FSE

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"Niishal! Wake up!"

The Yangurra lazily rose in his hammock and yawned, ignoring the noise for a brief moment before he fully awoke. "Sheena? What's the matter?"

"Your father! Someone killed him over the night cycle!"

"Oh?" Niishal continued his stretching and yawning, his veile shooting back daggers from his eyes at the lack of proper sleep. "Yes, I know. I did it."

Sheena took a step back, confused by her friend's nonchalant demeanor. "Nii, wh-why would you...?"

"He tried to kill me for my lack of training." Niishal ignored the various complaints from his veile, knowing he was technically telling the truth. "You don't see the way I look? I... couldn't find a solution that didn't end with one of us dead."

"Nii... Goddess, is that sap?" Sheena moved closer again, gently running her hands through the leaves that made up Niishal's 'hair'. "You aren't kidding. Nii, you need more help than your veile can provide. Please tell me you didn't pass the night cycle this way..."

"I'm only bleeding because you're messing with it. I'll be alright." Nii yanked his vines from the dirt below, his sleep cycle having done the minimum he needed for his body. He then pulled Sheena close, wrapping the two with those tendrils. "Actually, no. I won't be okay, not until I hear something from you."

Sheena struggled to avoid getting blood on her dress, but upon realizing her friend's seriousness she leaned into the embrace. "N-Nii? What's wrong? I'm here for you."

"You're always here for me, but that isn't enough. Sheena, I could choose any female I want to stave off my loneliness. I could take a woman to reduce the loss of my father, or as a concubine. I could have a child of my genetic choosing. I could choose to live a life of luxury with any bride I'd like." Niishal touched his forehead to his love's, a gesture far more weighted than its simplicity projected. "But I didn't choose the one I love. I don't want to choose. I person I want must choose me too."

Sheena began to tear up with raw emotion and surprise. "Niishal... are you...?"

"Sheena," The daring Yangurra painfully plucked a flower from his head and placed it in the girl's hand before continuing, "will you spend your life with me? Will you be my mate?"

"Yes! By Gaia's grace, yes!"

Nii pressed his forehead flush, the lack of a nose leading the two into a kiss. "Then let my first act as Chleek of Ors be to announce my priestess."

"As...? Oh..." Sheena shook her head and rolled into another kiss. "I love you, Chleek."

"And I love you, my dear Sheena." Chleek nodded confidently, but paused upon noticing the dried, dull blood he spread to his mate's clothes. "Come. Let's wash together for once. Then we shall tackle my father's burial."

---

"Damn, that's a strange one..." Evelyn formed her body as she woke, but freaked out with a quick scream when she found Carbon's balls rocking near her face. "Oh shit! Goddess..."

"Eve!?" Carbon stumbled when he realized Eve was laying beneath him on their bed, his cock squelching out of Sydney's juicy cunt as he fell to the side. "What the fuck? Why'd you show up there all of a sudden?"

"I dunno. I had to form myself somewhere." Eve sighed as she dressed herself with a magically appearing sunflower dress. "Why don't you tell me why you were tea-bagging me? It was just coincidence."

"I thought you had some control over all of that..."

"I do, but... Sorry for breaking up your fun." Eve sat herself up and slipped off the bed, pausing to give Sydney a kiss. "I had my mind somewhere else. Won't happen again. So, uh... you should continue. I know it'll bother Carbon if he doesn't cum."

"Eve? You're acting strange still." Carbon hopped out of bed as well and lifted his mask to give the plant girl a kiss, but she stepped aside very purposefully. "See? You're jittery, and we haven't been close since leaving Yomi."

"Carbon, please... I love you, I really do. I just had a bad dream and it's still fresh in my mind."

"It's alright, Eve. Whatever it is, we'll get through it together." Carbon looked down at his bobbing manhood and chuckled. "I guess we should finish what we were doing, huh?"

"Damn straight. I was ~so~ close, otter." Cid flipped onto her back and brought a limber leg up near her head. "I'm ready if you are, Carbon."

"Damn... You know how sexy you look right now?" Carbon smiled devilishly as he closed the gap, lined himself up, and... stopped when the alarms and warning lights fired up. "Well, fuck."

Sydney threw her head back in defeat. "Fucking Sect. Where's my pants?"

"Uh..." Carbon found the article of clothing covered in his first orgasm from an hour ago. "Casualty of war. Use your suit, anyway. We might need to go outside."

"Yeah, good point." Cid grabbed her bodysuit hanging over the end of the bed and shimmied into it. "Helmet?"

"By the door." Evelyn walked over to fetch the helmet, holding it out for Sydney as she passed. "Got your gun? That other thing, too?"

"The grapple? Yeah, it's... here." Cid grabbed her new tool and clipped it to her holster belt, but mid search for her pistol she drooped helplessly. "Shit, that's right... I lost my revolver."

