Chapter VII:Wings of Steel, Hearts of Gold
#7 of When Worlds Collide
This story, including the characters and the universe it is situated on, are the property of Rhazagal, so no unauthorised usage of any part of this lest you want me to neuter you tag this has been equipped with displays. Warning: This chapter isn't specifically yiffy, so if you are looking for something to jack off to...You might be a little dissapointed with this one. This warning/notification has been added in case you picked a story completely at random :D
The unpleasant stinging smell of antiseptic fluids combined nastily with the scent of cheap coffee in the hospital's cafeteria. There, sitting around a small, square, white plastic table were Jim, Marcus and Charles, each of them waiting for Alan's parents to get out of their son's room. Only now had they been able to come see their son for the first time due to traffic in interstellar travel.
It had been all too long now, a week or two, none of them really counted, since Alexander had shot Alan and Jim in the academy. Jim was patched up pretty nicely, though his arm was still wrapped in bandages and he had to take painkillers and antibiotics on a regular basis.
Compared to Alan, or even Jim, Charles and Marcus were in good health. One broken rib on Marcus plus dislocated shoulder, and two broken teeth, mild concussion and a black eye on Charles seemed inferior in comparison to what their friends were going through.
"I'm sure kittycat will pull through this." Charles said sternly, managing to muster up the strength for a broad, forced grin which showed all too well the two cracked teeth on the left side of his upper jaw where the equine goon of Lex had punched him.
Marcus didn't say anything, staring blankly at the dark liquid, which was supposed to be coffee, in his cup. Jim just sighed deep rubbing gingerly over the wound on his shoulder. It hurt, touching the wound, despite all the meds Jim was having. It just reminded the rat how close to death he had been and what the price for his continued existence was.
Charles shook his head slowly, his forced grin melting away as his ears drooped down. There was really not much point trying to cheer the others up when he himself had his doubts about the whole situation. It was weeks since the incident, and Alan was still out cold. Not once had the feline woken up since losing his consciousness from the shock of the shot.
Minutes ticked slowly by in silence as all three boys were lost in their own thoughts.
It was a gentle, soft cough that dragged the attention of Marcus, Jim and Charles back to the present moment. Katie was standing right next to their table. Unlike the three boys, Katie was not wearing her uniform. Instead she wore a civilian outfit consisting of a simple top and a pair of suitably girly jeans, her wildly striped hair was tied to a neat ponytail and save for the bloodshot eyes she looked very pretty indeed.
"My uhh...Parents sent me to tell you it's okay to come again..." Katie said quietly, turning then around and leaving before any one of the three boys had as much as a chance to open their mouth for a reply.
Following the incident, Katie had been withdrawn from the academy by the decision of her parents and general Lee. Given her achievements in the medical field of study, Katie had been told she could pick any medical educational facility in Edenia she wanted to pursue a career as a doctor or something like that. Naturally Katie had protested, but there was not much she could do as she was handed the filled-out resignment papers.
The scraping of chair legs against marble floor filled the small cafeteria as the trio stood hastily up, running then out to the corridors of the hospital like they all had a fire underneath their tail. A tray of tasteless hospital food went flying off of a nurse's paws as Jim roughly pushed her aside, ignoring the foul comments thrown after him by the squirrel sprawled on the floor, covered in pasta and meatballs.
They all gradually slowed their pace to fast walking as they neared the room Alan was in. The number '429' was painted in white to the dull, light-gray metal door of the room, a small window on it the only way to see inside unless one was checking the surveillance cameras.
With a quiet hiss the door slid to the side, the frame of a heart-broken male cheetah in a snazzy khaki suit and a black tie obstructing the view to the room.
Mr.Hopping stared at Jim, Charles and Marcus for a while. He looked otherwise quite calm, but the way his tail was swishing like a whip behind him and the way his paw slowly curled and uncurled into a fist betrayed his true feelings of anger and agitation.
"I'll talk to you three for a while before you go in there." He stated matter-of-factly, taking then a step further so that the door slid automatically closed, the hissing of which sounded suddenly very much like the hiss of an angry feline.
It took Mr.Hopping a moment to gather himself enough before he was able to find the words he was seeking. "The doctors told me the initial checkup on my son revealed he had traces of semen in...you know what I mean..." the cheetah's voice faded to an angry mumble for a moment before he was able to carry on. "Seeing as he was last sighted with you lot, and as the doctors found no traces of a rape, I can't help but think one of you is to blame...That one of you is the reason my son is some limp-wristed faggot, on the verge of death to save the lives of his fuck-buddies!" Mr.Hopping's composure had failed him, his voice having steadily risen until it had been nothing short of a shout. Many heads in the hallway turned, necks craning in order to see better what was going on.
