ooc: So would Pegasus fall under Charran race, ie any hybrid not covered by the main races, or is it more like Satyr's and centaurs be literally half animal half human? I've got a concept kicking around that I think I can adapt for this world but I thought I'd better check before I start righting any background novels

OOC: I'm not quite sure what you mean by Pegasus, but satyrs and Centaurs aren't quite what fit the bill, although it is possible within Charran genealogy. The race is more relative to cat girls and such. Ears, tails, eyes, claws, and other various animal pieces slapped onto a human frame. I guess I should've elaborated on that better. They also gain the ability for which said organ is purposed for, as well as it's disadvantages. For example, those who are "moles" have strong upper body strength, but are nearly blind. Those who are cats can see well in the dark and are agile, but are physically weaker than most.

oc: Oh I get it now. I may need to think a little more carefully about a concept first then. I'll get back to you if I get anywhere with it

OOC: I'll join. Just give me a chance to read and I'll shoot you a post 😉

Sometimes the best laid plans aren’t laid out at all, such
was the case on Ignus where several people from completely different
backgrounds were veering on a collision course with each other.  From that precipice though?  Their fates were unknown.

A bar in a small corner country bustled with customers;
Mainly the eerie incandescent furred Ifreets but with a smattering of humans
and even one lone Kitsune that seemed to have already had more than his share
of festivities.  The fox was wearing what
looked like military fatigues but without insignia’s of any kind.  He sat at the bar for a time, racking up his
weight in tabs before one of the natives noticed something.  A large Ifreet, apparently over his limit,
pointed to the man’s tail and literally giggled.  The tail was only partial and almost half of
it seemed to have been removed forcibly with a very shape object, the calloused
new tip not very pretty to look at.

“See something funny, fireball?” The man snarled turning to
glare daggers into the larger wolf.  The
Ifreet grinned drunkenly, “Guess that gives the phrase, ‘saving yer own tail’
new meaning.”  The fox smiled at his
glass commenting, “Yeah, guess so,” a moment before spinning the stole around
in such fashion as his foot connected with the drunk’s kidney, sending him off
his stool and to the floor.   Calmly
spinning himself back around the rest of the man took the final shot he had
sitting in front of him and wrinkled his nose again muttering something that
sounded like “landan jiang*” and stand up to leave.  This departure was by four more of the wolves
positioning themselves between him and door.

He sighed, looking at the group and popped off, “Whole lotta
ugly turnin up in here.  I aim on walking
out that door, rather I don’t have to step on you and yours to get there.”  The four did not move, instead one folded his
arms, “I don’t know who you think you are, Kitsune.   But you ain’t gonna waltz in here and lay
out one of us and walk out scot-free.” 
The fox smirked and popped his neck, “Just like Ifreet, can’t hunt
without the pack.”  The next few minutes
were a blur of action all culminating with the arrival of the local authorities
and after realizing that four Ifreet were hospital bound and the culprit was
not an Ignus citizen, they decided to arrest the man pending a diplomatic resolution.  The man however, did not go
quietly.  Taking another four men to drag
him outside all the while hurling insults in a variety of languages, “FAYFAY
duh Peeyen!**” “Hemayan Silwan
Atak!”  “Eta Kooram Nah Smech!”  “Let me go you flaming bags of $#!+!”

Two smaller men stood nearby watching the ruckus, the first
holding a small pad up and scanning through it thoughtfully.  It was a list of some kind, looking like a
passenger manifest.  A lanky and rather
flashily colored squirrel with white fur, striking red hair, and ice blue
eyes ran his finger over one name in particular before speaking up in a almost
youthful voice but with a very stiff and serious quality, “Nathaniel Tiberius
Cobb.  Ex-Military. Arrived
yesterday.  Should do.”

The second man was a mouse and seemed about the same post
adolescent age range but whereas the squirrel had a distinctive youthful tone
to his voice but his words were thought out and adult, this man’s voice fit his
twenty something appearance but as for his wording, well, his response came
quickly and loudly, “And he’s multi-lingual!”

The squirrel winced praying the Ifreet officers hadn’t heard
them, it was bad enough being stuck on this planet without attracting the
attention of local law enforcement.  He
hissed back at the mouse, “Israel, please keep your voice down.”

The mouse shrunk back flashing a worried look at the
officers before nodding and replying more quietly, “Right, sorry Mouse. He the one?”

‘Mouse’ has the mouse had called him sighed and shook his
head, “Yeah, and he's proving it now, how many it is it taking to hold him drunk?  Think of what he can do sober... and with guns.  We can’t get outta here on our own, even with
that ship.  That one though, looks like
he could take on the whole Ifreet military if you gave him the right hardware.”

“We can’t take that ship though, what about the
prince?”  The mouse, called Israel,
protested suddenly.

“Izzy, we’ve been through it.  Breaking into that jail is no easy task, let
alone breaking into TWO cells.  We NEED
the Kitsune to help us fight our way outta here; we don’t need a kid to take up
vital supplies and…  What?”  The squirrel stopped seeing the look on the
mouse’s face.  Israel’s hazel eyes
narrowed into slits almost giving the small grey mouse a rat-like appearance
stating coldly, “Mouse.  You weren’t
there.  They have the kid in a BOX. “

“You said as much, but we just can’t…”

“When he thought I left he was crying.”

“I know it’s bad, but if we don’t conserve supplies we might
not make it to…”

“You leave him?  You
leave me.  Are we clear?”  The mouse’s final statement stood in stark
contrast to his mood before.  Even
seeming to surprise his partner who looked at him through abnormally widened
eyes and nodded slowly, “Yeah, it.. It’s fine, sorry man I’ll figure out a way
to get them both out tonight, ok?”

The mouse nodded and turned back toward the road looking
down, “Let’s get back to the hotel, I’m hungry.”  The squirrel shook the event off and
scampered after him.

He woke up to blurry grey lines and a cold surface under
him.  The fox blinked, actually counting
his blessings there was no sun to exacerbate the hangover.  His mouth felt like a cotton swab and his
eyes were fighting allowing him to focus at all.  He rolled over and pushed himself up slowly
with his hands muttering,  â€œAi-yah... Tyen-ah...*** 
What did I do last... oh.” 
He stopped as his eyes focused on the bars of his cell.  His nose twitched as he shifted to a sitting
position and leaned against the back wall of the cell talking to himself,
“Remember the bar, and gettin’ drunk, and some asshole.  Oh… hell…  Musta got in a fight.  Hope I won.” 
He looked at his surroundings, it was pretty bad, and he’d actually
never seen an Ifreet prison before.  It
was pretty hokey complete with cement floors and steel bars in all their campy
glory.  In the cell next to him something
caught his eye.  It was a steel box,
almost like some kinda Charran torture device. 
At first he mused at the hilarity and overkill of of putting a prisoner
that was already in a cell, in a steel box. 
Then laughing to himself about how they’d probably come up with it,
envisioning a stoic old wolf chattering something about the fate of a prison
with-in a prison, even repeating it out loud in a mocking tone.  Finally scooting over and straining to
examine the box, finally speaking out loud, “Glad that’s you in there and not me buddy.  I ain’t one for tight areas.”   He waited for a minute, getting no response
and spoke again in a louder voice, “Guess they stuck me in here for slapping
around some over their drunken soldiers, not my fault Ifreet’s can’t fight without
a whole pack.  What’d you doto get
crammed in there…  Ta ma da^, how’d they
even cram you in that little thing. 
That’s like a torture box for twelve year olds.”  The fox peered at the box for a few minutes
more with no answer, his nose twitched, “Fine then ya worthless lump.  Figured being in there you’d want some other
voice ‘sides yours. ” He rolled over holding his head in pain and grumbled,
“Wouldn’t doubt if I just cussed out a corpse.” 
He drifted off to unconsciousness swearing he heard some kind of
movement outta the box.

The Meran’s hotel room was sparse and they obviously didn’t
intend on staying long, nor did they have many personal affects.   The
mood was somber and quiet, Israel sat looking out the window slightly.  It was very uncomfortable for Mouse, he’d
never seen the mouse this quiet.  The
squirrel sat back on his bed and popped his shoes off,  still staring warily at the mouse and rubbing
the matted white fur on his sore feet absent mindedly.  He shook his head again and pulled off his
overshirt, tossing it haphazardly on the floor and rubbing upper arms
lightly and fussing with the white tanktop he was wearing.  Finally the Meran scratched the back of his
head and looked on concerned.  “You’re
scaring me, Iz.  What happened in there?”  The mouse looked back, the serious look was
gone but instead he looked miserable.  It
was like something had just sucked all the life out of him.  “I didn’t know civilized planets did stuff
like that…”  He said finally
speaking.  “I-i-it was a little kid, you
could tell from his voice.  He sounded
like he was in pain too, i-i-in that… that box. 
Dude… why?  I-i-i-I  just…” 
He stopped to refocus to calm his stuttering walking back and plopping
down on his own bed on his stomach, draping his head over the side facing his
partner and looking up the squirrel looking like he was going to cry, “I don’t
understand.”

Mouse looked at him sympathetically, then put a foot on his
shoulder and shoved his head to the side playfully, Izzy straightened his head
out looking a little irritated but the squirrel caught him by the shoulder with
one hand leaning over into the mouse’s face blue eye’s narrowed, “Apparently
Ifreet aren’t worth understanding.  Noone
that would do that is.  Listen man,
tomorrow, we go in there.  We make the
same deal with this Kitsune that you did with the kid.  And then we rest up and the next night? We
honor BOTH of those deals.  And we all
get off this hellhole together.  You, me,
the drunk, and that kid.  Sound good?”  The corners of the mouse’s mouth seemed to
perk up finally, he reach up and freed his shoulder from the squirrel’s grasp
and rolled over properly onto the bed, “Yeah, sounds perfect.  Think we can do it?”   Mouse smirked at him for a moment before
replying, “Yep, I got it all figured; long as you can be you that as.  Better get some sleep though, gonna be a long
few days.”    His thin white arms
stretched upwards precursory to a yawn and then folded behind the fiery hair on
his head as he laid back down, “Night Izzy.” 
He fired off to the already blanket covered lump across from him,
flicking the light off and not expecting an answer.   A moment later a sleepy voice murmured out,
“Night Rayray.”  The squirrel’s eyes
opened hearing his childhood nickname, he smiled and closed his eyes one last
time.

Crying?  Nathan woke
up a little more conscious this time, less of a hangover just in time for the
sun to peek in a little from the end of the hallway.  He was however in a heck of a lot more
pain.  Those wolves must have put up more of
a fight than he thought.  There it was
again, sniffling?  He looked over at it’s
origin… the box.  “Ah…  I knew it. 
You’re in there and you’re ignoring me. ”  He shuffled over closer and tried again to
make out anything about the box’s occupant, but to little avail.  He seemed to pout, folding his arms and
glaring at the box, “Look bud, we both in jail, ain’t no one else to talk
to.  Come on ya crabby furball, say
something, what’d they lock ya in there for? 
Ya kill someone? ” He paused, but to no answer, “Aw come on man.  Ain’t gotta be shy about it.  Hell, I’ll kill a man in a fair fight… Or if
a think he’s gonna start a fair fight… 
Or if I’m getting paid…”

Finally a high pitched child’s voice fired back from the
box, “Just SHUT UP!  For the love of
Ignus don’t you ever do ANYTHING other than sleep and babble?!” 

Nathan sat dumbfounded; on one hand he was insulted, on the
other… the voice.  He sat blinking
rapidly and staring at the box.  Then
slowly he stood up and gripped the bars between him and the box, “You best
speak up and say that ain’t your voice and you ain’t what I think you are.”

The voice came back still sounding exasperated, “This IS my
voice and I AM one of those Ifreet’s you’ve been insulting all night.”

The fox sneered, “I’m only saying this one more time, you
best be playing that voice up for them guards. 
And it’d be in your interest to not do it for me. ”

The voice fell silent. 
Nathan felt his blood rushing at the thought, he’d seen things during
war but that was war.  This was a
developed world, the most uncivilized thing here should be him.  He admitted to himself he didn’t remember nor
ever listened to the others talk about Ignus much so his knowledge of their
lifestyle was very lacking.  But still,
the voice in that box sounded like either a woman or a kid, and either option
left a VERY sour taste in his mouth. 

“Hey! 
Nathaniel!”  The voice wasn’t the
box’s, instead it was… up?  The fox
tilted his head up, to see a grey tail sticking into the window of his
cell.  Nate sneered, “Call me that again
and I’ll rip your tail off Meran.”  The
tail flicked around, “Sorry, I dunno what I should call you.  But I have a… proposal.”

“I ain’t marrying no damn rodent, and ya sound just a little
too much like a guy for my tastes anyway.” 
The Kitsune snapped looking up and trying to see if he could see who was
talking to him.  “Do gotta nice ass
though.”

“Um..  I am a guy.”

Nate winced and barked out, “Niao say duh goo-ay ^^!  Then why the hell are you making
proposals?!  You think I’m into that you
freak?!”

“What?  I’m here to see
if you want out of here.  In exchange for
something of course.”  The mouse stated,
seemingly oblivious of how the fox had taken his initial question.

Nate raised an eyebrow, “Seeing as my last favor went years
ago…  Whatcha want for this ya pirate,
and it better not be my ‘booty’? ”

The tail wiggled, “Just your help.  We have a ship, but we need some who can…
erm, convince the locals to let us leave.”

The kitsune suddenly jerked up and grabbed the tail,
wretching down on it and making its owner yelp and snarling out.  “I don’t make deals with tails.”  He paused at glanced at the box, “But you get
me outta here, do what I say, no crying around about baggage, and I can handle
those overgrown lightbrights, dong ma^^^?”  He released the tail and it shot out of the
window.

A pained voice acknowledged him, “Yeah, ok.  I-i-I’ll be back.  Tomorrow night!  Be ready.” 
With that the Meran vanished, leaving the Kitsune to contemplate yet
another strange event to add to the list.

A small sob jerked him away from his thoughts, the box
again?  What was with this… guy?  Another sob, the voices pitch was wrong for a
damsel in distress.  Which he would have
preferred to be sure, the alternative was so much worse in every aspect.  The alternative facing him in that damned
metal box would end with him risking his life, not getting laid, and getting
having to babysit the worst thing he could possibly think of.   He reached over and grabbed the bars between
them, “So reason you’re crying over there… kid?”  The sobs silenced and a very uncomfortable
pause sat between them for almost a minute, just as Nate was ready to speak
again the voice came back and cut him off. 
“They lied.  I can’t believe they
lied.”

The fox’s eyes narrowed, “Who lied?”

“Them, the guy you were just talking too.  He said they just needed a ship and they’d
help me escape.  I gave them the entry
key to my private skiff…  And they’re
going to take it and leave… with you.”

The fox blinked, “Why the hell do you have a ship?  You sound like you’re eight.”

“Thirty, actually… 
But I’m an Ifreet…”  The voice was
answering more easily now, but instead of rude and bratty, it just sounded
defeated now.

It took an inordinately long time for the fox to do the
calculation from wolf age to fox age but it was obvious when he figured it out
as a mixture of anger and sympathy coursed through him in waves.  He had heard the Ifreet were tough on their
people but this?  And that mouse, they’d
planned on stealing the kid’s ship and running? 
Finally after what was probably several minutes he jerked his head
around making sure no guards were present. 
Though it would be asked why he was just now doing so, but the only
reply is the fox’s lack of thought, period.  
Then he sunk to the ground grunting out, “Ah, hell.”  And let out a very loud sigh before closing
his eyes and blurting out, “What’s yer name kid?”

The box paused for a moment, “Dezgra”

Nathan mouthed the word, then rolled it around in his mouth
before looked back with a twisted muzzle, “Got a name that don’t sound like a
Charran sneezin?” 

