FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Star Fox: Inertia Chapter 5 By Tempo

~ ~ ~

Astropolis gleamed, lost, against eternal stars. Even as a shard of its former self, the city spanned several kilometers. Stars refracted through its domed atmospheric cover in subtle rainbows. Spires and skyscrapers within glimmered in the light of two distant suns.

Even with Bill's tip, they'd spent weeks searching for it. Adrift in the asteroid belt, on the far side of Lylat and out of the historical record, Krystal saw how the structure had escaped notice for a generation. She cast her mind through the ruins, the few impressions she sensed scattered through the sprawling complex.

As the vixen rounded the far side, scoring and burn marks marred the crystalline dome. A narrow skybridge had once connected this capsule of civilization to a much larger structure, but nothing remained now but jagged girders grasping the void. The rest of the floating city had plummeted into a star decades ago. Its sweeping architecture soared on, however, aloof in the face of its own destruction.

"It's lovely... I wasn't expecting that." She shook her head, drawing her perceptions back inside herself. "I'm not sensing anyone aboard."

A warble of electronic warnings arose from her controls.

"Then who's lockin' onto us?" Falco Lombardi's face blinked onto the HUD.

A scatter of tiny red dots peppered her radar screen, pouring from the domed city. Around the perimeter of the star city, turrets spun and glowed to life.

Slippy croaked with anxiety: "Enemy drones incoming!"

"More drones?" The falcon scoffed. "Gimme a break."

"They're certainly cheaper than former gang members." Krystal chided. "And they complain less."

"Split up!" Fox barked into the comm. "Falco, take out the drone bays."

"Don't gotta tell me twice." To port, the bird rolled his Arwing out formation.

Strings of plasma bolts raced from the periphery of the massive structure. The team dove apart, letting the hail of fire streak into space.

"Krystal, Slippy, let's take out those turrets." Fox broke off, firing into a cluster of drones. Several of them burst in silent flares of red. "Watch out for the drones. Don't slow down--don't let 'em attach."

The vixen banked toward the nearest turret, then saw several smoldering craters pop across the nose of her fighter. Her teeth grit. "These ones have blasters." With a double-tap of the thrusters, she spun hard and heard a few more shots plink off the craft. "Fantastic." Coming out of the twirl, she flicked the shields from deflection to combat mode.

The frog groaned as can-shaped robots pelted his own fighter. "This is really starting to tick me off; I just fixed the Arwings!"

Fox's Arwing swung to the right and vaporized a row of turrets. Krystal took what was left.

The brilliant flash of a nova bomb strobed from the underside of the city. Falco talked over the resulting crackle on the comm. "Drone bay's toast. Good riddance."

"Good job." Fox nodded on the HUD. "Take out the last of 'em while we get the turrets."

The avian cawed a laugh. "Ya know, I still vote for blowin' the whole thing up."

Krystal punched the boosters and tore off toward the floating city. Nosing up, she flipped the Cloud Runner backward and, as blaster bolts sizzled on her shields, picked off the drones following her. As the last hunter drone burst in a blaze of laser impact, she pointed the ship forward to swerve up from hitting Astropolis. Cruising below the arc of fire, she strafed the line of turrets. Glowing metal shards clanked off her canopy, louder to her than the explosions that cast them off. "If the Cornerian military just wanted the place to explode, I'm certain they'd manage without hiring us."

"Our reputation bein' one of subtlety." Far above the bird sailed, picking off the drones that had been chasing Slippy in circles for the past few seconds.

Fox's yellow ID tag popped up on the front of her canopy as the vulpines neared the same horizon. "They want to know who sold them out, and that means getting our hands on data. We can't get that by blowing it up."

To keep from smashing into his Arwing, Krystal shifted to one side of the row of guns, then spun to keep them in her sights. Her lover did the same, glancing up as he swung past. The last of the batteries withered under their combined fire.

"You okay over there, Krystal?" A flicker of concern crossed his face on the projected display. His worry seeped over from the passing fighter. "Looks like you took a few--"

"I'm fine." She rolled her eyes and burned back toward the rest of the team. A pair of damaged turrets sputtered potshots as she passed, but seemed unable to track her.

Slippy ribbited with glee. "Structure analyzed!" His Arwing rolled into place over a specific point on the outer ring. "Cover me while I cut their main power line." An instant later, a pinpoint of brilliant light flared on the metal surface as he started drilling inside with the craft's main laser. "This should only take a minute..."

The vulpines joined Falco in orbiting the stationary frog, each craft a little further out to avoid collisions. The dozen or so remaining drones swept near and burst in little blossoms of flame against the eternal night. As she looped in dizzying circles, some primal part of the vixen still missed momentum, but she deemed it a fair tradeoff for not blacking out. Just like how she knew Fox only wanted her safe because he loved her, even as some deep and primitive part of her brain rankled at his coddling her.

