FSE

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Long Since Passed- Chapter Four

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***Sexual Content Warning***

This story has sex in it.

Keep track of your local laws on fuckery.

Don't read if underage or Illegal.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This chapter will not read as a standalone. If you are not up to date on the LSP universe, please read the other three first!

~Red

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"Unidentified RGP vessel, you are entering restricted military airspace. Turn back now and you will not be harmed." A booming voice in his headset shook Jamie awake. He kicked himself for his lapse in discipline, making a mental note that Reynard was awake and alert in the copilot's seat next to him. The gryphon slid his throttle controls to all stop.

"I'll take care of this, Mr. Tama." Reynard said, clearing his throat as he pushed the transmit button on the communications panel.

"RGP Andrea calling Fairlane Air Controller, requesting permission to land, over."

"Andrea, you are transmitting over an unencrypted channel. Cease transmission and Turn back immediately. You will not be warned again." The radio chattered again. An olive green ship with red markings moved onto their scope at extreme range, coming to rest directly to the Andrea's twelve o'clock.

"Well, what now Mr. Grey?" The Gryphon asked, taking note of the multiple hardpoints mounted on delta wings. Although he'd never seen a military ship as sleek as the one in front of him, it was definitely similar to a Trestau fighter, albeit a tad bit more refined.

"I've got the correct frequency written in my book. Hopefully they haven't changed it or else we've got about a minute left to live." The human laughed, typing in a series of three six-digit numbers that were jotted in the back page of his star atlas. The communications computer beeped in quick succession, acknowledging that the channels were keyed in. They both exchanged a look before Reynard pushed the transmit button.

"Andrea calling Fairlane Air Controller. Authenticate Ripper."

"Fairlane Air Controller answering Andrea, callsign Ripper authenticated. Be advised; you are transmitting on a secure diplomatic channel. Permission to pass the outer navigation marker. Atmospheric conditions are currently passable." A different voice, deeper and more authorative than the first, echoed through the headset.

The ship in front of the Andrea moved abruptly, turning back towards the planet. It wasn't until three more came directly out of his engine wash and took position next to him that Jamie realized just how serious the Fairlanians were.

"Damn, I only saw the one back there." He mentioned, turning to Reynard and giving him a nervous smile. The human laughed again, nodding his head as he packed away the star atlas into one of his coat pockets.

"They tend to patrol in groups of four, not two. Always expect four." He mentioned, turning up the volume on the radio.

"Good to know." The Gryphon remarked sourly, still in disbelief that the human's plan had actually worked. He took a breath for the first time in what seemed like hours, relieved that he didn't have to try and out fly the sleek fighter craft.

"Now Jamie, Fairlane can get a little crazy sometimes. Remember, they're not used to having visitors. Don't do anything that might cause them to freak out."

"What; like waving a gun and demanding money?" Jamie suggested, half-joking and half-serious at the same time.

"Chances are you wouldn't even get it out of your holster."

+++++++++

"Hey, you still with us?" Jamie asked, doing all but waving a paw in Anna's face to draw her back to reality.

The captain was lost in the view of the Plain of Seers. Whatever race that had built the stone city left many opportunities to see it, using primarily open arches on the outside of the structure. It seemed that every area had some commanding view of the grasslands. Anna knew that this was most likely for two reasons. One, it was asthetically pleasing to both the city's visitors and residents. Two, it served to provide several thousand protected firing ports to defend against anyone or anything that was silly enough to invade.

_Even for horses...not bad. _

_ _ "Welcome to the Crown. I trust that you will find your stay here more than adequate. If you'll just follow me, I'll take you to where you'll be staying." The local garrison commander said, gesturing with an outstretched hand to follow him.

The horse, a big chestnut stallion that had introduced himself as Commander Paero, served as their escort away from the landing pads. They walked to the end of a long terrace, stepping aside to allow a column of marching soldiers to pass. Instead of continuing on, they came to a halt and executed a left face.

"Commander, Major Sierra reporting as ordered." A speckled gray appaloosa with a pulled blonde mane in the front of the formation saluted, sounding off in a deep voice that echoed of the high ceilings of the Crown's stone promenade.

"Major Sierra, turn over command of your company and have them continue to the arsenal. You are to remain here." Commander Paero instructed after returning the larger Equine's salute. The commander whispered something in Major Sierra's ear before departing, catching only a fleeting glance of Cilcy as he left without so much as a goodbye.

"Mr. Tama, Mr. Grey, if you would please follow me?" The commander gestured with an outstretched hand, leading the two away in a different direction.

The Dragoness watched as the regal grey equine dismissed his unit, moving with more grace than his size should rightly allow. He jogged back over to where they were standing, hooves muffled by the odd protective footwear that he wore.

"Ma'am, may I ask your name and rank?" The Major asked, having to look down to meet the captain eye to eye.

"Captain Anna Cilcy, Commander of the Battleship RGP Interlude." She answered, following the accepted custom of a respected inquiry.

