FSE

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On the morning of his first real mission, Dar'Han took a look at himself in a mirror. He saw a tall canine, covered in gray and white fur, with darker patches around his right eye and ear, and a long, bushy tail, also dark gray, reaching down to his digitigrade feet. In short, a completely inconspicuous An'gaat.

But that was only an appearance. He wasn't normal, he had never been normal. And people around him kept reminding him of that... Even here, amongst the knights. He had hoped it wouldn't be the case, that he'd get at least some form of respect. It wasn't like he wanted to attract attention or something like that, he just wanted to be considered as something else than a circus monster.

• "Dar?" a voice asked behind the door. "You alright in there?"

• "Come in, Ryin. The door isn't locked."

The door opened with a hissing sound and someone stepped inside.

• "Hey Dar. Ready for your first... err..."

Dar'Han smiled when he saw Ryin's expression through the mirror.

His former instructor and now teammate was about three years older than him, and a few inches taller. His fur was tan and white, with a darker snout and ears. And right now, his face showed an interesting mix of shock, embarrassment and appreciation...

• "Nice view you're giving me here, Dar."

• "Anything against it?"

• "Not a single thing," Ryin'Lor answered, closing the door behind him. "But imagine it was Nee'Gor and not me opening that door. Imagine his reaction at seeing you in your birthday suit."

• "That's no problem, Ryin. I knew you'd be the one to come."

• "Oh?"

• "Honestly, how many people you know would willingly have any kind of social interaction with a freak?"

• "Dar, what's wrong?"

• "I guess I just have a moment of self-pity. You know, during those months you were away on your solo missions, I was all but alone here."

• "I don't understand. Why would you feel apart from the others?"

• "Well for once there are my... special abilities."

• "A trait you share with Mel'Nera, Nee'Gor and probably several others."

• "I'm several years younger than they are. I have more control over my powers than they do. Yet, because Nee'Gor is just so charismatic despite his foul temper, almost everyone idolizes him and resents me for having beaten him during my last exam. And finally, Mel'Nera resents me because I'm uninterested in her. Not very long after that, everyone around started calling me a chee'terak."

Ryin'Lor winced. Calling one a chee'terak used to be considered as one of the worst insults. It meant, basically, "non-breeder", a term applied in earlier times to describe people considered biologically unproductive. Like sterile persons, or persons who dated only others of the same gender. Of course mentalities had changed somewhat... If non-breeding was still frowned upon, it was more or less tolerated. Obviously, the military was one of the less tolerant places...

• "Dar, I've been called that a lot of times. Even by you. You shouldn't feel insulted or hurt of that."

• "You don't get all the attention I get. Everyone knows me, no one wants anything to do with me. Being a non-breeder isn't illegal, Ryin, but those guys keep acting as it was. Especially Nee'Gor, who slowly convinces people that I'm nothing more than a freak..."

• "... Then Nee'Gor is a liar and a hypocrite," Ryin declared. "If he wants to denounce males who date males, he should start with himself."

• "But he isn't..."

• "You couldn't know, of course. Nee'Gor is attracted by both genders, but proud as he is, after his first relationship didn't work he declared all relationships of the same kind had no future and shouldn't even be permitted."

• "Where did you hear that?"

• "You'd be surprised at most of what he said when I told him I didn't want to date him anymore."

Dar'Han took several seconds to recover from the shock. Of all the things he would have expected, that had definitely not been one of them.

• "You and Nee'Gor were..."

• "A couple, right. That was about six years ago, when I entered the academy. We were each other's first, of course, and we only stayed together because neither of us could find someone else. Nee'Gor's uncertainties made us keep it very low profile all along, but each time he'd need to unwind he came to see me. It made me feel like a mere object, of course, but to be honest, I didn't mind that too much for a long while. We eventually broke up shortly before graduation, and I decided to stay as an instructor while he went on to become a knight."

• "What happened?"