Astropolis fell dark. A hiss she hadn't noticed evaporated from the comm channel.

Slowing, the team took up positions around the amphibian's Arwing.

"Brilliant job, Slippy." Krystal double-checked her radar and found it void of engine signatures. "Looks like we're in the clear."

Fox gave a curt nod over the HUD. "Good job, team."

A burst of excitement radiating from him, Slippy piped up. "I've found a docking bay, but, without power or access codes, it'll take some work to get it open."

The vixen cast her mind again through the forgotten city, still finding no one. A strange place to leave so empty, one's home. But then, they often left the Great Fox II in the hands of a robot with a habit of blinking on and off repeatedly if his system thinks you've inserted pirated software.

~ ~ ~

The four Arwings settled to the deck of a large, dim hangar. Around them, a vast array of crates stood in stacks, some sealed, some spilling their stolen contents. Weapons and fuel packets hung on haphazard racks and piles along the walls. More than a few bore the insignia of Andross's mercenary army.

The heavy airlock doors hung open, though a buzzing energy screen kept the air in. Like a deflector screen in reverse, it'd let them in just fine, but would resist letting anything out. Tied into emergency power perhaps? In that case, it might not last. He swallowed.

"Suits on, guys." Fox hit a button on the collar of his flight jacket, then watched as the helmet flipped forward from the small of his back to fold around his head. Meant to be triggered by decompression, he appreciated that activating it manually gave him time to get his neck fur out of the seal. HUD elements flickered to life on the glass, crisp and cheery against the hangar's gloom. "Let's not take any chances here." Double-checking the holstered blaster at his hip, he keyed the Arwing into standby mode. "Sensing anything, Krystal?"

"Quite a lot; none of it useful..." She shook her head. "Sorry, this place has layers of history imprinted on it. I don't sense any emotions here but ours, however."

He unbuckled himself from the pilot's seat and popped the hatch.

Falco glanced through his canopy at the glow of emergency lights. "I thought ya cut the power?"

"I cut the lines to the main reactor." Slippy's head bobbed up in his cockpit, somehow even rounder under a space helmet. "But a structure this big has reserve power. I'd really like to see how this place is put together."

"You and half of Lylat." The red fox chuckled. "Not every day you find an Andross design that does something other than try to kill us."

Falco cawed. "Everybody's early work's their best. It's never the same once they get a big head from the fame."

The blue vixen cocked an ear as the helmet folded over her head. "I take it you'll be retiring now, while your ego still fits in an Arwing?"

"Fuuun-ny." The avian crossed his wings and activated his own suit. "I'm not the one who wears jewelry in a space fighter."

Fox climbed out of his cockpit and down the craft's fold-out steps to the dust-streaked floor. "I'll slip in, get the data, and open the blast doors so you guys can cover my exit. Let me know if any other ships warp in."

The bird scoffed. "Playin' the hero again, huh, Foxy?"

McCloud opened his Arwing's storage hatch and drew out an assault blaster and a belt of grenades. "If you had a tenth the ground combat experience I do, I'd be sending you in here." His free hand clicked on the lamp on his helmet.

"Hey, more power to ya, buddy." Smirking, the falcon shrugged. "Me? I hate suffocatin' in the void of space."

A few kilos of explosive secured around his waist, he looped the rifle's sling around his shoulder, then clicked on its flashlight. Cold calm crept over his mind as he steeled himself for whatever lay in those dark corridors. "Slippy, you're with me."

The frog's eyes popped wide. "Ya know, I don't like suffocating in space either." He clamored out of the cockpit, down the steps, then under the craft to grapple with a large, lumpy duffle.

With a smirk, the red fox clicked on Slippy's forgotten visor lamp. "I'll keep that in mind."

Krystal's concern echoed across the comm channel. "Be careful, Fox."

A glance up brought their gazes together. "Ah, you too, Krystal." He straightened, tail stiff. "Everybody stay sharp."

Together, frog and fox entered the gloomy passages. Even with emergency lighting, darkness clung to every twist of the corridor. Duffle bag bouncing at his hip, Slippy flicked through an old map of the city on his tablet; he'd downloaded it from the Lylat Bureau of Public Works. "The control center is just ahead."

After another pressure lock, the pressure sensor on Fox's suit still read 'safe,' but he kept his helmet on. The rough part of dating a telepath is her knowing when you took unnecessary risks.