There was a childish growl before the reply, “It’s my family
name you ass.”

The Kitsune blinked and looked like he was thinking for a
moment before asking, “Got a name that ain’t a family name and that I can say?”

The growl projected again from the box, “Pallens.  My name is Pallens Dezgra.”

“Gesundheit.”

“Rrrrrrrrrrr”

“All right, ALRIGHT… 
Lessee.  How ‘bout Pal.  Sounds like a kid’s name.  And I can say it ‘fore ya get eaten by
nasties.  Not that I’m gonna be saving ya
from nasties, just, whoever saves ya from nasties.  You tell it to them.  And they can use it.”

“I hate it.”

“Don’t recall asking for your opinion on the matter, Pal.”

More growls came but the fox ignored them, he was busy with
this new dilemma.  Nathan had a few
problems with all of this.  He didn’t
trust Merans, especially ones that came outta nowhere and stole ships from
little kids.   He also did not like
little kids, they smelled and were noisy.  
So putting two and two together he figured that even IF the Meran’s kept
their end of the bargain, and he didn’t end up killing them, AND he could force them to keep their promise
to the kid.  He would end up stuck on a
ship with the two things that he could not stand.  He leaned his head back looking frustrated
and smacked it against the wall repeatedly.

“How the hell do you sprain a tail?  Is that even possible?”  It was dark by the time the two Meran cohorts
regrouped back at their hotel room, Mouse watching his friend try in vain to
sit down on his bed without pain shooting through his rump.  “It is when a crazy Kitsune tries to pull it
off, oowwww.”   Israel groaned trying to
shift position to prevent further injury. 
“How did it go with the kid?”

The squirrel sat down by the window looking grim, “He’s gone
bud.  I looked all over the place for
him.  I guess they decided he’d been on
display long enough.”  The mouse’s eyes
widened with terror, “You don’t think they…” 
Mouse held his furry white hand up, “Don’t even say it.  But we gotta move tomorrow and be outta here
by tomorrow night, we’ll just have to keep an eye out.”  Izzy nodded, “Maybe they just moved him,
finally finished making an example of the poor kid.”  He settled down on his side and watched the
squirrel.  They’d been stuck here for
over a week, their ship had been totaled with no chance of buying a new one on
a planet that wasn’t particularly friendly to their kind.  The Plan as it was stemmed from a series of
lucky breaks they’d caught, mainly due to Mouse’s studious nature and attention
to detail.  Of course Izzy had been the
one to distract the attendant while Mouse snatched the manifest and passenger
listing for a last few ships.  At first
they’d done it to attempt to hijack a ship, but then a ship fell into their
laps.  A public punishment display for a
local youth accused of insubordination had lead the mouse to investigate and
make friends with the boy who was confined to a small metal box because he’d
repeatedly refused to participate in his martial practices.  Izzy had found out the boy was actually
nobility and still had his entry code to one of his family’s skiffs.   Because of his nature the mouse easily won
the boy’s trust and got the code, but now refused to leave without the
child.  Not a problem if it wasn’t for
the problem of the guards and law enforcement, this is where the passenger list
had come in, on the names one had stood out. 
A Non-Ifreet and disgruntled ex-military kitsune named Nathan Cobb that
they had now enlisted as their muscle to get off the planet.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Mouse.”  Izzy piped up seeing the squirrel had no
intention on sleeping.  “I dunno, I know
I goofed on the something.  I just…  I just gotta go through it one more time.”  Mouse stated still looking at the
window.  His partner watched him grinding
over the plan sympathetically, “Hey, com’ere a minute.”  The squirrel looked over, sighing and
complying in an unsteady manner.  Izzy
motioned his fellow Meran closer, Mouse sighed and knelt down.  The mouse raised a grey hand up, and pushed
the white underside of one finger to the squirrel’s forehead, “Stop over
thinking.”   Mouse jerked back holding his forehead and
blinked, then smirked; rolling his eyes and moving to get into bed rambling out
a half laughing,”Yeah, yeah.  Ok mom.”  The squirrel yawned and plopped down, “Night
Iz.  And don’t call me…” before he could
finish the mouse chirped out, “Night Rayray.” 
  To which the squirrel retorted
with a loud groan and putting his head under the pillow.

And so the plan was in motion.  All four of them wanted off the planet, and
if they were going to make it out alive it was going to take each of them to
pull it off.         

~Language Junk~

*     Lan-Dan jiang - Weakass sauce
**   FAYFAY duh Peeyen!  - A baboon's asscrack
       Hemayan Silwan Atak! - He who wanderings about a ghost
       Eta Kooram Nah Smech! - This is ridiculous
*** Ai-yah... Tyen-ah - Merciless hell
^     Ta ma da - Damn
^^   Niao say duh goo-ay - Piss-soaked pikers
^^^ Dong ma? - Understand?

         Somewhere near the planetary orbit of Kohel, a rural farming planet, a large chunk of space rock glided aimlessly though space. On the outside, it was nothing more than a simple asteroid, but on the inside, it bustled with Cubian activity. Plastered with crystalline formations and strange pulsing roots, the crystalline abominations, as well as a few survivors of the plague, scurried around carrying crates and picking away at the large crystals in the walls. If it weren't for how deadly the disease was, this place would've been beautiful.

         Walking, almost dancing, through the maze of root and gem was a red fennec fox with long spiky hair. The purple light the emanated from the gem-like growths reflected off the metal of his arms. He approached a man who was hovering over a stone slab bearing what looked to be a corpse. The man wore a dirty blood crusted lab coat, which did wonders for his matted grey hair. The fox took one metal claw to his bare chest and scrapped it across, drawing blood, before dripping it in front of the doctor. This caught his attention. "How is your work, good doctor?" the fox sang rather than spoke, a sly grin cracking his features.

         The odd little man looked up at the fox, an irritable look across his face. "Yet another dead! But the blood is good. Perhaps you would like to send me more samples, Mr. Adahn?" he replied raising an eyebrow. The corpse before them was still twitching, life still barely clinging to it before the doctor jammed his scalpel into it's head. "Hold still!" he shouted at the dead man.

         "Looks like the Mad Doctor Crey has broken all of his toys. Sad, sad, Matthias Crew..." quipped the fox, feigning tears, "Do be a dear and clean up your mess." A crazed smile graced his face as he growled the last few words. A Cubian abomination soon came to retrieve the body and take it somewhere to sit, the crystals it bore soon to become yet another in the walls of the hulk that bore them through space.

         Turning away from the doctor, who was now mumbling to himself, the fox approached a large pore in the hulk's walls. Stepping through he was presented with thousands of capsules, all bearing specimens of every race known to Federation Space. Built into the walls, they looked like the inside of a crystal bee hive. The fox grinned as he walked to the nearest one and yanked it open, the being inside falling out, choking on the fresh air. He reached into his pocket with one hand and produced a small portion of one of the larger gems. Grabbing the person's face with his other hand he forced the gem down the creature's throat. He sat, and waited for the virus to take effect.

____________________________________________________________________

         The deck of the Charran ship, the CDS: Hatred, rocked as a missile collided with the starboard impact screens. In the pilots seat sat a young woman with long ears that tapered to a point and messy green hair. Janette Strahl yawned, finding the battle to be above all else, boring. Her crew, however, weren't quite as apathetic. A dog eared Charran stood by her side, shouting orders as the captain had given him command to do. He was short, but well built, with tan skin and brown hair. "Order all jets to engage enemy fighters!" he shouted, knowing that the order was an obvious one, "And give me a damage report!" Just then the impact screens of the bridge view port flared to life as a Confederate jet made a strafing run, only to be blasted into shards as the Hatred's attack batteries blew it away.

         "Grah! This is so boring!" cried Janette, biting her lower lip, "I wish daddy were still here." She was referring to Nero Strahl, the man who had started the Nero Wars and the War of Three Blades before that. He had been killed in hand to hand combat on a fringe planet by none other than Orlandu Blossom, the late headmaster of the Foundation. A cat-like Charran rushed into the chamber and saluted the woman. "Ma'am! There's an unidentified jump exit appearing behind us. Recommend escape, Ma'am!" Janette sneered and grabbed the man by his collar and slammed his face into her chair. He fell unconscious on the floor. "Make the retreat order, Blayte." The dog-like man responded quickly, giving a hard whistle and waving his hand in the air in a circular motion. The pilots took the sign in toe and began to turn the ship about, already locking onto the signal of a distant warp buoy. In a matter of minutes, the Hatred was enveloped in it's own warp field and forced out of standard space, leaving the other frigates and fighters to fend for themselves.

"But there is one more thing that all of this training and regimen can’t teach you. How to stay alive!" How it was so very true; no amount of idealism or training could grasp the reality of real, personified combat that could lead you to your own end; Kor Rahzryn, a galvinite; could definitely relate as he kept going through his thoughts about this 'hunter' thing that he had been really amounted to looking into. The withered lizard was maybe in his late forties, though it was hard to tell with those lizards when their stale adulthood began at 20 and ended at around 140. In of it all, though; Kor wasn't sure what to think, the lizard's eyes roamed the room, he knew of the foundation; he had dealt with enemies of them before; when the lizard had worked a slew of many jobs in many clusters, especially those that often had problems with the UFCS, who were pretty much outspoken enemies of this organization of self-righteous guardians of the 'peace'.

In all honesty, the only thoughts he had of the hunters in the past were idle ones that were brief considerations of the equivalent of; at least they do something. Which was honestly, more than what Kor could of said about himself before the war; the war of which was probably the best decision he had done since the moral-guided bounty hunting he did some time before the aforementioned conflict. The lizard chuckled at the thought of all of it, all he had done was refuel on the foundation settlement and decide to stick around for a few days for some downtime... and boy did that go downhill as quick as a Ifreeti to a temper.

"Never forget that even if you win the war, victory means nothing if you all die in the process." the words were more of which he agreed with, partially. Afterall, he had known so many battles that had required such sacrifice to better the end result. Some would deem them unwarranted and he assumed these hunters would, but the whole grasping of the hunter ideology seemed comfortable and foreign to him all at the same time. He didn't still consider himself one of them, even if he had tugged along the evaluation due to a recommendation-- a challenge to do so. The hunters were good people, a bit self-inflated... but they had a moral-bound agenda and good intent. He didn't feel the same deception he had felt from other organizations he had temporarily fell in with before, so this had to be a sign of a good order-- or the sign that Kor was getting stupid. The thought of the latter gave the lizard unpleasant feelings, easily. He took a breath, he needed a drink; no, he needed several.

The last words in the hall were spoken and he was already hankering for some alcohol, how predictable of him.

|OOC|

Considering adding the two other potential characters, but I'm still getting a place with Rico's post here to see what I can do to involve one of those ideal characters. Got nothing so far, maybe later...

OOC: If anything's been misunderstood or doesn't comply with the RP, let me know.

Wow, everyone's post is a real good read. The universe has been well thought out and be exciting should it be prosperous.

I want to bring in other characters but I'll dedicate some thought to their entries and who they are to side with first.

And lyrics copyrighted to 'Discoloured eyes' by Velvet acid Christ at some point in the IC.

Cubian asteroid

Amongst the bustling activity of the of the cubian scavengers and its infected, fighting for their right to ‘survive’, a lone shadowed workshop stood towards one of the asteroid’s peripheral margins.

The open background gave light intergalactic skies, which were dotted with an overwhelming kaleidoscope of millions of stars and planets. The biggest sight being the planet Kohel, given the asteroid was orbiting its proud planetary circumference.

The workshop itself was primitive looking; with old beams of metal supporting a dishevelled roof. The vicinity’s building materials was infested by crystalline structures, which pulsed with life. Indeed it was a beautiful captivating sight, and yet also sinister in many ways.

The shed was partially enclosed so could be considered as indoors... with a dishevelled overhanging surgery lamp providing what little illumination it had to offer for the cubicle.

“Another body Herrn Doktor Abstein?” a short and sly looking ex-Meran enquired as he wiped some rusty looking scalpels with an oil laden cloth, which likely hadn’t seen any detergents since the day the loin was fabricated. The Meran was a Neko-mongoose. That is to say the creature had quirky cat-like ears and swishing tail that seemed to do more talking then the mouth itself. His body was elongated and striped like that of a mongoose.

“Ja!” the ex-Charran quipped back with a voice that resonated like a cross between cigarette induced –lungs and a radio with poor reception. The Herrn Doktor was a sixty year old, overweight bear/human cross-breed with a pipe that may as well have been stitched to his lip.

Dr. Abstein dropped the crystalline body with a clunk upon wooden, blood-stained table.

The subject in question was an impaled, tall, three-tailed fennec with suspended shock-induced ghost pale eyes. Every so often her right hand would twitch- if not her lower lip would quiver as if desperately trying to utter a word. Or even breathe for that matter.

Dr. Abstein fished out a disposable mask from his back pocket. ‘Disposable’ defying its purpose with its evident crusty blood stains of different crimson hues.

He grabbed a fast hand-piece with a fast-cutting diamond bur and starting drilling away at the crystalline shell around the fennec’s body.

‘Moving on the floor through broken glass

Twitching from before in neurotic dance

The voices in my brain tell me it won't last

Because the fire in my soul is iconoclast...’

“Herrn Doktor! Stoppit with ze singing ja? I’d vould rather be listening’ to mein organs being schnizelt!!” the Neko-mongoose known as Felix Zeidler complained, waving his arms melodramatically as he watched the doctor carve away at the crystalline form. Normally a fast-hand piece would demand the use of water but given the run down ergonomics of the backstreet clinic they were in, the lack of water gave off a burning crystalline scent.

“No sense of Musik ja Felix? Ach vot a shame...” Abstein muttered through his pipe “Pass me ze chisel bitte schön...”

The mongoose muttered something incomprehensibly insulting, which was beyond Abstein’s care. Right now all he cared about was freeing this fennec and assessing what her chances of survival were. If high then she might show promise. All the other wretched cubians wandering the asteroid seemed to be a little more swift compared to him when retrieving crystalline embryos like these. He ultimately had hopes of snatching his own and hopefully the strongest ones. With special abilities... good enough to start the formation a rebellious army to overthrow and backstab this Adahn Saturos Valentine. The nutter...!

Once Abstein had finished burring all the incisions across the crystalline structure, he picked up the chisel and carefully positioned at the point which was above the subject’s forehead. With his other hand he picked up a mallet-like hammer, and began two light taps...

“..and if you were to break open ze cranium zat way herrn doctor?” Felix enquired with stoic eyes.

“Zen nuthink lost und nuthink gained...” the bear/human muttered, his pipe moving more than his lips as he took his mallet-containing hand back and hammered the chisel swiftly.

There was a large crack like the snapping of bones as the crystalline structure split from the suture like incisions.

The subject bolted upright, gasping for air desperately as the crystalline fluid drained away and left her a soaking drenched, afterlife abomination. Her breathes with painful and hoarse as her confused body tried to adapt to the illegitimate rebirth.

“Wow, zey don’t normally vake up zo fast...” Felix said, stepping back warily. His back hit the desk and turned around to pick up a straight jacket- dismissing the sense of fear that cropped up for a moment. A cubian abomination in its first waking minutes was usually harmless.

“Vell vot can I say. My skills did ze work,” Abstein boasted arrogantly as Felix draped the fennec with a straight jacket and instantly belted it up without the subject realising.

Once she was clad, the surgeon grabbed the fennec by the mussel with abrupt harshness and narrowed his eyes. The fennec gasped, trembling as a result of feeling unbearably cold, shocked and scared.

“Now listen here Fräulein! I vas ze one that brought you to life zo you serve me und me only ja!!” Abstein snarled, with a smirk running across his mussel before picking up some crystalline substance.