The hackles of Charles rose in an alerting manner, a low growl rolling from the hyena's mouth as he bared his fangs to the feline. Knowing Charles' short fuse and hot-headed nature, both Jim and Marcus took a hold of one of Charles' arms, making sure the hyena wouldn't do something rash on the spur of the moment.
This distraction only fuelled Mr.Hopping, who carried on in a lot quieter voice. "My point proven...You wouldn't be so defensive if it wasn't true. I sincerely hope you and all of your like will die of AIDS sometime soon. The sooner the better, actually."
It was neither Jim, Charles nor Marcus that did what happened next. There was an angry hiss, a flash of green scales and blue fabric and Mr.Hopping found himself dangling by the neck easily a foot above the ground with a rather irritated crocodile holding him suspended. If that wasn't shocking enough to the cheetah, the fact the arm holding him suspended was made of shining, polished metal was more than a little unnerving.
Zeke tightened the grip he had around Mr.Hopping's throat a little bit, making sure he had the unshared attention of the feline before he spoke calmly "Gay or not, Alan showed great bravery and courage by having the guts to protect his friends, those he presumably loved, so don't you DARE to speak ill of neither him nor these three..." Zeke then revealed his admittedly impressive set of gleaming, sharp fangs before dropping Mr.Hopping down. The croc spun around on his heels, making sure he "accidentally" slapped the cheetah's chest a bit with his tail. A small, nervous smile curled on his face as he looked at the three dumbstruck faces which greeted him.
"I thought I'd sneak out of the academy to come and pay Al a visit... It's thanks to him that a big, dumb croc like me could ever pass any of the more challenging exams by tutoring me. I guess I owe this much to him, huh?" Zeke said, his jawline twitching a little as he tried to maintain the smile.
Mr.Hopping rose slowly to his feet, the red on his face clearly showing his frustrated embarrassment and anger at being tossed around like a ragdoll. One look at Zeke's considerably larger body, however, wiped any ideas of retort from his mind. Instead, the feline stormed into the room, said something in rather stern tone and then appeared again, pulling Katie by the arm, his wife following soon after. Mrs.Hopping tried, quite in vain, to calm down her fuming husband as they rounded a corner and vanished from sight.
Jim examined the large, buff crocodile in front of him, mimicking Zeke then by flashing a nervous smile "I don't think you'll be getting away with this that easily..."
Zeke simply shrugged, looking like he couldn't care less at that moment "I'll worry about that when it's time for it. It's not that important right now anyways."
The four of them shuffled into the room numbered 429. Al was, like the last time they had seen him, still hooked to a variety of beeping and flashing machines. The young cheetah looked almost serene as he lied there on the bed with his arms on top of the blanket. It was almost as if he was just soundly asleep, but that was just an illusion. Nothing but a stupid illusion Jim thought to himself.
Silent minutes ticked by as they just sat or stood there, around Alan's bed, watching the cheetah. The tension, or was it excitement, in the room rose in level as all of a sudden Alan parted his eyelids open just a crack, a small, soft groan coming from him as he further opened his eyes.
With a rather serene, croggy look on his face Alan looked at the four figures around his bed, recognising them immediately and greeting them all with a warm smile. "H-How long was I out?" Alan asked.
Jim, sitting on a chair right next to Alan's bed, gave the cheetah's paw a squeeze "Longer than we thought was nice...Good thing you finally woke though."
Alan chuckled a little, returning the squeeze to Jim as he closed his eyes for a moment again, swallowing hard before looking at the rat again with slightly glazed eyes "I'm glad you pulled through it all...I was sure that gorilla would kill you, so I had to do something..."
Meanwhile, Marcus had started to idly scritch Alan from between the ears, the reindeer smiling broadly now that the feline he loved was finally awake after such a long, straining slumber. The cheetah turned his head a little to look at Marcus, his smile broadening even more as he saw that familiar antler-topped head of Marcus nearby.
"Thanks for everything Marcus...I...I love you more than you can imagine." Alan mumbled, sounding still quite tired. He turned to look at Jim again, squeezing the rat's paw as hard as he could. "I'm also glad I got to have you, Jim..."