• "You entered the Academy." Ryin murmured with a tone that showed his embarrassment. "I decided being Nee'Gor's fuck toy and your friend at the same time couldn't work."

Dar'Han didn't need to hear more to understand what followed. Nee'Gor's most notable character trait was that he hated being second. To him, Ryin's friendship and later attraction for Dar'Han had probably been felt as nothing less than treason. That explained a lot of Nee'Gor's subsequent animosity towards the both of them...

• "Don't get all worked up," Ryin gently said, noticing Dar'Han's short hesitation. "For me, it was all worth it."

• "Even if I didn't exactly return your affections?"

Ryin had a wide grin.

• "We weren't exactly unknown to each other... If I remember well, we were even used to go to the showers together."

• "Oh yeah, that," Dar'Han chuckled. "Seen from outside, I suppose we really looked like a couple."

• "You could tell that."

• "You know Nee'Gor and his peers will be with us on this mission, right?"

• "Err... yeah, so I've heard," Ryin'Lor replied, a little disoriented by the change of subject.

• "If we're going to suffer their remarks for weeks, we might as well make it worth the trouble. We could..."

• "... become the couple everyone thinks we are?"

Dar'Han nodded.

• "I know you've wanted that for a while..."

• "The question is do you want it?"

• "I just asked you..."

• "I don't want to live another relationship like the one I had with Nee'Gor. If we're going to be together, it has to be for the right reason..."

• "Ryin, I'd never treat you that way, I do care a lot about you. Hopefully, as much as you do about me."

Ryin'Lor smiled and suddenly sprung forward, hugging Dar'Han tightly.

• "What the...?" the latter mumbled once the shock wound down.

• "You took your damn time, didn't you?"

• "I wasn't sure yet... Sorry for that."

• "I'm not regretting anything, and certainly not the fact that you're wearing nothing but your fur right now."

Dar'Han chuckled and gently squeezed Ryin's back through his uniform.

• "You'll have to restrain your enthusiasm for now, Ryin. Our briefing is meant to begin pretty soon and I haven't taken a shower yet."

• "You tease."

• "You know there'll be plenty of time to convince the quartermaster to put us in the same cabin once the mission starts. Besides, I didn't say you couldn't stay and watch," Dar'Han added with a wink.

• "Okay now, you're learning fast."

• "You know, Mel'Nera spent some time running after me before she understood she had no chance..."

• "I see..."

Dar'Han laughed and patted Ryin's back.

• "Don't worry, Ryin, turning into a buxom female won't be a part of the show."

Ryin started laughing too and gently nudged Dar'Han towards the shower.

• "Oh, you'd better not try that. Now if you don't mind, we wouldn't want to be late for the briefing..."

• "Alright, alright, I'm going! And... err... Ryin?"

• "Yeah?"

• "Thanks for accepting."

• "My pleasure, Dar. Besides, I've always hated seeing you down in the dumps."

Dar'Han smiled and headed for the bathroom.

A little bit more than half an hour later, both knights entered the large briefing room. It was already half-filled with soldiers and pilots talking with each other. There was also another An'gaat standing at the other side of the room, wearing the same uniform as Ryin and Dar. He was the perfect stereotype of a brute: built like a tank, brown fur with black stripes, his expression generally sinister. When he saw the couple entering the room, his mood seemed only to get worse. Dar'Han made an effort not to smile.

• "If one told me I'd ever appreciate seeing Nee'Gor looking angry..."

• "You just have to know how to avoid the backlash."

• "I'll think of it later," Dar'Han chuckled, conspicuously taking Ryin'Lor's hand and leading him to a seat in plain view of Nee'Gor. "For now, let me appreciate the moment, will you?"

• "Let me tell you, I think you're having a bit too much fun doing this."

• "Any objections?"

• "Not a single one."