"The forty-four? Fuck, that was a classic." Carbon picked up his own weapons as he equipped himself in similar fashion, but separated his 1911 to give to his mate. "Here, this should work for now. We'll work on replacing... Oh, right. That was ~his~ pistol."

"Yeah... Sorry dad." Cid sighed as she shoved the borrowed weapon in her holster and went for the door. "Let's find Ari's girls. Oh, what's the plan with Lea?"

"She's safe in here if I stay. I'd like to go with you two though." Eve walked over to the baby's room, lifting up the apparent three-yearOld girl in her arms. "It's alright, honey. We just need to find you someone to play with for a while."

"She's getting taller every time I see her now." Carbon smiled as he split his shotgun, loaded it, and threw the break over his shoulder. "Okay, the twins should already be here for emergencies..."

"I've got it." Sydney walked over to a computer terminal and tapped out a message, the girls opening a portal within a few seconds of receiving it. "Now ~that's~ prompt service. What's the deal, girls?"

<We took a glancing shot from something on the surface. They're cranking up more firepower every minute, so the fleet's holding back.> Chelle opened a return portal, visibly straining to hold it open. <Quick. Michelle can't keep moving the exit like this for long.>

Carbon stepped through the portal, offering a paw to Evelyn. "Moving? You mean the Starbreeze is forging ahead?"

<Yeah. Mom came up with a plan.> Mikhaila followed the others through, then helped her sister over the gap before the portals closed. <I think it's a smart plan, but we need to tweak the gravity generators for it.>

<Carbon, Fleur is in the Ready Room.> Chelle held her head for a moment as if it would help her massive headache. <Mikhaila, let's go. Good luck, guys.>

"Thanks, girls." Carbon nodded as they opened a new pair of portals and passed through to Engineering. "Okay then. Lea, how would you like to be a good girl and spend the day with your sister?"

The child simply nodded and rubbed her eyes in response.

"That's a good girl." Carbon pushed open the door to the Ready Room and smiled for his other daughter. "Fleur, you're looking nice today. Shame we have to spoil your fun with babysitting, though."

"Bahbee... Babysetteng?" The elk nodded as she accepted the responsibility as well as the child from Eve's arms. "We wehl 'ave ze fun, papa. Come, lehttle Lea. You like ze chocolat? Eh 'ave ze ehngredients for crêpes au chocolat ehn ze cafétéria..."

"Not too much sugar, Fleur." Sydney smiled as she reached for the door to the Bridge. "She's getting a little easier to understand, don't you think?"

"A little bit, though I think Lea might speak French at this rate. Still, she's trying pretty hard after... well, when she started living with her new roommates." Carbon joined Cid at the door and shoved it open. "She's proving to be alright on her own. Lea will be fine with her. Us though..."

"Ari, what's the big deal?" Sydney spoke up, making herself heard even over the busy Bridge crew. "You almost left us alone back there without a shuttle."

"You were safe there! Ah, fuck. Strap in." Ilaria pulled herself along various consoles as she trudged across the bridge to Alex. "Still no ideas? Speed only gets us so far."

"Well, ah... Crazy Ivan? Those baffles ~could~ use a check." Trick set up the maneuver on her computer to aid her in case the forces involved blacked her out cold. "The damn planet's all water. We could slow down last minute and splash down. We'd keep evasive speed up until the end."

"Then what? Fuck, there's just too many guns aimed at us. They'll just hunt us down on the surface, too." Ari stood tall for a few seconds of silent contemplation, only to be nearly knocked off her hindpaws by an impact to the hull's right 'shoulder' cuff. "That's it... Alex, do it. Make sure we're submerged afterward. Cid, find a seat and a damn barf bag."

Sydney did just that, sitting in a vacant seat and pulling Carbon to the one beside her. "What are you planning? You never smile at times like this unless it's crazy."

"Smile? Huh, I guess I am." Ari tried to shake off her grin of pride as she worked back to her captain's chair. "We're faking our own deaths. We just need resources, after all."

Carbon groaned as he strapped himself into his seat. "Still doesn't explain the smile."

"Well you're forgetting who owns this ship." Ari buckled herself into her own chair and then issued an impact warning ship-wide. "You just ~can't~ have an otter that doesn't want to swim in ~that~ ocean."

"The endless one full of deadly radiation? Oh goddess..."

Coincidentally Evelyn chose that moment to resolve her full body. "Hey. What'd I miss?"

"Well we're all gonna die, apparently." Cid pointed to the front windows as a ball of water started filling the view. "Might want to hold onto... Lea!"

"Shit, Fleur too!" Carbon unlatched his harness and sprinted into the hallway. "I'll help them. Eve, keep us from dying."

"Uh... Oh, we're moving a little fast..." Eve checked what Carbon was just experiencing from his short term memory and got herself up to speed. "Oh... crap. We aren't going to make it. Alex calculated for the wrong gravity."

"What!?" Trick checked her math she just input into the computer and found the planetary mass was set for Earth standard. "Shit! Firing now!"