“I can understand ze confusion zo let me put you at ease...” with that Abstein yanked the fennec’s mouth open and shoved the crystals down her throat, encouraging her to chew and swallow which she complied with.

“Proud?” Felix asked with a wry smile, calming down now that she was secure and under the virus’ control following oral anti-prophylaxis.

“Proud, ja. I think she and she alone could defeat ze dumb-ass Adahn Saturos Valentine! Ha... ha ha!” Abstein sniggered.

The fennec sat there confused, her body twitching and her eyes blinking uncontrollably as her sub-concious suddenly brought a series of flashbacks whirring through her mind.

“And you vere who at vone time...?” Felix asked with a fake tone of sympathy.

“I was... I was...” the fennec said through chattered teeth.

“Ztop vastin’ her time and let ze virus replicate...” Abstein said waving a dismissive hand “vot does it matter vot her name vos, vhere she came from and vot matters... all irrelevant! Besides, all this cutting und ze schnitzeln has made me hungry...”

As the two surgeon hooligans turned to walk out the shrapnel shed surgery, they suddenly froze as the dim light above them cracked and put the area into darkness. Shards of glass bounced off the wooden table and clattered off the metallic surface.

Turning around abruptly, the surgeons’ hearts skipped a beat to find that the femme fennec had vanished without a trace.

“Get out ze tranquilisers...” Abstein hissed, spitting out his pipe as his eyes frantically scanned the shed.

Before he could take another step however, he groaned as crushing metal like piped constricted his airway and his arms and hands were locked in a vice-like grip.

“God-dammed &*”$%)*”ng psycho!!!!!” the voice screamed shrilly in his ears “my name is Athena and I hate you god-dammed *”)*$(&ng psychos!!!”

There was a tear in the belt of the straight jacket which had formerly had her arms binded behind her back.

Athena yanked Abstein back, a her arm with a strength of iron steadying a shaking scalpel against his jugular. Her luminous ice eyes were practically spitting as she turned to face Felix- with Abstein still under her restraint. The darkness shadowing her as a fierce silhouette and her crystal flaring eyes did nothing to calm down her volatile outlook.

“Now now Fräulein... zer zer... no need to be zo uptight...”Felix said hesitantly as he calmed with the palm of his hands.

“$*_”*ng Psycho!!!” she raged demented, before abruptly slitting Abstein’s throat and throwing him towards the sharps bins, which clattered and clanged and spilt shards of sharpware and blood.

Her three tails swished furiously, as she tilted her head and eyed Felix with a look of kill in her eyes.

“Calm down... calm down...”

“I am *”)_$*(“ng calm!!!” she said erratically before whipping out a nearby hatchet and slamming it against the metallic desk with a deafening screech and causing the shed to shake and rumble.

“What am I....?!?” she demanded, her eyebrows raising with a frown and her eyes stinging with a sense of betrayal “why can’t I remember anything?!?”

She gripped the body of the hatchet with both hands as if she could find an answer from it.

“I can tell you... ZAT I can tell you...!” Felix nodded frantically, superficial sympathy somewhat over the top due to fear and a desperate need to gain the upper hand. He carefully assembled the sedative catridge in his labcoat pocket.

“But you vill have to trust me Fräulein...” he said, risking a step or two closer, and offering an open hand “..zo, vill you do that...?” he asked, sneaking in closer, gradually pulling out the sedative loaded syringe.

His attempt of whisking through and penetrating her neck with the sedative was met with a sliced arm that went flying through the air and a decapitated Felix, who fell to the ground screaming over his lost dominant arm.

Athena lowered the hatched which was stained with Felix’s blood.

“Don’t trust psychos...” she said through cold thin lips. Throwing the hatchet which whirled through the air and landed a good half inch away from the wailing Felix’s face, the femme fatale in the form of Athena turned and took her leave.

Entering the luminous jungle and intoxicating cubian atmosphere laden with viral activity, she wandered through the foreign surroundings in her blood stained straight jacket and confused mind.

‘Adahn Saturos Valentine...’ Athena recalled hearing, wandering what to think about or do with that name.

OOC: No problems.

      There was a gurgling sound as the creature's flesh erupted with small crystal formations. The process usually took nearly an hour or two to start, but this one had been fast. However, regardless of speed of replication, the crystals were a sign of death. The red fennec looked up and across the lot of the capsules. They had been placed there to brew the virus victims, left in a stasis until the virus was ready to activate. Some of them had volunteered, hoping for the power that the virus offered. Others had been abducted, forced into their new lives.

     Adahn stood from his seated position an snapped his fingers. A skeletal crystal being, one of the Cubians who had been around for a long time and fused with others of it's kind, approached. Draped in an ethereal cloak, it was an imposing sight, to be sure. It scooped up the new inductee and carried it into the chamber that the oldest Valentine had just exited, prepped for Dr. Crey's observation. The fox strode into the next chamber, opposite the way he had come. He sometimes came here to see the stars when his mind wasn't filled with thoughts of madness and hate. There was a large opening on this side of the asteroid which the Cubians had covered with a clear crystal film, so not to lose the few survivors they had at their disposal.

     Something had caught his attention. The scent of fresh blood in the air. There was a shed positioned on the far side. He had seen it before and knew who had put it there, as well as their schemes, he simply didn't care. Smelling the blood he figured that they had either succeeded in killing another subject, or met their fates at it's hands. The appearance of the three-tailed fennec proved the latter. Approaching the woman, he raised his arms, as if to embrace her. "And who might you be?" he asked in a melodic tone, grinning from ear to ear.

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     Taimat stepped down from the stage as the new recruits filed out. She would retire to the headmasters quarters, taking time to review her new position and what it meant. Ramza, on the other hand, left for the bar that he and his late friends had frequented. Murphy's. The bar wasn't far from the academy. The place was bustling with regulars and those who had just come out of the assembly hall. The green recruits mostly stood out amongst the crowd, many showing off their new coat of arms, a little badge bearing the symbol of the Hunters.

      The fox sat on a stool that was recently vacated as a drunken recruit fell to the floor in a stupor. He knocked on the table twice, catching Murphy's attention before putting up two fingers. The man nodded in return and placed a bottle of bourbon on the counter in front of the fox with a small glass. The bartender was young, and looked more at home with a pair of bongos in a jazz club than behind a bar serving drinks. "You don't have to pay, pal." said the young man, his voice low and level, " For you, it's on the house.

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      In the cell on the opposite side of the boxed child, a figure in a thick coat sat silently, as if in a trance. He was a Meran skunk with standard black and white markings. His hair was as black as his fur, save for a streak of white in his bangs. He opened his eyes as he heard the fox speak. They were going to try to break out of the prison? If that were the case, then he would have to find some way to get out with them. He had been in that cramped cell for more than three years, since shortly after Nero had been killed on the planet Mobius, a dead planet on the fringe of Federation Space. His master had died there, leaving the skunk directionless.

    He stood and poked his head out of the cell bars. The metal was hot, just like everything else on Ignus. "Excuse me, sir." He called out to the Kitsune in the far cell. His voice was quiet and polite, much as he always spoke. "Perhaps I might offer my assistance in your plight. All I ask is that I be allowed to escape this confinement." He silently waited for a reply, staring at the fox with eyes that had seen no end of death and carnage, seemingly glazed over from the long captivity.

Murphys. It was a familiar place, although Kor would of preferred some of the more distant dives then one that catered so quick to those of current company. The lizard groaned as he took a seat at the bar, not paying any mind to anyone but himself for the moment itself. "Murph, usual." he stated directly as he was just glad to be out of the ceremony, albeit his thoughts still bounced back and forth and that was still oh so very bothersome to the lizard. It wasn't long until a glass of his drink had been presented to himself and the now hunter? Was he? He still didn't feel like one, but then again he was one of the select few who weren't straight out of their diapers and spouting challenges like a Char. At least he had that.

"Just another phase, likely." he muttered under his breath as he downed the drink in front of him in one go afterward. The bite was lessening, perhaps he needed to find a new form of intoxication to his system if he was getting tolerant of dokras. That was the one thing that made him chuckle, this hunter thing-- it still didn't feel like the right shoe for him, his foot was too big. He began thinking perhaps working for himself was the only shoe that truly fit, but he had felt this was worth a go in the least.

He called for a refill.

(OOC: Thinking of joining...probably with an ifreet.  I have a question though...You said their hair can be any color fire can be...does that include blue-fire? Kinda silly question, but...*shrug*)

OOC: Yes. Blue is included, as well as green.

Athena wandered through the crystalline maze of the parts of the asteroid in a morbid haze. What existed on the outside world and what was derived from her own head was difficult to decypher. She figured the atmosphere and oral induction of that substance the doctors had shoved down her larynx weren't doing much to help her orientation or perspective on the world around her.

Clad in a dishevelled straight jacket with blood stains splattered across the front and dripping from crystalline afterbirth which left her wet and cold- the sight of her was a forsaken twisted beauty.

Her head hung with her hair draping her face as she took the next few steps in silence...

"And who might you be?" a voice suddenly resonated which had a melodic tone.

The femme kitsune stopped so suddenly... but gazed up towards the subject in front of her in a tranquilised state. What her eyes met was a tall red furred male fennec fox with long spiky hair. What was pecular apart from the metallic-clad arms with crystal overgrowths and his intimidating height was the sheer look of insanity from his eyes and expression.

It left her in disbelief- with her mouth open ajar followed by one inquisitve ear that tilted up and the other that remained downwards.

She was a good foot or two shorter than him, but she could handle this rookie. And he was definitely invading her space. What nerve did he have to get up so close?!

She stepped back a foot or two from his embrace-like stance, almost losing balance as she did so.

"Who am I?!? Hmpf!! You!! Who the HELL are you more to the point?!?" she demanded, pointing an accusing quivering finger which was draped with an oversized cuff of the straight jacket, still soaked in blood from earlier "my name is Athena and I demand to see that contemptible son of a fiend!!! Adahn Saturos Valentine... so... you had BETTER give me some answers buster... or I'll slit you throat like I did that PSYCHO back at that shed!!!" she cried shrilly, her feral and disorientated eyes frantically searching for a sharp object to use against Adahn.

         Ramza eyed the newcomer, curious at the lack of any form of celebration. Sitting three seats away, he had a clear view of the Galvinite. It was unusual to see someone so mellow after such an accomplishment, but the fox appreciated that at least one of the new recruits had a level head. He snapped his fingers once, pointed to the newcomer and made the same hand motion as before.

         Murphy took the cue, grabbing a bottle from the top shelf and a shot glass, placing both of them in front of the lizard. "A gift from a regular." he stated, pushing the glass and bottle closer to his costumer.

_________________________________________________________________

         Noticing that the woman was looking about frantically for something, he easily read the signs. He spun about, reaching to his waist and drawing his sword, the blade nearly stabbing into the woman's nose. She reflexively stepped back once more. The fox lowered the blade, holding the hilt out for her to take. "Might you be looking for something such as this?" he offered, raising the sharp end to his own throat, "Go ahead, mon pech. Let loose your suffering."

Athena’s lower jaw once again fell open ajar at the revelations that just took place. Dumb folded and bewildered.

Nine times out of ten she would’ve definitely have anticipated an adverse reaction.

She had deliberately and directly provoked him and thus expected either a manner of fight, self-defence or retreat. What occurred was a completely out of the norm and the ultimate wild card.

It appeared that the taller red fennec in front of her was in fact, insanely offering her the chance to seal his fate by offering his sword and even holding the cutting edge towards the lifeline running through his throat.

She took the sword hesitantly and looked into his eyes. Even within the blindness of her intoxicating rage, she couldn’t help but recognize how deep his madness shone.

She stepped back cautiously, lowering the sword and looked away defeated.

She briefly felt ashamed for retreating- not quite knowing why she did when she could’ve taken him down. He laid himself bare. Unless he’d trick her and take the upper hand? Did he know something she didn’t? It seemed unlikely. There was something about his voice and manner that neither suggested any challenge or deception.

If she honestly didn’t know better, she would’ve gone out on a limb and hunched that he was being empathic- in some twisted and suicidal way. Especially at the words of ‘Let loose your suffering,’- and sacrificing himself to such an irrational being at that.

Be as it may, could such a creature, who appeared to be embracing his madness, even be capable of showing any form of compassion whatsoever?

Or was there a strong possibility she had misread him? It was a theory she would’ve preferred to have dismissed anyway. It was always easier to hate the world and disregard any of the weaker, pathetic emotions.

“...I’m... not suffering,” she said more quietly, denying and holding back her emotions “I just thought you were one of those psycho doctors...” she said lowering balancing herself with the sharp end of the sword in the ground.

She suddenly grimaced at her own words, wondering why she was offering him an explanation.

“Anyway I am Athena and I’ve lost all my memories... why?” she asked resentfully but calmer than before “and the doctors mentioned something about getting revenge on Adahn... something... Valentine. Is he responsible for me having lost my memories and being... this sick joke!?” she asked referring to herself with open arms, the oversize straight jacket sleeves flopping about.

       The fox shrugged, swinging his arms around himself as he turned to leave. His back turned to the woman, a strange circle was visible on his back, carved into his flesh before being covered by his hair once more. "Adahn something Valentine, eh?" he said, stopping and placing his hand on his chin as if in thought. "Adahn Saturos Valentine, I know... But I do not know an Adahn something Valentine." His ears perked up for a moment before receding down once more. "I wonder if he will share his toys..."

       It was then that the two were approached by one of the elder abominations, like a crystal skeleton bearing six glowing holes for eyes. It was pinkish in color and didn't share the ethereal cloak of the others of it's station. It held out one hand toward the female Kitsune, a coat in it's elongated hands. It gave out a low hiss of a sigh, no words escaping it's lipless mouth. "Do be a dear and get dressed, would you? That garment of yours is atrocious." he commented, looking back with a half grin.

OOC:  Will wait for mike.  So banter only at this point, lol.

*klunk*  The foxes head hit the wall a final time after the skunk had finished his plea.  Nate's rotated his head back level slowly to look at the man, at first he grimaced and was about to ignore him.  Then did a slight double-take muttering, "Duh-ning mah..."  The kitsune pulled himself up and staggered over to the bars, poking his nose through and squinting to get a better look at the man.  "Normally if it looks like a Meran, smells like a Meran, and whines like a Meran...." He paused to nod to myself, "It's a Meran. But you ain't no Meran are ya?"  He burrowed his eyes into the skunk narrowing them to slits,  "Least not like any I ever met, those eyes ain't right and I can't tell if you scare the hell outta me or just creep me out.  Either way you're gonna have to ask the ringleader of this little breakout.  Shouldn't be a problem since that one's yet another one of ya.  Just how the mighty Ifreet got such a bad rat infestation is beyond me."  He retracted his head and returned to the corner nearest the box, slumping back down and pretending to sleep, one eye keeping vigil over the still silent Pallens.

Kor took notice, but didn't make any fuss over it; or any sort of emotion. He just nodded and kept to himself for the most part. The loud cheer of the idiots filling his ears. He groaned before he took another drink, "Give them one achievement and look what happens." he muttered, although clearly after the liquid went down his throat.

"Does anyone have any sense?"

|OOC| Ramz, Rico; just go on with your POV, I'll build on it at a later date as nothing is coming to me for this particular event. So yeah, carry on.

Cubian meteor

Athena studied Adahn with hard eyebrows as he turned about the spot and wandered off a few paces away from her. For half a second she was annoyed he had turned her back on her- until she caught sight of a flesh deep scar.

‘What the hell?’ she thought to herself, raising her eyebrows and gritting her teeth. She couldn’t decipher its meaning either.

She resumed her former sour expression, listening to what he was saying to himself.