The room slowly filled up, with one of the last to arrive was Mel'Nera. Her striking black and white fur and generously proportioned attributes attracted a lot of interested glances, though Dar'Han knew what an efficient soldier hid behind that image-conscious facade. She was more than capable in close combat and knew explosives like no one else. It was a common joke to say that every male was trying to get close to her, either by physical interest or just by fear of being on her bad side. Before entering the briefing room, Ryin'Lor had jokingly said that in the future they'd need to check their beds for bombs...

General Del'Taar was the last to come. He was a good head taller than almost everyone except Nee'Gor himself, and his presence was heightened by his ghostly white fur and jet black eyes. Rumors said he probably was a member of the former Imperial family...

• "Okay everyone, sit down and listen!" he shouted while moving to the lectern.

The conversations quickly died down and everyone sat down in their seats. After a few seconds, Del'Taar started his briefing.

• "As we all know, we have only limited supplies down on Semerhok. The sun is too big and the planet too close, making life unsustainable for long without artificial means. In addition, there are only a few mineral resources. Our initial reserves, thought to last about a century, are dwindling down faster than we thought, meaning that we'll be short on supplies in about a year or two."

"As a result, we'll be sending an expedition to find new resources outside the star cluster. Most of the crew is composed of civilians, but as a security the Space and Land Forces will have several units on board, and there will be two divisions of knights. The spacecraft carrier Sickle will be our main base. Its hangars will hold a squadron of six exploration vessels, thirty-six spacefighters, and three troop transports."

"While the civilians do their job, ours will be to ensure their protection against any kind of threat, should it be natural incidents, rebels or alien forces. There will be a few additional missions along the trip, but that will be our main goal."

"We'll be going in four hours. Meanwhile, make sure you have all you need, and also check your assignments. Understood? Dismissed."

• "Come on," Dar'Han protested three hours later. "They know very well space flight is one of my weak points. How can they possibly assign me on escort duty?"

• "Of course you can't accuse Nee'Gor this time..." Ryin'Lor joked. "I heard the General oversaw the assignments himself."

• "Then either I'm particularly unlucky, or our new commander hates me."

• "I'm pretty sure you'll be up to the challenge. You know, I've been assigned to the troop transport you'll be escorting."

• "Great. You'll have a ringside seat in case I make a mistake."

• "No pressure indeed," Ryin'Lor laughed. "Don't worry, Dar. Everything will be fine."

• "For now."

Ryin'Lor gently smiled and gave Dar'Han a little hug.

• "You know you'll always have my support, right?"

• "Glad to hear that," Dar'Han answered, returning the hug.

At that moment, the base's comm system turned on and the General's voice could be heard bellowing out.

• "All hands, be advised that the convoy for the Sickle is due to depart in fifty-five minutes."

• "And that's our cue to leave," Ryin'Lor said.

• "You're right, I need almost half an hour just to get my flight suit on. I guess we'll see each other on the Sickle then..."

• "Sure. See you there."

They left in two opposite directions, Dar'Han heading towards the pilots' preparation room. He'd been right about space flight being one of his weak points. In fact it had even been one of his worst grades back at the Academy. Of course he'd trained a little since, but he was still worried.

Once again lost in his thoughts, Dar'Han entered the preparation room without noticing who was already there.

• "Well, well... If it isn't Ryin'Lor's new trophy..." a cold voice said.

Dar'Han raised his head and saw his interlocutor. He winced.

• "Nee'Gor... You're also on escort duty, eh? The General must really hate me."

• "Don't think I find the situation agreeable, either. You couldn't help showing off your new prize, could you? Had fun?"

• "Yeah, why? Jealous that I have something you don't?"

A flash of anger appeared in Nee'Gor's eyes.

• "Don't play that game with me, Dar'Han. Everything that happened between Ryin'Lor and me was an awful mistake, it won't happen again."

• "Right. Just thinking of being with someone like you is something I'll make sure Ryin won't do again."

• "Don't you dare talking to me that way, you whelp!" Nee'Gor shouted, clenching his fists.

