Cosmic Winter
#1 of Cosmic Winter
This story is based on inspiration from movies, television, and books that I have been exposed too over the last few years and I just wanted to jot something out as a tribute to them for making me who I am today. So, here we go... * * *
Warning: Contains graphic depictions of violence, foul language, and sexual situations. Reader discretion is advised. Translation: Some people get their asses kicked, there's bad words, and there's some hot man on man sex... If you aren't supposed to read that stuff then don't. Also: I only own my Liger me so yeah.... Don't sue the kitty! Cosmic Winter "Shadows have fallen. Fly to the skies, young bird...." The message continued to flash over Derek's com screen. He couldn't help but stair at it for a few moments before the grating wail of the proximity alarm began blaring in his ears. A slow and menacing smile spread over his muzzle as he gripped the controls of his small ship tighter. "So I already get to take it out on some one..." He whispered under his breath as he prepared his ship for launch. A slowly building whir told him that the "In Atmos." turbines had begun to spin up. The proximity alarm also increased in volume until Derek shut it off, the annoying sound nearly driving him to smashing his radar in frustration and misplaced anger. No... He already had a target for that. The ship that had set off the sensors was drawing nearer, it's radar signature easily readable as a Vetan interceptor. Though it easily outmatched Derek's self built craft for attack and defense capabilities, there was no way that it could hope to match his maneuverability or speed. A cackling came over the com's as the Vetan ship either asked him to identify himself or surrender. Derek didn't bother trying to tune in the signal. His com's had taken a bit of a beating over the last few days and now it seemed the only signals he could receive were text. When the turbine status indication lights finally turned green, indicating that they had reached the proper thrust for takeoff, Derek let off the brakes on his landing gear. The radio began a frantic repetition of cracks and whistles as the pilot of the Vetan ship tried to dissuade him from taking off. They fell on deaf ears as Derek's ship began to pick up speed. By the time that he finally pulled back on the controls to lift the ship into the air he was well past the required takeoff speed. A volley of blasts from the Vetan ship barely missed the tail of Derek's ship. The speed the tiny little fighter had accumulated was put to good use as it climbed at a break neck pace, easily climbing to an attack altitude within seconds of leaving the ground. Using the maneuvering thrusters on the nose of his craft, Derek flipped around and had his forward guns pointed at the cockpit of the Vetan ship before they even had a chance to train their upper mount guns on his wake trail. A few quick blasts and the enemy ship was riddled with molten lead and shrapnel. Derek hit the nose thrusters again to pull himself out of the steep attack dive that had allowed such an effective attack, then flipped the bird skyward. "The skies and beyond..." He quietly whispered to himself as he activated the main thrust rocket and accelerated towards space and the orbiting ship that had served as his home for the last few months. As he cleared the atmosphere, the ever present background radiation of space forced Derek to shut off his com's least he be rendered deaf from all the static it caused. He pulled a small voice recorder from his pocket, a difficult and time consuming task considering that the cockpit design of his craft meant that he had to lay down on his chest to fly. "Note to self..." He began after flipping the ship to auto pilot and pressing the record button on the small device in his paw. "Get Hos to fix the dam radio." After his note had been stored in the recorder, Derek lay his head down and let the days events wash over him one more time. He always had trouble remembering specific details about missions, which is why his commander had made him keep the recorder in the first place. Nothing helped as much as a relaxing run through the moon belt to let his mind wander though. Unfortunately, due to a close call a few weeks ago, the commander had banned Derek from his favorite training grounds siting that he was too valuable a pilot to loose at the moment. Derek knew that his piloting skills had nothing to do with it though, other then the fact that he was one of only six people on the leviathan who could pilot a fighter well enough to train rookies. Instead of his mind going over the latest mission, his mind ended up going over what had led him to his current situation, and the disaster that had sparked everything. He could still remember what he was doing when he first heard the news about what was happening....and what it meant for him. "Ladies and gentlemen it's a horrific scene here at the CDC's research facility here in Denver, Colorado. Reports are coming in of thousands dead....even more violently ill and possibly contagious. There has been no word yet of what the CDC plans to do about this horrible situation or what possible implications it could have for the rest of the country" Derek could feel his stomach tighten as he watched the tragedy unfold on his family's living room television. The words from the field reporter were almost