‘Ok then, ‘Saturos’. So I forgot... I made a mistake. Dgeeze. No need to take me so literally...’ she thought with a growl in her mind. So he did know this individual she was seeking answers from.

The female kitsune raised a finger, about to to press him with further questions, until the next statement left her to pause.

‘Toys? What toys? And who’s sharing them with who?’

Before she could dedicate any further thought to the previous notion, her eyes momentarily widened as she found they had been approached by a crystalline skeleton-like creature.

"Do be a dear and get dressed, would you? That garment of yours is atrocious." he commented, looking back with a half grin it spoke as it hand her out a cloak.

She exchanged glances between the cloak that was held out to her, and the blood-stained straight jacket she had been wearing with an agitated frown. It wasn’t so much the words he used but the way he said it that she found insulting.

“Hmn,” she muttered coarsely, snatching the cloak from the crystalline being ungratefully. She turned her back to rip off the straight jacket and throw it to one side, before donning the cloak. Had the straight jacket have not been drenched and stained various contaminants, she would’ve told the being to get bent and dismiss the cloak. She had to admit she preferred the cloak’s attire as well though.

She turned around and faced the other two older Cubians questioningly.

“So what now?” she asked, dividing a reserved stare towards the pair of them with narrowed eyes.

It was an open question. As it was she wasn’t getting direct answers for her specific questions so she thought she would comply with the kind around her until she learnt where she was... or more importantly, what she was.

____________________

Starfighter

Charran Vs Confederate aftermath

Aboard the Star-Fighter X9 which fought in union with Charles Hyong and the rest of his armada, an experienced wing Commander Kitsune by the name of Seipher O’shea alongside his friend, Zacharias Maynard the dog, looked on through the front window as the CDS: Hatred had mysteriously vaporised into space. Leaving behind a few flickers of reminiscent energy flares in the wake of the space that the CDS had only previously occupied a few seconds ago.

“Oh. I so admire a Charran’s mode of strategy,” Seipher spoke, flicking a few ashes from his cigarette as he simultaneously steered the controls upon the ship “buggering off whenever it suits them best and leaving the galaxy in a state? The dirty little hamsters!”

“I think that dedicating any thought as to what anyone thinks about them is the least of their concerns,” Zach commented with folded arms, narrowing his eyes at the remaining battleships fighting for survival as the exchanged numerous laser shots and blasts.

“They’re responsible for two major wars in a short span of time. The ‘War of 3 blades’ followed by the recent one, the ‘Nero Wars’?” the dog continued as his eyes peered over to Seipher before looking back out the window “clearly establishing intergalactic peace isn’t on their agenda.”

“Well they can’t just throw their scraps and rot around and expect me to be ok with that can they?!?” he demanded, stubbing out his cigarette and throwing his arms in the air. He lowered his arms and gritted his teeth, before leaning his forehead in the palm of his gloved hand.

“I swear to god, if it’s the last thing I do, I will hunt down and suffocate every kin belonging to Strahl and I will find who is responsible for my sister’s disappearance! For her loss...” he said with a mixture of anger and anguish.

“Hey hey! Calm down Commander...” Zach reassured him, despite his bleak expression he constantly carried “there’s no need to get so upset over a bunch of uncivilised mongrels. Besides, I prefer to believe that Athena is misplaced rather than ‘disappeared’ or ‘lost’.”

A few moments of paused conversation followed, with nothing but the sounds of the humming spacecraft, the bleeping computers and the faints laser blasts of the battle filling the void.

“You obviously feel quite strongly about taking down the Charrans and getting to the bottom of this...” Zach raised “why did you leave the Foundation Hunters?”

Seipher sat their frozen, staring at the starry galaxy in deep concentration as in moved in endless slow motion.

“Meh, they’re too soft for my liking,” he said dismissively, before flicking on a few switches to operate the space vehicle for its next move “anyway, better shift her out. This battle isn’t going to get any more exciting I suspect comrade. I’ll await the good old Charles next order...” the beige fennec finished, gazing at the monitors and intercom to see if any incoming signals or commands would come any time soon from the Hyong.

Truth was he had had enough of today’s battle and just wanted a long nap now.

          Ramza simply shook his head. He could easily hear what the reptile had said, and he agreed to a point, but even he needed to loosen up every once in a while. He stood up, moving away from the bar, just when the door opened once more, this time a brown tressed human Hunter walked through the door, followed shortly by a timid woman with pale skin and red hair. The male looked at home in the bar, instantly mingling with the crowd, but the woman was obviously uncomfortable. The black fennec moved to get out of sight, but only far to late, as the male called out over the raucous crowd in an almost obnoxious tone, "Hey Ram-rod! Didn't expect to see you here!"

          Ramza grit his teeth at the wholly unwelcome endearment, the term sounding to similar to a certain woman's electronic. He turned slowly, half glaring at the young Hunter. "Shouldn't you two be with the Headmaster? Beowulf... Reis..."

          "What!? And miss the party!? Hell nah!" he shouted enthusiastically, laughing heartily to himself, "Come on, Ram-rod! Get your panties out of a twist and join me for a drink! What would old Nik say if he saw you like this?" At the mention of the fox's late partner, the boy silenced quick, earning a full on glare from the veteran Hunter.

          "Watch your words, rookie..." growled the fennec, his eyes narrowed, "Erekayu was twice the Hunter you'll ever be."

          Beowulf grimaced, expecting a fist to the face. However, Ramza simply passed him, moving to stand in front of Reis. "My condolences for your late fiancee. He was a good man."

          "T-t-t-thank you..." she muttered, never looking the fox in the eye, "The virus t-t-t-takes f-from us all..." That being said, Ramza opened the door and left the bar. Beowulf took his place at the bar, and Reis stood awkwardly behind him, clinging to the only person besides Murphy himself that she knew.

________________________________________________________________

           "They left!" stated James in disbelief, "They just... left!" He looked back at Charles, a large smile on his face. "We won! We blighting won!" The bespectacled captain sighed and shook his head causing James' eyebrow to raise. Shortly after that, the ship's proximity alert went off, and the deck rocked hard, sending the pilot flying out of his chair. "Why the hell was that!?" he yelled more to himself then another.

           "That would be a Charran frigate ramming our hull." came the captains resounding voice, "Try to pay more attention to the monitors."

           "Why didn't you say anything!?"

           "Because it was to late."

           "But I-" Just then the com began to ring. "Hold that thought..." said the pilot as he picked up the transceiver, "Yes, love? What could the dashing James Royce do for you?"

__________________________________________________________________

            Jill stared at the comm device with a mixture of hatred and confusion, instantly knowing who had answered. "What in the blue blazes are ye doing in the captain's seat!?"

            "Captain James Royce... I kind of like the sound of that..." answered the pilot, "But of course, I'm not in the captain's seat, love. Did the nasty frigate shake you up? Would you like me to come down there and work some of that James Royce magic?"

            "Try it and I'll kill ye. Jig? I will kill ye." she threatened, still not quite getting through to the pilot, "Now how about ye get yer head out of yer arse and fly AWAY from the incoming projectiles!? Maybe then I could keep the engine in shape for more than four minutes!"

            "You can't force love, babe." replied Royce without an ounce of hesitation.

            "Whatever! Because of yer flying, we're gonnae need a whole new converter cap as well as five hundred quartz! Not to mention that I'm gonnae have tae replace the whole bleedin' radiation shell around the engine core, because ye just had to push yer steering to hard!"

            "I love it when you talk dirty." Without a reply, the Meran woman simply hung up the line, rubbing her fingers over the bridge of her nose, before walking back into the engine room's main deck and looking over the host of problems that she had to deal with, team or no.

_____________________________________________________________

            "She hung up on me..." stated James with a small measure of disbelief, "Why does she always hang up on me?"

            "Must be some of that James Royce magic." quipped Charles, quietly chuckling to himself.

            "I guess that must be it." replied the pilot, "She couldn't handle..." He posed in his seat, flexing his arms, "THE MAGIC!"

            Captain Hyong shook his head before stepping forth and grabbing the broad-space intercom. "This is Charles Hyong of the Flagship, Dauntless... Your new orders are to sweep away the remaining Charran hostiles and secure a prisoner. Return to your respective home vessels once this goal is achieved and credits shall be wired to your account. That is all." he ordered, flipping off the comm and returning to his seat. The strange vortex that had appeared behind the Hatred had vanished almost as soon as it had appeared. He would need to contact the Foundation at a later date and offer them whatever findings he could procure, for a price, of course.

_____________________________________________________________________

           "Why... your life has ended, my dear, sweet lass..." said the red fox with a frown, and then a smile, "You are transcended! Reborn into a painless world, while your corpse continues to walk this world giving freedom to those who would cause more pain and suffering." He turned his torso, his feet remaining in a fixed position, a sultry grin on his face as if in some kind of extacy. "Doesn't it all sound so wonderful? Freedom of pain, freedom of suffering, and freedom from want." He then went silent, his smile fading as he turned away from her once more. "You are free to do as you wish, mon pech... But reality is a monster that must be silenced for eternity!" he growled, drool leaking from the edge of his mouth. He reached up, wiping away the spittle and beginning his walk out of the room. "Follow, or do not. The choices is yours, little Alice. But do be careful of the Cheshire Cat that offers false promises."

           The pink crystal skeleton simply stood by Athena, staring at her with what seemed like curious eyes, but it was impossible to tell without eyelids. It would occasionally offer a hissing sigh, almost trying to speak, NEEDING to speak. But try as it might, no speech issued from its fleshless form.

Star-Fighter X9

“Oh man! For crying out loud!” Seipher protested as he got the latest order from Charles Hyong through the transmitter “What is the point in that? I want to go home!”

In an attempt to alleviate some his frustration, Seipher flicked on a gridded map which auto-locked its coordinates to the nearest Charran ship. With the Star-fighter automatically boosting its energy levels with a roar, the fennec slammed his fist against a large red switch which sent a set of twin missiles soaring towards its target. The missiles collided with the targeted ship, causing a huge explosion and leaving shards to flee out of orbit.

“Not going to have much chance of taking those passengers captive,” Zach mused, as his form was illuminated from orange and red light given off from the blast outside.

“No kidding right? I kill Charrans!” Seipher retorted, stating the obvious.

“Yes O’shea. However, can I bring your attention BACK what Hyong had ordered?” Zach blinked “to sweep away the remaining Charran hostiles and secure a prisoner?”

“Your point being?” Seipher asked playing dumb, as he shot at another Charran airship and managed to take out one of its lateral wings.

“Good lord...” Zach sighed exasperated with the wing commander’s stubborn attitude “I say we SECURE a prisoner first. And THEN blow their brains and spleens out. At the rate you’re going at there will be &)”( all left!”

“Uncle Seipher! Uncle Seipher...!” a little girl’s voice shouted jubilantly, belonging to a little pink Meran rabbit with robotic feet and a unilateral mechanical arm. She appeared moments later before the fennec and the dog.

“Language in front of the kid...” Seipher hissed turning around on his chair away from the window to face the upcoming child. He smacked the back of Zach’s head, which made the dog wince and instantly rub the back of his skull.

“Uncle Charles said we should take a mangy Charran prisoner. Wouldn’t that be cool huh?” the Meran girl asked enthusiastically.

“Ecstatic...” Seipher muttered sarcastically.

“I think we should take the space hover boards out and invade one of their ships and take us a prisoner. Yeah I do!” she continued.

“Dolly... no... that is FAR too dangerous!” Seipher scoffed.

“Come on... Uncle Seipher...” Zach said stifling a chuckle “she’s a strong and witty kid. And I’ll look after her.”

“More like she’ll look after you Zacharias. You can’t even fire a gun!” Seipher protested.

“But I have myself a whip...” Zach said, pulling out a wrapped up corded handle and smacking it against the floor with a lash “bet it could even cut through Charran lard.”

“And if it helps, I’ll steer the ship...” a new voice came from a female human, who emerged from the darkness and into the light of the pilot’s sector “I think it’ll do you good to get out wing commander.” She giggled.

“ ‘Fly?” Seipher asked, completely forgetting that she was a newly qualified airship pilot.

“I think you could all help each other on securing a captive. Besides, think of the rewards,” Butterfly, a pale and darkly dressed young human lady continued “and Seipher. You’re still longing for answers right? What if we take aboard a captive we could interrogate for those answers?”

Seipher frowned, tired and frustrated of talking against everyone. He pushed his palms against the surface of the control panel to stand himself up.

“Oh dgeeze! Fine... let’s get the hover boards ready and set our sights on invading the nearest Charran spaceship,” Seipher said, getting up and sneering in disgust “get your space helmets on and make sure Oxygen is on full. I ain’t taking any responsibility for bloody ‘health and safety’ matters no more!”

He didn’t know what was worse. The thought of infiltrating a defiled Charran ship, or leaving a female in charge of his Star-Fighter X9.

Cubian asteroid

‘What?’ Athena thought in disbelief after Adahn’s speech ‘my life has ended. But how can that be?’

She thought with the questions echoing hollowly in her mind, as she hid her mouth within the palm of her newly cloaked hand.

She could still feel her hand though. And everything else seemed normal. If not, everything felt much colder to what it seemed like in her former life. If she had one...

Her eyes became child-like and naive looking as she gazed back tall red fox who was in the process of marching out the room.

‘And if I’m dead, why is there no past to remember? Except for vague fleeting memories...’ she deliberated as her ears wilted in a tragic manner, whilst averting her eyes to stare at nothing.

‘Freedom from pain? Suffering? And want? If it all was so wonderful, why did he sound a bit... bitter towards the end of his verdict?’ she considered, momentarily frowning, before adopting a more sullen expression.

Athena only then remembered the skeleton creature that had been hovering there the whole time.

Its lack of expression and constant stare was beginning to creep her out somewhat.

“Hey... wait...!” Athena said, breaking out in a run to catch up with Adahn “I guess I can help you with whatever your cause is. It’s not like I have anywhere else to turn anyway...” she justified, slowing down as she found herself a foot or two behind him. Hesitating.

“But tell me. What is about reality that’s made you so mad?” she asked, referring to his statement on dubbing it a monster.

In a Meran Slum

Jareth slicks his greasy hair back and ushers another customer into the impromptu stall he's set up for his new source of income. The black and white ferret still can't believe his good fortune. To have found the little girl that day a month back -- initially he'd just wanted to keep her from dying on his doorstep but an uncanny sense for a potential profit had stopped him from kicking her onto the street. She'd looked at him with eyes that seemed to see beyond just him, and he'd taken her in on a whim, only to find out that she could see the future. She'd warned of a burglary (not that he had much to steal, but he had slightly more than most), and he'd taken precautions just on the off side...and lo and behold, she had been right! So the ferret had decided to try to turn a profit by having her tell the future of others.

And it was working. Word of the pale fortuneteller was spreading, a little girl with pale grey eyes and white hair who had a gift that could promise hope in a dark time. Every day there were a few clients.

Not that all her predictions were good. Some bad news had made clients angry, and he resented her for that. Furthermore, her creepy gaze was starting to rattle him. How she never said a word outside of her visions, how she never smiled or laughed....It was unnerving. He started avoiding her, just paying her enough attention to keep her fed and clothed. And to keep an eye on her when clients came to call, of course.

An Inn on Kohel

Angie slides into a seat next to her friend and partner of many years. It had been a long day helping the local farmers shift produce from where it was packed to the shuttles that would transport it. "Any news, Lexie?" she asks the older girl. "Any new job poss'bilities, anythin' a' all?"

Lexie shakes her head, short brown hair falling in front of her eyes. "Nah. No responses to the discreet ads I've placed, either. There's just not a demand for folks like us right now, it would seem. Which is odd, all things considered."