"I am honored to make your acquaintance, Captain!" The horse snapped to attention and saluted, dropping only after Anna graced him with the same courtesy, even though she was out of uniform.

"Thank you, Major."

Truthfully, Cilcy was extremely uneasy. After all, hadn't it been the equines that had ruthlessly ended the last war?

Cilcy didn't know that this planet even existed until Reynard showed it to her in his outdated ATG starchart booklet. The Andrea's and the Interlude's Nexus marked it down as a husked planetoid, devoid of any life and in danger of collapsing in on itself if disturbed.

Obviously not the case. Cilcy thought to herself. The dragoness was annoyed that even the intelligence services of one of the galaxy's most powerful militaries had missed that little footnote.

They turned and began walking down a continuation of the promenade, carrying past a training field that had what looked to be no less than a hundred soldiers in the midst of rigorous calisthenics.

"The crown not only serves as our seat of government, but it's also the largest military training facility on this side of the planet. What you saw when you landed was the guest docking area. Military Air Command controls the other side of the city, that's where their docking bay is." The Major spoke idly, gesturing first at the troops, then at the silhouette of a large military ship just barely visible in the distance. Anna couldn't help but notice him look her over an extra second when he thought she wasn't looking.

"You will be staying in the royal quarters. Your friends will be on the other side of the parade grounds in the Command Corridor."

"I hope the beds are as comfortable as this place is extravagant." Cilcy commented, allowing Major Sierra to lead the way. She liked watching him walk, elegant braided blonde tail and powerful swagger hypnotizing her female mind. He was cute, there was no denying that.

Anna shook the thoughts from her mind, realizing what she was doing when she caught herself staring at his muscular rear through his olive colored uniform pants. _ _

"Boy this place is crazy." She whispered to herself.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"I need a damage report!" May called over the sounds of the ship's alarms, feeling the Interlude lurch out of the jump just shy of a second later. Their trip had been quiet, with three revolutions of translight travel before a loud boom shook the entire vessel from bow to stern. It sounded like a bomb.

"Port side bilge ruptured and venting! The port engine control harness is broken in several places behind the bilge tank itself. The crawl space around it is flooded with oil. We've got electrical problems all over the ship. Two are in the port reactor compartment."

"Ma'am, we've been knocked two degrees off course. We're sitting way out of the system, but there are several unknown planetoids within twelve revolutions. We're working on a positive identification now." The navigations officer informed her, trying to get his bearings by flipping through old star charts. The non life-critical computer systems had gone into an automatic reset when they lost power, coming up slowly in an effort to protect their sensitive components.

"Sensors are operating on passive stealth only; we're almost blind until we can fully recycle the system! Maintaining total emissions control until we're back up and running."

"Chief, I've got to get down there and check that harness. If it shorts and melts, we won't have anything on that side of the ship, and I don't think a dry dock is in our near future."

Maey was running back and forth, trying to pull the faltering crew together. The attack from within had shaken them badly, and it showed on every one of their young faces. Maey found that she was woefully inexperienced at a time when the crew needed her most.

"Ma'am, we need to launch fighters and keep a screen up while we get our weapons back online. It is my opinion that we need to make that our number one priority. We can operate on one engine; we can't fight without heavy weapons. The circuitry needs to be put back in." The chief advised, manipulating the battle control board as fast as sectors lit up with red checks. His claws were skilled, and there were often times when she saw the chief not even looking at it as he worked.

"Rightly so Chief, make it happen. I'm heading down to the lower decks now. Ensign Ecks, you have the con!" Seree instructed the smaller green dragon, giving him command of the ship a second later. His inexperience wouldn't matter much, as there was nothing much to run into with the ship sitting at a dead stop.

The Dragoness left the battle bridge at a jog, catching snapshots of young, scared crewmembers as she passed them in the corridor. Their eerie eyes in the red emergency lighting that lit the corridor told her everything that they were thinking despite their silence. Seree didn't realize she looked just the same as them.

It took her about twenty minutes to reach the pipe shaft that ran alongside the bilge, and another ten to put on the self contained environment suit before moving into the airlock that separated the maintenance section of the double hull from the rest of the ship. The door hissed before allowing her to enter and the green illuminators on the walls indicated that the life support systems were still functioning.

Good, at least the inner hull isn't breached.

Seree stepped through, wading through the ankle deep oil slick that had spilled in from the port side mechanical linkage while recording the damage on her helmet camera. The occasional spark blinded her with a lightning flash, making finding the problem areas of the huge wire harness easy despite the poor lighting.

"Chief, you hear me okay?" She spoke into her com, voice echoing over the nexus' auxiliary communications band as she surveyed the damage with a flashlight.

"I hear you, Ms. Maey." Chief answered, voice hollow in her earpiece.

"We're in trouble, chief. If the three planets that I am thinking about are the same, we're right smack dab in the middle of Wayfarer country with no big guns."

"And not too far from the former bandit capital."

