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Hey there everyone. Thought I dropped off the face of the planet? Anyone hope I failed my existence check? (Insert other referance to disappearance here.)

I'm back, and I'm trying to stay the course... This story has been sapping me dry lately, but it's perhaps the only thing keeping me sane.

Sorry for how long it took for me to finish this chapter, though. Writer's block is murder.

Now just a quick waste of my and your time before we return to Sirius: Battlefields.

Warning: this waste of your and my time is to inform you that the following may contain nudity, sexuality, violence, coarse language, fur, flesh, xenophilia, xenophobia, racism/sexism/specisim, holocaust, and little frilly pink things. Read at your own risk. Any persons under the age of 18 are advised against reading this. You have been duely warned, and are thusly not my responsibility.

The caracters within and the views expressed by this story are the property of the author, WhiteArcticFox, and in no way reflect those expressed by the website on which they are posted. Any use of said characters in any manner that implies ownership of them by another party is both unlawful and unkind.

Cameo characters are the property of their respective owners, and thusly are protected by their creators in a similar fashion.

Concept (c) 2006 AFS Arctic Fox Studios (tm)

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Chapter 7: The Lyrii

Dawn on day seventy-eight. Seventy-eight days ago they had landed, and now they found that the Sirians weren't the only ones in need of rescuing.

Axis, who had been very quiet all day, looked out into the water, tinted violet by the sun. Though blue, the star still blazed reddish in the morning. The faintly violet sphere wasn't visible under the water.

Axis, however, was sitting in his quarters, looking out into the sea.

It had all occurred so quickly.

The aliens; the people that had fled the Crag ship, the Lyrii. The humans were just as shocked as the Sirians. Neither race had seen anything of the like. They had very long, dexterous, and thin tails, with a tuft on the end. They ranged in colour from nearly poppy red to faint violet in colour, and their eyes seemed to match that spectrum. They were strange.

Ears like wolves, a muzzle like a cat, those oblong pupils, and the fact that each "hand" had six fingers, while each foot had four. It was odd.

The Craganii had captured them nearly seventeen months ago, from a planet orbiting the closest neighbour star. The planet itself was hidden inside a dust cloud that was thought previously to be uninhabitable.

The Sirians had misidentified the cloud. The Lyrii were a race of observant, artistic, and scientifically advanced people, and had kept their existence hidden.

They tried to contact Sirius ? however and things went badly from there.

The transmission had been interrupted by a Craganii warship, which promptly began a campaign against the cloud, thinking that there was a ship within.

The resulting fleet of fighters and cruisers, though weak, were enough to convince the Crag that there was nothing more within the nebula.

They captured many of the pilots, and sent many to the slave pens in the Emperor of the Craganii home world's palace.

"Huh. So the "emperor" here is actually just a subservient to another being?" said Axis, thinking to himself.

The rest of them were sent to Siribet to be slaves to the emperor here.

Apparently the ship wasn't attacking at all. It was simply travelling and trying to land on the planet.

That would explain the lack of another ship, had they been stationed here there would be a guard ship and a prison ship.

The twenty-three Lyrii that had survived through the ordeal and had travelled to the planet with the earth forces, as well as the one Lyrii that had climbed into Aries ship, were grateful for the Sirian-Terran alliance's help. They, however, weren't an overly warlike race.

A voice from behind and a pair of strong, loving arms brought Axis out of thought.

"C'mon Kit... time for the debriefing. I've taken Mati to Atlas and Daemon's place for the day; he'll be thoroughly entertained. We, however, need to get going," came Axis' favourite voice.

Axis smirked and gently stood, turning to look 'Commander Jasyn Emitt' eye to eye. "You know... you're beautiful when you're demanding..." he mocked, before giving his love a gentle kiss and strolling away.

"Well, what can I say? I try," came Jasyn's retort.

As they walked towards the briefing room, Axis and Jasyn spoke quietly.

"So, what are we going to be doing about them, love? I'm sure they have some technology that could help us... perhaps we could convince a few to stay on and help?" suggested Axis.

Jasyn shook his head and sighed. "No... They'll help of their own free will. I'm not going to pressure anyone into doing anything."

"Well... I hope some of them stay. I'd like to learn more about them..."

"You just want to get your paws on some advanced technology," joked Jasyn.