• "I'm not a whelp anymore, Nee'Gor. If I remember well, you lost when we last fought."

• "You cheated."

• "Despite what you think, physical strength isn't everything in a fight, Nee'Gor."

• "Then prove it!" the larger An'gaat shouted, darting forward.

Dar'Han barely had enough time to avoid the large fist directed at his face. Dodging to the right, he distinctly heard a loud thump and crackling pretty near. Almost as instantly, the lights dimmed in the room. Dar'Han laughed inwardly, understanding that Nee'Gor had inadvertently damaged the room's light controls. The reduced light was perfect for him... Rolling onto his side, Dar'Han concentrated and saw the darkness around him lighten.

• "You're cheating again, chee'terak!" Nee'Gor shouted while his opponent got back up. "But I know how to counter that."

He looked straight at Dar'Han, a devilish grin on his face.

• "Your eyes are the only part of yourself you can't disguise as a shadow, whelp. In fact, they even glow in the dark when you're trying to hide."

A new flurry of blows followed, that once again Dar'Han managed to barely dodge. Using all his resources, he managed to get around Nee'Gor and to get out into the hall, surprising several other pilots who were heading for the preparation room. These soldiers froze when they saw a solid shadow standing in front of them, his eyes blazing.

• "What the hell is going on, here?" an angry voice shouted.

Everyone froze instantly just as General Del'Taar stepped into the corridor. His glare was fixed on both Nee'Gor and Dar'Han, who had reverted back to his normal appearance meanwhile.

• "So, what is it? Can someone tell me why, a few minutes before an important mission, I find two of my knights fighting in front of the preparation room?"

Only silence and embarrassed glances answered his question.

• "My patience isn't unlimited, soldiers. Neither of you will leave this base until I get an answer," he threatened.

• "It was merely some personal divergences, Sir," Dar'Han cautiously said.

• "Oh? And should I expect anything else like that on the Sickle?"

• "Well... err..."

• "That was a rhetorical question, soldier. Go prepare yourself, we'll talk about it once on board."

Flying a spacefighter wasn't an easy thing to do if you weren't used to it, and Dar'Han definitely needed all of his concentration just to make sure the craft didn't drift away from its intended trajectory. He'd been lucky enough to get the thing off the ground and into space. Checking his instruments, he saw that the Sickle was still several minutes away. Suddenly, his communication system sprung to life.

• "Blade Three, Hammer Leader here." General Del'Taar's heavily distorted voice said. "Do you copy?"

• "Blade Three here," Dar'Han answered.

• "We need to talk. This is a private secure channel, so everything said here will stay here. Do you get that?"

• "I do, Sir."

• "Good. As you'll notice, I like to hear what's left out of the official reports, so I thought I'd ask you what exactly happened back on the base with Nee'Gor."

• "It really was a personal quarrel, Sir. Nee'Gor verbally assaulted me, and I must admit I didn't try to calm him. He quickly lost his temper and attacked me."

• "And what of the reason why he assaulted you in the first place?"

Dar'Han hesitated for a short moment.

• "I'm bound to know sooner or later, soldier," Del'Taar said. "If I learn it from you, all the better."

The young knight took a deep breath before answering.

• "About three years ago, Nee'Gor was dating someone who left him because of me. He was jealous, Sir."

• "But he didn't snap until today."

• "That's because his ex and I weren't in a relationship until today, Sir. We might have been a bit too open about that in front of him."

• "I wonder why I've never heard of Nee'Gor being in a relationship before."

Dar'Han winced.

• "It's... well... Actually, Sir, he tried to keep it secret. Because he was dating another male."

There was a short, unsettling silence at the other end.

• "I see," Del'Taar finally said. "Very interesting. Listen, Dar'Han. I'm in no position to judge my subordinates' relationships, as long as they don't prevent them from working efficiently."

• "I understand, Sir."

• "Good. I still expect a report from both of Nee'Gor and you once on board, but as long as you manage to avoid starting other rows, I'll leave you with a simple warning. Got that?"