Both Jim and Marcus were about to ask why Alan was talking such strange things, but they got all their answers as Alan's eyes rolled over and the machines started to beep an alarm. Jim's eyes widened in shock as he realised what was happening, but the horrible realisation robbed him of his voice, allowing him only to squeak weakly as a couple of nurses and a collie doctor rushed into the room, pushing the four of them out of the way. Marcus' voice, seething with horror and cold fear, echoed through the room, but it was still only barely registered by the petrified furs. "Fuck no! Alan!"
The funeral two days later was one spent mostly in silence. Mr. Hopping didn't show up, for he knew Marcus, Jim and Charles would be there. General Lee held a small speech, praising the bravery of Alan and expressing his deepest condolences for the loss of such a courageous, unselfish individual like Al had been.
Everyone was more than a little surprised to see captain Magrath cry, though the lion kept his face mostly even and emotionless. It was the tears falling down his cheeks that revealed so thoroughly what the lion truly felt. Alan, like the other cadets under his command, always had been and always would be like sons and daughters to him...And Alan was certainly not an exception.
Another surprise came in the form of Doctor B, also present at the funeral, putting his arms around Magrath and hugging the lion gently, whispering soothingly into the ear of the large lion as the soldiers handed Mrs. Hopping the folded flag and saluted her before taking their positions back in the line. Shots were fired, three times ten to honour the fallen.
"Daniel?" Charlie asked quietly. The fox was sitting on his bed right next to Daniel, his black-socked paws held loosely together on his lap.
Daniel turned to look at Charlie, a smile caressing the husky's face as he looked at his boyfriend. "Yes"
Charlie shifted uncomfortably on his seat, fidgeting with his paws and sighing then deep. He curled his poofy tail on his lap, examining the tip of it intently. He didn't know how to say it, to tell the husky how he felt. Daniel had been always so enthusiastic to be in the navy, to serve his god and Edenia as best he could, so it was hard for Charlie to speak. Gulping down the knot forming in his throat he finally managed to speak "I...I just..." he swallowed once more before simply blurting out "I don't think I can do this anymore..."
The fox was prepared for Daniel to be dismayed, or atleast surprised, but the husky simply put his arms around Charlie's neck, kissing the nape of the fox's neck softly. "Navy, civilian life, imprisonment...I don't care, just as long as I get to be with you." Feeling a slight blush creep on his face Daniel added "You are the best thing to happen in my life, Charlie...If you want to resign, I'll follow you, but we have to do it soon...After we take the Oath we can't back away."
Charlie turned his upper body around, his left leg hooking underneath him, to be able to return the husky's hug, Charlie's own arms gently wrapping around Daniel's upper back. "I love you, Dan."
Daniel smiled warmly, giving the fox's neck a tender nip "A feeling that is most mutual, Charlie...Maybe, once we are out of here, I'll try and start to study Theology, or maybe electronics."
An hour later two neat, signed and confirmed papers of resignation lied on Magrath's desk, much to the surprise of the lion.
Planet Dorsalis III, a planet on the system just outside the Gateway, where at that moment the fighting between furs and humans was raging hottest. The 262nd Mobile Infantry Platoon had been assigned to that specific location, ordered to hold the hill named, by the humans, as Blood Mound. A few slabs of concrete, hastily embedded to the ground, were the only thing providing protection to the furs on top of the otherwise perfectly flat and open hilltop.
The Marines charging blindly up the hillside, urged on by the ruthless commissars, were of no problem to the heavy weaponry the MIs of Edenia had been equipped with, the MA Catling-guns and fusion rockets tearing through the lightly armored humans with ease. But they kept on coming, blindly rushing to their deaths, their faces but stoic masks, resigned to their doom. Ahead of them the lethal volleys of the Edenians, behind them the merciless commissars who executed all those who tried to turn and run from the massacre.
Sergeant Tatjana Cokorin sneered as she saw one of the commissars, donned in a black and red outfit with a typical red commissar hat, shooting another marine who tried to save his life.
"Wilkins...Focus on the commissars, make sure you nail those buggers." The vixen ordered to the leader of the snipers, corporal Marvin Wilkins. Wilkins merely nodded before forwarding the message to his team, who immediately and precisely started to kill off the designated targets.
"This is too easy!" One of the Mobile Infantry, a fox like Tatjana, shouted.