"Are we--!?" The air forced itself out of Ari's lungs as her safety harness choked her. The port nacelle wing shut off its thrust, spun around completely, then fired up again in full to rapidly rotate the Starbreeze on her yaw axis. "Holy... fucking... shit..."

The ship hit the halfway point and reversed the process, harshly bringing the Starbreeze to an about-face so she could decelerate with her tail thrusters as well as the wings. "Ari, I'm sorry... Fuck, I killed us all with a damn math error..."

"We're not dead yet, Alex. You can do this."

"No, I can't. Willpower doesn't overrule physics." Trick let go of her controls and let the autopilot take control of their lengthened deaths. "We'll hit with enough force to crack the hull. We'll sink, if the impact doesn't kill us."

"Just think. Is there a way to fix this? Can we re-vector into an orbit or something?"

"We're already in atmosphere. We might be able to without the air friction, but now...?"

Sprite fluttered into view and sat on Ari's command console, followed briefly by Prisma flickering into the hologram pattern. "Ari, flip the ship to be level with the water before we hit, by about three seconds before. Gimbal's got this."

"Alex? You hear that?"

"Yeah!"

Prisma shut off her avatar in favor of showing the spheroid alien stone as she bound herself and her hovering 'limbs' to the cargo bay floor. "She thinks she can cut through the water. Her math looks pretty sound, even if some of it is too complex for us."

"For you? Fuck, it's gotta be right then. Do it." Ari huffed and fought her way to her console to double up on safety alarms. "Make my day, Alex!"

The poison dart frog cracked her knuckles and gripped her controls tightly. "One miracle-grade trick, coming right up."

The Starbreeze plummeted even though her engines were firing at full. Stray bolts of plasma struck her hull, threatening to topple her over. Alex used this to her advantage however, one particular hit shoving the nose down and allowing the frog to follow through. With merely half a kilometer between ship and sea, the water began to part slightly to form a tapered 'sleeve' just as deep as the Starbreeze was high. Gimbal's plan, while nowhere near gentle, proved effective as the water resistance increased only slightly as opposed to instantly, cushioning the fall. The only defect of this wondrous course of action was when the water came crashing back down overhead, swallowing the Starbreeze with a frothy burp.

Ilaria groaned as she rested on her back, her pivoting chair holding her oddly now that the Starbreeze had capsized to starboard. "Everyone okay? Gravity's out, so be careful."

"Ow." Sydney groaned as she unfastened her harness and further unpinned herself from between her seat and a stray terminal "A word of advice? Bolts."

"Yeah, my girl wasn't designed for this. Bolting things down couldn't hurt though." Ari slid herself out of her chair, flipping onto her hindpaws as she landed on a window support beam. "Alex, can you do anything about us being sideways? Alex? ...Trick?"

"O-Oh, yeah." The dart frog shook as she forced herself back into alignment and manned the controls. "I think maneuvering thrusters might work, just uh... slowly."

"You alright, hon? Someone else can take over if you need."

"I'm just a little shocked from the impact." Alex turned her controls and the Starbreeze slowly righted itself. "I'm surprised we pulled that off. I'll get over it though."

"Well if you need a break let someone know. You've been flying for almost a whole day now, so you've earned some shut-eye." Ari corrected the lay of her sirat drapes as she slowly walked along with the rotating ship. "What's our status, guys? We're obviously not imploding, but that can't be all there is to it. The Starbreeze is a negative pressure vessel, not positive."

Buck finished rubbing his temples as a headache evolved in his sinuses from the pressure changes. "The lower deck's floodin' an'... ah, looks like we got us a few holes to plug. Auto-seal systems did their job, ma'am."

"Well good. We're alive and only slowly filling with radioactive water."

"Actually, ma'am..." Buck tried to bring up a hologram of his findings, but excessive moisture fizzled out the projector. "Well shit. Anyhoo, that there water ain't radi-active much. Just it's full o' tritium an' deuterium, which ain't much for killin' furs. Might keep unsliced humans away from it though."

"Really? Then what's making the sensors go nuts?"

Evelyn reformed her body and touched a few drips of water coming from the upper deck. "The amount, I'd guess. It's parts per million on Earth, and even then only deeper in the ocean. Here it's more like parts per thousand."

"Yeah, the genie's right." Buck took one final glance at his station before the moisture claimed it as well. "S'long as it's dissolved it'll be harmless t' most o' us. Well, just 'till we drown that is."

Ari brought up her watch and freaked out as a drop of water landed right on the display portion, but sighed in relief as her hologram pattern proved impervious. "Pris, where are my girls and what's up with Gimbal?"

"Your girls are still in engineering, sealing leaks with gravity or something like that. I'll let them know to call you back when they're done." Prisma took a pawful of seconds to locate her other target, bringing up a severely manipulated feed of an external camera. "Gimbal is floating outside my hull. She isn't responding to anything, but she's at least staying put. Could we...?"