Angie mutters a curse. The two girls weren't really supposed to be doing manual labor. They were trained fighters, and much preferred bounty hunting. But anything was better than nothing -- to a point. "Aft'r we finish this job, we're gettin' off this planet. I c'n only take so much farmland b'fore I wanna see a real city."

"I'm with you there. Maybe if we drop by a pirate hub we can find something more suited to our talents." Lexie says that sentence in a particularly quiet voice. Though only loosely aligned with the Federation, they didn't need to make that association public. She signals the innkeeper and orders dinner for herself and Angie, along with drinks. Non-alcoholic -- neither of the two was yet old enough to drink, though both were perfectly capable of doing so.

Murphy's bar, the Foundation

Amongst the high-spirited graduates celebrating their achievement, there was a figure who was perhaps a little more conspicuous than many others by virtue of contrast. Where many of the newly-graduated recruits were talking and celebrating animatedly, she was quiet, with a smile on her face but a sombre look in her eyes. Another striking difference was that where many of the others were wearing their armour, she wore simple mechanic's overalls, for all that she was indeed one of the graduates and had been present at the ceremony in full armour earlier on. From her seat she seemed to be quietly drinking in and savouring the ambient environment, but at the same time to be miles away in some stream of solemn contemplation. Apart from her eyes slowly taking in the scene around her, and the sparks which leaped and crackled now and then in her red mane of unruly hair, the only discernible movement in the quiet Meran girl was the repetitive motion of her hand as she slowly turned her newly-gained coat of arms over and over in it.

Carla- for that was the girl's name- had been amongst the few who had not raised her hand when Taimat the Headmistress of the Hunters Academy had asked if they felt ready for the responsibility of being a Hunter. Her reasons for that were quite simple: before she had ever joined the Foundation she'd had a taste of the war and the present opposition first-hand...and it had terrified her. Some sparks leaped between her fingers as she remembered vividly the means by which she had gained her ability. Some would say she'd been incredibly fortunate to survive being infected with the Cubian Virus- she wasn't so certain. If high fever, followed by excruciating agony that had you unconscious or delirious most of the time and weeping and screaming like a little girl for your parents the rest could be counted as fortunate, then perhaps she was fortunate. That experience had come of being abducted by just a few Cubians, from just one hidden slave encampment on her homeworld. The scale of the emerging Cubian menace was much vaster and as for the individual at its heart...Carla's fingers tightened on her coat of arms until the knuckles were white. The thought of him scared her more than she'd ever care to admit.

Taking a calming breath, Carla dismissed thoughts about him from her mind. She was going to enjoy today as much as she could. That was why she wasn't in her armour- she always felt more comfortable in her overalls. She suspected that her perspective on the celebrations was a little different too. They were celebrating becoming Hunters- she was celebrating her last day as a civilian. They probably saw the gleam and shine in their newly-gained coat of arms; she felt only the weight of the thing- the weight of the responsibility that came with it. Strange how something so small could feel heavier than an entire suit of armour. With an effort she dismissed the morose thoughts that threatened to gather and brood. Today was a day for celebrating and feeling alive. After all, tomorrow was when they would be assigned their duties.Tomorrow was when there would be no more safety nets, and they would for the first time, see the maw of the beast called war with their own eyes. On the heels of that thought the words of her first instructor went through her mind: 'If you want peace, prepare for war'.     

[Meran Capitol of Elysia]

                Patrols of the town had become a bit uneventful in light of the sudden advancement in technology for the Meran government. Computers, vehicles, and even their own space craft when only four years ago they had still been in the dark ages. Sylvan technicians and architects were streaming into the newly founded planet, offering aide to the fledgeling galactic nation where the Ifreeti had refused. The stone and mortar houses and fortifications had been reinforced and fed power from newly installed generators. Cars drove down streets that once only bore travelers in horse drawn carts.

                The patrol of a middle aged rat subspecies Meran went through a particularly dark side of town, known for the traffic of slaves and illegal substances. Garbed in the traditional armor of the Meran infantry, although with some alterations in material, the rat hefted his power halberd and walked through these dangerous streets. The air was still, the smell of smog and industry that was still prominent here wafting through the alleys like a sick wind through a sewer. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, which was a first, admittedly, the rest of town a new sight for unwilling eyes. However, such reprieve from the suddenly developed world was washed away when the Meran soldier spotted a human woman thrown from the inside of a store.

               "You'll do as you're told, wench!" yelled an angered ferret as he picked up the woman and slapped her across the face. He went to do so again, not stopping to talk anymore, when he felt something grip around his wrist. He turned around to see the closed full helm of the Meran soldier, painted a dark blue. "Hands off, royal lackey!" said the ferret, whipping out a knife, "This creature's mine, and I donnae aim to part with it. Jig, berk? Shove off!" Finishing his sentence, the ferret stabbed at one of the eye slots in the soldier's helmet. This was met with the butt of a halberd to the man's gut as the soldier dodged back, followed by the blade cutting into the rodent's back. It was a simple end, the ferret laying on the ground, face down.

               The soldier then turned to the woman, placing his halberd and his portable bulwark down as he knelt before her. He removed his helmet, blonde hair flowing down over troubled eyes as he stared into the woman's. He was a white rat with aqua eyes and a small scar over his left brow. He held out his gauntleted hand to the woman, offering to help her up. "Are you alright, ma'am?" he said in a somewhat low and calm voice. He then noticed her look behind him, and with a swift motion, grabbed his halberd. He needn't have bothered. There was the sharp crack of a rifle firing, and the ferret's face crumbled as a bullet shot clean through his head and into the wall of a building. The rat looked up, atop a house to see a familiar woman, garbed in armor similar to his own, and totting a large rifle.

              "Aye! Brian, me brother... Ye need tae pay better attention, ye do!" shouted the grinning rat, whipping her braided hair behind her, "I may not be around to save ye next time." She hopped down, walking toward the two, a giant grin on her face, the shroud around the waist of her armor blowing in the slight wind. "Now, don't be shy, boiyo. Introduce us!"

__________________________________________________________________________________

              Adahn only stalled when he had reached then end of the corridor with the pods containing the many infected that were still in stasis, waiting to be deemed worthy or not of the virus' power. "What do I mean?" stated the red fennec with a harsh tone, then calming into his earlier melodic voice, "Look around you, mon pech... Do they look happy to you? Can you not feel them, writhing in the pain of unbirth? The living suffer. Isn't it natural to wish to remove a terminal patient from life support when they scream from the pain of their encroaching death?" He rolled a small crystal shard between his fingers as he said this, staring into it as if it were a new born babe.

             The pinkish skeletal figure walked up behind them, reaching for the wall before groaning harshly. Adahn looked back, raising an eyebrow as he frowned back at his would-be minion. "Oh, what's the matter, Maph?" quipped the fox, "Do you want more toys? Well you go ahead and play to your hearts content!" The creature leaned on the wall, bringing one elongated hand to its head and letting loose a slow sigh.

The girl tumbled to the ground when flung, but oddly enough she did not make a sound, other than a faint gasp. Even when hit, she didn't cry out. She watched Jareth try to stab the white rat in the back, only to have a bullet penetrate his head and end his life. A bit shocked, she looks up at the second rat, then back to the first. Granted, she hadn't been overly fond of the ferret, but to have him killed so suddenly, and right in front of her....The child's eyes turn white. She no longer sees the two Merans in front of her. Instead, she is watching her parents turn into crystal abominations, her town being overrun, absolute madness descending...

With a wrench she brought herself back to the present, and her eyes return to grey. An angry red mark was already spreading across her face from when she'd been hit; underneath her clothing her hip and elbow were turning the plum color of a new bruise. The eight-year-old shakily accepted Brian's hand up, not bothering to brush her white hair out of her face. Again she looked from Brian to his sister, and hesitantly made a few hand gestures. When her actions are only met with confusion, she signaled the two to wait a moment and hurried inside, returning after a minute of searching with paper and a pen. "THANK YOU," she wrote hesitantly, purposefully trying not to think about the dead ferret only a few meters away. "I AM JESS." Her writing was childish scrawl, but still mostly legible.

Murphy's bar, the Foundation
Carla had glanced up momentarily to take in the brief exchange that took place between the veteran hunter Ramza and the duo that had just arrived. As Ramza Valentine made his exit though, she returned her gaze to the coat of arms she held. Seeing the exchange made her think of the time, years before, when she had met her first instructor for the very first time. They hadn't exactly seen eye to eye either. He'd been a veteran fighter and hermit and she'd been an idealistic dreamer- something she still was to an extent. She gazed at the coat of arms as her mind drifted back to that fateful encounter years before...

Mera, years ago

Carla jumped, spinning around to face the direction the voice had come from, her ears flattening themselves against her head, her eyes wide and staring in surprise. "I said, 'what do you think you're doing all the way out here girl'?" The stranger repeated, "the wilds aren't a child's playground- I'd have thought your parents would have taught you that much by now". Carla stared at the newcomer in amazement- he wasn't like anyone she'd ever seen before. Not that she hadn't seen tall, strong-looking adult men before, but this man definitely wasn't Meran of any sort she had ever seen- maybe not Meran at all. Scrambling to her feet, whilst nearly dropping her sketch pad and pencils in the process, she held them up- as though presenting evidence- as she answered the stranger's question. "I'm d-drawing s-sir," she half stuttered as surprise and fright lessened, "I like to draw out here- it's quiet here and no-one bothers me. I mean, not that you bothered me- you scared me but- well, that's not what I mean! I mean I like it out here because its quiet and none of the children my age bother me when I come out here! Sir!" she finished in a rush, grateful that her already red colouration covered a growing blush. She couldn't tell what the stranger thought of her explanation, his expression gave away nothing. "And why do the other children bother you?" he asked, in a tone that anyone else might use to ask the time of day, "do they bully you?" Carla tilted her head, slightly surprised at the question. "No sir," she said, "they like me- too much. They all want to be my friend or get to know me or spend time with me- and all because of my fur-colour. When all I want is to be left alone so I can draw!"

Again the stranger gave away no hint of what he was thinking. "Just what do you draw?" he eventually asked. Carla wasn't sure if he was actually interested, mildly curious or just making conversation. But he didn't seem to be dangerous- or at least, he didn't seem to be intent on harming her. She answered shyly. "I design things sir," she said, "I think things up and I draw them. Things that'll change the world!"  There was an odd look in the stranger's eyes as he answered her, "your world may change soon enough girl," he said, "but you may not like it when it does". Puzzled, Carla had asked him what he meant. She had been unprepared for the answer. "There is a war being fought girl," he had told her, "a war unlike any you've ever seen- a war amongst the stars. Its being fought by people you've never heard of, with weapons you can't imagine. If that war comes here someday- and it may do- then the world you know wouldn't last long. It simply isn't strong enough to survive that kind of onslaught". Distressed at the revelation, Carla had felt the need to speak out for her world. "It will survive sir," she piped up, "I'll make it strong enough when I make the things I design!" The stranger remained unimpressed. "And how will you survive to turn your designs into a reality girl?" he asked, "you run away when other children bother you- what makes you think you're strong enough to survive a war?" Stung and challenged by his answer Carla had blurted out, "well if I'm not strong enough, I guess I'll just have to find someone who can make me strong!" The stranger had looked at her then with an odd expression. "If you're serious about that," he said, "then one of the first things you need to learn is this: If you want peace, prepare for war".

In the present, Carla reflected on that first piece of advice he'd given her. She hadn't understood it at all at the time, but feared she understood it only too well now. That advice- and other crucial events in her life- had all led her to where she was now...and where she would be tomorrow. She gazed at the coat of arms in her hand again, the symbol of her new status as a Foundation Hunter. She'd heard some of the history of the Foundation during her years of training and knew of the founder and former Headmaster of the Foundation & Hunters Academy; Orlandu Blossom. His life and experiences could virtually be a practical demonstration of that first piece of advice: If you want peace, prepare for war...          

            Beowulf almost instantly spotted the Meran woman sitting at a table in the bar. He stood up, walking over to her table and plopping down in the seat. "Why hello there, good lookin'. How about you and I get out of this place and have some personal time before your first mission. What do ya say?" he offered, grinning lecherously. Meanwhile, Reis was standing nearby, fiddling with a small data pad that she had been carrying around. She seemed very uncomfortable in this setting, only hear because Beowulf had dragged her there. "Yeah, I can see how impressed you are. But if your this impressed now, you should see me naked." bragged the idiot. A this comment, the red haired woman behind him coughed harshly from shock.

______________________________________________________________________

            "Her name is Jess, Beatrice." commented the armored rat.

            "I can read, ye addled git!" shouted the woman in Brian's ear. She then turned back to the woman in question. "Come wit' us, deary. We'll get ye all cleaned up and presentable, aye!?" She glared at her older brother, "And ye're gonnae stay RIGHT there so's ye ain't doing any peaking."

            Brian stood upright at this comment, his face scrunching in a mixture of horror and irritation. "Now why do ye need to go and say such things!?" he retorted growing all the more irritated with his younger sister. She simple stuck her tongue out at him and said, "It's a bad soldier who gets all bent out of shape over something like this, bro." and began to walk toward the castle. Brian clicked his tongue, closing his face plate as his moved to follow after them.

The girl did as directed, sensing that the loud female rat means well. If presented with options for clothing, she goes for simple shirts and pants -- no frills, and absolutely nothing red. The color had become something of a symbol of her time with Jareth. The red dresses he had her wear when telling futures had instilled in her a deep distaste for anything that color.  Being forced to use her gift, her curse, over and over -- it wasn't just the client's future she saw at times, and sometimes she saw things that terrified her, completely unrelated to that person, or else things from her own past, which was even more painful for its familiarity.  No, she would never wear red again.
If possible, she bathed herself, /by/ herself. She was eight. She didn't need any help with bathing. When she was done bathing and changing, she felt like a different person. She looked a little different too, in the way she carried herself, though she was still nervous. She didn't really feel like she belonged in a /castle/, after all. Castles were for royalty and other important people, and she was just a nobody that no one really wanted anymore.  If her time on her own hadn't convinced her of that, certainly her month with the callous and self-centered ferret had made that fact clear.
With a few wayward strands of hair hanging in front of her face, she looked up at Beatrice for direction.  Surely the rat has something she wants from Jess....

Carla gave Beowulf the kind of look other people might reserve for a debased and degenerate descendant of primordial ooze which, having slithered forth from some abysmal sewer and spewed bile upon one's boots, proceeds to whisper the most puerile and grotesque form of greetings imaginable. As he continued to speak though, her gaze shifted from him to the woman behind him and the data pad she held. The look of disgust faded, replaced by the look of someone who has made a profound realisation or suddenly become privy to an excellent joke. All at once she smiled a brilliant smile and leaped to her feet to shake Reis's hand enthusiastically.

"You must be some kind of genius!" She exclaimed exultantly, "I admit, the armour and the life-like face threw me at first, but the primitive facial expressions and the basic repertoire are a dead giveaway! The armour's actually the body chassis isn't it? Just lights and clockwork inside right? You must let me stop by your workshop sometime and see him on the slab! I'd ask for a chance to tinker with the mechanics myself, but I can't imagine the skill it took to cram everything into such a compact form! That's why you carry the remote unit right? You can't fit all the AI modules and autonomous motor functions into something so compact. That'll be why you chose to modify the armour/chassis to have treads and thrusters too am I correct? Compensating for what had to be removed or minimised to produce such a compact model. Is it strictly a custom job or is it the prototype for a new series? Because whatever he is- and despite needing some remote operation- he's the most amazing, compact, life-like robot I've ever seen! And making him look like he's a Foundation Hunter too was a stroke of pure brilliance! Make him talk some more please- what else have you got him programmed to say?"      