Sergeant Cokorin growled at the insolent soldier "Shut up and keep firing! This is just an initial assault to deplete our ammo and weaken us so those accursed Crusaders and Zealots can finish us off!" A wailing roar descending from the sky above led Sergeant Cokorin to mumble to herself "Speak of the devil..."
Like meteors they came, each one crammed inside a simple drop-pod. The Zealots, clad in gleaming power armour, armed with heavy weaponry and the trademark wrist-mounted pair of power blades, said blades carving through even the thickest armour like it was wet paper. The crusaders were even worse, fanatic worshippers of the Terran Throne armed with nothing but large two-handed power swords or halberds and donning proudly the silvery power armor, looking very much like the medieval crusaders of olden Terra.
Looking up, Cokorin saw one of the pods was about to land directly amidst them. "Incoming!" She screamed, unsheathing her vibro-sword. This one pod was neither red like the ones of the Zealots, nor silvery like the one of Crusaders, but black as the night itself; an Inquisitor, worst -or best- of the Terran elite. The pod literally exploded to pieces, peppering the furs with sharp, hot fragments, only to reveal a warrior in hulking power armor, the eyes of his helmet red like the fires of hell. In his hands the Inquisitor held both a mighty hammer, as well as a disturbingly large machine gun.
"For Terra!" The Inquisitor shouted, firing his gun wildly around, the furs unable to defend themselves against the initial onslaught.
With a daring lunge Sergeant Cokorin managed to slice the Inquisitor's gun in half, her second swing stopping to the shaft of the Inquisitor's hammer, the entire weapon crackling with barely contained power. "Die, impure!" the Inquisitor's authorative voice boomed as he backhanded the vixen across the face, sending her tumbling wildly across the dusty ground.
Vast majority of the bullets the furs fired at the Inquisitor ricocheted harmlessly off of his sturdy armor, save for one lucky shot that managed to pierce the neck-joint in the fanatic's armor, a gush of blood heralding the death of the Inquisitor, the armored figure slowly collapsing to ground with a thundering slam. The distraction, however, was one that was about to cost the Edenians heavily.
Whilst they had focused on the Inquisitor, the Marines -accompanied by the Zealots- had drawn dangerously close. Hastily sergeant Cokorin snatched the radio, hammering in the frequency for artillery command. "We need fire support at sector 3G. Our position is about to be overrun by the humans, so we need the support NOW!"
A cool male voice, crackling with static, responded "Roger, fire support en-route, just designate exact cordinates."
The screams and pained howls coming from all around her tore at Cokorin's ears, so she just screamed "Fire straight on top of us! Nail those fucks if nothing else helps!"
The faint thumps echoing in the distance told sergeant cokorin the support was indeed coming...and that they would all most likely perish of it. "Take cover!" Cokorin shouted, pressing herself flat against the nearest slab of concrete as the wailing of the artillery's ammunition drew closer. Only a second later the gates of Hell were torn wide open, the sky burning and the earth boiling as the rockets found their marks. Hundreds of furs and humans alike simply ceased to exist in the blazing inferno brought forth by fur-made fire.
Slowly the fire spread out like a Nova, incinerating those who tried to run. There, huddled up against the slab of concrete, which suddenly seemed very small, Sergeant Cokorin lied, shaking from head to toe as she tried to fight against the grenade-shock, the strangling fear and the urge to just stand up and run for her life, for she knew that to do that was nothing short of a suicide.
She had no idea how long she lied there. An hour, a day, a week, entire lifetime...Time simply lost its meaning as the roaring of the artillery barrage went on and on, turning little by little into nothing but dull pounding "Booms" before subsiding entirely. After the last grenade had impacted and exploded, only silence remained. A perfect, undisturbed silence...
The hill itself had altered drastically, the sides having been wiped clear of life, the entire region scarred for a long time by the grenade holes. Of those fighting at Blood Mound, practically nothing remained. Only the odd piece of stubborn power armour or, a single case, the charred, empty husk of what used to be a Zealot, could be found.
From amidst the wanton carnage, a single figure stood up. Cokorin shook herself violently, sending ash and dust flying in all directions. A quick glance around confirmed her worst fear: the entire unit had been wiped out. The only thing that brought Cokorin even mild satisfaction was the fact the humans had been wiped out too...
The vixen rested her back against one of the only remaining slabs of concrete, sighing heavily as she placed half of a cigar into her mouth, lighting it up and taking a deep inhale of the richly flavoured smoke.