"Yeah, we need to repay her for saving us. Are any of our suits rated for positive pressure?"

"We had one, the one Rhyme used before it was destroyed."

"I've got it all fixed up now, thanks to our twins." Rhyme walked into the Bridge wearing part of said suit, a patchy new-andOld helmet under her arm. "Where's she at? Is that... near the forward damaged section?"

"Yeah, correct. Looks like she was sucked out the bombed section." Pris flickered a moment as she tried a few physical systems. "The elevator shaft doors have shut due to gravity and the water. Use access hatches to change decks and then manually pump the airlocks."

"I won't risk the side airlocks with you guys here, and the ventral one is flooded..." Rhy huffed as she realized she had to climb through more of the ship than she'd like in a new, thinner bodysuit to boot. "I'll use the dorsal airlock. In the meantime, find any leaks we can only fix from outside. I'll drag my gear along in case you find a bad one."

"Thanks, Rhy. Bring her back and we'll do what we can to fix this." Ari hunched down and planted a soft kiss on her love's lips. "Be careful out there. I love you."

"I, uh..." Rhyme looked back to many eyes locked on the two, a rush of blood to her head making her lightheaded enough to startle her. "I l-love you to, Ari. Now I'll, um... I'll go grab that dumb bowling ball."

"Thank you, honey." Ilaria turned her love around and sent her off to work, making sure to grope and then smack her skin-tight ass on the way out. "Mn, damn... Thank you, indeed."

---

"Hru~g!" Rhyme yanked a heavy sealant injector out of a hull patch and magnetically snapped it to an adjacent spot on the hull. "Damn... This shit is tiring when you've got gravity to deal with."

"Water resistance too." Ilaria treaded water to hold herself in place as she sneaked up behind Rhyme. "How're the repairs coming?"

"Slowly, but the leaks are stopped internally for now. I'm just reinforcing the outside." It took a moment for Rhy to notice that the larger shadow she was casting onto the hull wasn't entirely her own. "But you already know this because you're ~behind me~. I'm guessing the girls fixed you up with some improvements?"

"Nope. Hard science this time." Ari grabbed the side of the hull and offered her arm for a testing touch. "Pump extra air inside and it resists the extra external pressure. Just so happens that whatever these suits are made from is damn near perfectly strong while stretched."

Rhy gave the suit a squeeze, then followed a set of straps to a tank on Ari's back. "Uses a lot more air though, I see."

"Well at least it works. I sort of volunteered myself because I'm not entirely here anyway. Figured if I had a rupture there was a fifty-fifty chance I'd actually lose a limb." Ari brought a single paw to the side of the hull and set it flat, a dim glow of amber signaling something artificial was anchoring her in place. "I'd also be lying if I didn't say I wanted to try out my new upgrades as well."

"That doesn't damage the surface, does it? Don't scratch the paint, dear." Rhy masked a quiet chuckle as she secured the remainder of her tools to the hull. "How's our favorite geode doing? Better, I hope?"

"She's responsive, but only barely so. She's still drying out though, so maybe that's her issue?"

"You know, when I have that happen to me I just put my phone in a bag of rice..."

"You know Gimbal is alive, right? Silly tanuki." Ilaria squinted her eyes and checked into the blurry distance. "Hold on now... What was that? Yoyo, are my girls out here messing around or something?"

"I think Eve headed out to help," replied Carmine.

"Well she doesn't glow blue, last I checked. Everyone... stay on alert. We may have some sort of infiltrators or scouts." Ari detached her paw from the ship and put her lifetime of lake swimming to good use, heading for the tail of the Starbreeze quickly. "I'm checking it out. Rhy, keep watch over here."

"You sure that's the best thing to do? You're a good swimmer, but one knick..."

"I'm alright, Rhy. I'm even better at swimming with these." Ari's four paws and shoulder blades lit up in a faint amber-orange and she suddenly seemed to pick up thrust from those points. "Okay, so what the hell was that? Please just be a big fish."

Prisma lit up a basic icon on Ari's watch to signal her open connection. "We're searching the camera feeds, though they aren't designed for this environment. There's not enough light and the IR scatter systems are muddied."

"Thanks, Pris. Let me know the minute you see anything--"

"Ventral, aft, and starboard. It's heading towards the fore."

"Thanks, Pris. Can you make out whatever it is?"

"The cameras aren't focusing. Either it's the exposure of that thing or it's... maybe it's radioactive?" Pris checked the cameras in the creature's wake, confirming her suspicions. "The radiation is overloading the sensors, but the afterimages are... Wow, that thing's huge."

"I barely see it. Moving in." Ari pulled her bow from around her shoulder and readied an arrow, letting her hindpaw thrusters do the heavy lifting while her rudder tail steered. She eased herself to a stop behind the creature, planting her hindpaws on the hull for a stable shot. "Guys, it's not a Yangurra. It's also fucking twenty feet long and glowing royal blue. Carbon? Rose?"

