strong legs, as well. On the lower belly in the pubic area there was another golden heart that was stamped. A hollow mark with thin lines, with more stylized gold lines emanating from it. On the back view, extending over the spine from beneath the saddle there was a gun-metal line that looked like a spine-column made of Tek. Then of course there was another stamp on the lower back with words in Fennekan.

“There's not much to see here... Note that stamps and the piercings. They are very full of themselves. Chest is bare, and the subject is muscular. They favor strong or athletic individuals for this process, because they get a kick out of controlling above their weight class. The most interesting thing in this section is the spine. It's posture and weight control and is permanently affixed. With this fellah installed the owner can adjust the posture of the mount for their comfort, though it does not actually make things nicer for the girl, and that is intentional, yes. She still feels strain in spite of having this involved. Why? Because it's fun for them. So, you get tired, but you can't move. Also, you can lift and carry far beyond your capacity.”

She changed to a slide of a closer view of the lower sections. An all-around view. The sex was covered by what looked like some Tek.
“For this, if you're thinking that it's nice that one embarrassing part is at least covered thing again. That patch is a chastity and shaping device.” The image then showed what it looked like on the outside. An overly big phallus with several uncomfortable bumps around the outside.
“This nasty thing keeps the orifice permanently stimulated while preventing orgasm. This means that Mounts are permanently aroused and dazed. For the back.” She showed a diagram of an odd accordion plug.

“This... Is bad.”

“What?” Just bad?” Kara lifted a brow.

“Yes. So far as well can tell, if this thing goes up your butt and immediately expands through your insides until it reaches the back of your throat. Small veins grow out, affixing it permanently to the walls and connecting to other organs to change those as well. The walls are then dissolved and the device acts as a replacement for the throat, stomach and intestines. The moment this thing goes in you you're on animal feed for the rest of your life. The time it takes? Probably seconds.” Lacy said grimly.

“Seconds!?”

“Watch your ass.” She remarked, moving to the legs. The legs were covered in something that looked like a combination of ass-less chaps and leggings. The leggings adhered to the skin but did not cover the inner thigh or the rear, just the sides of the hips. Up the front of the shins below the knee was a sleek, Gun-metal tech design like a shinguard that flowed down into a long part that humanoids typically did not have. The shin looked the same length, but where it should have met the ankle there was instead a long section where the gunmetal design wrapped all the way around. It lead down into another joint with a wide cloven-hoof beneath it. Below the shin the legs that should have belonged to a human did not have feet and instead looked like a Centaur's hind-legs wearing armor. There was even a bit of stylized fur around the hoof. The chaps are unimportant and not even present on some mounts, however the hooves are.”

“How could anyone force someones feet into something like that?” Kara wondered out loud.

“We actually do not know. The only thing we do know is that once inside, the foot is absorbed and the senses are connected to the new parts. The Hooves are... Hooves. They haven has a function that allows them to grow, which means they require maintenance, shoes and trimming. All of this is without even getting into the brainwashing and training that goes on.”

“Surely it can't be effective. I'd be pissed.”

“Most Mounts we've gotten a hold of after the fact were completely indoctrinated “

“How long does this take?”

Lacy nodded. “As far as we know... This should take many minutes, but we've heard conflicting stories.”

Kara smirked. “If it takes minutes, they're fucked when it comes to most of us. They can't hold onto any of us for a minute.”

Lacy nodded cautiously. “That may be true, but-”

Kara stood up and began walking out.

-Weeks Ago-

“Alright...” The Goblin team sat around a small table. Their big ears were standing up at attention.
“So we got infiltration covered. The trap is set. Basically we wait for a conference, open the hidden portal and set up outside.” Nat explained, pointing to a diagram.

Kan grinned. “The assembly line method, huh?”

Hardy, a new member looked at them. “Assembly line method?”

“Yep yep.” Guage chuckled. He motioned with his hands as he spoke.
“Get to a door where we know people are gonna come out of one at a time. Jump em and complete assembly before the next one's through. Rinse and repeat.”

Hardy blinked. He was trained, but it was crazy to plan something like that. He voiced his concerns. “B-but that would mean less than 20... No! Less than 15 seconds for assembly!” He looked around and none of them were correcting him. They were smiling with their sharp, malicious teeth showing.
“You don't mean-”

-

Kara walked through the door, noting that one of the double doors was shut and locked. She shrugged and walked through, taking a left. She felt strange immediately, like something thing had wrapped around her arm at the shoulder. Then another odd sensation.

`Huh? What was that? Did my clothes shift?` Kara stopped and looked down. It did not process for the second in which she caught it, but as she looked down she noticed her arms had separated cleanly, both of them, and they were falling.

`W-what? This isn't real, right?` She did not think it was real because it had barely been a moment and she did not yet feel pain and her arms had not even hit the ground. She perceived a thing, glistening metal wire with a coating of red around the loop that she realized must have been blood. The pain finally hit her, dull at first.