"That's a bit before my time Chief. I wasn't even in primary yet." Maey laughed, struggling hard to take her mind off of the big picture while manipulating the ship's power grid on her tablet. She was attempting to shut down power to the engine control harness before the full power of the reactor found the path of least resistance.

"Be glad for that, Ms. Maey." His voice echoed over the comm.

"What the hell happened there anyway?" Seree asked, producing a cowl remover tool from her pouch, which she used to remove the charred composite cover to the wiring harness. What she immediately saw was a jumbled mess of melted conduit. The primary ground was crossed with the primary cooling circuit, fusing the wires together. The coolant pump for the port reactor had fried along with the wiring, leaving the reactor scrammed until she had time to fix it.

"There used to be a small planet called the Royal Republic of Trestau. Well, not so much a planet as a moon. They had a very strong military, despite having a relatively small population by our standards. They had sided with Aramee at the beginning of the war with Red Gulf, until the bandits were shown to be behind it all. The RGP shit on them because they'd decided to pick the wrong side in the first go around."

"So what happened after that?" Maey questioned, beginning to cut away the damaged section of wire after she ensured that the stopgap safety was removed from the conduit connector. No sense in getting electrocuted in the midst of her first command opportunity.

"The Battle of Lorton. I'm sure you remember that from the academy. Trestau sustained heavy losses along with the cruiser Flightline, the captain's former ship. The third reactionary battalion, which is where Jamie comes from, cleaned up the aftermath, as well as collected some information from a destroyed RRT cruiser. The information was passed back to Trestau before being able to be analyzed by RGP or ATG researchers. Soon after, Trestau dropped several powerful gas munitions on the bandit capital planet. They swept up what was left after the gas had passed and burned anyone still alive."

"Why?" Seree asked, stopping what she was doing for a second as she analyzed what she said.

That explains a lot about the captain...

"Nobody really knows. Not soon after, Trestau was abandoned, and almost every equine in the system disappeared. You see a few here and there, but most are orphans or were imprisoned during the war for other stuff."

"So nobody knows where they are?"

"That is correct."

Maey didn't say anything. Chief Mons was silent, and Seree didn't press the issue any further.

If what he said was true, Seree thought, we're in a whole new heap of trouble.

++++++

Anna woke up to the sound of pouring rain coming in through the open window, reverberating of the stone walls of the fortress and broken only by the occasional clap of thunder. The smell of the rain-damp air drifted pleasantly through the dragoness' nostrils, a smell that was never present in the mechanical bowels of a starship. A gas lamp burned dimly on the wall across the suite, illuminating the hulking form of Major Sierra standing near the door.

"Major, what are you doing here?" She asked quietly, watching him start a bit at the sound of her feminine voice. He turned, letting his weapon fall on the odd single point cord on his right shoulder.

"Miss Cilcy, I have been detailed to make sure nothing happens to you."

"You've been off duty for almost three revs."

"I'm never off duty madam." He answered, disconnecting his rifle and setting it down against the bedpost. The horse effortlessly moved one of the heavy chairs over to the edge of the bed, sitting down in it so he faced her. Cilcy didn't feel quite as apprehensive as she did before, maybe the rest attested to that.

"What about your family Major?" The captain wondered, imagining a very angry mare waiting for him to come home.

"I'm not attached, Ma'am." The appaloosa responded, barely audible over the heavy sound of the rain. The storm was really kicking it outside.

"I apologize major, I didn't mean to..."

"It's quite okay Ms. Cilcy. Call me Andrei. I've always been that way. I'm usually away from the Crown for almost three quarters of the year, so it makes the family deal a pain." He didn't want the captain of a starship, a GUEST captain, not to mention an attractive FEMALE captain, to feel as if she had offended him.

"You can call me Anna, Major."

"Anna, you definitely won't offend me. My job pretty much requires me to be anywhere on the planet in short notice, so an attachment, at least for now, is out of the question."

"Hey, I'm not knocking it, that's how my entire navy career...well, almost my entire navy career has been. It's hard to date in the position I'm in anyways. We're on station for about two hundred eighty days at a time, and besides, could you imagine the gossip?"

"I've not always been alone, but after the last one ended I just didn't bother with it again. I could only take so many 'I can't handle this' comments before I got fed up." Sierra laughed, showing his first signs of personality since she met him. She liked the Major once he'd relaxed, adding a bit of character to his otherwise hulking figure.

"I lost my mate in the Battle of Lorton, and after that, I didn't pursue anything further." The dragoness said very matter-of-factly.

"I was a new officer in one of the squadrons that flew sorties against bandit ship-launching positions leading up to the battle. That is what has been troubling you, isn't it?"

"How did you....never mind. Did you fly Andrei?" Cilcy questioned, scooting a bit closer and laying down on her stomach on the bed.