"No wildlife I've ever heard about," admitted Carbon.

"Rysakii, maybe? But those only get a few feet max." Rose took a moment to open the safety panels on the top of the ship so she could peer directly up at the creature through the clear aluminum windows. "Well fuck me. ~Definitely~ not a rysaki."

The creature straightened itself 'upright' on two of its six appendages for a moment in a very intelligent display of defense. Then everyone's brains hurt. «Strangers of the metal whale, do not come any closer!»

Ari noticed a weapon just as primitive as hers being primed, and as an act of good faith she replaced her bow on her back. "Uh... What the fuck was that? It can use our radios? And it knows English?"

«I do not require such basic way of communicating.» The large creature visibly calmed with Ari's gesture, then slowly closed the distance for a clearer view. «You are not the same as the destroyers. Hm... What are your intentions?»

"Uh..."

Carbon grumbled and clarified what was happening. "He's in our heads, guys. This is the same way Eve and I talk all the time, with raw ideas. Just talk normally and he can understand us as we form the ideas into words."

«Quite astute... and also much like the destroyers, but also not. Interesting.»

"Uh... I think I get it. Okay." Ari slowly walked closer to the hulking alien, admiring more and more details as she approached. "You're native to this planet, right? You've got webbing on those paws of yours. Oh, your arms and all do too..."

«Yes, I am of this world. You are not, clearly. Aha... yet you have similar features I see. You do not dwell on land?»

Ari tapped her helmet, then crouched slightly as the creature's boxy, angled snout came closer for an inspection. "I breathe air, and require a suit. Otters like myself live on ground and near water where we're from."

«Earth. Interesting.» The alien brought a five-fingered, double-thumbed, and extensively webbed hand to stroke his chin. «You have not answered my first question, Earthling. What are your intentions?»

Ari took the creature's brief pause to give a return inspection, particularly to admire the odd silicone-like, leathery skin that somehow wrapped the creature while retaining hard angles throughout. "We come in the name of peace, and also ironically in a war pack. Our enemies at the moment are the same ones on the surface, but ultimately we would rather not deal with them at all."

«I see. There is this 'black hole' you would rather directly confront.» That hand retracted to pull out half of a fish, then oddly the top of the alien's head hinged upward as an open jaw to eat the treat. «Very well. Your quest appears to be noble. It is a shame, as otherwise this metal whale would have become a perfect tribute.»

"Tribute? What for?"

«I am outcast. Only proper tribute will reclaim the trust of my tribe.» The creature took a moment to stretch, revealing a beautiful set of glowing webbing connecting all the various hard angles of his body and limbs into a softer silhouette. «This means nothing in your head... I should use concepts you understand. Apologies.»

"It's fine. Actually, I'm glad we can talk at all. I was about to shoot you until you said something."

«I know. Your weapon is surprisingly well developed for aquatic use, but I'm unsure of the damage it might cause to my hide.»

Ari tried to push her quiver behind her, noticing Rhyme had caught up behind her in the process. "I'd rather not have a reason to test that. We come in friendship. My name is Ilaria and this is... Rhyme."

«You lie to yourself? Your name is Ielunschra, correct? Such strange minds you have...» The alien hunched down to straddle the ship more laterally, his twin-tipped tail acting as a fin to hold him steady. «Oh, I see now. This is a 'friendly greeting' I take it? Then you require a common name. I am... Ceylon, of the Versa. It is an honor to meet you... Terran? Is that the proper term? You have so many.»

"We have a habit of segregating ourselves into groups, countries, religions... but yes, Terran is probably the best thing to use for now." Ari offered a paw to shake, though partially as a gesture and partially to test Ceylon's squishiness. "I'm glad we could become friends. My ship is in bad shape, and fighting you wouldn't have helped. Plus I'm sure my brother will love you."

«This... Iolvin? Yes, he does appear interested in new cultures. I too would enjoy a chat.» Ceylon finally understood the gesture, reaching our a hand but having difficulty navigating loops of fin-like membrane connecting each of his paired fingers. «Bodily communication is odd. Luckily I am a patient Versa.»

"We appreciate it, too." Ari finally squeezed down to find that indeed the alien's skin felt pliable yet firm, and embarrassingly too similar to many of the adult toys she hid in her nightstand. "Ceylon, you are welcome to sate your curiosity around us so long as you don't mind keeping your paws to yourself. Then once our repairs are complete we can perhaps explore your world a little. I'm sorry if we can't greet you properly right now, but we had a rough landing that needs fixing before we all die."

«You fear a lack of air. I understand.» Ceylon offered his hand to Rhyme, shook, and then started moving for the ventral airlock in an entirely graceful manner. «I will talk with your brother, Yoyo as you call him. Perhaps I might depart with a tribute of knowledge instead?»

"Oh, wait. I'm fine with that, but be careful. You're covered in radiation that might hurt someone he loves."