They exited the hangar complex into an open courtyard. Astropolis towered and sprawled in waned glory. Skyscrapers soared against the void, almost reaching the clear dome beyond. Distant sunlight gleamed on glass and steel. Looking down the street, Fox could see all the way to a starscape spread like a banner between the buildings. Shafts of light cleaved the dim metal valleys to warm the pavement. Here and there, shops and statues stood half-finished, awaiting artisans who'd never return.

Countless small, dead trees still held their leaves in perfect stillness, freeze-dried by cold decades in space. Their passing stirred the odd leaf into a final spiral, leading to a crumbling puff as it hit the ground. They hurried through rows of trees, some still bundled in root bags. Boots crushing dead grass to powder, they crossed a courtyard to a structure of sweeping grandeur. Its sign lay half-unpacked from a padded crate, but the visible part read "Section Control Complex." An ID reader at the door had been torn off and the reinforced doors blasted open. A glance passed between the fox and frog. Slippy shrugged, a breath fogging his faceplate, and waggled on...after McCloud slipped in first.

The vulpine hustled down the corridor, his gun's flashlight cutting the darkness. Here and there, pale emergency lighting lit crumpled trash on the floor. His HUD radar showed nothing. "It's quiet."

The amphibian nodded, studied his tablet, and lugged his duffle. The top of his helmet squashed the old ball cap he wore. He pointed. "I think this is it, right up here."

At the end of a corridor that looked just like all the other grey metal corridors, Slippy stopped and, with a broad grin, swept a gloved hand at the door. Together, they forced it open.

Inside, the monitors sprung from all vertical surfaces, though most hung dark. A few readouts scrolled emergency data. At one of the stations, a rotund robot twisted at the waist to face them. White eyes gleamed in the dark, flickering a slice of light over their faces. A click, then a mechanical whir. "Identities not confirmed." An electronic whine spiked through the audible range.

Fox dove, knocking Slippy to the ground as a streak of laser ripped across the bulkhead. From under a console, he tracked onto the bot's wide belly and opened fire. Bolts of green plasma shredded its metal carapace and flashed the ancient wiring into a roaring bonfire.

With a squeal of rotors, the android pitched backward and clanged to the deck plates like a cast-iron bell. The blinding sear of its laser flickered out, leaving only faint, tinny oinks echoing from its speakers.

"Must've hit a fuel cell." The vulpine kept an eye on the blazing pig. "Slip, do your thing."

"You got it, Fox." The frog bounded to the main control panel and swept his fingertips across the glassy surface. He flicked through a few screens, then provoked a series of grumbling buzzes. "Uh-oh."

"You're makin' me nervous again." In the light of a burning robot, he glanced at the amphibian.

"The data's encrypted." Hands on his hips, the frog pondered the interface. "I won't be able to download it like this."

Krystal's voice echoed over his headset. "Are you going to hack in?"

Slippy rummaged in his pack for a moment and emerged with an industrial plasma torch. It hissed like a venomous snake when flicked on, the blue-green light blinding in the dim room, casting the amphibian's gleeful grin in stark shadows. "Yep!"

Fox fluffed his tail inside his space suit, gun at the ready. "Keep it quick. And don't set off any booby traps."

"No problem!" Affixing a welding visor over his faceplate, he crawled under the instrument panel.

The red fox slunk closer to the robot's blazing shell, which cast eerie shadows along the walls. A bronze nameplate stamped 'Herbert' emblazoned what remained of its chest.

A few seconds later, the flashes from the torch vanished with a pop. Torso-deep in the console, the mechanic yanked something free and popped up. Data core glinting in the flickering firelight, he held it high and croaked with pride. "I got it!"

Klaxons blared. Red lights flashed all around them.

Fox's hackles rose. "Krystal, Falco, we tripped some kind of alarm. Can you--" Their ID tags had vanished from his HUD. A worry crossed his mind. He traced a finger along his headset, turned off the squelcher, and heard only static. "Of course." A droning noise perked his ears. It got louder...closer... Fox loaded a fresh clip of ammo in the dying firelight of the roasted robo-pig. "It's time for us to go."

The frog bounced around, stuffing scattered gadgetry in his duffle. "Just gimme a sec to pack my tools."

Something banged against the far door. Something heavy. The distinctive hiss of a laser scoured the other side.

Fox grabbed the mechanic by his shoulder, gun at the ready. "Now!" He backpedaled from the control room, weapon in one paw, frog in the other. Above, red lights flashed at intervals. They dashed down the hallway to the relative light of the entrance.

Every juncture echoed strange buzzing, the hum of anti-grav. Fox's glance down a corridor caught the shiny carapace of a floating security bot. Shaped like a swollen barrel, it sported a rotating ring of laser turrets. Bits of packing foam trailed from it like sand, its factory-fresh armor shining in the light of his helmet lamp.