like those in a movie, but all too real as they told the world about the newest tragedy befalling it at the moment. "...But for now local fire and rescue teams are advising every one to stay indoors and try to stay calm. They are declaring a state of emergency and calling for national assistance to deal with the epidemic." The reporters voice cut out as the tv was turned off, causing Derek to jump. "Derek! Would you answer me please?" Derek turned to see his mother standing just to the side of the television, her expression one of annoyance. "W-What is it?" He questioned as he picked himself up from the floor where he had been sitting and watching the news. "Figures that you wouldn't hear me while you're watching a movie..." His mother, Amanda sighed to herself. "Now get off your ass and come help me bring in the groceries..." Derek looked between her and the blank screen of the television, then slowly headed for the door to the garage before his mind caught up with him again. Instead of opening the door and heading out to the van, Derek locked the door. He quickly stripped off his shirt and stuffed it into the door jam at the bottom as his mom watched in mild confusion. "What are you doing?" She finally asked as Derek ran past her towards the bathroom. "That wasn't a movie mom..." Derek hollered quickly as he ran past her again, a bundle of towels in his hands. "...Some serious shit is really going down!" Again, Amanda was left wondering as he locked the front door and stuffed a towel against the bottom to block any airflow. She watched him for a few more moments as he frantically ran around the house closing and locking the windows before she finally reached over and turned the tv back on. "...Doors and windows. Take whatever food and water you can, then leave town immediately. I repeat... The CDC has advised that the outbreak is being caused by an accident in their Denver facility and that everyone in a thirty mile radius should evacuate. It is pointless to remain in doors due to the fact that no house is air tight even when blocking the doors and windows. All residents of the Denver area should take whatever fresh water and food that they can and evacuate. If you have a radio it should be tuned to your local emergency station to learn the location of CDC specified safe zones." Amanda hadn't even noticed that Derek had quit his frantic running and stood beside her to catch the latest news about the outbreak. She jumped a bit when he brushed against her, their eyes meeting and saying what both new. They ran off towards their bedrooms as the tv continued to blare it's warning to an empty room. Derek quickly grabbed a bag from his closet and began stuffing it with cloths from his dresser as his mother did the same in her room. When both had grabbed a few days worth of cloths they headed for the van in the garage. Amanda popped the back and tossed her bag in, Derek doing the same before quickly running up and jumping into the passenger seat. Amanda took a quick look around the garage, spotting Derek's old sports equipment in her effort. She ran over and grabbed a bat and hockey stick, throwing them into the back with the bags before slamming the back hatch and rushing up to the driver's seat. She hopped in and started the van as Derek reached over and pressed the garage door remote button. The heavy wooden door behind them slowly crawled up it's guide rails as Amanda started the engine and put the van into reverse. "Which way do we head?" Amanda asked as Derek began flipping through the radio stations to try and find any resemblance of a coherent broadcast. He looked up at her and shrugged, his fingers still pressing seek on the radio. Amanda decided not to wait for Derek to figure it out, instead slamming on the gas and tearing out into the street. An oncoming car nearly hit the side of the van before it managed to stop. Both drivers meet glances and Amanda gave her best "sorry" face before dropping the van into drive and slamming on the gas. The van seemed to hang in place as it's tires broke loose and squealed in protest before they finally got grip and lurched forward, taking the van with them. It wasn't long before Amanda pulled the bulky metal box onto the freeway heading south of Denver, the engine whining as she accelerated up to highway speeds. "Hold it..." Derek whispered just loud enough for Amanda to hear. "What is it?" She asked in response, surprising Derek and making him jump out of his train of thought. "Well?" She asked again. "What is it that you want me to hold about?" Derek just stared out the windshield for a moment before turning to Amanda. "There are almost no cars on this road right?" Derek accentuated his point by waving a had at the nearly deserted roadway. Amanda nodded her agreement before Derek continued. "The only reason that we'd have to evacuate is if the virus or whatever was airborne right?" Again Amanda nodded." So why is it that nobody is heading this way?" Just as Derek was about to finish his explanation, The radio's speakers blared to life with the emergency alert message that they'd been searching for. "South... I repeat, do not head south. Meteorologists report that a strong southerly wind will carry what is believed to be an airborne pathogen and infect anyone headed that way..." Derek had to slam his hands into the dash to keep from hitting it with his face when Amanda