                "W-w-wha?" muttered the red tressed woman, stepping back and shying away from the sudden onslaught of communication. Beowulf didn't even turn around, drumming his fingers on his chin and glaring at the empty seat that Carla had vacated. "You would think that the ladies would love a veteran of the Nero Wars, but no... All the good ones flock to other women." He sighed heavily and stood up. "Reis, have fun, I'm going to check the mission boards. Don't feel you need to punish yourself on my account." Reis simply stared after Beowulf, almost begging him to come back and help her out of whatever was going on.

________________________________________________________

               Beatrice nodded, tilting her head to the side. "Hmmm... Ye know... I think purple is more your color. But ye have the freedom tae choose yer own colors." The woman began to walk away, but turned to motion back for Jess to follow her. "Lets get ye something tae eat, youngun. Ye look famished."

Jess followed the lady rat eagerly. She was hungry. Her clothing choices had consists of paler colors, mostly in the cooler end of the spectrum, and earth tones. At the moment she wore dark brown pants and a pale blue shirt. Her new shoes made an unfamiliar sound on the surface of the floor as she hurried to keep up with Beatice. She tried to keep track of the turns that they follow, but is soon lost in the huge building. The oppulent furnishings were overwhelming for someone used to the poor part of town.

CDS: Hatred

"I'm dissapointed in ya, Strahl. I never once ran away from a good fight."

The pair of eyes lazily focused on the wild orange hair of Jarad Leo-March. The lion-type Charran gave her a sly smirk. He had to be the boldest youth anyone had ever seen, but, again, his own father had fought in the Nero Wars and died an honorable man. He was shirtless, choosing to wear two belts across his chest and spiked bands on his wrists, military-style pants and boots. His tail swished about, much to the annoyance of a smaller canine Charran with a slight tanned expression and his short dark hair tied up. His pointed elf-like ears twitched a little as his hand waved it away, although his eyes remained seemingly shut the whole time.

"Oi, oi, Jar, quit that. You're gonna make me sneeze."

"Oh? Sorry, Ri. You shouldn't be sittin' there anyway, you gotta man the turrets."

"We're in the middle of WARP, dumbass, and you were supposed to be helping me."

"Call me a dumbass again and I'll tear your tail off your rump."

Despite the back and forth banter between the two adolescent youths, it was evident they were close friends.

"Anyway," the shorter Charran, named Riley, piped up, "that's kind of wierd, now that I think about it. S'not like we were losin' back there or anything... damn, it's boring when there's no fight. Now I wanna swing at something."

"Not here, Ri," Jarad chided him. "You're lucky we were even ALLOWED on the bridge this time."

CDS: Hatred:    

             Blayte stepped forward, towards the two youths. "You two are lucky to be here. Your predecessors we killed in the last battle. I honestly figured the same thing would happen again." growled the dog-typed Charran, flicking at one of his Pomeranian ears, "I don't appreciate seeing children on the bridge, but you two have at least proven yourselves for now." He scratched the back of his head, glancing over the controls for the turrets. There were still a few burn marks around the new installation. "Clean that mass up before you leave your shift."

            "Oh, shut-up, Blayte!" shouted Captain Strahl, "The talking thing you do all the time is annoying." She picked up a glass mug that had been next to her seat and threw it at him, causing it to shatter on the back of his head. The dog sighed and rubbed the small knot that it had created. This was going to be a long voyage.

______________________________________________________________________

Meran Capitol City:

            Beatrice led the girl into the royal banquet hall. The royal family and staff were already in the midst of their evening dinner. "Greetings, your highness." greeted the Meran woman to a young girl at the head of the table. The girl nodded back. She couldn't have been older than twelve or thirteen, wearing an ornate crimson gown as befit a member of the royal family. Beatrice then took her place at the table and motioned for Jess to enter and greet herself.

______________________________________________________________________

Spacial Contested Zone:

           The remaining Charran vessels were still putting up a hell of a fight, living up to the Charran battle standard. New damage reports rushed into the coms of the Dauntless' bridge screens as they took hit after hit, the enemy ships beringing their focus on the Confederate flagship. Charles stood calm upon the bridge's command platform, staring out over the frantic crew as they tried to compensate. Even James was getting more than he could handle out of the Charran assault as he forced the ship left, right, up, and down in an effort to avoid missiles and other spacial barrages. The braided captain pushed his glasses up from the tip of his nose. "Like trapped rats..." he commented, feeling hateful eyes at his back.

          "Trapped rats, eh? Are rats such terrible things that ye have tae go trappin' em!? Are rats such a bleedin' menace that yet wish em removed from yer presence and dead!?" shouted an angry and frustrated Jill, "Rats are a lot stronger than ye be thinkin' jig!?"

          "My apologies, ma'am." offered Charles, giving a slight bow and causing his glasses to fall back to his nose.

          Jill stepped forward and jabbed a finger into his chest. "Ye better be sorry, ye bloody racist!"

Morning came too fast for them all.  The lanky squirrel slowly opened one blue eye
to see the alarm would sound in just a few minutes.  Part of him wanted to wait just that little
bit longer to get a few more moments before this day started, he knew it would
be a long one… or possibly would be their last. 
A tuft of his vermillion hair slipped down into that same eye, forcing
him awake abruptly.  He yelped and sat
up, rubbing his eye, “Man I gotta get a haircut when we get off this
rock.”   He blinked and noticed that not
only was Israel awake, but fully dressed and suited up, sitting at the
window.  “Whoa… how long you been up,
Iz?”  The awestruck squirrel stammered
still not quite believing his eyes.  The
mouse turned around, his typical disarming facial expression right where it
always was.  “Awhile, I went out and
picked up some extra supplies.  And leave
it.”  Mouse looked confused, as neither
statement made sense in the slightest; especially the notion that Israel
Garnett would ever prepare for anything?  â€œLeave what?” 
He said, finally deciding on a response. 
The rodent gave a half smile, “Your hair, it looks better long.”  Mouse yawned, stretched, and got to his feet,
“Whatever Iz, it’s irritating and I don’t recall you being my girlfriend so I’m
going to the shower and… what the…”  He
stopped staring at the bed the mouse was supposed to have slept on.   A half dozen varying firearms lay on the
blanket, including one Ifreet military laser rifle.   He turned to the mouse with a look of
bewilderment, “Izzy… where did you go last night?”  The mouse adjusted his goggles, “To do my job
of course.  You think we’re the only ones
sympathetic to Pallens’ plight?” 

Mouse looked over the weapons again, then back at the mouse,
“And if whoever gave these to you is out there reporting you?”  Izzy shrugged, “Why would they have
waited?  Waiting means we’d use
them.”  The squirrel gritted his teeth,
“You could have gotten killed… I- Oh Nevermind.”  He snapped and slammed the bathroom door.

The fox became more and more restless as the day wore
on.  The kid the box hadn’t said a word
and the old Meran hadn’t been very talkative, another oddity considering his
race.  Most Meran the Kitsune had run
into acted like they were in a caffeine drip and would backstab you for their
next one.   But one thing he’d noticed
was the lack of guards, did those rats really have the means to buy off the
guards?  Maybe he’d have to keep them
around if they managed to stage something like this.  Hell if they killed them already he might
even join whatever they had going.

Dusk had fallen, the Ignus skyline did look spectacular at
night; but the two rodents hadn’t had time to notice as they’d been on guard
all day watching the prison complex. 
They were in the back of a nearby outdoor café.  Mouse going over his notes and Israel
inhaling another drink, after several minutes the squirrel sat back and rubbed
his temples in frustration, “Makes no sense…” 
He looked up at the mouse and hissed, “The guards have been barely seen
at all in that section; neither at the window to Cobb or the door from that
cell block.  It’s like they’ve pulled the
guard from JUST that section.”  Izzy sat
forward, his straw never leaving his mouth, “Could be a trap.”  The squirrel made a disgruntled face, “And
just how would they know we’re coming.  
Oh that’s right, someone ran around last night telling people.”   Mouse groaned and covered his head on the
table.  “I really don’t wanna die here,
or worse spend the rest of my life in that sauna of a prison.”  The mouse idly looked to one side, noticing
the sky, “Better get going, night time.” 
The two of them slipped out the side door and over to the fence
surrounding the complex.  “See what I
mean,” Mouse hissed, “Three days and the hole still isn’t patched.  Whether we made it look natural or not they
should have patched it.  These ARE Ifreet
we’re talking about.”  Israel said
nothing and just moved through the fence.  
The pair ducked between shadows till they had a view of the cellblock,
again the squirrel whisper, “Look.  Not
one guard.  This is ridiculous.  This has to be a trap, let’s get outta
here.  Iz?”  The pudgy rodent had already made it halfway
to the front door by way of rocks and buildings and was obviously out of
whisper range.  The squirrel winced and
darted out from their hiding spot to try to catch up.

“Hey Pal, you up? 
Come on squirt if those Merans are for real on this you gotta help me
some.”  Nate hissed at the box, “They
ain’t leavin’ without me; and I’m sure you know your own ship.  So I decided you’re coming case we need ta
know something the manual don’t tell.  So
stop mopin.”  Again the box was
silent.   The Kitsune grunted loudly and kicked
the bars, “Can’t believe this, gotta wait for rats bail me outta here.”

“Would you keep it down.” 
A younger voice hissed, “We can’t get you out of here if you’re
hollering like a warhound.”  The Kitsune
jerked his head toward the entrance to see the red haired squirrel pressed
against the interior side of the doorway, pistol drawn and peering hard up the
stairwell as Israel scampered in and took position on the opposing side.  Nathan’s jaw dropped, “Tsai boo shr*, you
rodents got in here without firing a shot?” 
The fox’s mouth stood open for a moment.

“Mouse!  He’s
here.  Look!”  The mouse yelped pointing excitedly at the
box.   “Now we can just get them BOTH and
go!”  The Squirrel’s ears flattened and
he hissed at the rodent, “Ssssssh, we won’t go anywhere with you and that
Kitsune bellowing like Charran dogs.  
Give Nathan a gun and find a way to get those locks open.  Hurry.”

Izzy nodded and darted over, offering the mercenary his
pistol and watching it be snatched away before he could blink. 

*BLAM*

The skunk woke with a start as all three of them jumped and
stared in shock at the Kitsune, as the door fell open.  Nate grinned and waltzed over to the cell
containing the boxed Ifreet.

*BLAM* *BLAM*

Mouse’s mouth fell open as he covered his ears, watching the
fox move to the Skunk’s cell.

*BLAM*

The final door opening with a hideous wrenching as it hung loosely
from its destroyed hinges.  By this point
all the Meran had scambled for cover from ricocheting projectiles.   The fox smiled and his hand on his hip
twirling the pistol, “There we go, doors open.”   Mouse appeared from the doorway, mouth
agape, “You IDIOT,” He hissed loudly, “If they didn’t hear us yet they
CERTAINLY have now.”   The fox seemed to
pout sputtering out, “Got the doors open didn’t I?”  The squirrel was about to retort when a dull
thump came from behind them seconds before a muffled yelp.   The mouse was kneeled by the box silently.

“Izzy?  You ok?”  The squirrel stammer before pulling his
weapon on the fox, “I swear if you shot him I’ll…”  A loud klank rang out as the rodent’s gun
went flying as the fox struck like lightning, whirling the squirrel around and
pressing the gun against the white fur on his temple, “I didn’t shoot no one
yet, but you point one of those at me again and I aim to start, Dong le
ma?”  The sound of a gun cocking gave him
pause; the old skunk had retrieved the weapon and was aiming it from his right
flank, “I am sorry sir.  But if they are
here to rescue us I do not think we should be shooting them.”  “Guay…**” The fox got a disgusted look on his
face at being out maneuvered by the old man muttering lowly while putting the
weapon away and turning the squirrel loose. 

Mouse darted out of reach and turned to his friend, from the
new angle he could see a pile of dirty red fur had fallen out of the box, which
was now open.  His heart fell seeing the
lifeless form.  Israel finally moved,
pulling the small creature up and suddenly looking very intense.   Suddenly the wolf moved, opening his eyes
and looking around.  He said something
but the voice was too quiet to hear.   He
watched his partner gather the extremely skinny Ifreet up, the boy at least
semi-conscious as he was keeping ahold of the mouse’s front by way of his neck
and waist. 

“Let get out of here,” Israel said finally.  The fox had been eyeing up the stairway and
grunted, “Took too long coddlin’ molly. 
Looks like the missing guards got replaced.”  Mouse winced, realizing the skunk had his
weapon and hefted the rifle off his back, and right into Nate’s waiting
hands.  The Kitsune snatched the weapon
up and tossed the pistol to Mouse with a nonchalant, “Thaaank you.”  Then lumbered back to the stairs looking
pleased with himself.  The squirrel
stared at the pistol for a second trying to process what just happened only to
see Nathan raise the weapon and set out into the middle of the stairway.

*ZAP*

...

*ZAP*

There was no time for any of them to get a word out before
the guard fell one, then the other.   The
Kitsune waved them forward.  The three Meran’s
complied in stunned silence and exited the cell block, blindly following the
Kitsune.  As he did Izzy felt a slight
tug on his belt, a look back revealed the fox had nicked yet another item.  This one however made Mouse pause mid
stride.   A grenade of sorts, the
ex-soldier turned it over in his hand, “Very nice…  This one may come in handy.  Beginning to like ya ratboy, you have the
good stuff.”  The mouse said nothing, the
squirrel watched the fox pocket the explosive and take off.   The four moved quickly back toward the
fence, only to have the Kitsune stop dead at the last building and signal
frantically for them to do the same. 
Izzy make his way to the front and nudged the Kitsune, motioning down to
the shaking Ifreet.  The Kitsune had seen
enough action to recognize what being able to see someone’s ribs along with
them shaking and sweating meant.   He
whispered, “Dehydration and starvation… gods this just keeps getting better.”  Then motion for Israel to look around the
corner.

Their escape route was only a stone’s throw away, and covered
by at a half dozen armed guards.  The
mouse let a small whimper escape and shrunk back to the others, reporting what
he’d seen.  Mouse slid down the side of
the building looking catatonic and stuttering. 
“I..I knew it…  I…it was a trap…  We’re gonna die.”  The skunk stood wordlessly, watching their
flank.  Israel slid down next to him,
holding the dying Ifreet child absentmindedly. 
Mouse watched the lights in the sky, trying to pick out which one was
home.  “It’s ok…  ‘least you guys came back.  Heh, not that it did any good.”  The voice was youthful and meek, and came
from the lump of red fur Izzy was holding. 
Mouse looked over, “Almost wish you weren’t awake, kiddo.  Doubt you wanna feel what they’re gonna do to
us.”  Izzy sighed, “Told ya we would
Pallens, no one deserves what they did to ya, just because you’re not a
murderous bloodthirsty…”

“HEY BOYS!  ANYONE
THIRSTY FOR A PINEAPPLE!”

*KA BOOM!*

A massive explosion rocked their hiding spot, debris flying
past the place where Nathan had been and the fence falling in a large area on
their side of the complex.  Mouse lunged
to his feet and scampered off to the side of the building.   Israel slowly got to his feet, still holding
the Ifreet.  Even the silent skunk daring
take his eyes of the rear to see what had just happened.   Mouse ran straight into Nate, who was
practically glowing.  The squirrel’s face
twisted into horror, “Cobb you… you didn’t.” 
The Kitsune grinned, “Ha, it was great. 
You hear that line?  They turned
and BOOM, Ifreet chunks everywhere!”  The
two younger Meran’s stood in silence.  The
skunk cocked his head replying curiously, “But… you do not drink
pineapple.”   The fox suddenly seemed to
realize his grammatical error and wrinkled his nose, “Pineapple juice.  You drink that.  And I just turned those idiots into it.”  Again the skunk blinked, “Pineapple juice
isn’t red.”  Nathan snarled, “Yeah, well
it’s pulpy, and those guys certainly are.”