They raced out into the courtyard and slammed the heavy security door. McCloud fired two plasma bolts into the works of the ID scanner, cutting power to the magnetic locks and sealing the entrance. Backs to the door, the pilots caught their breath as sentries clanged into it.

"Woo!" Slippy jumped for joy. "That was close!"

Halfway through a smile behind his oxygen mask, the red fox noticed identical security robots hover around the far side of the building. Cursing whatever safety standard required multiple exits, he seized the frog by the arm and dragged him flailing through the courtyard.

Pock marks of laser fire erupted in the dim, dry grass. Over his shoulder, he saw a sentinel bot giving chase through the trees, the remains of a shipping box still clinging to it.

Shots rattled from his assault blaster, sizzling against the sentry's shields. Even under sustained fire, its defense screens held. Taking cover behind a scrawny copse of dead trees, he armed a grenade and threw it back down the path. A flash of energy shattered the shipping crate and buckled its defense screens, allowing a few blaster shots to crater its armor. The sentry bobbed once, collided with a trunk, and detonated. All around, thousands of ancient leaves and grass blades pulverized into a haze of brown dust.

Three more bots swept in to take its place.

"Get outta here, Slip!" Fox growled into his breather mask. "I'll distract them while you haul the memory core back and get the others."

The frog grappled with his duffle. His voice cracked, and not just from the jammed comm. "But--!"

"No buts!" The vulpine watched as scanning beams searched the murky haze. He clicked off his flashlight and head lamp. "Move!"

The little green laser-magnet made a break for the hangar doors, his stumpy footfalls scratching off into the darkness of the entrance. His helmet light bounced off into the corridor.

With no wind to clear it, the clouds of pulverized plant matter billowed and swirled on the currents of the original explosion. Fox reminded himself he wasn't breathing the same air, then squeezed off a few shots at the nearby trees. The old trunks lit like tinder, casting a surreal glow in the mist. That should confuse any thermal scanners.

One enterprising sentinel zoomed from the haze and peppered him with laser fire. In the same instant, Fox unleashed a barrage of fire against its shields. The crackling energy seemed to blind the hovering machine, which snapped through a few thin trees and blundered into a freeze-dried hedge.

"Dang!" Wincing, McCloud scrambled deeper into the mist, checking the ammo gauge on his rifle. He glanced down his body--a pale, rubbery liquid oozed from between the layers of his flight suit to seal the pin holes. Inside, he felt something hot seep into his fur, either sealant or blood. He wouldn't know until he got the suit off.

Half a dozen contacts showed on his HUD radar. Blaster shots wouldn't do much against those shields and he only had three grenades left. His paw snatched another one from his belt, primed it, and skipped it across the hangar's lawn. In a deafening blast, the grass billowed into a swirl of smoke and dust. Body cold and muscles tight, he skirted the hedge-stuck robot and sprinted into the vaporized sod.

As he neared the hangar complex, three of the bots zipped up from the trees, their trails of haze lit by the fire below and stars above. As he leapt through the door, a laser caught the heel of his boot. Every second step clung to the floor with a slap of melted rubber. He dashed down the corridors, following dusty signs down a half-remembered series of corridors. The buzz of sentinels closing in prickled his hackles just as he came upon a double-door with pressure seals and a cargo ship logo above: the hangar bay.

With a yap of victory, he shoved the doors open and squeezed through. Spinning free, he turned to find his friends, his ride home--

And found nothing.

The hangar bay stood empty.

McCloud bared his teeth in frustration. He'd found the wrong hangar bay.

Behind him, the flash of a laser sliced the half-open doors. He dove for cover behind a standing console, then hurled another grenade along the floor. It skidded and bounced and rolled between the airlock seals. A brilliant flash and a rumble of compression through his chest heralded its detonation. Sprawled on the deck, he blinked back the purple afterimage and shot any shiny armor that showed through the doorway.

Undeterred, the sentry bots cut away the remains of the airlock and swarmed through. They hovered in the air, those lethal little turrets tracking on him. Lasers tore across the floor plates as he rolled back behind the control station.

Pinned down, he swept his rifle over the top of the console, firing wild, only to pull back a smoking, laser-sliced barrel. He tossed it aside and drew his pistol. A deep breath warmed his oxygen mask for a moment. He needed a plan. He couldn't die here, not with Krystal feeling it.