"Our noses are sensitive, Ms. Cilcy. Your pheromones are very betraying. And no ma'am, I was a staff officer at the time. I was stationed at a Royal Trestau Naval Air Station on the Mammut peninsula. I remember that morning pretty clearly. I was running my normal route around the flight line, and I remember there were hundreds of fighters parked on the tarmac. There were a few heavy bombers there as well. They were mobilized that night for Sura, at the Request of the RGP. Two days later, when the squadron returned, there were twelve fighters. The only remaining bomber crashed into an empty hangar building with no survivors. I was pulling injured and dead pilots out of those ships for hours. Some died and their autopilot landed them, and some died while waiting for medical attention."

"And then the gas." Cilcy volunteered, earning a nod from Major Sierra. She was trying to get away from the subject of her pheromones.

"We got a few more units, brand new rookie pilots in outdated fighters. Most of our best pilots died when their ships were destroyed by bandits after the EMP shot. They were young, not really a replacement for the hardened squadron we'd lost up there, you know? A few days later a dozen new planes were delivered, along with several long black crates." He started, closing his eyes as he recalled. The dragoness was intrigued. She'd never heard it from their side before.

"My Squadron commander, whom I was training under at the time, gave me three sets of orders in sealed envelopes for the next three days. Two planes, including his own, were loaded with MX-2 Hooffalls, a very deadly chemical weapon. The other eleven were loaded with neutron bombs and enough HE gun rounds to destroy the Crown. I didn't know till later what their payload and the purpose of their mission was." Andrei looked visibly disturbed.

"And then what happened?" Cilcy asked, noticing Andrei trailing off, remembering those snapshots that were burned into his mind. She put a hand on his thigh with the intent to comfort him. She could feel his muscles ripple through sensitive skin as he shifted, causing her to draw back in surprise. She looked up, deep into Andrei Sierra's golden hazel eyes. There was a lot hiding in there...

He continued.

"I opened my letter that night as instructed. It was a transfer of command authorization from the squadron commander to me and a promotion to Captain. The instructions within were to prepare the entire base to be abandoned. We knew before the sortie that we would be shunned, if not outright attacked for our retaliation against the bandits. We packed all of our equipment, loaded all of our transports, and joined the formation in orbit. Our fighters screened the entirety of our civilization all the way to Fairlane. I never opened the other two envelopes." Andrei was staring into Cilcy's eyes with a gaze that could have pierced her heart in one shot. Any animosity that she felt for Andrei had disappeared.

"What happened to your squadron commander?" She asked, her fingers tracing lazily over his well defined thigh muscles through his uniform. Andrei put his hand over top of hers before speaking again.

"According to the other bomber gun camera, his fighter crashed into the ground shortly after he released his MX-2s. What the gas didn't kill, the other fighters burned into oblivion, destroying the gas and just about everything else. Most of those pilots either committed suicide or went AWOL. Almost all are dead; a few have straight disappeared and are assumed to be dead. The Royal Republic of Trestau asked them to give up their sanity for the greater good, and it cost the lives of each and every one of them. Killing civilians is something that no soldier ever wants to do, and when they returned, no amount of medication could help them forget their actions."

"I'm sorry, Andrei." Cilcy felt the need to apologize, even though she hadn't done anything.

"It's quite all right, Anna. We'll make it right someday." Andrei said quietly, bringing his lips down to her hand and delivering a quick kiss. Cilcy shivered at the touch of his lips, soft and warm against her cold scales.

"With the way things are going right now, I'd say that might happen sooner rather than later." She said, trying to diffuse the sudden heavy air that surrounded them.

Major Sierra nodded, looking away as his communications set beeped three times in quick succession. He read the message quickly before looking up at her.

"It's looking that way, Captain."

++++++

It wasn't every day that Jamie found himself in such luxurious accommodations, and no matter how long he studied his surroundings, no sense of normalcy would surface from the depths of his mind. Not only that, the inescapable boredom that went along with not being able to explore said new surroundings was creeping in, and Mr. Tama was sure that it was helping to hide the normal thoughts.

The Fairlanians had given him the nicest suite they had to offer, and it was backed by some of the finest hospitality that he had ever seen. The particular room he had was facing out to the Plain of Seers on the backside of the massive military garrison. He had enjoyed the sunset over the mountains just a revolution earlier, but now that it was dark and there was nothing to see, Jamie was getting restless.

_ Oh well, at least I've eaten._ Jamie thought, giving a satisfied yawn.

The chefs had treated him to a feast of something they'd called Jugal, a deer like wild game that was very common on the plain that stretched before him. The meat was sweet and tender, falling apart on his fork as he tried to shovel bite after bite into his beak. The cooks had kept it coming until he possibly couldn't eat anymore.

The room, at least, had plenty of refinements. He had a large round bed with dozens of brown and tan pillows to go along with a soft black comforter that was heavy enough to choke a bull elk. The attendants had taken his flight suit for cleaning which it definitely needed. He was wearing a Fairlanian outfit that had been hastily tailored to fit him, complete with matching bathrobe.