• "Yes, Sir. Thank you."

• "Keep your thanks, Dar'Han. You haven't gotten your team assignment yet."

The Sickle had had its engines turned on as soon as the squad had gotten on board, and the large carrier was slowly but steadily accelerating towards the star system's outer edges. Ryin'Lor was standing next to the hangar's inner doors, checking his watch every now and then, a worried expression on his face. It had been nearly two hours since Dar'Han had asked him to wait there while he had a discussion with General Del'Taar.

They had probably missed the occasion to talk to the quartermaster already, and Ryin'Lor was shivering at the idea of being forced to share one of the collective quarters... He was about to try and ask for some information to the hangar guards when he saw Dar'Han coming out of a corridor and waving towards him.

• "Hey Ryin. Sorry it took so long," the young knight apologized.

• "It's nothing," Ryin'Lor answered. "I was starting to worry though. How did the discussion go?"

• "Good enough. I guess I could say no bad things came out of there."

• "Really? You look all tense and exhausted..."

• "I didn't say it went smoothly either," Dar'Han laughed as they started walking towards the elevator. "Anything new on your side?"

• "Nothing worth mentioning, besides the fact that we might have some trouble finding a cabin now."

• "That won't be a problem at all. The General got us a double room on level 3."

• "What... How did you manage that?"

• "Let me explain that later, will you?" Dar'Han said with a nervous smile.

Ryin realized that, should have it been someone else, Dar'Han's unease could have been suspicious on several levels...

The elevator reached level 3 and both of them quickly found their cabin. It was located near the hull and had a viewport -- a rarity on such a spacecraft. Looking around, Ryin noticed something that made him raise an eyebrow. He turned an interrogative glance towards Dar'Han, who just blushed slightly.

• "Well, the General thought we'd like this kind of cabin more..."

• "How thoughtful of him," Ryin smiled, starting to feel a bit insecure about Del'Taar's motives but trusting Dar'Han to tell him later.

The room wasn't really large, just enough to accommodate a couple. It had two sets of lockers, a small resting area, and one single bed that was large enough for two people to fit in. It was definitely better than the usual crew cabin - actually, it was probably as luxurious as they could get on board.

Within a few minutes, both of them had sorted their belongings into the lockers. Ryin'Lor then wanted to go get their assignments from the General's offices, but Dar'Han told him he had already gotten them from Del'Taar himself, and all he would say is that they weren't meant to report until several hours.

The young An'gaat practically collapsed on the bed, tired from everything that had happened so far today - and it was just the middle of the afternoon. At the sight of this, Ryin decided to go get some food. A late lunch, or an early dinner as he would put it. Surely it would help.

He came back more than half later, holding two ration boxes and an apologetic smile on his face.

• "Sorry it took so long Hon, it seems everyone had the same exact idea I had and there was a line. Plus, food's rationed so I'm sorry to say it will be nothing but lyophilized nutritional soup for a little while."

• "I have no problems with that," Dar'Han declared. "It couldn't be worse than the food we had back at the Academy. Or maybe it is, but I'm too hungry to complain."

Ryin'Lor laughed and gave him his rations. They both ate slowly, talking about everything that had happened since they last met at the Academy. After a little while though, they had run out of both food and things to talk about. Ryin stood up and nuzzled Dar'Han's neck.

• "I'm going to take these boxes back to the refectory. In the meantime why don't you get comfortable and get out of that flight suit of yours?"

The refectory was some distance away from the room, in the middle of the crew's quarters. People were walking around in the various corridors, going to and from their posts, while the refectory itself was almost deserted - just a few people here and there, and, Ryin'Lor remarked with a displeased grunt, the large frame of Nee'Gor sitting in the corner opposite to the door.

Acting as if he hadn't seen the brute, Ryin quickly dropped the boxes on the counter and rushed out of the room. He walked faster on his way back, bumping into Mel'Nera at a turn.