slammed on the brakes. "You know, I'm getting tired of always coming in on the end of these fucking reports..." She growled to herself more then anyone as she swerved across the highway and down an exit ramp. "Dam mom... Could you slow down a bit?" Amanda looked over to Derek a bit surprised. She had said the same thing nearly every time that she rode as a passenger in Derek's car, so hearing it from him was surprising to say the least. Amanda turned her attention back to the road just in time to pull away from a guard rail that she was slowly drifting towards, the tires on the van squealing a bit again. Derek re-braced himself in the seat as Amanda took an eastbound exit, hoping this time that they'd get away from whatever it was that seemed to have everyone in a panic. The two of them sat in silence for a while, listening to the ever increasing reports of horrors caused by the leak at the research facility. The gruesome aftermath of what was happening finally started to set in on them both. "So what now?" Amanda asked as they cruised down the road, passing and being passed by frantic people heading away from the disaster area. Derek could only shrug his shoulders in response, his eyes never leaving the roadway in front of them. Amanda went back and forth between watching the road and watching Derek. She already knew that he was not one to take a situation lightly no matter how calm he seemed, and she woundered just how this kind of tragaty would affect him. She neirly jumped when he finally looked over to her, his eyes devoid of all emotion. Amanda turned back to the road and concentrated on her driving, knowing it best not to try and talk to him anymore. Trafic had begun to pick up as people made their way from the side roads to the main highway in their escape attempts. The road was beginning to get so crowded in fact that it was beginning to get dangerous. Amanda watched as they passed more then a few cars on the side of the road. It was obvious that most had been in accedents, some more serious then others. "I think we need to find another road out of here..." Amanda finally sighed after having to avoid an accedent of her own when a speeding car tried to pass, then merged right in front of her as an oncomeing fire engine blazed past. Derek instinctively reached under his seat and grabbed a map out of the stow drawer under it. He pulled it open and began searching for their location and any alternate routes they could take. Neither of them noticed the car on their tail until it actually hit the van, the two vehicles crunching and getting stuck together due to the speed at which the oncoming car had hit them. The now crushed back half of the van made it impossible for Amanda to steer away from the ditch the collision had pointed them towards. Derek couldn't even react before the crunching of metal into dirt and rock had his ears ringing. Amanda knew that they were both dead. She had seen enough car accidents involving mini vans at this speed when she was volunteering at a hospital as a teenager. Nobody walked away at speeds over forty, and by the time the car had hit them and fallen back, the van must have been doing at least twice that. The last experienced they both shared was the sensation of weightlessness that came when they were launched forward in their seats. Both of them blacked out before they felt the seat belts catch and stop them, let alone the air bags that made a feeble attempt to stop their movement. It was some time before Derek finally woke up. He felt as if someone had walked up and hit the reset switch on his brain and it didn't feel very nice. When the confusion finally started to clear from his mind, the first thing he realized was that he was upside down in his seat. He felt the seat belt across his lap and shoulder, but for some reason his shoulder felt wet and cold. Before he could realize it and stop himself from looking, Derek had turned his head to find the seat belt imbedded into his shoulder and a piece of his collar bone sticking out of the now blackish red cloth of his shirt. There was no pain yet thanks to the adrenalin from the crash, but he knew that it wouldn't last. He hooked his legs under the dash as best he could and used his left hand to undo the seat belt. He managed to get his arm above him before his legs unhooked and slowly let gravity pull him to what used to be the roof of the vehicle, the sound of the belt sliding through his flesh before it finally slipped free making his stomach turn. The now freed belt snapped back into it's unused position, the sound of the buckle slamming into the window glass and shattering it making him jump. Derek clamped his eyes shut and panted for a moment, his mind still extremely clouded from the accident. He didn't even get a chance to open them again before he heard a voice outside the window. "Don't open your eyes yet son... Just sit still and I'll pull you out of there. Remember not to open your eyes." Derek mentally cursed the man's voice, his instructions making it impossible for Derek to keep his eyes shut. As soon as he opened them he wished he hadn't. From the angle that he had landed, he had a perfect view of the drivers seat in the van. What he saw could only be described as horrific. Amanda was still in her seat, the seat belt having done it's job all too well. It made sure to hold her in position so that the street sign that