«Ah, Zoë. She will be safe.» Ceylon waved a hand over glowing gills to the sides of his long, dragon-like head. «I cannot easily tell what this 'radiation' entails, but your mind speaks of water toxins. We Versa neutralize the poisons of this ocean. This... Human? She will be safe and well. I give you my word.»

"Thank you. Oh, but what about the air inside?"

«We filter the same basic air as your do, only through he water and not a pure gas. I will be fine, as I have acclimated to the surface world over time. Everything will be alright, so please remain calm.»

"Alright. We'll be inside in a little while, then we can greet you properly." Ilaria smiled as she came up with an idea. "Ashe?"

"Ashen, but I can relay something."

"If we can spare the supplies, how about you guys bake our new friend a cake."

Iolvin chuckled as he asked, "Sans curse? Is that possible?"

"Curse?"

"We've made what, five or six cakes on this ship? How many have you actually eaten?"

Ilaria giggled as she held Rhyme and taxied her back to her tools with her thrusters. "Oh, I get it now. Yeah, well I have a feeling this one will be different. We should at least try for our guest."

«Am I supposed to feel at ease knowing that you enjoy eating explosives?» commented Ceylon.

"Well they're not ~supposed~ to explode. It's just bad luck, though to be honest I'd rather the bad variety remain contained to confections."

"Zoë wants to help out too. We can show Lonny it's not dangerous while we talk. Come on, Zoë. Let's go meet a ~scary monster~."

«...You're the smarter of the two, I take it?»

Ari grinned back for the hazy blue glow that remained of Ceylon. "Yes. Yes I am."

---

"Oh, hey Lulu. You've ~got~ to talk to this guy." Iolvin smiled heavily as he gave Ceylon a slap on his inner shoulder. "You know the reason they developed telepathy?"

"Because they breathe underwater, so they never developed vocal cords? Just a guess." Ilaria tossed her helmet to her brother and tore open the collar of her bodysuit for some fresh air through her fur. "I figured that out pretty much instantly. Still, pretty cool."

"Yeah, but we've been sharing a lot together. As it turns out, we sort of have similar tastes in professions." Yoyo placed the helmet on a table and pulled up a chair. "Lonny is an explorer. We're both ~adventurers~."

«I formerly scouted for my tribe. In my exile the tactics of that former profession have served me well. I pride myself as an apt survivalist.» The Versa took a moment to poke a stubby, clawless finger at what resembled lasagna. «Take this meal, for example. If I can survive eating that, I can survive anything.»

"I thought you'd like it. Everyone likes lasagna, even if it's 3D printed."

"Yoyo, do you even think they have lasagna underwater? He was eating a raw fish earlier."

«Actually, we do have a similar meal. I have just never been partial to sauces.»

Ari found a seat and decided to join the two for a while. "Alright, now this actually is getting interesting. You grow food? Does that mean there's a sea floor?"

«Floor? Ah, a solid bottom. No, there are only more toxic waters down below.» Ceylon slid his plate closer and nibbled on the baked pasta, not wanting to offend his hosts. «My tribe and many others like it are founded upon... ah, another foreign concept. The closest match might be submerged islands, perhaps? Yes, island tribes, though some even dare to skirt the surface, like myself. That is how we know of the destroyers.»

Ari mouthed out the words 'hot dog' to Zoë and she got the hint, running over to prepare some in a microwave. "They call themselves the Sect of Xor, who in turn is one of their gods I believe. They probably only see your people as a threat to their operations here."

«This may explain their immediate hostility, except none who have seen us have survived to pass the tale. Pray tell what their goal might be?»

"We're guessing fuel, though in all honesty it could be they just need drinking water and they're oblivious." Ari pulled up her watch and flipped through her recent applications, smirking as Ceylon actually gasped at the technology. "See here? Your planet's waters contain a precious element we call oxydium, or æti to them. The deeper you go, the more concentrated it seems to get. Do they ever go below the surface?"

«They have tried. Something in the water seems harmful to them though, besides us. They never make it far before their machines erupt soot and steam.» Ceylon threw out two hands, one much lower than the other. «Your machine--this 'Starbreeze'--reaches much deeper than they have ever been. This is why I was concerned upon meeting you.»

"Well at least it's good to know they won't attack us down here."

Yoyo threw his paw into the fray to raise a concern. "Lulu, what's our status? Are we going to be alright staying down this deep?"

"Yeah. Rhy patched everything up, and as an added bonus the girls have repurposed their gravity emitters to project force on the hull. We should be more than just alright now, and even more so once we get the heat exhaust engines working under pressure."

«The way you describe this... Is this machine not built for nautical use?»

"No. My ship is designed to work in a vacuum, away from planets. The hull is strong at holding things inside, but not the other way around."

Ceylon played with a tassel of flesh laying limply out the back corner of his head, likely some sort of sensory organ or odd ear. «The destroyers have similar machines, but made of a softer material. They resemble the plants of Great Isla.»