A sudden rustling caught Cokorin's attention and she immediately swiped out her pistol, aiming it at the face of a human -black of skin- only to notice the Terran was aiming at her, too. For a moment the two just stared at each other tiredly before, simultaneously, lowering their guns. The insignias, afterall, indicated they were both sergeants.
"Sergeant Matthew Damons." The human introduced himself, saluting to Cokorin by lifting his tattered cap a little before plopping down next to the vixen and lighting a cigar of his own.
"Sergeant Tatjana Cokorin..." The vixen returned the introduction, tipping her head politely.
For a moment they just sat in silence, listening to the distant boom of artillery.
"They are fed up with this war, you know..." Damons finally said, looking up at the cloud-covered sky.
Cokorin laughed "Well I hope that means they'll stop sending good men to the meatgrinder."
"Terra is bleeding itself dry. I mean...fuck, for every one of you fuzzballs that we manage to kill, ten of us seem to fall... The so-called emperor we now have has finally gotten fed up with this war... I heard he's launching another crusade, and that the aim of this crusade is not to conquer but rather devastate everything." Damons smiled apologetically at Cokorin "And the 'everything' includes all planets with furry presence..."
As Damons gestured to the sky, Cokorin's face curled into a deep frown. Down from the sky fell the large shapes of nuclear missiles, the salvo drawing ever closer to them. "Well fuck...Out of the frying pan and directly into an inferno."
"Well, atleast it'll be over quickly." Damons whispered, gesturing at the sky again.
As Cokorin looked directly above, she saw the shape of a nuke speeding directly towards them with troublesome speed. "Fuck..." was all she managed to say before the blinding flash engulfed everything.
Batista moaned as Thomas' broad tongue danced over his naked upper body. The two of them had just arrived back to the church in which Thomas resided after a day spent in downtown, enjoying a movie and some lunch. Ah, the lunch...During that the conversation had taken a few interesting turns...all which had led to this point.
The past couple of days had been a true blessing to Batista, who had found the work he did in repairing the church as well as the friendship of the wolven priest to be a true relief from the stress he had felt before.
Now, lying on his back in Thomas' bed wearing nothing more than a broad grin, Batista felt truly happy. The soft, warm form of the equally naked wolf on top of him...The sensation of Thomas' furry sheath pressing against Batista's own hardon... There was something very relieving in it, being able to express his sexuality so freely.
Batista had always known he preferred guys over girls, but he had never thought he'd end up in bed with an Edenian wolf, taking into account what he had been through in Pegasi Falls. "That's in the past, though. What matters is the present." the human thought to himself as he dug his fingers deep into the warm grey fur on Thomas' back, moaning quietly as the canine teased one of his nipples with that broad, smooth, dextrous tongue of his.
Thomas ground his hardon slowly against Batista's manhood, the wolf murring quietly into the human's chest as he felt Batista getting more and more rigid by the second. Slowly the wolf straightened himself up, turning then around and sitting down on Batista's lap, straddling the human's hips, all seven inches of Batista's maleness snuggly between Thomas' buttocks.
With a soft smile Batista watched Thomas lift his rump from his lap, a clawed grey paw coiling around Batista's maleness to hold it steady, and then the wolf lowered himself back down, moaning quietly as Batista's maleness little by little entered his lovehole.
Thomas started to slowly ride on top of Batista, gyrating his hips equally slowly, his paw working steadily over his own hardon. The wolf held his eyes firmly closed, a deep, rich, rumbling growl slipping from his muzzle as he felt Batista's hands grip him by the hips and yank him all the way down to the hilt, Thomas' lusty growl turning into a smooth "Ooooh..."
Panting slightly Batista rolled Thomas on his side and from there the wolf, picking up the hint, shifted on all fours, his tail turned to the side in submission and his ears flat against his skull as Batista started to pound him firmly.
The warmth of Thomas' passage enveloping his entire length, the moanig of the canine...The slight tickling provided by the wolf's fur, especially whenever it touched his maleness... Bliss, pure bliss. Batista had had his encounters with some of his classmates back in Terra, but those didn't compare to what the wolf was providing him with, not by a long shot.
The human could feel his cock starting to tingle, the tingly sensation spreading from the base to the tip almost agonizingly slowly, heralding his climax. With only a muffled gasp and mild grunt Batista came into Thomas, his load erupting deep into the wolf's bowels as he clutched himself firmly against the wolf's back, the human's arms firmly coiled around Thomas' waist.