had pierced the windshield of the van would go right through her chest, leaving a gaping and bloody hole for all the world to see. To add insult to injury, the roof of the van had collapsed under the weight of the vehicle, smashing Amanda's head sideways and breaking her neck. Derek's eyes were glued too the corps of his mother until he heard someone screaming. It was the kind of scream that sent bolts of ice down even the most unemotional of people. He looked around for whoever was screaming, wanting it to stop, but he could only see the man outside the van's window. The man finally reached in and grabbed Derek under his left arm, pulling for all he was worth and dragging Derek out of the wrecked van. Now that he was out in the open, Derek continued to look around for the person screaming, but he still couldn't see where it was coming from. He began blacking out again as the man hugged him tightly and picked him up, carrying him towards the roadway. Before he lost total consciousness, he realized that the screams he was looking for, the ones that made his blood run cold...were his own. Derek finally snapped out of his flashback as the docking alarms began to sound in his ears. He gave a deep sigh, his tail twitching in frustration at the memories he still fought with to this day. He activated the manual controls and steered his fighter into the docking port of the leviathan. Derek used his maneuvering thrusters to turn the ship around quickly, then dropped his landing gear and fired his main engin to basically stop the fighter in mid air. The ship's gravity generator took over from there, making the fighter drop to the deck with a hard thump. As soon as it his the plating Derek shut the engines down and popped open the canopy in one swift movement, his feline agility allowing him to easily slip out of the cockpit and land on his feet before the deck hands could even get over to the ship. "Dammit Derek! Didn't I tell you not to do that anymore. You burn the hell out of my hanger when you pull that stupid little stunt!" Derek looked up to where the head mechanic, a large overweight bear, was pointing. He couldn't help but grin at the large black carbon mark that the engines of his fighter had created on the wall, just above head height. "Next time you do that I'll personally throw you out the nearest airlock!" Derek just chuckled and brushed past him, pulling off his helmet and flipping his head around to shake loose his long brown hair. He hated having to stuff it into the helmet and get it tangled up be he decided it was better that then not get a decent seal with his helmet and die of vacuum exposure least his canopy fail while flying to or from the ship. As he was running the claws of one paw through his hair to take out the tangles a slightly shorter, snow white rabbit walked over and popped him on the shoulder. "So what did you break on her this time?" The rabbit jested as he gave Derek's shoulder a few more pops. "The radio's out and I think one of the aft maneuvering thrusters might be clogged..." Derek responded, not even looking at the rabbit. "And if you hit that shoulder one more time Hos, I'll make you into real hosinfeffer..." The rabbit made a grunting noise of disapproval at Derek's attempt at a joke and walked off, grabbing tools off a bench and heading over to Derek's fighter. "You know one of these days he's gonna take one of those wrenches to your nuts..." Derek looked over to the Panda that was leaning against the door leading out of the hangar. "He's got it all planned out too, and let me tell you that is one vicious little bunny..." The panda had to doge a flying gyro thruster as the rabbit mechanic sent a volley of obscenities their way. "You know he hate's to be called bunny, Chain." The panda gave a short chuckle and ruffled Derek's hair, keeping one eye out for more flying parts. Derek grabbed the paw on his head and twisted, putting Chain into a half nelson with his only free paw. "And you know better then to do that right after I get my hair untangled." He gave the panda a shove towards the door before following, giving his hair another shake to get it back into place more or less. "Alright, alright..." Chain sighed as he worked his shoulder to get the feeling back in the joint. You know you are way to sensitive when it comes to your hair, you know that?" Derek just shoved his way past the panda and made his way towards the showers, unzipping and pulling off the top of his flight suit revealing a sweat soaked grey t-shirt as he went. Chain caught up quickly, doing the same to his own flight suit, revealing a well toned chest and stomach instead of a shirt. "You know if you keep going commando under your flight suit your gonna get in trouble..." Derek sighed as he stole a glance at the panda. "I know..." Chain shot back. "But how else am I gonna tease you before we get to the showers?" Derek shot the panda a glare that made the ursine press his ears back against his head, but didn't say anything. The rest of the walk to the showers was made in silence, both craving the soothing heat and relaxation of the showers water. They entered the locker room outside the showers and headed off to their lockers, conveniently on opposite sides of the same aisle. Derek couldn't help but watch as Chain pushed the rest of his flight suit down his legs, revealing what Derek knew to be a naked panda under