A metal-on-metal scream erupted from the mouth of the corridor. He dared a look at his radar and found something massive tearing up the hallway. Some ostentatious mega-sentry, if he knew Andross's design sensibilities. He grabbed his final grenade, thumb poised over the primer. He'd have to take it out fast, before the other sentinels could take him apart. His finger pulled the blaster trigger halfway, its whine and glow building with the charge. Throw, shoot, take cover if still alive.

The airlock exploded in a blaze of blue-green fire.

A massive metal shape roared forth.

Even with its wings sheared off, he recognized it: the CloudRunner. Its guns glowed to life with a high-pitched whine.

A toothy grin gleaming from the cockpit, Krystal's voice crackled over the comm: "Sorry, this fox is taken."

The Arwing unleashed a withering hail of plasma at the hovering security bots. Each shot popped their shields like a colorful soap bubble, then gnashed a smoldering hole through the sentinel itself. Within a few seconds, half the robots crashed to the deck, while the rest scattered up and away.

"Fox!" She ceased fire, letting one sheared wing of her ship bang to the floor. "Get on my wing!"

Air around him hazy with burnt components, Fox holstered his blaster and dashed from behind the control console. His heavy boots clanged on the metal plating as he sprinted for her craft. A weave carried him through the wreckage. A single bound carried him up the sparking remains of her wing. The change in momentum tried to trip him and he slapped his palms on the the top of her canopy. The vulpines locked eyes for an instant, a tiny sigh of relief passing between them.

She kept her pitch level and her speed low. Even with the G-diffuser canceling his momentum, he could still slide off from gravity or get blown off by wind. Scraping one ruined wingtip on the deck plates, the Cloud Runner rumbled across the cavernous room.

Fox's ears shot up. "We're not going back the way you came?"

"Are you joking?" She spared a glance his way. "I only got through because I turned my shields off."

The remaining sentry bots regrouped above them. Lasers sizzled on the nose of her fighter, then ceased with a hiss as she flicked her shields back on.

"I'm making a new door." Hovering the ship higher, the vixen pelted a section of the wall with her main guns. Flaming electronics rained down as molten metal streaked down the bulkhead. "Keep them off my tail, Fox."

On one knee, McCloud yanked open the storage hatch just under the canopy seal and hauled out a personal plasma cannon. Tucking it to his shoulder, he clicked off the safety and pulsed green fire at the floating robots. As they fell in flames, he glimpsed the last layer of bulkhead melt away, revealing another hangar beyond. One docking bay over--that had been the difference between life and death. "How'd you find me?"

She tapped a finger on her temple, then smirked. "Hold on--this may get bumpy."

His paw seized the canopy as the Arwing rumbled forward, which brought his gaze to hers again. They sped through the jagged hole, wings slicing wires. A ruptured air vent blustered his tail flush with his legs. On the other side, two more Arwings hovered, pitched up to face them. The instant they cleared the gap, blue and green plasma hailed back through it, carving up sentries leaving the air a tangle of heat ripples.

He rode her wing until it tiled over his own open cockpit. He jumped in, landing on his tail, but punching the canopy and shield controls. A simmer of energy bubbled around his ship, then around Krystal's above him. His paws fell into the natural routine of retracting the landing skids while pumping just enough thrust to float. He spun the Arwing around and headed out the bay doors. "I'm in! Let's rock and roll!" He kicked the engines. The air screen jostled his Arwing as he crossed it, but with a firm paw on the joystick, he shot into space.

"Oh my!" At his six, the vixen crackled over the comm. Her image glanced back and forth, no doubt examining the damage. "That was rather nasty!"

He dodged an enthusiastic exit by Slippy and smiled at her through the display. "Thanks for the save."

She shrugged; her smile warmed his adrenaline-chilled blood. "Of course."

Flipping his ship and gunning the thrusters, then flipping back to cover their exit, the avian still found time to coo in mockery: "Awww, ain't you two sweet."

The red fox lashed his sore tail. "You know, Falco, you could've come in to help me too."

As they put distance between them and Astropolis, the bird shrugged. "Yeah, but Krystal was the one eager to wreck her ship flyin' it down a hallway."

She shook her head, jewelry clattering against the inside of her helmet. "I just hope our mechanic will forgive what I did to the Cloud Runner."

Falco crowed. "Don't worry about the wingtips--Slippy buys 'em by the dozen."

Panting, Fox said nothing. He lay back against the headrest and watched as Krystal locked speed beside him. Their eyes met. He smiled behind his oxygen mask.

~ ~ ~

In the confines of the shower, Krystal worked to scrub the suit sealant from her lover's fur. "Do try to hold still, Fox."

The shower hissed, curls of faint steam lifting from their nude bodies. Aside from not having to feel every stray emotion on the ship, she'd also picked these VIP quarters because of the private, well-appointed shower. The fact it was big enough for two hadn't escaped her noticed either.