"So Carbon wasn't kidding about their ships being made of wood. That's bizarre." Yoyo leaned a bit closer, as if he would be heard better even though Ceylon didn't need aural cues. "So I take it Great Isla is this planet's only large surface landmass?"

«Correct. As Great Isla breaks apart, it returns below the sea for future tribes to claim. Doing so is a momentous honor for a Versa.» Zoë returned with a plate of two hotdogs, which by smell alone brought a smile to Ceylon's inverted muzzle. «Ah, now this seems better. I am always a fan of new meats.»

"You seemed like a carnivore at heart. Enjoy." Ari smiled as she once again brought up her watch. "Pris, have we figured out a way to connect to the fleet yet?"

"Yes, actually." Prisma commandeered a menu kiosk and created a hologram of her avatar. "There are three bandwidths we've found that aren't canceled out by the radiation. Thankfully one is a data line, because the audio quality is horrible in real-time."

«You create life in an instant!? How is--?» Ceylon calmed himself as he chewed and savored his first bite of foreign--if artificial--meat byproducts. «Ah, wonderful!... Oh, and I see now. So this is a false image of another? Then why do I not sense this person? Has she returned to the Great Current?»

"Prisma is a synthetic lifeform, and she's integrated into the ship's control cores. She isn't organic, which I'm assuming is a requirement of your mental connections." Ari raised a finger for a moment to take care of business. "Pris, build a data packet with our situation reports. Send that as well as a message saying to fly safe until we return."

"Sure thing. Message is on its way."

"Thanks, Pris." Ari shut off her watch display and dropped her holding gesture. "As part of the ship, Prisma makes our lives a whole lot easier. That doesn't mean she's just a tool, though. Treat her with respect, please."

«Naturally. I respect all life, except for the destroyers at least.» Ceylon finished eating his second treat and stood to stretch all of his limbs in sequence. «I sense a similar hatred for their misdeeds. For this alone I am willing to aid your cause, so long as it harms their operations.»

"Great! We were going to siphon some gas from your ocean and leave, but I can't think of an easy way to pull it off with so many guns pointed at us."

«You hope they dismissed you as dead, correct? Then why not use that misinformation to strike their weapons? We do not need to kill them to rid Great Isla of its disease.»

Ilaria stood with a smile and tried to approach Ceylon, though he held his large form in a pose somewhere between a dog and a centaur. Finally she just decided to go for it, lunging forward into a quick hug. "You and I are gonna get along famously. You gave me an idea."

"Huh? I thought that was the plan all along, Lulu."

"Not quite. We could have broken their guns, but they'd just repair them or send ships after us. We need to make a few runs to refuel the fleet though." Ari stood up straight and reached for her watch once more. "It's the middle of the night, so... In the morning we'll get Ashe and Carbon behind a computer terminal together. With any luck, we'll fight this little disease with a virus of our own."

"Oh, I follow now. Shut them down and they just get to helplessly watch us come and go."

"Exactly. Pris, what's the local daylight cycle look like?"

"Hmm... I can't verify since we lost sight of the sky, but based on star system movement..." Prisma flickered as she computed a more complex answer than she really needed. "If I'm guessing your intent, sunrise might be in eighteen of our new hours. This planet doesn't have magnetic poles though, so we may have drifted from my last point of reference."

"Good enough. Lets get a few hours of sleep and then get to work on the engines and virus. With Ceylon's help, we should be able to find the Sect base and hit them hard." Ari nodded politely for her alien guest as she tiredly backed into the hallway, only pausing long enough to sate her curiosity. "Hey, what happened to the cake? I wanted to taste some before bed."

Iolvin pointed upward silently, only for Ceylon to explain. «Your offspring miscalculated something with those gravity devices you mentioned.»

"Well fucking hell..." Ilaria huffed out a long sigh as she noticed the chocolate icing on the ceiling. She slowly backed out the door and shuffled to her quarters. "It really is a gods-damned curse."

---

"Ah, there you are. Good morning, Ceylon." Ilaria searched for a seat in the forward elevator shaft, settling for a crate instead. "So you slept here?"

«This was the most comfortable space in such short notice.»

"He doesn't seem to need blankets or anything, so if it works for him..." Elliot passed around from behind the Versa's large body while wielding a portable biometric scanner. "Ceylon here is quite resilient, actually. His little checkup is revealing some interesting information."

"Please tell me Ellie here didn't wake you for this."

«Ah, no. I have been awake most of the night.» Ceylon held up one of his middle arms and politely shoved Ellie away from his flanks. «As much as I want to aid your quest for knowledge, I'm not sure I'll allow that just yet. Your... demeanor unsettles me some, friend.»

"Yeah, so she likes guys as much as girls. Trust me when I say she's only got science on her mind."

Ellie groaned at the denied access but took the moment to study his findings. "Aside from the obvious differences like the extra set of limbs, the most surprising bit here is his composure. Ceylon here is a silicon-based lifeform, with effectively organic silicone rubber for skin and hardened glass for bones. He's got a slightly strong acid for blood, too. I'd love a sample to study."