Jamie sat down on a large couch in one corner, kicking his feet up on the coffee table and watching as a storm rolled across the grassland, definitely coming their way. As he sat there, Jamie could not help but remember how much work had to be done to his ship before they could even begin to get to Relos before the Chancellor's daughter. It needed new shield projectors, given that the old ones had been damaged in the flight from Ahmedyah, along with several more shield pieces that weren't going to be cheap, but were definitely necessary. A transponder that was legal and broadcasting needed to be masked and coded, but remain equally legal. The armor composite blow off panels that adorned the ship's spine and cockpit were also damaged, and he wasn't quite sure the Fairlanians had what it took to fix it. Not to mention, the reactor fuel rods were coming due to be swapped. If he put it off any longer, he'd notice a definite loss in performance.

"That job in and of itself is a nightmare." Jamie said to no one as a gust of wind blew his curtains in. The breeze smelled sweet and damp, relaxing the gryphon and letting the worries temporarily melt from his mind.

"I'm not taking that one on..." He was interrupted by an attendant coming through the door.

"Alone." He finished, looking his maid over. She was a smaller mare than the ones he'd seen running to and fro all day, one that some of the other females had referred to as a Dales. She had chestnut fur that went well with the burgundy staff uniform that she wore, not too revealing but not exactly full clothing either. She had great white fetlocks that covered her hooves.

The mare was carrying a tray containing a strong smelling drink, along with some glasses and a small metal container. Jamie didn't know what was inside, but he only assumed it to be some kind of sweetener.

"Good evening. I brought you some Plains Liquor at the request of the garrison commander. He wanted to welcome a prestigious veteran captain with something from his personal collection." She spoke with a soft, almost timid voice.

Jamie laughed and took his feet off of the table, not wanting to be rude to the girl that was probably in charge of cleaning it. Besides, she was cute, and you are never rude to a cute girl.

"Make sure to tell the commander that his hospitality is appreciated."

"I will do as you say Captain." The mare answered, smiling shyly. She'd only worked in the royal suites for a month, and not once had she catered to someone important, and never someone from off planet. Besides, the Gryphon was handsome, with his broad shoulders and strong waist, his attractiveness was not lost on her. She set the tray down on the table and departed, not wanting to get caught staring at their new guest.

Jamie watched her go before turning his attention back to the crystal bottle. He picked it up, surveying the contents with a keen eye before popping the top. The strong odor didn't take more than a second to reach his nostrils. He didn't pay any attention to the container of what looked like sugar next to it, not wanting to tamper with the flavor. He wasn't even sure if it was possible for such a strong smelling drink to have any flavor.

It smells like weapons cleaner.

_ _ "Hell, even I know better than to turn down free booze." He laughed to himself, snagging one of the oversized glasses and pouring himself a shot. With little formality, the gryphon slammed the drink in one smooth motion. He immediately regretted it. A wave of liquid fire was burning its way down his throat, and the foul, bitter aftertaste was stuck to the top of his mouth like glue.

"Fuck!" He swore, looking around for something, anything to wash down this foul taste. His eyes caught the sugar cup, and without hesitation, he scooped a spoonful of it into his beak. As soon as the sugar hit the liquor it seemed to change, bitter aftertaste making way to sweet warmth.

Hmm...

Jamie poured himself another glass, making sure to add what he believed to be the proper amount of sweetener. He hesitated for a second before shooting the drink again; cringing in advance for the burn and nasty aftertaste that he'd expected to come. Instead, warmth from the top of his head to the tip of his tail hit him like a ton of bricks, instantly causing his head to spin with semi-intoxicated bliss.

Wow.

It didn't take long before the gryphon lost track of how many he'd had. It was going down way easier than it had the first time. He eventually made his way off of the couch and over to the bed, flopping down into it without even taking the time to cover up.

Right before he drifted off to sleep, he sent a not so coherent message to Cilcy's datapad. If it were translated out of drunk speak, it would read something like 'The liquor here is out of this world!'.

It actually said something along the lines of 'Tliqor hurr os outoffworlld!".

++++++

"Get over here." Anna ordered, breaking their embrace and sitting up on the bed. Her tail snaked out over the edge as she motioned with a claw. Jamie got up out of his chair, pushing it to the side and sitting down on the big soft bed next to her. He watched as she moved her hands down and undid the clasps on his belt, tossing it to the floor next to him. It took only a few seconds before she was working his skintight shirt over his head, leaving him in only his flight pants.

Jamie watched as Cilcy's eager claws manipulated the buttons that restricted her from her target. She could feel his manhood stiffening inside them, and a quick move got her hand inside. She knew immediately that he was wearing no underwear, a fact that was even more apparent when her hand brushed past his thick cock and right onto his soft balls. She brought her hand back out, running it up his shaft and tracing over his well defined chest. It was definitely still the chest of a soldier.

Jamie slid his hands under her nightgown, working it down over her shoulders in one quick move. The gryphon slid his hand in between the folds of the white fabric, noticing how the garment nearly matched her scales in color. He found what he was looking for by the amount of body heat radiating off of it as well as the slickness of her arousal.