McCloud braced against a wall, winced as his tail bent against it, and adjusted the ice pack he held to its base. "Stupid ground combat. I'll take the sky any day."

"This happens because you're reckless." Her gentle paws worked in a bit more soap, then combed the gummy substance loose with blunt claws. "I'm glad you're alright."

His foot propped on her knee, he tried not to look at her bare fur. In bed, he couldn't be accused of modesty, but more casual nudity still made him blush. "Thanks again."

"Thank me by protecting your life like you protect mine." She pulled the last leg of the flight suit free, letting it fall to a wet pile on the textured steel floor. "You could've gotten off far worse."

At last, he found a position that didn't hurt his tail. Relief seeped through him. "You sure about that?"

"If I were male, you'd have a sore tail and goo in your pelt every night." She turned her muzzle to deliver a small kiss to the opening of his sheath.

With a pleasured breath, he glanced down at her, ears drooped and dripping. "How do you know I'd be up for that?"

She rested her chin along side his sheath and balls, then tapped her temple. "You'd have come around."

~ ~ ~

In the mess hall, Fox sat, his boots on a table, and watched the forward window. He'd always found comfort in the clean eternity of space. Sunshine crested Corneria's horizon, before a curtain of uncounted stars, burning unhindered by atmosphere. In these moments, he knew why outer space called to him, why it had ever since he first looked up at the boundless night sky with his father, listening to tales of adventure and wonder. Greed, hate, or blind instinct would someday threaten Lylat with ruin again, sooner or later. He and those dear to him would be catapulted into the fray, the weapons civilization brought to bear against uncivil times. They might even die, they might even fail, but still the stars would burn on, belonging to everyone and no one.

A loud slurp broke his contemplation.

Slippy stood behind the counter, examining freeze-dried rations with the careful eye of a connoisseur. After smacking his wide lips for a bit, he dipped his tongue in another bag of pulverized cheese snacks. The "atomic blue" cheese poofs zipped into his mouth, joining the remains of "zesty orange" ones already there. Then he mixed the two, shook them, and sampled again, which elicited a contemplative croak. Oblivious to the vulpine's gaze, he set the bastardized bag on the countertop and waddled to the pantry in search of other treasures.

McCloud said nothing, not even when Falco walked in, grabbed the bag off the counter, and tossed some of the puffs into his beak. They'd delivered the scuffed and singed data core to the authorities to tepid bureaucratic fanfare. Bill had arrested the mole himself, some magpie feathering her nest. The Great Fox had been in orbit the week since, first as material witnesses, later in case the suspect tried to escape. Fox sighed. Nothing to do now but wait.

Falco landed on the seat in front of him. "What's shakin'?" He tossed another neon cheese puff up, then snapped it up in midair.

The vulpine shrugged. "Talked to Peppy this morning. They're sending a salvage team to Astropolis."

The bird scoffed around a beakful of extruded snack matter. "Hope they're well armed. We're not gettin' the contract?"

"No, but we still have salvage rights in Sector Y."

"Oh, I'm real hot on goin' back there." He dumped the last of the multicolored crumbs onto his tongue. "I got standards, ya know?"

Behind him, the door hissed open. A blue vixen in white strode into the mess hall, and raised Fox's ears. No jewelry, no hair beads, just a simple white dress, some tail wraps, and a smile.

The bird's eyes did a mocking roll. "Jeez, like ya don't see her every day..."

"Not in that dress." Fox watched as the fabric flowed around her body like a swathe of cloud.

The bag depleted, he preened cheese dust from his hands. "Yer such a dork."

Krystal swayed up to them. Gold accents gleamed on her sandals and belt. Looking more a goddess than usual, she ruled his heart with a smile.

Heat rushing his cheek ruffs, McCloud stammered. "You...you look good."

Falco swept one wing toward the red fox. "Smooth flyin', ace."

She gave a coy shrug and sat beside her lover. "Sometimes a girl wants to dress up."

In the middle of trying to deploy a better compliment, his comm gauntlet blinked. He found the message short, sweet, and suffused with surfer lingo. With a grin, Fox glanced up. "That was Bill: full confession. They're cutting us loose."

The bird lifted his eyebrows. "So the pirates' buddies can come after us?"

"Sounds like they only had one ship." The red fox swung his legs down from the table and stretched, tilting his muzzle back. "After what we did to the Venom fleet, they hoped to take us out so Corneria couldn't hire us to hunt them down."

Krystal crossed her arms. "Quite practical for vengeance."

"A stealth battlecruiser coulda run circles around their patrols." The avian nodded, then his crest rose. "They payin' us for doin' their dirty work?"