• "Hey! Careful there, you..." she started before recognizing her interlocutor. "Oh, Ryin. Why in such a hurry?"

• "Just getting away from an unpleasant sight, that's all."

• "I guess that means you ran into Nee'Gor in the refectory. You and Dar really dropped his mood to depths never reached before, uh?"

• "Hey, not our fault he's one big, jealous, bad loser."

• "I know, but he's one big, jealous, bad loser I'll be sharing a room with for the next several weeks."

Ryin'Lor cringed painfully.

• "Ow... Sorry for that."

• "You won't need to be, if you promise to take pictures of whatever you're up to tonight and give them to me tomorrow."

• "Ha, ha, ha. Very funny. You'll have to find something else, Mel."

• "Can't blame a girl for trying. Well, how about you find out if there are any interesting prospects around here for me, eh? Seeing how we seem to share the same taste in guys..."

• "I'll see what I can do. Now if you don't mind, I think Dar might be wondering where I've gone..."

• "Sure," Mel answered with a grin. "I'll still make you tell me the details tomorrow before the morning briefing."

• "Oh yeah, in your dreams!" Ryin'Lor laughed as he walked away.

A few minutes later, he reached the room and slipped inside, locking the door behind him.

• "Hey Dar. Sorry I took longer than expected again. Nee'Gor was in the refectory and I had to do my best to avoid him."

• "You're still whole and safe, that probably means you managed to."

Ryin'Lor chuckled and turned away from the door before freezing in his tracks. Dar'Han was sitting on the bed, his back turned towards the door, his deep green eyes staring at the stars beyond the viewport. And once again, he was wearing nothing but his fur.

• "Whoa..." Ryin muttered.

• "A problem?"

• "Well, it's just that it's the second time today I run into a naked you. Not that I mind of course, but I thought I told you just to get out of your flight suit."

• "You told me to get comfortable and so I did," Dar'Han responded with a smile. "I always feel restrained in army clothes."

Ryin chuckled again, but had to agree the old military suits they had weren't always the most comfortable ones. He decided that Dar's idea wasn't bad after all and started undoing the zipper on his jacket.

Dar'Han watched curiously as Ryin removed his clothes one after the other, first revealing an athletic upper body, and then perfectly shaped legs and thighs... When Ryin removed his underwear though, Dar'Han quickly and instinctively turned his eyes towards the viewport again.

Wait, what am I doing? He thought. I've already seen him naked before. But the realization struck him that he'd never looked at Ryin that way before. He'd never thought he'd one day... share a bed... with his former instructor.

He looked back at Ryin again. The latter was sorting his clothes next to the bed in a way so he could put them on quickly if needed. Each of his movements made his fur ripple over his muscles... Ryin wasn't built like a tank as Nee'Gor was, nor was he as slender as Dar'Han himself. Actually Ryin, to Dar'Han's opinion, had the perfect body. Complete with perfect butt, he thought with a barely repressed smirk on his face.

Ryin'Lor stood back up and smiled to Dar'Han.

• "I see you enjoyed the view more than you thought."

• "What makes you say that?"

Ryin'Lor just walked around the bed, still smiling, and leaned forward to gently kiss Dar'Han's muzzle.

• "You told me so," he whispered with a smirk.

• "I didn't say anything..."

Ryin'Lor's grin widened as he ran one hand down Dar'Han's chest and belly, brushing the fur. The younger An'gaat blushed as he felt a tingling sensation in his crotch.

• "That part of you did," Ryin said before kissing Dar'Han again.

As the embrace went longer and longer, they found themselves pressing against each other and rolling over the bed, their hands exploring each other's bodies...

After a while though, Ryin broke the kiss. Surprised, Dar'Han gave him an interrogating look before he understood - Ryin was afraid to go too far, too fast for him. He gave him a reassuring smile to let him know it was all right, gently pulling his lover's body closer to his.