“Guys, PLEASE, can we just go?”  Izzy pleaded, feeling the boy grip
tighter.  Mouse nodded, “Let’s just get
outta here; unless you want a dozen counts of murder on your head.”  One joint nod later they moved through the
remnants of the guards.   Israel tried in
vain to keep the boy from looking; he was stubborn even half starved.  “Taelon…” 
Pallens muttered as they left the scene. 
The mouse grimaced, “Someone you knew?” 
The boy nodded but went silent.

Lights and alarms went up as they slipped into the
city.  The four plus their parcel made
for the shipyards, the patrol and military presence increasingly rapidly.   Night or not the sudden murder of that many
people got the whole city on high alert. 
Mouse cursed himself for his choice in mercenaries, Nathan Cobb was a
lunatic.  Due to the events there was no
time to stop to collect their belongings or even get the starving Ifreet food
or medical help.  They had to make for
the Skiff as fast as they could.  The
closer they got the more problems happened, the young Ifreet called Pallens
began to get worse, losing consciousness completely and forcing Israel to carry
dead weight. 

“Ai’ya, this is gonna be a meran shoot ‘fore too long.  Where is this ship again?”  The Kitsune growled as the troupe entered the
vacant shipyard.   “Not far, about three
docks down.  Long as you can get us to it
we can take you where-ever.”  Mouse
stated matter-of-factly, relieved to be so close.   The Kitsune looked hurt, “Hey, wait
now.  You ain’t dumping me off.  This little jaunt was fun, I think I’m gonna
stick around.  ‘Sides if I leave you and
yours probably turn Pal over for the reward. 
Greedyass Merans.”  Israel
suddenly snarled, “Back off fluffy tail, that’s probably want you want him
for.  You don’t seem to mind killin’
people.”  The fox puffed up indignantly,
“Now just wait one minute.  There’s a big
difference there.  Yeah, I’ll kill a man
in a fair fi-”

A shot rang out, silencing him.  Then a quiet groan followed as Mouse slumped
down to the floor, holding his side.

“Freeze!  Don’t move
or I’ll fire.”  A guard had slipped in on
them during the argument and was waving a rifle at them.  “Drop your weapons!  Now!”  
Nathan groaned and set the rifle down carefully, in range of a
lunge.   “Kick it over here.  Now, you piece of $#@%.”  The fox grumbled and obeyed.

“Wait, wait, please wait. 
We only want to get this kid some help. 
They were starving him!”  Israel
took point, moving in front of the fox with a hand open and forward to show he
wasn’t armed. 

“Stop moving.   Put it
down and step back.”

“But he’ll die.  I’m
sorry about the guards, we didn’t mean for them to get hurt.  We didn’t think Cobb would do that!”  The mouse pleaded again, still keeping the
hand open in a show of peace.  The
soldier aimed his weapon, “His fate was his fate.  Our people cull the weak, what right do you
have-”   The pudgy grey mouse jerked his
hand the rest of the way vertical and single gunshot fired from a hidden weapon
under his wrist.  The soldier was stuck
in the head, falling dead.  “Weak
shouldn’t be culled…”  The mouse
whispered to himself turning and rushing back to the others.

“Ha HA!  Nice one
ratboy.  I like ya even more now!  You got such awesome toys… eh?”  The fox stopped seeing the Squirrel’s fallen
form.  Izzy was already at his side, the
squirrel was still conscious and already struggling to get to his feet, his
friend pleading with him not to.  “Rayray
please, it coulda hit your lungs or something worse.  Stop moving around you could die!”  The squirrel growled and gripped the mouse’s
vest to pull himself to his feet, “Noone else can fly the thing, unless you
wanna force junior there too, it’s me. 
Quit griping and help me out.” 
Mouse spoke hesitantly and painfully, it was obvious just breathing was
hurting and they had no way of knowing how bad the man had been hit.

The fox suddenly grunted loudly out of sheer frustration
watching the overly dramatic dialogue and stormed over and threw his gun to the
skunk.  Grumbling out, “Reeeally ain’t
got time for soap opera’s,”  Then shoving
the mouse to one side and scooping up the scrawny squirrel and heading for the
ship muttering, “Carrying rats with booboo’s around…  I knew I shoulda taken those pilot classes.”

“We should follow, I hear footsteps behind us.”  The skunk suddenly stated, urging Israel
forward.  The mouse nodded and took off
as fast as he could with the Ifreet in tow. 
But they stopped short of entering the ship as Nathan was still standing
outside, letting the squirrel bleed all over him and staring at the skiff.   It was small, probably less than thirty
meters long and just tall enough to stand up in.  “Tai-kong suo-yo duh shing-chiou sai-jin wuh
duh pee-goo***…”  The fox rattled out
looking almost ready to cry.  â€œTHIS is
the ship?  THIS piece of junk?  Gods when will I ever catch a break.”  However seeing the others board and a mass of
soldiers entering the shipyard he figured it was better than staying on the
planet and hefted the squirrel, racing over and plopping him into the pilot’s
seat. 

“BE CAREFUL YOU IDIOT! 
HE’S HURT!”  Called Izzy’s
irritated yelp from his position securing Pallens. 

“YEAH YEAH!  I AIN’T
HURTING YOUR LITTLE BOYFRIEND!”  The
Kitsune called back.

“Heh, and here I thought you were carrying me over the
threshold.”  The squirrel quipped meekly
adjusting some instruments. 

Either ignoring or too busy the fox grabbed the rifle back
from the skunk and poked it out the door, firing randomly into the growing mass
of soldiers.  “May wanna hurry, I think I
saw an anti-air weapon.”

“30 seconds…”  The
squirrel coughed out.

The Fox and Skunk were positioned on opposing sides of the
doorway, trying to keep the soldiers from getting position to advance on the
ship.  Mid-zap the fox’s eyes went
wide.  He jerked away from the entrance
yelling, “Incoming!”   A missile rushed
past the hatch, barely missing the ship and colliding with another vessel
already in the air.  The fox blinked, but
wasted no time in rushing back to the opening and putting a shot into the man’s
head.  

“Ha!  That idiot
missed.  They couldn’t hit the broadside
of a skiff!  What kinda idiot soldiers
does this city have?”  Suddenly Izzy
looked up, his face contorted between realization and utter horror.

“Taking off!”  The
squirrel squeaked out as the hatch closed and the craft lifted into the air, and
then shot out into the atmosphere. 

The fox say back laughing out loud, “First a nearly HOUR
layover with no guards, then not checking the inside of the block when they DO
come on duty, THEN not clearing the area before all dozen of them gawk at a
hole in the fence, and MISSING a ship with a anti-air missile as well?!   You guys are either the luckiest little rats
alive or that city had the stupidest guards -- GURK!”  The fox’s victory rant was cut short by the
smaller mouse bulldozing him to the ground hard and slamming his head into
floor several times.  Tears falling the
mouse suddenly let loose, “YOU STUPID IDIOT! 
THEY LET US GO!  Where do you
think I GOT the weapons?!  YOU MURDERING
BASTARD!  They MADE that window for us to
get out!  They thought we’d go out
another way so they posted all the guards THERE thinking only IDIOTS would go
back out the way they broke in!  AND LOOK
OUT THE $#@%ING WINDOW BECAUSE THEY JUST SHOT DOWN THE ONLY PATROL SHIP IN THE
AREA!  YOU MURDERING BASTARD!”

* Tsai boo shr – No Way

** 
Guay… - Hell…

*** 
Taikong  suoyou  de xing qiu saijin wo de pigu - All the
planets in space flushed into my butt

Meran Capitol

Jess froze in place. The Queen? But she was

just a commoner! And the red...she took an involuntary step back, but then forced herself to walk forward and bow awkwardly to the other girl, the one Beatrice had greeted. She retreated quickly to where the female rat was sitting and tried to hide from the view of most of the people present.

Redwater Castle; Mera:

             The table was set with fine dishes and fine food. Most of the dishes were local, but some were from other planets, bought in as trade for certain items that the Merans had and others did not. Beatrice herself grabbed her own plate, as well as Jess' and began putting food upon them. "'Ere ye go, lass. Eatcher din'." The plate was filled over with fine food, much of which the girl had never seen before, local or not. Aside from the food, many of the assembled staff were speaking in loud and boisterous tones, some yelling at one another about this or that, and others chatting about their stroll in the garden.

            The queen stood upon her chair, being far to short to stand normally. "Greetings all of my assembled staff and guard. I thank you for coming today. I would like to reward one Royal Knight for exemplary service today. Brian May, would you please stand." announced the young queen. However, Brian's chair sat empty, and no one said a word.

            "Oi, that idjit really stayed put." whispered the younger sister, standing up, "He must still be on patrol, ma'am. 'E's a hard worker, me bro is!" The female rat sat, satisfied in her statement of the facts. However, the other members of the staff were not amused.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Ignatian Skiff:

            The skunk walked over, silently, reaching into one of his sleeves. He produced a small firearm that looked vaguely similar to an old Earth liberator pistol. He pointed it at the Meran mouse and pulled the trigger. There was only a slight click as a dart shot out of the gun and the mouse fell limp. "I would prefer if we could refrain from the sudden outbursts until we are out of range of the planetary assault batteries." stated the black and white Meran calmly, "It would be quite unseemly to be smeared across space, wouldn't you say, Mr. Nathan?" He then lifted Izzy off of the fox and sat his gently into a chair, almost instinctively muffling his steps. The fox was once again reminded of the death that was apparent in the man's eyes.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The Foundation:

             Ramza once again stood before the great statue that bore the names and figures of all those who had been lost to Nero's insanity.  He looked to four of them in particular. The shapes of his old friends who he would never see again. The shapes of his only friends. He wasn't alone. He still had his sister, Jade who was in a local hospital, but he couldn't be beside her forever. He sat upon a nearby bench, the same one that he had sat on just before the Foundation had been attacked, starting the Nero Wars and changing his life forever. Nothing was the same in the world anymore. Slowly, everything seemed to dim, becoming darker and darker. He sighed as her looked up at the great statue of Orlandu Blossom. "Is this the galaxy you dreamed of and died for?" he said to the edifice, not expecting a response, "I highly doubt it. The galaxy still needs you... all of you..."

"Iz, leave 'em alone and get me some water wouldya?  I ain't doing too well.."   The Squirrel trailed off slightly trying to keep himself conscious and able to fly.   From the back the Ifreet's breathing became heavier and irratic, the mouse had lost his temper before he was able to search the ship for any water for either the wounded squirrel or the boy.  Nathan looked between the two, then at the skunk, "Ha, thanks but good luck sitting on these babies.  I'll be in the back raiding this crate for anything useful."  The fox said chuckling and walking back into the single hallway.

             The skunk walked toward the injured squirrel, who was beginning to fade away from the look of things. He grabbed the control wheel and corrected the course and their heading. "You seem to have been drifting off." stated the skunk, "Allow me to take over while you rest." This was met by a weak look of incredulity from Mouse. The skunk took the initiative, lifting the man from the chair and placing him in another. He then took over control, receiving a moan of protest from Mouse. He promptly ignored the other Meran and flew them out of the hot zone. He then looked over toward the bleeding rodent, a polite smile on his face. "If you could wear your harness, this would likely hurt you less." He then flipped the ornate switch for the warp control, and as soon as the ship locked onto a warp buoy, they flashed away from the dead sun that was Ignus.

Murphy's bar, The Foundation

Carla kept her smile in place as the large 'gentleman' took his leave. Hopefully, she mused, whoever she found herself working with in the very near future would be a little more...how to put it? Refined? Urbane? Intelligent? She rolled her eyes. Basically as long as they were an improvement over her unexpected guest, she'd get along with them just fine. As Beowulf disappeared out the door, Carla's attention refocused on the woman in front of her.

She was, Carla now saw, a redhead like herself- though of Human rather than Meran extraction. She also, Carla noted, looked rather lost and out of place and uncomfortable, perhaps to the point of being afraid, of being left alone here by her companion. Adopting a friendly, reassuring expression, Carla spoke gently to the woman. "Sorry if I startled you," she said smiling, "but I'm not interested in your big friend there- no offence meant to him or yourself of course- and that was the best way I could think of to get the message across. If I'd simply told him 'no' I think he'd have just kept pestering me all night- or until he saw a prettier face- in the hopes of wearing me down. Hope I didn't shock you- literally I mean," she added as she held up the hand she'd shaken Reis's with, "it just goes with my- condition. Minor static shock for every time I touch someone or they touch me".

Having said this, Carla observed that Reis didn't seem any more reassured or less uncomfortable than before. She smiled again and spoke more gently still. "I'm Carla Faberson," she said, "I apologise for not introducing myself before. Don't take this the wrong way, but you seem a little- out of your comfort zone here I guess. Is there somewhere you'd rather be or need to be? I can help you find your way there if there is, since your big friend seems to have left for the evening".  

Redwater Castle, Mera

The girl had decent manners, as befitting a child of reasonable people. Jess was hungry, but confused by all the different foods she'd never seen, and so a bit cautious about trying the new dishes. She found that for the most part, she liked them, and she was very appreciative of the food. Despite trying to relax and enjoy the fine meal, she couldn't help being nervous. People all around her, people she didn't know, that she didn't completely understand. This was an entirely different world from the one she had grown up in, a small mining town where everyone knew everyone else, and yet another world from the one she had been thrown into later on, a world of pain and uncertainty, where she had no idea where she would find her next meal, or whether she would have somewhere to spend the night out of the weather. But the noise, the people -- it pressed in on her, almost suffocating, and her hands shook as she reached for her glass.

CDS: Hatred

Both young men fell silent and immediately returned to their posts. If it was one thing they quickly learned in their time here, it was that women were scary, especially if their surname was Strahl.

... That, and picking on Blayte was fun. Except for that incident that nearly got them barred from the bridge. Strahl forbade them to speak of that or risk being on the other side of the air lock.

"No one in space can hear you scream..."

As they took their seats, Riley leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "'Clean up the mess,' he says. That newbie mechanic did a &*#$-tastic job on this thing, we're lucky it even works. Why can't he clean up his own mess?"

"Moron!" Jarad hissed, jabbing a finger over his shoulder. When they both looked, Blayte was still nursing his head. The captain's eyes were on them.

"That goes for you two brats," the murderous glare seemed to say.

They quickly turned back to the controls, keeping their heads low. The end of their shift suddenly seemed so far away now.

=================

OOC: ... Yeah, I don't have anything more substantial than this for now.

Gone FTL?  Old Stinky must be a pilot.  Good cuz the one we got ain't gonna last much longer.   The fox's brain concluded as he sat knelt over a lavishly detailed chest, rummaging around it's contents and pulling out a small firearm and pocketing it.  Some kinda laser derringer?  Neat.  His pillaging was interrupted by a loud noise in the next room.  The fox instantly went on alert, all of his muscle tensing and his rifle up find near the trigger.  His face etched with annoyance and a dash of fright,  "Wuh tzai chien shr ee-ding ruh dao shuh-muh run luh bah . . .*"  The fox pressed himself to the wall by the door for a moment, then shot suddenly the opposing side to cover the noisy rooms entrance.  A step out of the room yielded no further noise, the quiet echoing loudly even as the soldier pushed his ear on the door for what seemed like hours to get any sort of hint at the stowaway's identity.   But there was no noise save the ragged breathing from the two dieing members of their crew and the deafening silence of the new pilot.  He stepped back and readied himself to open the door, gun in one hand and muttered to himself,  "Go hwong-tong...**"  Jabbing the door release with one brown furred finger and lunging back with the rifle poised as the door whisked to one side.