"That's not fair," pouted Axis in reply, smiling a moment later, "but yes..."

"Well... here goes..." Jasyn sighed, as he kept his pace, walking into the briefing room. Axis stayed at Jasyn's side.

The room was more of a meeting room. Jasyn stood at the head of the table while Axis sat.

Jasyn began walking around the room taking in the sight, smell, and presence therein. He spoke as soon as he began walking, but to him it seemed like an hour's pause.

"I am Jasyn Emitt, Commander of the Syrian resistance movement. You have witnessed several events that, concerning us, are important to our war against the Crag," he begun.

"Now, since you've been through an ordeal such as yours, and you've seen first-paw the devastation the Craganii bring, you can understand why we would want to take back our planet. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be a problem, however we haven't ever encountered your race before, and as such need to take appropriate precautions," he continued, sighing slightly. "These precautions are first and foremost designed to ensure your and our safety and health and will include a full physical examination, internal imagery, and a long list of questions. These questions will be things like 'have you come into contact with hazardous substances recently' or 'what is your name'. Simple things. The physical will be non-intrusive, and hopefully non-enforced. If you would do this voluntarily, then it would be easier on us both."

Axis sat there quietly, then Jasyn introduced him.

"This is Earth Lieutenant Axis Levi, a Sirian 'fox' and a very intimate friend of mine. He also happens to be the greatest engineer and inventor I've ever seen. He has undergone this physical examination and both he and I would be willing to go through it aswell, and submit to any inquiries you have."

Axis bowed his head and took his turn to speak almost perfectly. "The alliance believes in the free sharing of information. We and the humans are relatively recently acquainted and have already designed a fighter, a cloaking device, and a 'shield' generation technology, adapting the same principles of their 'barrier' technology. This is all through cooperation and shared knowledge. We hope that, to help you return to your home, you would work with us aswell."

A hand timidly rose among the Lyrii, and Jasyn gestured for the Lyrii in question to speak. "Thank you. We are a peaceful race, as you have seen, and have little use for weaponry. What possible technology could we gift you with?"

"Very good question. Crag data files on the battle between the Crag warship and your fleet, recovered in a routine data-dive during the firefight above, show that you have a highly advanced propulsion technology. This is one example of technology that we would be interested in, to assist you in returning home. You don't have to give us any technology, however it would expedite your return home," said Axis in reply.

Another Lyrii spoke up, "But what if we want to stay? Lyriia isn't exactly the best place to live. I know here isn't any flower garden either, but not all of our species is so passive. More importantly, I want to help you people. You are strange, but you are also very tolerant, and tolerance is a very important trait in an advanced society. Your plight is a sad one, and these 'Craganii' are a menace. They will strike at us again when they find out that our world exists."

"We want to learn more about you too! You are an interesting species, with multiple subspecies among you," came the voice of another.

"Our world is overpopulated as it is. I'm sure that if we spread ourselves among our planets once this occupation is ended then not only can we fix this planet's ecosystem, but we can finally examine the stars themselves without that cloud around us,"

Jasyn's ears perked. "So it's an actual cloud, and not a nebula?"

"Yes, it's a cloud of dust. It chokes off our air if we aren't inside, and was caused by a pair of meteorites colliding nearly a millennia ago." said another voice.

"Back on topic though! Would you submit to a physical; so that we can both rule out disease and be able to properly feed you?" asked Jasyn.

"Absolutely!" came a unanimous choir of voices. They must have been starving.

The rest of the debriefing revealed that the Lyrii were more than willing to both share with, assist, and fight alongside the resistance.

--

The examination turned up some interesting results. They had similar DNA to Sirians; the same number of chromosomes, same arrangement, and a X and Y chromosome. This meant that, surprisingly, and moreover amazingly, a Sirian and a Lyrii could, potentially, produce offspring, providing both parties were willing.

All but three of the Lyrii refugees were male, leading one to believe that they either had fewer females on their planet, or the females were just recently rising to meet the males.

This was not the case. While there were fewer females than males on their homeworld, their politics placed them above the males. Lyrii females were more dominant more often than their males, while the males tended to be smarter and, unsurprisingly, more open.

Biological and historical findings aside, the Lyrii all checked out, and Doctor Tavok gave them all a clean bill of health.