As a response, Ryin'Lor smiled and motioned Dar'Han to lie still on his back. The young An'gaat obeyed, and breathed heavily as his lover started licking and nibbling his belly and thighs tenderly, carefully avoiding his crotch. After a few minutes of this, Dar was practically whining for Ryin to go further. Ryin smiled as he moved downwards to continue, making the young An'gaat moan.

Soon, Dar'Han found himself unable to focus on anything but Ryin, his retractile claws digging through the sheets under him. Working with expertise, the former instructor did his best to keep his lover close to the edge, but made sure to keep him from going past it.

When he thought he had had enough, Ryin'Lor crawled up Dar'Han's trembling body and straddled him. They kissed again, with more passion this time. Dar'Han was fully aroused by then, his body screaming for release... Ryin'Lor felt it, but wanted to do something more. Without breaking the kiss, he positioned himself over Dar'Han's hips and slowly lowered himself down.

Dar moaned loudly in Ryin's muzzle when he felt the warmth engulfing him. His mind dissolved into a haze of bliss as his lover began moving up and down, slowly at first but speeding to a steady pace. He soon felt the tension and burning sensation building up in his groin and radiating in his whole body... In a flash of pleasure, he finally reached his climax, breathing so heavily he had to free his muzzle from Ryin'Lor's.

The sensation lasted for a long time, before his sight finally became clear enough for him to see Ryin'Lor's loving smile above him. A smile he gladly returned.

• "That was... Wow..." he muttered. "I've never..."

His confused speech made Ryin'Lor chuckle. They hugged each other, still basking in a blissful afterglow...

• "Now, your turn," Dar'Han murmured.

• "My turn?" Ryin asked with a smile.

• "I assume you never had any of what you just gave me, right?"

• "I never had the occasion to."

• "Well, now you have one."

A short moment of hesitation.

• "You know, the first few times can be pretty uncomfortable, Dar..."

• "All the more reason to start now don't you think? Then, next time we won't have to worry about it so much."

Ryin'Lor wasn't convinced yet, but Dar'Han smiled at him and nodded confidently. They shared yet another kiss, then, with slow moves, they made themselves comfortable, Dar'Han lying on his belly and Ryin'Lor kneeling between his spread thighs.

For a few minutes, Ryin'Lor worked on making sure his lover wouldn't feel too much discomfort. That included what he jokingly called "natural lubrication and pre-exercise stretching". By the time he had finished they were both clearly aroused...

Ryin'Lor crawled up, caressing and licking Dar'Han's back until he was properly positioned.

• "You really sure you want to do this now?" he gently whispered next to Dar'Han's ear.

The young An'gaat nodded once more. Ryin shifted his weight and slowly, carefully lowered himself on and into his lover. Dar'Han let out a small whimper, and Ryin stopped moving for a moment, afraid to hurt him, but he nodded quickly to show Ryin he was okay.

The next several minutes went by in a haze for Dar'Han once again. The pain didn't really recede, but after a while he began feeling pleasure at the same time, moaning into the sheets. Neither of them held long though. Soon, and within a close time one from each other, they reached orgasm.

Ryin'Lor didn't withdraw afterwards, but gently gripped Dar'Han's chest and made them both roll on their sides, one behind the other, and affectionately kissed his lover's neck and cheeks.

Dar'Han let his whole body relax, still breathing heavily. He felt Ryin's arms hugging him tightly from behind and smiled.

• "You okay?" the older An'gaat asked gently.

• "Uh-huh. That was great."

• "Glad you liked it."

They both lay still, getting their breath back. The hum of the spacecraft's engines could be faintly heard around them, slowly encouraging them to fall asleep.

• "Dar?"

• "Hmm?"

• "Now, will you tell me why I didn't even have to go see the quartermaster to get this cabin?"

Dar'Han smirked.

• "General Del'Taar's idea of a compensation for getting the both of us to serve in a team directly under his orders."