With a small, soft thud the two of them collapsed on the bed, Batista sweating and Thomas panting with his tongue out of his muzzle. The wolf turned around to face Batista, pressing a soft kiss on the human's lips before drawing back with a grin. "Now what about my needs?" Thomas asked playfully.
Batista drew Thomas on top of him, the human's legs wrapping around the wolf's waist as his arms coiled around the canine's neck. "Go wild, fuzzball..." replied Batista with a broad, confident grin. By Thomas' side, Batista felt like he had just perhaps found his place in the world...
Former captain Steele stared idly with glazed eyes at the picture on the table, showing himself, his wife and daughter all smiling. He had failed them both, failed to avenge them, failed to make that damned faggot suffer enough for his sins...
Slowly the raptor lifted the bottle, the label of which depicted "Craftington's Gut-Scorcher 80%", to his lips and drank hard, feeling almost instantly how the alcohol whizzed up to his head, making him feel atleast slightly numb. Once more the raptor looked at the family portrait, a shadow of a smile caressing his lips before he grabbed the pistol from the table next to the picture and slid the muzzle into his mouth. He hesitated for a while, the finger on the trigger quivering, and then a firm squeeze followed by a loud bang...
The wind was blowing rather gently over the three figures standing in the otherwise so empty cemetery. Three naval officers in fresh uniforms with the Steel Wings on the left side of their jackets reflecting the light of the sun.
One of the three figures, a dark-gray rat, sniffed once. Another of the officers, a hyena, put his arm comfortingly around the shoulders of the third officer, a reindeer, who was having hard time to choke back a sob.
"Well...We finally made it, Al...It's been a week or so since we all graduated with flying colours, even that lazy meathead-of-a-hyena Charles." Jim said quietly, watching Alan's gravestone. The comment made Charles frown a little but he couldn't open a can of whoopass on Jim. Partly because it would've been disrespectful towards Alan's memory, and mostly because Marcus was clinging onto him quite firmly.
Jim sniffed again "We...We just came fresh out of a wedding, Al. Magrath got married, though we all were a little surprised his 'better half' was Doctor B." Jim chuckled, shaking his head slowly "And that's where the good news end, then...Seems like those damn humans are launching a fourth Crusade, which means we will be sent right into the thick of fighting."
Jim was about to turn around and leave, when Charles hissed "Jim...the AI."
"Oh yeah! Al...We got to decide what kind of an Artificial Intelligence we wanted for our ship, and we named him Alan and made him look and sound like you...This way you'll always be with us, kittycat." said Jim with a smile. From his pocket the rat fished something out and placed it on the stone at Alan's grave. "You've earned these too, Al..." Jim whispered and then walked away with his two remaining friends, leaving the pair of Steel Wings on top of Alan's gravestone.
In the command room of the Gateway, High Admiral Draksar frowned, his dragonic tail swishing slowly behind him. Unlike most other dragons, High Admiral Draksar was "feral" in his appearance, a titanic monstrosity lying flat on his stomach in the control room, observing the graphs and statistics flashing along the panels.
What worried him the most had been the reports from the Outer Planets, or more accurately the total ending of them. The last transmission from the fleet assigned to the Outer Planets had been quite erratic, reporting of a titanic fleet of Terran ships heading right at the Gateway after scorching several planets with plasma and nuclear fire.
Draksar turned his head to look at one of the technicians, a weasel whose fingers danced hastily over the keyboard of his assigned monitor. "Is the second ring of orbital cannons fully operational and ready for use?" the dragon asked slowly.
"Yes Sir. The second orbital ring of MACs is one hundred percent operational, reducing the time between shots from thirty seconds to fifteen seconds." The weasel replied, licking her lips nervously before turning to look at the impressive form of the green dragon lying on a specifically crafted pedestal "Sir..? Do we have any chances of winning? The reports told of fleets numbering in thousands, maybe even tens of thousands..."
Draksar smiled warmly at the nervous weasel "Worry not...We haven't been sitting on our paws. Our fleets are currently mustering, ready to repel anything and everything those hairless apes throw at us."
On another monitor, hundreds of small stars seemed to sparkle, only to turn into sleek Edenian battleships of varying sizes. From the smallest of frigates to the most impressive of Titans and Dreadnaughts, Edenia was preparing to quell yet another human incursion, the brave men and women ready to put their lives on the line to protect their homes, their families.
Suddenly the space on another monitor, some ten thousand miles away from the Gateway, started to twist and contort, turning into a black and purple, spinning void out of which the Terran ships started to pour.