"They've got similar nutritional requirements to you and I, so they should be fine to eat whatever the kitchen is serving; providing, of course, that it is even edible."

"Thank you Doctor. Now let's get these people fed," said Jasyn.

Axis led the group to the mess hall. The scents were of something close to salmon, but not a far cry from lobster, and remarkably similar to beef. In short, Comeel Fish.

They ate and enjoyed their meal, and they spoke openly about anything either party wanted to know.

Atlas, Daemon, and Mati had come down to eat aswell, and they joined the group.

"So, Axis... why do you have multiple tails? Everyone else I see here has one," asked one of the males whom's name could be translated specifically to 'one who likes being held'. The name itself was Vae'rune; he preferred Van, however.

Axis smiled and blushed a bit. "It's actually an interesting story..."

He begun to explain, about how the trait only manifested every three generations, how his distant relative Aries exhibited a lesser form, and his strange abilities.

"So, you're saying that you actually physically transformed into a being of extreme power?" asked another of the males, Tilk.

"Not 'extreme' per-se. I barely remember the incident. Jasyn explained it as an increase of energy and a sudden difference in my fur colour and structure. I apparently looked a lot stronger."

"Believe it or not, Kit... it was kind of... well..." Jasyn trailed off.

"Arousing?" asked Van, as the others ate.

They had formed a small group off to the side.

"Yes... you could say that," blushed Jasyn. This was a sight that Axis saw all too rarely, and he relished it.

"Ah, but you were also frightened if I remember your description right," reminded the fox.

Mati; who had been down the table with Daemon and Atlas speaking to the three female Lyrii; wandered over and climbed up into Axis' lap, yawning tiredly and curling up a bit.

Axis hadn't expected this and jumped a bit, but blinked and smiled, before taking to stroking the young husky's ears.

"Isn't he just precious..." remarked one of the females from down the table.

Axis smiled and yawned a bit himself.

"Wow... I'm surprised. My day is usually a lot busier than this, and it's only noon. Hmm... must've been the Comeel... apparently a natural sedative of sorts... good for the system, and..." he trailed off with a yawn and fell onto Jasyn's shoulder a bit, breathing quietly.

Jasyn snickered and shook his head. "Sorry... it's not that strong, but recently he's been a bit tired anyway; he could use the rest..." said Jasyn with a sigh.

"I heard that... wolf-boy..." said Axis, still very much awake, but not really coherent.

"I think we should get to our quarters... I can't wait for a change of clothes..." said Tilk, smiling quietly.

"Heh... if I didn't need to tend to Axis, I'd show you to your rooms personally. They're just down the hall though, to the right. Two pairs of civilian uniforms are in the dressers; but I'm afraid they've been designed for Sirians, so they might not fit the same. We'll have a new design ready for them soon, though. Your examinations provided us with specific dimensions for all of you," explained Jasyn.

The Lyrii nodded, before heading towards their designated quarters. They picked their rooms, one for each, and explored, slept, or indulged themselves.

Jasyn sighed and picked up Mati from Axis' lap, before shaking the fox to get him up.

"C'mon kit, get up if you want to sleep in the warm, comfy bed."

Axis stood groggily and, though tired, snickered and walked with Jasyn back to their quarters.

"Sleep nothing," he mumbled tiredly and Jasyn snickered.

Mati snored a bit in Jasyn's arm, and the wolf couldn't help but smirk.

"Gods... I don't know WHY I never wanted a family..." he said with a chuckle, as he walked into the hallway.

--

Midnight on Sirius was a sight to behold. Thanks, in part, to the largest moon's magnetic field. Despite the large gash in the side of it, Sirius' largest moon Falla had a core very similar to Earth's. It was at least three times as big as Earth's moon, 'Luna', and had it's own independent atmosphere. It wasn't as much a moon as a mini planet. Uninhabited however, it had it's own magnetic field, which interacted with the magnetic field of Siribet, causing streaks of blue, green, and red to dart across the sky in a distorted gridlike pattern.

This particular night, Aries and the Lyrii that had crawled into his ship were taking a walk.

"So, that Axis guy is related to you?" asked the male.

"Remotely, yes," replied Aries, smiling and looking up at the sky.

"This little island is so beautiful, and the sun isn't dimmed by an ugly grey cloud. I revel in the beauty of this place," said the questioning male.