There was a pile of boxes in the floor of a small room.  It looked like they'd fallen off a cramped self on the opposing wall as the ship had gone to light speed.  Further in, a small bed was wedged between the two walls.  Finally he glanced that one of the falling boxes and landed on a desk, scattering it's contents on the floor.  The man visibly relaxed and lowered his weapon breathing out, "Ai-yah. Tyen-ah...***   Damn rat nearly stopped my heart..."  The fox took a moment to calm down before setting the gun to one side and getting his looting face to return.  The man tested the box that fallen farthest by shaking it to see if anything could be heavy enough to be of use, unfortunately the fall had weaken the boxes structure and it ripped, sending a glass photo frame falling to the floor and shattering.  Nathan winced, then realized the only one to hear it was the skunk, and he's already displayed a complete disinterest in them.  The fox had already decided that one was just like him, just looking for a ride out... but thinking back he had hoped it would have worked out as these guys were pretty lucky, and good and getting outta sticky situations.  He shrugged bent over to set the box down, glancing at the mess he'd made and the back of a picture that had been in the frame.

"Taelon/Pallens"

The words were hastily scrawled and no other information was written.  The inclusion of the boxed boy's name peaked his interest though, was this his room?  Letting the box fall the rest of the way with a loud klunk the Kitsune reach over and picked up the picture.  It was of two boys, both with the same monotone red fur and hair.  "Jeez, do all of these idiots look the same or what...."  The fox chuckled scanning the photo a second time.  The larger of the two Ifreet was holding the smaller in a headlock and playfully sticking his tongue out at the camera.  The small boy had a mixed look of irritation and a knowing smirk on his face,  "Guess it's not a mystery which one is the kid.  From a headlock to a box."  Then his smirk fell a little.
"They lied.  I can't believe they lied..."

“This IS my
voice and I AM one of those Ifreet’s you’ve been insulting all night.”

He winced, his ears folding flat.  The Kitsune stood staring disconnectedly at the photo for several minutes.

"YOU MURDERING
BASTARD!"

It was Israel's voice, and it's meaning seared suddenly into him.  Nathan whirled around, but noone was standing in the doorway.  Suddenly he felt his stomach seize suddenly, Nate dropped the photo and clutched his gut. 
"‘least you guys came back..."

"Told ya we would,
Pallens"

"We’re gonna die here."

The squirrel's words seemed to echo in his mind, lingering like steam until finally the fox opened his eyes back up and growled out,  "Dammit I hate kids...  Gods Dammit I hate Merans."  He seemed to eye the room as if looking to make sure noone was watching and snatched the photo back up and pocketed it.  The fox then pulled in a breath and took up the rifle before exiting the room and headed back up front rumbling, "I hate this %!#%."

Back up front Mouse slid off the chair into a heap on the floor, pain shooting through his side and waking him up again.  The lanky man meekly pulled a hand up and undid his jacket, then reached up to the only shoulder he could and undid what looked like a clasp.  He pulled the jacket to one side revealing a protective vest hidden under it instead of his usual tanktop.  It had probably saved his life, though only a temporary reprieve as the blast had still ripped through.  He felt crawling in his skin looking at the matted bloody fur,  Trying to shake off the skin crawling indicative of shock taking hold the lithe squirrel slowly used his legs to push himself out of the jacket fully until he was laying on it like a bed.  Didn't think it would take a energy weapon hit...  His mind reminded him subtly of his situation as he slowly inched to one side and slowly moved of the remnants of the vest, letting it collapse on the floor of the ship.  Once he was free of both of them, the rodent lay behind the pilot seats breathing very lightly, even that much felt his chest was being jabbed with glass.  His mind slowed laying there, the white fur of his thin torso slowly staining crimson as it raggedly rose and fell.  He had on hand on his stomach, feeling it going numb and feel like a paperweight pushing down as he tried to breath.  He heard himself squeak out.  "I'm gonna die here...."

"If I gotta hear one more rat whine about dieing I'm gonna shoot the next Meran I see."  Nathan voice barked out loudly as he stepped up to the cockpit.  Suddenly the skunk heard the whine of a laser rifle powering up behind him, his instinct told him it was pointed at him.  The Kitsune stood smiling and leveling the rifle at the ship's pilot from behind, leaving a yard between himself the injured squirrel then the same distance again to the skunk.  "I ain't much of a doc.  I also ain't much for watching someone die 'less I did it.  And I gotta say I'm pretty against letting little ones turn into Charran bait.   Dunno you realized it friend but you and I ain't fit to help these two.  'Ppreciate the assist with the doughboy but I wasn't really fightin' back.  Now, sure ya got something to wake the rat up.  Woulda kindly hand it over?"

* wuh tzai chien shr ee-ding ruh dao shuh-muh run luh bah . . .  -  I surely annoyed someone or other in a past life, didn't I . . .
** Go hwong-tong... - Enough of this nonsense...
*** Ai-yah. Tyen-ah...- Merciless hell....

Redwater Castle, Mera:

           Beatrice placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Are ye alright, lass? Yer lookin' a bit green." asked the rat, concerned.

           Lilly didn't stop, "I see. Then I propose a toast in the name of such a diligent man, I mean soldier... May his shield guard him for days to come!" The little girl raised her chalice into the air, followed by a single cheer from the assembled delegates. Beatrice, however, placed an armored boot upon the table and continued to cheer loudly. "Yeah! Me bro's the best, isnae 'e!?"

           "Ye could stand tae settle down, sis." stated a calm and level Brian as he walked through the door, "Sit down and cease makin' a fool o' yerself."

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CDS: Hatred:

          It wasn't long after the cup had collided with Blayte's head that another Charran had walked through the door. He was a somewhat muscular man with a visor over his eyes. His hands were clawed, but they seemed more built for digging than fighting. He proceeded to the tactical command station, where the children were seated and sat at the edge of the over-bridge, looking down at them. "Hey, guys. You two off shift yet?" spoke the mole-type Charran. He was young, probably about the same age as the other two. "What do you say we grab a bite to eat, eh?" This was Craig, a bit of an outcast, if only because of his elder brother, Nathan, who was killed during the Nero Wars. Nathan did not have a last name, and among the Charran hierarchy that was the equivalent of having nothing. No status, no honour, and no respect. This stigma had followed Craig even after Nathan had been killed. However, the boy seemed unfazed by such things, and continued to seek his own name. To this effect, he had followed in his brother's footsteps and was seeking out a partner to acquire fame with.

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Within A Warp Envelope:

              The skunk stood from the command display, the coordinates having locked in. He moved toward the downed Meran, fishing within his sleeves and producing a small syringe. He injected the liquid into the mouse's exposed arm and continued on towards the back, only to be stopped by Nathan. "Where do you think you're going, stinky?" started the aggravated fox.

             "I would like to look for food in order to aide the child before he dies." stated the Meran, all to calmly, "If I may move on?"

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Murphy's Bar:

              "I... but... I..." Reis looked around in a panic, not knowing what to do in this situation. "M-m-m-my name is Reis?" She seemed far to frazzled to speak in any coherent manner. She tried to move for the door, but couldn't quite move past the woman. "Um... I-I-I need to... to go... ch-ch-check the message boards..." He complexion was going paler than before as she began to panic more and more.

Redwater Castle, Mera

Jess fumbled for her pad of paper and wrote, "TO MANY PEPOL". She nudged the paper toward Beatrice, and then turned just before Brian enters. She smiled very slightly at Brian's return. The attention being drawn by Beatrice had her on edge, and another at least slightly familiar face was a welcome sight.

((gah, short.))

Murphy's Bar, The Foundation

Carla raised an eyebrow at how uncomfortable and distressed the woman seemed to be. What had happened to her that had left her like this? She kept her tone calm and reassuring as she gently spoke again. "Reis?" she said, "I'm pleased to meet you. And you say you need to go check the message boards? How about we both go together as I've nothing important to do just now? Perhaps we can find your big friend again, since he went that general direction".

In truth Carla was in no rush to see the large human again, but Reis had at least seemed a little calmer and less panicked around him, which was a plus. She stepped aside, giving Reis a clear passage to the door as she continued, "or of course I can let you go find your friend yourself. After all, I'm only just graduated while I bet you know your way around The Foundation pretty well already right?"

The fox looked between the mouse and the skunk a few times,
as if his brain was trying to process information.  His eyes a little
wider than they should be he nodded in a rather shocked satisfactorily way,
shrugged and moved to one side stated, "Um.. well.  Yeah, sure. 
Long as he's gonna wake up and help me stop the little rat from rustin' the
floor with his fluids..."  The skunk did not make eye contact and
wandered to the back as the fox suddenly shook his head in confusion and mouthed
the skunk's phrase to himself with mocking head movements for a moment as if
somehow irritated by the skunk's demeanor and then calling after him,
"...and make sure it ain't no crap food either.  Don't be hoarding it
for yourself, Stinky."  He nodded, satisfied he'd re-established his
alpha status and turned back to the bleeding Meran.  Suddenly the man
looked so small and frail, laying with only his pants and shoes on.  His
shoes...

The smell of ash, fire, and burned was everywhere.  It filled his nostrils and made his head
ache, everywhere around him was a village ablaze, a few survivors running
wildly away.  Other members of the task
force moved by him, weapons up and ready. 
But he stood still, eyes fixed on a small white Meran boy laying on the ground in front of him.  Something had hit him so hard the concussion
had ripped the little squirrel’s shirt open forcing Nate to watch the pure white
fur on the child’s narrow chest ebbing to dark crimson.

“Hey, Cobb…  HEY!”  Israel’s voice suddenly penetrated the
flashback and yanked him back to reality. 
The mouse was kneeling by the squirrel glaring daggers at him.  “I need help. 
I can’t hold him up and wrap his torso at the same time.” 
The fox complied in stunned silence, gently holding the squirrel steady
while Israel wrapped his wound.

“I don’t think I lift him back to the other bed, I don’t
suppo-”  The Meran was cut off as the fox
wordlessly lifted the squirrel up and deposited him on the couch across the
walkway from Pallens.  Izzy watched,
growing increasingly concerned and worried at what had happened while he has been
unconscious.  Maybe he’d severely injured
the Kitsune in his rage.   Then his confusion crescendoed further as Nathan wordlessly untied the man’s shoe’s and gingerly
removed them.

“Ok… wait.  Nathan,
what the hell are you doing?!”  The mouse
yelped out, completely unnerved.  The fox
walked past him and sat down in the co-pilot’s seat, holding the red and white
sneakers in his lap.  He looked to one
side, really at nothing and muttered, “Only thing needs doing.  Least a soul can do for a dying man is remove
his shoes so he’s comfortable.”

The mouse's mouth went agape giving the man a look of complete and utter
disbelief, said nothing, and returned to his friend’s side.  Positioning himself on the
couch with the injured squirrel.

CDS: Hatred

"Goggle-head!" Jarad called out loudly. "Sure, we'll take you up on your offer. In like... Ri, how much time we got?"

"A minute."

"What he said."

"And there's no way we can clean up in a minute, so we may as well go now, yeah?"

Riley scratched his head. "Sure, I guess."

"S'not like it's gonna make a difference," Jarad rationalized. "Come on."

Practically picking up his friend by his shirt and patting a hand on Craig's shoulder, the three youths strode towards the doors of the bridge and made their way to the mess hall.

The Foundation: Hunter HQ:

                            Taimat stood above the message boards, staring over the assembled Hunters as they received their first missions. They were going to be sent out on tough jobs, the only kind of jobs the Foundation was given. It was likely that many of them would not return after this. She sighed heavily, knowing this, but also knowing that it needed to be done. However, she noted something that caught her eye. Two former members of her own team were present among the rookies. Beowulf and Reis were both in the room below, the man scrolling through the text along the wall, and the woman stumbling in, followed by a Meran recruit. The battle hardened woman placed one green gauntleted hand upon the window. Reis, such a fragile girl. She was the sole survivor of Taimat's original squad. The woman hadn't been able to handle the stress of so much death all at once and had broken.

                            Reis pushed through the crowd, stopping behind Beowulf as she found him. She simply stood there, watching him intently. The man had been a last minute replacement to the team, and was the only person that Reis still felt comfortable around. But she had never recovered from the shock of seeing all of her friends slaughtered by Charrans in the beginning of the Nero Wars, including her fiance.

____________________________________________________________________

Redwater Castle, Mera:

                           "Welcome back, Sir May." welcomed Lilly with an excited grin that she quickly hid behind a proper smile, "A toast to the valiant Sir May!" The little girl raised her glass into the air once more. The others gave a toast in response, many of them giving frowns. Brian was young, and popular with many of the people of Stonegrove, the Meran capitol city. However, many of the things he did were met with suspicion by the nobles, especially his popularity with their queen. She was young, and still easy to influence, but the Meran Royal Knight had stepped in on many such occasions. The nobles and advisers did not like this interruption, and had on several occasions asked for his dismissal. However, the queen preferred to keep him and his younger sister, Beatrice, nearby.

                           Brian bowed politely, seating himself at Lilly's side, as she had asked. Beatrice rolled her eyes and read the note that Jess had given her. "To many people? Maybe, but at least ye get tae eat, right?" The rat bit down into a large flank of meat. "Iph cthud buh wurf!"

________________________________________________________________

CDS: Hatred:

                           The mess hall was large enough to seat a full complement and more. Craig sat at a small table that had deep knife gouges carved into it, similar to many of the other tables. There was a dried blood stain as well as one of the legs being bent in. Other than the three, the hall was largely empty, save for a few pilots who had gotten back to the ship in time to enter the warp envelope. The place smelled of cured meat and beer, and was covered in a fine layer of filth. It wasn't because it wasn't cleaned, but because there were often fights that took place in this very room, many of the Charran betting on who would win and who would lose, and how many other could be raked into the fight before it was over. In the heavily dented wall panels was a long slot where the sound of the cook yelling at his staff could be heard, as well as the occasional thud and crash. "Seems like Old Riem is in a bad mood again." stated the mole with a laugh, "He never calms down, does he?"

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Within A Warp Envelope:

                     The skunk took his time, inspecting the food that was stored within the craft. The large majority of it was military rations, which, though nutritional, were far less than adequate for this particular situation. However, they would have to do. The Meran picked up several of the round packages and carried them through the door. "It seems that the former owner of this vessel delighted in the consumption of military grade food." stated the man, calmly, handing each of the assembled crew two of the rations. He then sat once more within the pilots seat and watched the course, making absolutely certain that they did not wander off and become lost. He did not eat himself, and the others were certain that he hadn't been back there long enough to have eaten or hidden anything. "I believe the time for introductions is now. Allow me to go first. My name is We-..." the skunk stopped for a moment, a frown, and the first sign of any REAL emotion, creeping across his ageless face, "My name is Alexander Xite. However, you may call me whatever you like."

__________________________________________________________________

The Foundation: Orlandu's Monument:

                   Ramza sat and stared at the statues of his lost friends, all the memories of the times they had flooding into his mind. The academy, Ksemanr's profession of love for Krystal, the day that Ksemanr disappeared from the Foundation, and the day Erekayu threw a party to celebrate their graduation from the academy. So many good times and bad times, and he remembered them all. The day that the four had been reunited on Mera, Krystal's murder at the hands of the traitorous Shinji Yutaro, receiving news that Ksemanr's charred remains had been found in a burnt down storage shed on the planet Kohel, and Erekayu's death at the hands of Nero's second in command, Gald Zat. Everything came flooding back in perfect clarity, untarnished by time. And it was then that the fox looked down into his hands, at the laz revolver he held. It had been Erekayu's, and Ramza had kept it as a reminder of better times. He stared at the pistol as if it were a dear friend, cradling it in his hands. Slowly, and gingerly, he brought the revolver up to his right temple, his finger quivering on the trigger.