them. The feline eyes traced every curve of Chain's body, from the supple arch of his shoulders to the solid lines of his thighs and calves. Chain knew that Derek was watching and made a show of slowly standing back up before holding his hips jutted slightly forward to draw attention to his thick sheath and heavy orbs. "Like what you see kitten?" Chain asked when Derek's eyes went directly to where he knew they would. Derek jumped a bit when he realized that the panda had caught him looking, turning back to his own locker as a deep blush filled his mostly white muzzle. The fur nearly turned pink when he realized that his own sheath had swollen from the show, some of his cock undoubtedly sticking out with arousal. "Just shut up and get to the showers Chain..." Derek growled to him as best he was able. Unfortunately it came out more like a whimper, giving Chain more fuel for his teasing fire. He stalked up behind Derek and wrapped his arms around the smaller feline, one arm wrapping around his arms, the other sending a paw into Derek's flight suit to grab his sheath through his boxers. "Ohhh... What do we have here?" Chain mockingly asked as he slowly stroked Derek through his underwear and ground his own sheath into the Liger's tail base. Derek couldn't help but moan slightly at the contact, not having had anything but his own paw for too long. "Y-You know we can't..." Derek finally managed to whimper out. Chain gave a small groan of disappointment, then pulled his paws away from Derek's body. "Come see me when you're ready to break those stupid rules..." Chain whispered into the feline's ear before giving Derek's rump a swat, then stalking off to the showers. Derek gave his own groan of disappointment, slamming his forehead into the locker next to his as he waited for his body to calm down. Chain and Derek had played this little game for some time now. Chain would tease Derek as far as he could before Derek would remind him that the captain had strictly forbidden the two of them from engaging in "sexual relations" saying it would cause feeling that could compromise any mission they were sent on together. Derek let his mind wander again as he waited for his arousal to dissipate or Chain to finish with his shower, whichever came first. He regretted it when the only thing that came to mind again was the day that everything changed for him. The day that he lost all but his memories. "He's lost a lot of blood already. I don't know how much but he can't have much left with what was all over his shirt and the seat." Derek was finally starting to come around again, his mind having reset once again. At first he couldn't remember what had happened, the entire day's events all blurred into a big headache of sounds and colors. When his head finally began to clear the first and only image that came to his mind was that of his mother's corpse still trapped in the van. His throat squeaked with dehydration as he shot up on the gurney and reached out for the fading image. He couldn't figure out why his right shoulder hurt so he turned to look. This time when he looked at the wound the seat belt had inflicted he instantly felt the pain of it. His throat made a slight squeak again as he tried to scream in agony before numerous hands grabbed him and forced him back down onto the gurney. Derek looked up at the people holding him down and freaked. All he could see were yellow heads and glass panels where faces should have been. His mind wasn't clear enough to realize that they were hazardous material protection suits due to his blood loss. "We're gonna need a sedative over here!" One of the yellow people yelled while looking off in a direction blocked to Derek's view by another yellow body. As soon as the word sedative registered Derek doubled his efforts to escape the hands holding him down. He didn't know where he was but he was sure that he didn't want to be sedated with these things around. Before he could manage to break free though a sharp jab in his arm told him that he was about to take another trip to la la land, and soon. Before he passed out again, he heard some of the glass faces talking, and their conversation didn't make him feel any better. "Do we know what virus he was exposed too?" One asked another, this time one with a red body responded. "We have no idea, but whatever it was it's not going to be easy. The guy that brought him in told me about his mom. That kid's gonna have a lot of mental trauma to deal with already, and a mutation isn't going to help with that." Finally Derek's mind gave out, blackness replacing the light of the room once again as he drifted off. "Your turn lover..." Chain teased with a pinch to Derek's rump as he passed. Derek couldn't decide wether to thank the panda for breaking his train of thought or yell at him for the particularly painful pinch the panda had given him. He chose neither, instead stripping down quickly and heading for the relaxing heat of the showers. He turned the water on as hot as he could stand and stood under the spray, the tension of the day's failed mission washing away with his sweat. This time though he concentrated on what had happened during the day rather then letting his memories plague him. When he was sure that his fur was clean, Derek left the showers, still not sure what had caused the foul up in the mission. It didn't take long for the fur dryers to get most of