Jamie curiously explored her pussy with a few of his digits, running them down her lips before sliding one in, being careful to mind her claws. He immediately felt her tense, moving her hips forward a bit to get a better position for him to pleasure her. It was his first time with a dragon.

"Jamie, you have very thick fingers." She laughed; thrusting lightly against him.

He only smiled, wiggling his pointer inside of her, moving his thumb up to rub her clit. Anna grinned wide, displaying her rows of sharp teeth. A little 'eep' of surprise emanated from her as a pointed gryphon tongue parted her lips, engulfing her clit in a soft wet heaven unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. Dragon tongues and Gryphon tongues were quite different after all...

Jamie spread her pussy wide, using his tongue to cover every inch. The taste was something that hit his taste buds like a handful of sugarcubes. It was a cinnamon taste, sweet and not unpleasant to him. James usually preferred a little bit of alcohol in his person before lying with his own species, but for Ms. Cilcy, he was perfectly content to do it stone sober.

Anna brushed her claws through his pulled mane, studying the curiously stiff hair that served as further arousal. She started kissing on his ears and muzzle, laughing as his ear flicked in reflex as to her gentle touch. A rumble emitted from her chest as she basked in his oral treat, body quaking as her pleasure built.

As quick as he started, he stopped, kissing up from her loins and across her muscular stomach as he stood. He slid his pants down and kicked them off, revealing his hard length. Anna eyed it hungrily, wanting every little bit of it that she could fit in her.

Jamie took himself in his right hand, toying with Anna's pussy and making her all but beg for him to put it in. The big gryphon gave her the tip, feeling her trying to scoot forward to get more of him in. He obliged, pushing himself into her tight opening as deep as it would allow. He could feel her powerful muscles immediately clench and hold him in place, shuddering every so often at the foreign presence inside of her. It took all of his power to not fill her up with hot jets of cum. The sight of her sprawled out below him was almost enough to send him over the top.

Fuck, this is great!

"I've never had the privilege of having such a beautiful dragoness." He gasped, sliding back out for a split second before a solid thrust drove him right back in. The normally dominant dragoness was completely immobile beneath his muscular body, taking every inch that he could fit into her tight sex. It was turning out to be a good day. The captain confirmed this with a shameless moan that would most definitely have been heard in the hallway. If a crewmember had been walking past...well...

Ha! Now if only that beeping would stop.

_ Beeping..._

_ _ Jamie jerked up out of bed to the sound of his buzzing datapad, nearly falling out of bed in an attempt to grab the device. He succeeded in knocking it to the floor, and after taking a moment to collect himself, flipped it open. He regretted opening it immediately after the bright light shot what felt like jets of lightning through his skull.

I need to quit drinking. I'm sick of these harsh wakeups ruining perfectly good wet dreams.

The message inside didn't help matters any.

<<<CILCY>>>We've got company<<<END>>>

++++++

The XO rubbed his temples, watching the Huskee's ready board flash red on over 50% of the ship. The alarms had been squelched, leaving only the bright strobing pulse of the warning diodes on all four corners of the battle bridge.

"Not like it's anything we don't already know!" He yelled at one of the alarm modules as it activated, illuminating another light on the ready board. It rattled the green dragon's skull for only a few seconds before a crew member deactivated it.

"I want these audible alarms silenced all across the board! No new alerts unless the reactor is melting through the hull!" The XO shouted at his shipmaster, getting an affirming nod in return. More distraction was the last thing he needed.

I wonder if the captain is okay...

Sean Dela was on his second cruise as the executive officer of the Huskee, having replaced the former XO after an on-duty accident involving the Huskee's PI coolant crossover left his legs badly burned. Nothing that he had been trained on at the Academy could have prepared him for what was happening today.

The air aboard the battle damaged Huskee was a dull gray, filled with choking smoke from the now suppressed electrical fires that had overwhelmed the scrubbers only minutes before. They were already down three by a fire in the scrubber's filter itself, choked by carbon fiber dust when the casing detonated in the strafe. The resulting lack of clean air made the lower compartments intolerable, not to mention dangerously suffocating.

"Master Chief, all crew in essential areas filled with fumes are to upgrade to SCBA gear immediately." He barked, looking out across the frigate's bow. Several sections were damaged and venting atmosphere. The stealth ships had some powerful weapons; weapons which made his ship's blowoff panels burn like paper. At least death had been instant for those crewmembers unfortunate enough to be in the compromised areas, a fact which the XO pushed from his mind nearly as quickly as it had appeared. Several good crew members, most of them technicians that were off duty, were lost to that last fatal pass by the mysterious craft.

_ _ "Navigation, I need a positive position fix." Dela said, popping his head around the edge of the navigation console. The control module behind it smelled like ozone, definitely fried.

We need a damn drydock. He mused, listening as the enlisted navigator trainee rattled off some numbers to his partner.