• "That doesn't sound too bad."

• "Except that Nee'Gor will also be a member of said team."

• "Oh. Lots of fun times in perspective, uh?"

• "I guess you could say that. Maybe the General's presence will keep that brute from pestering us again."

• "Let's hope so. Just in case though, I think you should take some time to improve your fighting abilities. No matter how good you are at it, avoiding blows only works so far, you know."

• "I'll think of it," Dar'Han murmured, barely repressing a yawn. "For now, I'm too tired. We had quite an eventful day."

• "Indeed. Good night then, Hon."

• "Good night, Ryin."

Dar'Han closed his eyes, the warmth of Ryin's body against his helping him go to sleep in a matter of moments. Not very long after though, another nightmare came to haunt him.

_The ship was falling fast, but it was obvious that it was falling in the wrong direction. Of course, if one could speak of direction in the subspace. Terrifying groans came from the hull, which wasn't a surprise considering the damage it had sustained. Now, if only it would hold for long enough to reach its destination...

Sitting in the cockpit, he tried hard to both stay alive and bring the subspace engine back to life. Where he was going really didn't matter, as long as he managed to get out of subspace.

All the indicators on the instrument panel were either dead or flashing an angry red. Not that they were of a great help at the moment anyway. Trying to stay calm despite the dizziness caused by the blood loss, he worked on the remaining command console, hoping it would work.

As he hoped, the engines slowly came back online. Their high-pitched whining became louder and louder, until it almost covered the hull's creaks. The ship started turning as a preparation for exiting subspace. The trajectory had to be correct, or else..._

A loud thump suddenly shook the whole hull, and smoke filled the cockpit while the alarms screamed. Panicking, he tried to interrupt the procedure... but it was too late. The motivators turned on, getting the ship out of subspace but also exploding violently on the way. Pieces of shrapnel shredded the ship's whole rear half and sent the remaining part hurling through space, its air leaking through hundreds of holes.

During his last seconds of consciousness, he clutched the pendant he held in his left hand and curled up to avoid the debris and fire around him. A few moments before passing out, almost as an afterthought, he heard the cockpit's airtight doors closing violently, and a faint sound coming from the comm system.

Somewhere out there, another ship had seen him getting out of subspace and was hailing him. He couldn't move anymore though, and darkness was slowly overcoming him.

Eesh'Taar heard the machine's beep shortly before he opened his eyes again. A bit disoriented at first, he needed a few moments to remember where he was: a laboratory located in one of the towers making up the center of Ærenor, the capital - and only city so far - of Andorakh.

• "Anything new?" a voice asked.

Eesh'Taar shook his head and looked at the tall fawn-furred feline standing in front of him.

• "Nothing yet," he answered through his vocal synthesizer. "Still the same scene playing again and again, though it was less blurry this time."

• "We'll have to analyze that further then. How are you feeling?"

• "I'm exhausted, as usual after one of those sessions."

• "Alas, they're necessary. Many things depend on the memory you've lost, that's why we try hard to recover it."

• "I'm aware of that. I'm the first one to regret the lack of success, you know."

The Felidian gave him a comforting smile and helped him to get up.

• "You should go get some rest," the Felidian said. "There's nothing more we can do today and I have to meet the High Council in a few minutes."

• "Don't you ever sleep yourself, Ranger Varl? You've been up for three continuous days now."

• "Us Felidians don't need a lot of sleep," Varl answered with a grin. "Once every four days is fine enough. That is, if you don't count the Ranger training."

• "I imagine the number of people envying you for that."

• "Yeah, I get a lot of people asking... Now, if you don't mind, I need to go. I'll see you later, right?"

Eesh'Taar nodded and watched as the Felidian left the room. He soon headed for his own bedroom, still thinking about the memory recovery session he just had. Besides the unusual clarity of his memories, one thing was bothering him. He didn't know exactly how, but he could have sworn someone else had been sharing his mind for a short time.