the moisture off of him, and even less time for him to pull on his normal attire. While most of the crew was restricted to having to wear flight jump suits while on the ship, Derek and his fellow anthro's were allowed to dress how they pleased. Considering that they were unallowed to leave the ship other then to go on missions the captain had to relent to that little alliance at least. Although when Derek had come aboard he began to regret it quite whole heartedly. Instead of the typical baggy jeans and overly angst attire that most of the kids his age would wear, Derek instead chose to dress...provocatively. His usually outfit consisted of a pair of skin tight jeans shorts that could easily be labeled the men's version of "Daisy Dukes", a midriff black sleeveless shirt, finger less gloves, and flexible ankle guards. Many a crew member had walked into a wall watching Derek going down a hall, his body from the back looking remarkably similar to a female's thanks to his lith build and long hair. The feline enjoyed the fact that he was looked at as a sexual object, using it to his advantage on more then one occasion to get something he wanted. He had most of his fun with the new male recruits though, most of them only slightly older then him making it easy to tease them with a look or movement if they hadn't learned that he was a male before he got to them. It also got him into his fair shair of trouble though, causing more then enough fights with the more homophobic of the crew. Hence the slightly padded gloves and ankle guards. Being half Liger, Derek's strength was usually far greater then the human that tried to pick a fight with him over the way he looked or dressed. The infirmary had actually started keeping track of how many he would send them a week when he first came aboard. Now, three months down the road, Derek had proven himself to pretty much everyone that wanted to try and fight him. The outfit never left though, it's affect on some of the crew too enjoyable to loose. Derek finally made his way out of the locker room and headed for the debriefing that would inevitably lead to him getting yelled at by his captain again. A loud bang behind him made Derek smile, his mind adding another notch to an invisible belt of men that had walked into a bulk head while staining at his ass. Derek snuck a glance behind him to see if it who it was that had knocked himself senseless, but he didn't recognize the man's face. A malicious grin crossed his muzzle as he realized that he had a new victim to play with after the debriefing. He made sure to memorize the man's face, then continued down the hall, winking at anyone he caught giving him a lingering look. By the time that he reached the mission room, he had made two more notches in his mental belt. He was trying to decide who to tease first when he was finished giving his mission report so he didn't even notice the captain standing in the doorway until he had run into the man's chest. "Oh... Sorry cap..." Derek chuckled when he looked up and realized who it was. He gave an apologetic grin when the captain growled at the nickname that Derek had made for him. Even for a human, the captain of the Leviathan was an intimidating man who commanded the respect of everyone aboard his ship, except for Derek of course. "Get in here and sit your ass down... And wipe that smirk off your dam face before I take it off for you." Derek had to struggle not to laugh at the captains anger, but he managed to stifle it and rush over to his seat before the captain had a chance to get even more annoyed. "So...What's your excuse this time?" The captain turned to face Derek as he closed the door, the obvious annoyance in his question all that more apparent in his expression. "It wasn't my fault. I told you that I'm not..." "And I told you to make sure that there were no fuck ups this time!" The captain interrupted. "I told you there would be SAM sites in the drop zone didn't I?" Derek shot back with just as much annoyance. "I told you that the recon drone wouldn't make it fifty feet before it got shot down and that I'm not about to risk my neck for a fucking robot!" Both Derek and his captain sat in silence for a moment, neither one flinching. Finally, the captain gave a deep sigh. "Well, at least you didn't get your ass shot this time..." The captain finally sighed before walking around his desk and plopping down into the over stuffed and extremely too comfortable chair his position afforded him. Derek gave a snort of content at the captain's poor attempt to joke at his expense. "Alright... I guess you did you best and that's all I can ask of you, but next time let's try to make the next mission a success shall we?" Derek rolled his eyes at the captain, then nodded slightly. "Good. You can go now, and make sure to tell Chain that the showers are not his personal playground and to keep his stupid paws off of you when there are other pilots in there alright." Derek got up from his chair without even acknowledging the captain again, quickly making his way out of the room before his human superior could utter another word. Captain Murishi leaned back in his chair and folded his hands together with a deep sigh when Derek was finally out of his presence. "That kid will be the death of me yet..." He sighed to the empty room. Well, that's the first part I guess... Let me know if I should keep going on it.