"You speak such poetic English, but... how is it you could have learned the language so quickly?" Aries wondered aloud.

"You mean, you can't listen to a language for mere moments and understand it to it's fullest?" came the shocked return.

"Well... not really. So your race is good with languages?" he asked, more rhetorically than anything, "I envy you."

"Don't envy me, Aries. I had to learn Craganii..." mused the unimpressed Lyrii.

"So, Marek, did you say your name was?"

"You could call me Marek if you wanted, but most just call me Blaze," smirked the lad, taking a seat on a rocky outcrop as the two came to a stop on the shore.

"Blaze eh? Well, Blaze, I'm kind of glad you joined us here. It's refreshing knowing that even those that we barely know would trust us so readily."

"Aries... I think it's more than just that you're glad about..." came the trailing reply.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" said the proud wolfox, growling a bit and blushing slightly.

"Well, your blush, your heartrate, I can hear that you know, and your ambient scent has changed rather rapidly. Either you are experiencing illness or you find me attractive," said Blaze rather matter-of-factly.

Aries blinked and looked rather stunned. 'He's good...' he found himself thinking, before he said, under his breath, "Don't flatter yourself..."

Blaze looked up to him, smirked, and turned around. He flicked his long and tufted tail rather beckoningly and whispered, "Perhaps I was wrong..." before wandering off towards the base doors again.

Aries looked on as he walked away and growled a bit, kicking a nearby pebble. "Who does he think he is... saying I find him attractive? Bloody alien..." he mumbled a bit, and received a distant reply from Blaze.

"I can still hear you," shouted the male as he skipped backward.

"Just testing..." mumbled the wolfox again, before bounding up towards the base himself.

--

"Siliantris, the last standing Sirian City, some miles away. Cut off from our existing world by the armour dome prototyped there. This is the last stronghold for our planet."

"The Craganii not only know about it, they've been trying to destroy it for this entire war, but the place has remained in tact. The only reason we're still out here is because there is no way in or out of it."

"Until now, you mean," snickered Blaze, looking at Axis with a shake of his head.

"Honestly, you think we can build this?" he asked, looking at a projection of the devices they were testing.

"Not only do I know we can build it, but I know they will work."

"It's ambitious to say the least," came Atlas' sceptical reply.

"Risky too..." added Phillips, shaking her long, dark hair.

"I'd say we have a one-in-ten chance out here. In there though, we could develop all of our technology to it's fullest," said Jasyn, sighing a bit.

"But we've got the biological weaponry on our side," started Daemon and Aries together.

"Chances are they've either neutralized it, or it took no effect. An autopsy on a recovered Craganii Hunter came up negative," said Tavok, shaking her head and holding the bridge of her nose.

Captains Litman and Varu looked at eachother and sighed. "Jasyn... we'll follow you to the ends of this planet if it means a chance to starve these beasts of power," said Litman, receiving an approving nod from Phillips and Varu.

"Then it's settled... Get to work... take anyone you need from anywhere you need them. This is our second highest priority right now, next to surviving. Those fighters you built, Axis, redesign them. One-pilot attack birds or two-pilot stealth fighters; we need both, but more importantly, we need them outfitted with these. Get a working prototype working, and then get them into circulation."

"Siliantris will be another coup for the Trian Alliance."

"Our three worlds will be rid of Craganii forever," said Blaze, nodding with an internal flame of passion.

"Because we worked together..." added Axis.

"To one goal... One mission," came Phillips' voice.

"For the good of our respective peoples, we will defeat this menace," Jasyn gave a slight roar.

"For the good of our alliance..." said Daemon, just smiling.

"Hear, hear" said the others, and they all gave a cry of victory.

"We'll win this war... and take back our world..." said Jasyn, finally, "Come hell or high water..."

--

A month had passed since the Lyrii initially joined the resistance. Not once had a Craganii warship, fighter, or hunter found them. The island was rather peaceful. Then it hit. News of the blast cascaded all around the base.

A nuclear missile had been detonated a few thousand kilometres away. It was a small one, but it was too close.

Axis had just finished work on their prototype when it hit, and he was told that they'd have to relocate. This time was different though. There was nowhere on Sirius they could go to. So a decision was made.