“Ow....” She uttered, still in minor shock. Then the full wave of pain from the spot that was cleanly cut on both sides hit her. She tried to scream but something jumped on her back and pulled a bit ball attached to a cloth into her mouth tightly. She tried to chew it or spit it out to no avail.

`The fuck is this!?` Kara did not even know how to struggle. She was confused how she could act with no arms. As she was thinking, the next second she felt more hot pain in her eyes as her vision went dark. Her head was pulled back and the pain became dull as her vision returned.

`What was that?` Two Tek eyes were stuff in to replace the eyes that were quickly and unceremoniously taken from her. They connected immediately, seamlessly connecting her vision with a robotic filter in a second, as if her vision had never left. The interface, whatever it was, began highlighting things in front of them and listing them in a strange, blocky language that she could not read.

“Eyes are in. Arms are off. I'm sealing the collar now.” Nat called out. He pressed a button and sealed the collar with the bars around her neck permanently. He skillfully tied the gag to free both hands and climbed up to stand on her shoulders. He gripped her hair, pulling it back tight, then fastening it with a metal clip into a bound pony-tail. Her crimson hair was bunched up and hung at her back like a mane. The Goblin, Nat, lifted it to help out the others.

`Wait, Goblins? Is this the- No... no way. How is this happening? We're in the ChesAn building!` She tried and failed to close her eyes. Blinking was no longer decided by her. She tried to gulp, but it got caught uncomfortably by the snug collar under her chin. She could not move or bend her neck anymore.

`This is insane! How long has it been? Surely they noticed?` Inside the conference room everyone was just beginning to stand up and turn to leave. As she was trying to think her way out, her eyes rolled back with added pain as something sharp pushed into her spine at the nape of her neck, then all the way down to her tail. Each prick into her spine felt like lightning.
“G-guugh... Ugh” She gurgled quietly, drooling over the gag from the feeling. That was not the end. She felt then like something clamped down around every section of her spine. She no longer controlled how she bent down. It had been four seconds. Her eye twitched, since she could not blink. The little gold hearts lit up, though she could not see that. Kara began to tear up from the pain. Her face became messy and her makeup smeared.

'No way... This isn't happening. It can't be this quick! I'm- I'm not gonna be a mount, am I?` She looked around fearfully, feeling something tight being put over her upper torso. It sealed her arms permanently and cleanly by becoming skin tight. She felt the heart emblem pressing into the center of her chest. Something heavy stuck to her back as two things were felt dangling at the sides of her ribs.
`S-saddle?` She screamed and panicked internally.

“Saddle and torso hood are fastened. Spine is set.” Kan alerted the other members.
“Hey! Come on newbie, prod this bitch into stepping forward!”

Kara's eyes flitted around, paranoid. It had been six seconds. `The hell are the saying? Goblins? It's really Goblins... But it's only been six seconds. There's no way it's already over, right?` Kara complained.
`They still gotta.`

“S-sorry!” Hardy apologized before Kan cut her pants. Hardy pushed the plug into her rear at the end of a long rod. It also served as a 'forward motivator.'

“Agh!”  She gritted her teeth around the gag and shuddered as she felt her foot being changed, then becoming completely numb only to be replaced with the feel of a hoof instead of her left foot. She tripped forward and stepped into the other. Kara was standing on two hooves. Her feet were gone and the plug was shooting through her insides, dissolving and replacing the walls as it went. It was faster than Lacy said. No sooner than it was in did she feel it's melting force connecting to the back over her throat. She teared up more intensely.

`Animal feed...` She lamented, shifting on her hooves. “Finishing touches.” Guage smirked, swinging around her to simply click on the piercings by pushing the sharp bars through her nipples without much care. He used a device to stamp her with the heart emblem, then around back he used the second setting.

“Time!” Guage asked. “9 seconds. Record. Let's keep it going.” Nat advised, moving back into position for the next Ranger.

A Goblin landed on Kara's saddle, adding some weight to her back. She felt his feet in the stirrups but did not want to move forward. Regardless, she seemed forced to step left, then right out of the way. She was turned. Hardy the new guy on her back teased while moving her as if she were being parked. “Congrats! You're now property of Honorable Lord Elvin Heart. His address is there if you get lost, sweetheart.”

Kara's heart beat quickly. She turned and was horrified to see Yeong walk through. First second went her arms, then the gag. Hair tied and eyes pulled out. It looked worse from the outside. Kara could watch in horror as the parts the did not need were left on the ground. She saw her own eyes rolling near Yeong's, around the spot where their arms were piled. Third second. Collar and spine. Fourth, the hood. Fifth. She was prodded forward and stepped into the hooves. Seventh. The plug probably finished. Ninth, finishing touches got done and the Goblin named Hardy piloted the confused and in pain Yeong to be parked shoulder to shoulder with her Halmeoni. This process continued until everyone was lined up and turned into a mount.