"Not everything's about money, Falco." The red fox closed his eyes and tried to sound wise. Adorable. "Sometimes an opportunity presents itself and you have to go for it."

"Like the time I tricked you guys into goin' in a gay bar." He crowed in retrospective triumph. "I can still hear Slippy: 'Fox, get this guy off me!'"

The frog popped up in the kitchen, wearing a burnt chef's hat and a frown. "Hey! I don't sound like that."

McCloud cast him a sly look. "Funny how you knew it was a gay bar, Falco."

"What's it to ya?" He poked a primary feather at the vulpine's chest. "Keep that up and we're gonna scrap."

With a smirk, Fox locked on his target. "Hey, throttle down: you remember our little deal."

Wings crossed, his eyes narrowed. "Whadda ya mean?"

The leader took his shot. "From the Academy: you keep your temper in check, we don't tell everyone you're part pheasant."

A ruffle puffed his plumage. "I'm not!"

McCloud shrugged. "I never said it'd be true."

Krystal's chuckle rang quiet but conspicuous, like silverware on a champagne glass.

"I don't have to sit here and take this." The tall bird stood and jerked a nod from frog to door. "C'mon, Slippy; let's buy some new game cartridges for ROB before we leave and I'm forced to kick him out an airlock."

The mechanic trotted from behind the counter after him. "We should really buy a new 72-pin connector too. He keeps resetting..."

As the pair passed out the door, Fox met his love's eyes. As his gaze traveled down her body, his thoughts turned to what lie under it, thoughts he stifled once he remembered she could read his emotions.

The moment he looked up, she sighed and patted his paw. "Fox, you don't have to do that."

"Do what?" His tail swished with vulpine innocence.

"Keep yourself from ogling me." She flashed a sidelong grin. "We are dating, after all."

"Copy that." In the quiet of the empty mess hall, he cast her body a hungry look. "So...why the dress?"

The vixen adjusted a white cloth tail band, just happening to lean closer to him "Maybe I want to be looked at."

"You've got that."

With a coy look, she leaned in until their noses touched. "Maybe I want you to help me out of it."

His ears dipped, hot. "I--um--think that could be arranged." He set an anxious paw on her thigh, feeling the soft fabric slip over softer fur.

A heartbeat later, they scampered out into the corridor. Eager paws grabbed at each other's tails. She pulled him close and pressed him to the bulkhead with a kiss. Her lips met his, her smooth tongue slipping deep into his muzzle and fluffing the whole length of his tail. When she pulled back and giggled at his expression, he growled with desire and squeezed her ample rump. The chase began anew, leading him down to her quarters.

Before she even hit the door button, he had his paws up her dress touching her legs. As they crossed the threshold, he grabbed her hips and hauled them to his, adoring the feel of her against his plump sheath. Deeming it time for a little payback, he humped her against a bulkhead while she moaned in breathy desire. One toned leg lifted to his flank as he kissed her neck. His paw slipped between her thighs--his fingertips met only hot, wet flesh.

"No panties?" He teased through her slick folds as his tail swished.

Salacious mischief danced in her eyes. "Not for this mission."

Together they maneuvered her out of the dress, which fell as a white pool across the shade-striped floor. Her nude body prowled toward him; those skillful blue paws groped his crotch, unzipped his flight suit, then slipped inside to grope some more. Blunt-clawed fingertips danced behind his scrotum. Cupping his balls, she drew him to bed. The couple tumbled to the mattress, her sandals falling to the carpet. His boots took a bit more work, followed by his jumpsuit and boxers. With a growl of her own, she kissed him again, paw seizing the back of his undershirt.

Drunk on her scent, he pulled the shirt off. Lost in kisses, their caress lead one to another. He stroked her tail, nuzzled her ears, and slipped down to lick her nipples. The vixen's pleasured moan sent a thrill up his spine and a pulse of arousal to his crotch.

With a knowing smile, she moved to take advantage of the pink showing against his white pelt. Her supple fingers skinned his sheath up and down, then back to rub the bare length of his cock. Smooth paw pads traced his growing erection. His knot throbbed and swelled against her palm.

"Mmmmm..." She rolled to her hands and knees, her eyes glittering with desire. "I think you'd better cover my six, Fox."

The red fox caressed his way down her back, then climbed behind her. His knees sank into the mattress between her own. The tip of his cock dribbled slick longing at her thin-furred lips. A whimper of bliss escaped his muzzle as her hips jostled back onto his length. With a delighted yap, he sank in.

"Ooooooooohhh..." Those supple ears flicked back in delight.

Clumsy and craving, he worked in and out until he fell into a rhythm.