"Coming online now Sir. It looks like we're approximately twenty four revolutions from Ahmedyah, on the far side of the planet. We'll be moving through some magnetic interference in approximately fifteen minutes. Also, be advised, I'm reading a large concentration of gamma radiation about six klicks this side of the sun's danger zone."

Sean sighed, ducking away from the console and back over to the bridge's viewports. He looked at the deep tan planet with disdain. He'd spent plenty of time in the skies above that dingy desert world.

"Sensors, stealth passive. Keep a close watch, the bandits around Ahmedyah are very aggressive."

"Aye sir, stealth passive."

"Chief, a word please?" The XO motioned to the chief of the boat, who joined him in front of the main viewport.

"I want total emissions control. Nothing leaves the ship."

"I think we're in this one alone, sir. I don't know if the Interlude made it out, or if they even got your message."

"Until we figure out what the hell happened, we're going to assume that the Red Gulf Pact is in a state of war. We're dark unless I say otherwise."

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when two enlisted personnel came running onto the bridge carrying a large metal box.

"Sir! We've found this attached to the old navigation wiring."

"The auxiliary?" Sean questioned, throwing a look in the chief's direction.

"No Sir, the fiber lines."

The Huskee was a modern warship; sporting advanced Syntac sensors and the latest navigation gear, so naturally Dela was surprised that the outdated sensor fiber lines even existed. He tucked away the mental note to learn more about his new charge.

"What the hell is it?" He asked, running his claws over the outside of the box. It was smooth; no visible controls save for a small digital display and a hookup port for some type of device.

"I don't know sir, but if I had to put credits on it, I'd say it was a tracking beacon. They might not have one powerful enough to push through space, but they could use our fiber lines to transmit the signal anywhere they wanted it using our antenna. That old array could even send a simple signal through the Jenni solar cloud." The enlisted man said aloud, being more familiar with the system than the executive officer.

"Good work, sailor. Take it down to the Master at Arms to be secured." Sean ordered, walking back to his chair after gaining acknowledgements from his crew. He took a deep breath, surveying his bustling bridge crew as they went about their various tasks. It was a tribute to their captain that each crewmember knew what to do in a bad situation.

"Sir, I just caught a communications ping from an RGP Battleship set. They're hailing us!" The communications officer called above the din, silencing the bridge as all ears turned out to hear the news. The XO thought for a second before giving his order.

"Respond in kind, authenticate with the code of the day. Put them up on the big screen."

"This is the Musta, glad to see you're okay Huskee. The bandits threw us for a loop over Tae. What is your status?"

"We are in need of assistance. Ask your captain to rendezvous with us at our current navigation marker. We have almost no propulsion and are drifting. Also, we need an intelligence specialist."

"We will be on station in two revolutions, Huskee. Prepare for our boarding crew. We will transfer our mechanics over to you as well."

"Huskee Copies."

Dela ignored the tug in his stomach. ++++++

Sean sat in the Captain's chair, watching as the red sectors go back to white and green, glad that at least his engines were working again. He also watched the thermal readout on the Ahmedyah sun, which sat a mere thousand kilometers away. It was burning brightly, radiation branching out in all directions. Even from the recommended safe distance, which is where the Huskee currently sat, he could feel the two degree rise in temperature inside the ship.

"Chief, go ahead and pull up the news feed. The Musta just came into contact with our outer range marker. Send it to my docking station."

"Aye sir."

The Dragon breathed a sigh of relief. It wouldn't be long now before the Captain was back on board, patting him on the back for a job well done. Sean was already halfway into his daydream before he read the headline:

"Musta and Interlude: Battleships destroyed in terror attack." It remained up for a few seconds before the feed blanked, the victim of a powerful military jammer in close proximity.

Shit.

"Sir! We've just been set up for a torpedo firing solution from a Theater Missile Drone! It just went active at extreme range!"

"Chief, we've been had!"

"That's affirmative sir! We've got to get out of here!" The chief shouted, taking a position near the sensor set. A flashing dot on the screen betrayed the TMD's position as it blasted away with active sensors.

"Battle stations, all crew to full alert! Launch fighters with a fifty split! Anti-ship/anti-aggressor! Shields to max full around!" Dela shouted, running on autopilot. He surprised himself, not even thinking about what he had to do.

Stupid! He thought to himself. _How could they be only two revs out? The Huskee was one of the fastest ships in the RGP fleet, and she could barely push nine revs to Ahmedyah! The Musta was lucky if she could do fourteen! Unless she was already headed this way! Damn. _

_ _ All eyes trained on Sean, watching his reaction and waiting for a response. The green dragon was the difference between life and death for them now. Dela understood that it was now or never if he was going to keep them alive.

Here goes nothing.

"Chief, I have an Idea. Where is that radiation pocket? And get me a technician!"