"Alea jacta est..." Draksar mumbled, turning then his head around, starting to shout orders left and right. "I want everyone to open up at the maximum range! Make sure you weed out as many as you possibly can before they have a chance to shoot!"
The bald, scarred figure of a human appeared on one of the com-panels. "High Admiral Draksar, Admiral Eagleheart and the Renegade Fleets ready to offer assistance as requested."
The dragon's face split into a hearty smile "Truly a pleasure to see you, Admiral Eagleheart. Keep your fleet in the back as a reserve, and engage the enemy as soon as they get close."
"Roger that." came the reply and the channel went dead.
More and more of the Terran ships kept pouring out of the jumpgate, the initial lines of Terran ships having already reached the range of Edenian MACs. Draksar barked a single order "Fire!" Immediately on the screen hundreds of slugs of white-hot metal soared towards the Terran battle-line. The ships, however, were way too tightly packed to allow much space to veer away from the initial salvo.
The flickering of shields filled the screen, showing how the shields of each hit ship first resisted, then flickered and finally overloaded and failed, the massive metal slugs carving with ease through the ships once the shields had been wrecked.
"Keep firing! Focused salvo after another! Don't let them get too close too soon!" High Admiral Draksar roared. "Remember all those that died in the Outer Planets...Do not let their sacrafices be in vain!" The fight for the Gateway had begun...Yet again.
Magrath swore heavily as they dropped back to realspace. The fight was already on, the Edenian battle line holding, for now, the Terrans far enough away to prevent them from firing more than the odd few times, though each bolt of plasma turned one Edenian ship into a miniature sun for a moment.
"Marcus! Guide us to the closest edge of the battle line. Damien! Make sure those weapons are ready and operational. Alan...Give us firing solutions to six of the nearest Terran ships and prepare to fire." Magrath shouted.
The glowing blue hologram of Alan, standing on a pad near the centre of the bridge, was silent for a full second before replying "Solutions plotted, we are ready to fire the catling MAC."
For a moment Magrath was silent, waiting for the other Edenians to launch yet another lethal salvo at their foe. As their fellow furs launched off more of the white-hot slugs, Magrath barked "Fire!" The hull reverberated faintly with six consecutive thumps as the magnetic coils hurled the metal slugs forward with insane speed. Five of the six shots scored a direct hit, cleaving the Terran ships from fore to aft like a hot knife through butter.
Damien turned around on his seat, looking rather pale and wide-eyed. "We just killed them all...Humans or not, we killed them all..." He whispered, receiving an understanding nod from Magrath.
"This is war, Damien...Nobody said war would be neat and tidy. This is no longer a simulation, we are fighting against live targets, firing live bullets and killing live people..." Magrath said quietly, whilst Alan, their AI, kept on pumping slug after slug after slug with unnerving precision to the Terran fleet.
Magrath knew the horror and revulsion his crew most likely felt. He had, afterall, been once young himself, been a fresh recruit in the navy, been in his first real combat. He could still remember the feelign of sheer horror as he realised their shots had actually killed people, extinguished hundreds of lives in the snap of fingers.
Alan's voice, a perfect replica of the once living Alan's, called out. "Sir! My sensors indicate a space/time anomaly to the galactic east of us. The anomaly matches in description a Terran jumpgate."
"On screen." Magrath ordered, the sight unfolding in front of his eyes on the screen making him frown and swear more.
"Jim! Open me a line to High Admiral Draksar on the double!" Magrath roared.
"Roger." Jim replied, tapping a couple of buttons.
"Yes, captain Magrath?" the dragon's voice drifted through the speakers.
"Sir! The Terrans are about to play dirty. They are going to be jumping right to our flank. My AI has already sent you the data I'm sure."
There was a low growl, followed by a long litany of curses, during which Draksar didn't repeat himself even once. "I'm ordering the Renegade Fleets as well as EES Damnation to deal with the flanking force. Hals- und Beinbruch, captain Magrath." and with that the channel snapped shut.
"What did that last part mean, Sir?" Marcus asked, turning his horn-crowned head to look at the lion.
Magrath smiled a little "I think it roughly translates as 'break a neck and leg', a sort of a jesting wish for good luck...I think the origins of High Admiral Draksar lie somewhere in the Terran country once known as Germany." The smile on the lion's face melted away quite swiftly after that. "Get this ship around and prepare to unleash all hell on them once they exit the warp, gentlemen."