Her eyes closed with a velvet moan. "Just a bit faster now, Fox. Keep going!"

He tucked his chin to her shoulder and tried to thrust upward so as not to crush her tail. Pelts so different in tone, their bodies blended in matched desire. As fast as he dared without slipping out, he rammed inside her. "Ummm! Uh!"

"Oh, that's lovely--just like that!" Her head rocked back and forth, her hair a blue mess against the pillow. "Tie me, Fox!"

Every thrust spread her juices higher up his knot. Every push brought him closer to tying the love of his life. Every ragged breath dragged him closer to orgasm inside her. A thought took root and blossomed: they had each other. No matter what the Universe threw at them, no matter how they grew through time, she had his back and she wanted his knot. With a growl, Fox seized her hips, slamming himself home.

"Unh!" She bit her lip, hips banging back to accept him. Her lips closed around the back of his knot and swathed him with incredible warmth. Her toned body shook to accommodate each swell of his buried pleasure.

Spurting into his lovely vixen, McCloud lost himself in the sweet surrender of pleasure. His muzzle along hers, his every breath swore devotion. His balls twitched and pumped another surge of passion into her welcoming body. Knot deep, love deeper, he swam in her scent and pleasured gasps.

Fox moaned as he felt her fingers dance at the back of his knot, wiggling her clit back and forth. In his arms, as his body still shivered with aftershocks, hers shuddered against him. That delicate white muzzle traced back along his, as if wanting to feel as much of him as possible. Her passage wrung down on him, those sculpted shoulders rolled back against his chest. Passion grasped her idle paws upon the sheets. As her orgasm ebbed, it faded from a tremble of muscles to a flutter of eyelashes to a twitch of her tail.

Moments pulsed by. Her hips pressed to his, that swell of canine flesh pulling them close. The slick proof of their lovemaking saturated the base of her tail, his thighs. Those tender, quivering walls squeezed him with all her love.

Unable resist the gravity of a comfortable bed, they rolled to their sides, knot tugged inside her with every motion. At the pillow's edge, her fingers interlaced with his. Her leg rose. With a feather touch at that white band of tattooed pattern, he lifted her ankle. The pressure on his cock lessened further, the bulge sliding further and further free...

A noise --wet, obscene, and wondrous-- echoed through her quarters.

His fading knot slipped out, the cool air traced with a rivulet of his own hot semen. It dribbled around his furry sheath to her silken sheets. She snuggled back into his chest fluff, her scent tangled in impending dreams. As he lay, breathless and blissful, he knew for all the vastness of space, nowhere called to him more than here holding her paw.

~ ~ ~

With Cape Claw's tawny sand trailing before their paws, Krystal walked paw-in-paw with her lover. Overhead, the last shipping container sailed in on a new hover crane and with a distant titter.

"Isn't it lovely to visit Sauria again..." Her aqua gaze flowed to his. "...just us two?"

For the thousandth time, Fox adjusted his tiny, clingy swimsuit. "Isn't this swimsuit a little...minimal?"

She leaned back to enjoy how it showed off his tail. "Dinosaurs aren't big on modesty, love."

Excitement rushed from the trees beside them. Thundering steps echoed as something huge plowed through the jungle. With a burst of shredded foliage, a frilled pink dinosaur crashed free of the brush. Leaves clung to his jewelry, a massive smile rushed to his face as he bounded toward them. "Hi guys!"

Krystal's tail swished in amusement. "Hello, Tricky."

"Hey, pal." Fox winced, probably relieved he wasn't trampled by EarthWalker enthusiasm. "You make quite an entrance."

"You're here for your honeymoon, right? You can tell me." The ceratopsid winked.

She patted his nose horn. "Not exactly."

"Oh, okay. No rush. Now that I'm in charge, I can totally marry you two whenever you want." The EarthWalker gave an even more obvious wink.

"We'll...keep that in mind." Fox's shy tail curled around his waist. "How're the plush bafomdads?"

"Great!" He hopped, his massive feet stomping into the sand. "I'm distributing 'em to the other tribes now."

"We were happy to trade." One graceful paw propped on her hip as the other swept at the dinosaur. "Though I was rather surprised you wanted all of them."

"Oh yeah! We've been going through 'em pretty fast." Tricky turned to daintily spit out a black plastic voice box. It hit a tree trunk and fell with a giggle. "The pits make really interesting noises too."

~ ~ ~

Well, that's five chapters, folks. :veryhappy: Let me know how you feel about the series in the comments.

Art: Yuki-chi (Used with permission.) Art commission: flack Edits: Slate, sillyneko345, thefunkyone Proofs: Koush, Anakuro, starfox94

~Tempo