++++++

Anton Ferea watched the Huskee grew larger in the Musta's scope, forgoing the electronic view a second later for the good old fashioned viewport in front of him. The Shepherd was a soldier first, and a navy man second, and he preferred watching his battles in real time, not through the disembodied symbols on a sensor set.

Anton grinned as he anticipated the Huskee's kill, a task which the incompetents had been unable to accomplish near Tae's moon. The fact that this was taking place near Ahmedyah was a particular victory for him, as that's where he'd gotten his baptism of fire nearly ten years prior. Now, he'd write his own personal victory there.

"Sir, we're having trouble obtaining a signal from the sensor drone. I cannot launch torpedoes until I have its signal back." Era Milosevic, known as Milo to everyone in the team, was Anton's second in command. He was a black wolf with a small build, and what he lacked in size he made up for in cunning intellect and a mastery of his fighting craft. Milo could stare a hole through an armored bulkhead with his emerald green eyes. No matter how many times his teammates saw them, they never got used to the steely gaze.

"Get that signal back any way you have to!" Anton ordered, clicking two displays over to see if he could find the drone himself. He was unsuccessful.

"Get another TMD online and prepare to launch on heading zero-two-four." Anton commanded, looking back to the sensors for a brief second. A tone sounded on the master navigation readout to the left of the bridge, and a red menu popped up with the drone's ID number. The Theater Missile Drone's pulse signal reappeared a brief second later on its pre-programmed return course. All displays indicated green.

"Anton, we have the signal back!" The soldier's second in command yelled from the sensor's station. Ferea looked over and watched the black wolf manipulate the controls, fighting to keep the sensors trained and functioning properly. The practice sets that they've been rehearsing on for several months were the same looks wise, but the functions were quite a bit different then reported.

"Lock it in the computer and fire." Ferea commanded, watching as the long black cylinders streaked from tubes forward on the ship's bow. They were fast, much faster than the frigate they were trying to kill.

Huskee reacted immediately, dropping a square countermeasure and running up to slingshot around Ahmedyah's moon. It was just as Anton had predicted. It was no surprise that the amateur executive officer was behaving just like an RGP textbook.

"Sir, we're getting some long range jamming on our targeting array, it's creating patches but we're burning through."

"Keep it up, Milo! Get me a solid hit!"

"Yes Sir!"

"Sir, the TMD is coming up the tube now."

Anton opened his mouth to acknowledge the report when a loud boom took him off his feet. Alarms wailed throughout the bridge as he regained his footing.

"Report!" He coughed, breath returning to his lungs after having been so violently pulled out.

"We're under attack! The shields are down and I'm showing a fire alarm on the primary and auxiliary shield generators!" Milo gasped, trying to drag himself back up into his chair. The black wolf's nose was bleeding, staining the front of his black uniform as he manipulated the damaged console.

"Activate the fire suppression system for the shield generator compartment. Seevers, get down there and see what's going on." Captain Ferea yelled over the sound of the alarms. Timor Seevers, a sergeant, ran across the deck as fast as his thoroughbred equine hooves would allow, disappearing through an open maintenance hatch a few seconds later.

"Captain, we've lost our track on the Huskee. Both torpedoes are off course." Milo reported, frantically switching through modes on his primary sensor set. The wolf growled as the controls failed to respond, even though the reactor was still operating at full readiness.

"Get a conventional solution and fire again!" Anton shouted once more, watching as the screens flickered all across the bridge. A second after the electrical spike, a mechanical voice and screeching alarm came over the main intercom.

"Gamma radiation intrusion detected, redirect course immediately. Activate shields and take all necessary FPCON measures. Gamma radiation detected..."

"Turn us around now! Break away!" Anton ordered, grabbing a hold of the railing around the captain's station as the ship immediately turned to port.

The Musta groaned as it made the sharp turn, gravity dampers struggling to compensate for the movement. The ready board lit up with more alarms as compartmentalized warning systems alerted the bridge to radiation intrusion. It took half a minute before the Musta settled out of her turn, engines spiked to full power to get out of the dangerous patch of radioactivity.

"We're clear Captain."Milo reported, breathing for what looked to be the first time since the radiation alarms sounded.

"Fuck!" Anton yelled, slamming his fist down on the chart rendering table. The shepherd snarled, angry at himself for the obvious underestimation. He should have detected that radiation a long ways off and planned around it.

"Captain, it's Seevers. That definitely wasn't our drone, it was way too small." The shield generators are fried and a two meter section of the TMD tube is shattered. I've got a lot of melted conduit down here as well."

"Thank you, Timor. Make another round of the forward spaces and come back up."

Anton scratched behind his ear with a claw, sitting back down in the captain's chair. Already two major setbacks on a plan that hadn't allowed for very many.

At least the shield retrofit is going to be easier.

"Milo, send a message to the Mirov and tell her we'll be retrofitting at our current position. They need to be on station as quickly as possible."

Captain Ferea gave one last command before disappearing below, but not before watching the Huskee and her fighters disappear off the Musta's scope.

"Go dark."

To be continued...