Another explosion rocked the hull of EES Damnation, hurling Magrath off his seat.
"Shields are at forty-eight percent and decreasing." Alan said blankly, the figure of the cheetah slowly tapping his feet at the top of the jolopad he was standing on as if nothing was wrong in the world.
The fight was not going well at all...The force that had jumped out of the flanking jumpgate had proven to be more than a match for Admiral Eagleheart and captain Magrath, despite the fact Damnation had, utilising it's superior manoueverability, ran rings around the enemy fleet, wrecking havoc wherever it had flown. With slight satisfaction Magrath watched as their Lascannons tore through yet another Terran ship, rippling it's hull with the fiery blossoms of explosions as the air in the hit compartments ignited and blew outwards.
Damnation rolled with ease around it's axis, avoiding to incoming globs of plasma, before blasting at the guilty ships from nearly point-blank range with the catling MAC, turning two more ships into nothing more than empty husks floating in the void of space. Magrath's group had realised it: kill or be killed. They had had no other choice but to steel themselves and grow numb to the horrors of war, deaf and blind to the fact they were guilty for the deaths of hundreds. Human or not, it all still felt so vain, so pointless.
Suddenly all the alarms in the bridge started to wail and Alan called casually "We have two nukes following us, Sir...They appear to be guided by AIs and they fit the category of fifty megaton thermonuclear charges." The AI held a full one and half seconds of pause as it processed the information "Time for impact, forty seconds, evasive manoeuvers give off 0.00007% chance to avoid impacts...sir, our shields can't hold against two consecutive blasts."
Magrath felt all blood in his face escaping away. Thirty seconds to death...For a moment the lion was totally frozen, unable to believe it was going to happen, unable to believe he was going to die on his first mission with his boys and girl. Then he snapped out of it, starting to think hard. "Direct as much power to the rear shields as you can and then jump.
"I do not recommend that, Sir. Our current heading means we will be jumping right at the wall of black holes and gravity wells that encases Edenia. Chances to make a successful jump through a black hole are at roughly one percent." Alan replied.
Magrath looked at the timer. Five seconds...Four...Three... "JUST DO IT!" The lion roared. Next thing the lion knew, the whole ship was shaking violently and then...darkness.
In the command room of the Gateway, one of the officers turned around to Draksar. "Sir! Our sensors just registered two thermonuclear explosions near the wall of Eden...And EES Damnation vanished immediately after the explosions."
Draksar was silent for a moment and then sighed. "Mark the EES Damnation and it's crew as KIA...Now...We have a war to win!"
****
_ll the same take me away
We're dead to the world
The child gave thought to the poet's world
Gave comfort to the Fallen
(Heartfelt, lovelorn)
Remaining, yet still uninvited
Those words scented my soul
(Lonely soul, Ocean soul)
It's not the monsters under your bed
It is the Man next door
That makes you fear, makes you cry,
Makes you cry for the child
All the wars are fought among those lonely men
Unarmed, unscarred_
I don't want to die a scarless man
A lonely soul
(Tell me now what to do)
I studied silence to learn the music
I joined the sinful to regain innocence
Heaven queen, cover me
In all that blue
Little boy, such precious joy
Is dead to the world
Heaven queen, carry me
Away from all pain
All the same take me away
We're dead to the world
Dead, silent, constant
Yet always changing
- My favorite view of this world
As he died, he will return to die in me again
Weaving the cloth, giving birth to the Century Child
Who gave his life not for the world but for me
Innocence reborn once more
Heaven queen, carry me
Away from all pain
All the same take me away
We're dead to the world
Heaven queen, cover me
In all that blue
Little boy, such precious joy
Is dead to the world
Heaven queen, carry me
Away from all pain
All the same take me away
We're dead to the world
We're dead to the world!
"Dead To The World" by Nightwish
****
Final words from the author
Well now. It's been a long -and sometimes rather rocky- road, but finally this story has come to the end of it. I have many fond memories of these characters I've learned to love quite a bit, and as such it is with somewhat heavy hearts that I bring this serie to it's conclusion. Like I said this is the finale, the last chapter, the sugar in the bottom for this serie.
I truly hope that you, my dear reader, have enjoyed reading this serie as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Just because I conclude this serie, it doesn't mean I'd stop writing, or that I wouldn't be adding new stuff to this little universe of mine. I've spent too much time with it to just let it die!
But, alas, for now I will be focusing on my other, more realistic serie.
Peace to you all!
~Rhazagal