"Earth..." said Jasyn, before the entire base. "Untouched by Craganii warfire, and spinning as true as it was when we first arrived. We must take the ships we have, we must escape to earth, rebuild, stock up, and come back en-masse to wipe the entire Craganii regime into ruin."

The crowd gasped and looked around in shock. Many had assumed that this day would one day arrive, they just hoped it would be under peace.

"This is purely voluntary... You can stay here and remain fighting. We cannot leave our research here, lest the Crag find it and use it against our kin," reminded Jasyn. "This is, however, our decision. The bulk of us are in agreement, we are leaving this place, lest we forever be slaves to their tyranny."

The entire crowd held hushed conversations between one another, and then one lone kit, and then a wolf, a border collie, a group of vixen, then most of the crowd, then all of the crowd, the entire congregation, cheered to Jasyn. They would be free of the tyranny of the Crag, and be able to take back their planet in due time. It wouldn't be a win, but it'd be a start.

And so the decision was made.

--

Jasyn gasped a bit as he felt his Kit's paws caress him, enjoying the warm afterglow of their effervescent, lively love life. The fox collapsed onto Jasyn's chest and gently licked, murring softly and growling their familiar mating growl.

"Mmf... Jasyn... You took a huge risk today..." said Axis, scratching at Jasyn's chestfur.

"I had to kit... Sirius will be liberated... but we must retreat before that can happen..."

"No... I meant in bed you big lummox..." Axis grinned, tightening one of the straps. "I mean, bondage? You're the leader here, why am I the one on top?"

"Cause you're better at it... and you're the brains behind the figurehead..." smiled Jasyn, struggling a bit.

"You've got your own mind... and that's why I adore you... We leave tomorrow... right?" asked the spent and ragged voice of the fox.

"You'd better believe it. We're lucky those earth ships have so much extra room."

"So, which ship are we on?" asked Axis with a grin.

"It's one of the better defended ones, The Morningstar, I believe. Beautiful ship."

"The Morningstar... Polaris class capital vessel, twelve decks, three shuttlebays, tertiary redundant bridge, armed with the latest Terran and Sirian weaponry and recently outfitted with a fully functional cloaking device and armour deployment system. Top of the line, sleek and powerful; if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to compensate for something." Axis looked down and snickered, "Nope... I'm mistaken," he grinned, and nipped his mate's nape.

"Com-pen... Axiiiis? Jasynn? What does-" small pawfalls and a very surprised gasp came from Mati, who blinked a bit and blushed vividly.

Axis quickly pulled a blanket up around himself and Jasyn, blushing a bit and looking towards Mati. "It means to try and make himself look more threatening," said Axis, answering the question. This was the third time they'd been caught, but they weren't over it quite yet.

"Oh... Do you guys... mind if I cuddle with you? I can't sleep..." said the young husky, his cerulean blue eyes shining in the almost-dark room in an unnatural way.

Jasyn looked up at Axis and blushed a bit, speechless right now.

"Um..." started Axis, before getting interrupted.

"What's that smell?" said the pup, sniffing and moving closer to the two.

"Uhh..." tried Axis, too late to stop the curious pup though.

Mati was sniffing readily at the blanket around the lower back region for Axis, his nose poking against his 'father's' back. Though insulated by the blanket, Axis still gasped and shivered a bit.

"M-mati... you aren't in trouble, alright. Go to bed, please... I'll explain it in the morning," said Axis sternly.

The young pup looked up, nodded, and wandered off. He'd gotten this response before, and it usually meant he'd learn something else about anatomy, love, or a handful of other topics. He knew he wasn't in trouble, but he frowned a bit at being left in suspense...

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Kind of like you.

There's chapter 7, love it or loathe it.

Sorry for how long it took, I had a huge bout of writers block...

Anyway, in re-reading my stories I noticed how badly i've slipped. I'm going to begin using such poetic meaning and vivid descriptions again, as my style has been slipping as of late.

It's 11:10 PM here, and I'm off to sleep.

Please, comment, let me know how much you love and hate my story. Above all else, though, if you haven't read book one, do so NOW!

With the end of this "book" coming slowly and surely, the character's lives are coming to a climax, and the ensuing drama and tension will be some of my best work yet.

Twists and unexpected turns await you, don't you dare miss out.

This is White Arctic saying: Keep your nose clean so you can get it dirty later ;)

~BVP*WAF*