"So I wasn't too far off in my own head..."

Ceylon snorted as he curled up on the metal floor. «I am not one of your pleasure devices. None of them compare well to mine in any case.»

"And I forgot you read minds. Great." Ari sighed and crossed her legs on her cargo crate. "Sorry about that. I'll try to be more careful where my mind wanders."

«No... Please don't alter yourself on my behalf. It was rude to probe, even among my own kind.»

"I'll do just that then. Just be warned that my mind gets a bit crude every so often." Ari stretched her arms and her legs then soon after, but chuckled when she noticed a change in the alien. "Seems I'm not the only one."

«What?» Ceylon dropped his gaze between his legs as he followed Ari's eyes, finding his massive, rectangular manhood poking out. «In my culture such provocations are considered just as rude. Are you trying to excite me with those movements?»

"No, no. I needed to stretch is all. Apologies for that." Ari stood to leave, pausing as her mind hovered on the recently uncovered anatomy. "Hey, do you have to relieve yourself? As in... I don't mean the lewd way, but we have options."

Ellie perked up at the idea. "Oh! I'd love to see how that works!"

«I would indeed like to relieve my body, but I also would like to keep your ship clean. And no, little one, I won't let you watch that either.»

"Well why's she so speci--"?

"Quel genre de démon est-ce!?"

Ceylon slowly panned his gaze over to Fleur as she and Carbon passed through the elevator shaft for the Bridge. «I am no variety of monster. I am Ceylon of the Versa.»

"It's fine, Fleur. He's our guest. You know how we treat guests. Right?" Carbon took over damage control, waving off the continued excitement and general confusion of his daughter as they walked. "Sorry about that. She's normally quite in control of herself, but you're not what she's used to seeing in the morning."

«Aha. I understand this. I felt the same way when I met Ilaria.» Ceylon nodded nobly to excuse himself then followed Ari to the Barracks. «We will rejoin you momentarily. Please, continue as you were.»

"See? He's really nice." Ari smiled for Fleur as she led the alien out of sight. "I think the shared bathroom is large enough for you. If not... we might have to consider a more natural choice..."

Carbon gave his petrified daughter a hug. "It's alright, Fleur. What's the matter?"

"He... iz reminding me oof ze bad past." The elk straightened herself out, suppressing her emotions down inside herself for the sake of her father. "Iz before you found me. Zhere was a... ah, ze word... a shark."

"You mean the one I locked away? That shark? He did terrible things to you, exploiting your recent loss of your parents. He deserves everything he got." Carbon sighed as his adopted daughter still showed signs of mental distress. "Let's try to focus on something else like... like Buck. We were going to see him, right?"

"Oui--"

"Fleur... be yourself. Forget what I said earlier. If you want to use French, go for it. I just want you to be happy."

"O-Oui, papa."

Elliot grinned as he combed through his scanner results. "You two are getting pretty deep for so early in the morning."

"Actually I was about to go to sleep for an hour or two. I had night duty and could probably use a nap sooner instead of later." Carbon started moving to the Bridge again, but halted when he realized what Ellie was holding. "Anything we should be concerned about? We still good for our plan?"

"Our new guest is as healthy as I dare guess, but at least he isn't dangerous to us. Turns out he's not radioactive at all, and he even stopped glowing a few hours ago. Phosphors in his inner flesh react to the ambient radiation, it looks like." Ellie put his tools away and waved as he left for his office. "I'll take a closer look, but I'd say for now that big guy's a gentle giant. He'll be back to help after Ari figures out his toilet situation."

"She's got to house train him? Ha."

«I'm still reading your mind. Apologies, friend.»

"Well... shit. Sorry, Ceylon." Carbon huffed out a sigh as he forced himself forward. "Thanks, Ellie. Keep me in the loop."

"Sure. You know where to find me."

Carbon nodded, continuing to the bulkhead door outside the Bridge. "Fleur, go--" He paused for a moment as he switched to French. "<Go have your fun. I'll just check a few things and head to bed. Alright?>"

Fleur leaned down to give her father a kiss on the cheek. "<Yes. Sleep well, papa.>" The elk gained a hop to her step upon spotting her beau, scurrying over to hang from his arm. "<Are you happy to see me?>"

Buck snapped alert, the sudden love waking him from his all-night fatigue. "<To see you? Always, my lady.>"

"<Want to grab some breakfast, dear knight? You look like you could use something to eat.>"

"<Only if we can have a ~snack~ afterward.>" Buck pressed his lips against Fleur's, clacking their antlers gently. "<And today I'm feeling like something ~cream filled~. Nothing better to end a day than a messy treat.>"

"<But Buck... my father would kill me.>" Fleur eased back, a bit of concern showing on her face again. "<What's with your sudden aversion to condoms? Last night we made a mistake, but now I'm not sure it was an accident.>"

"<Last night was absolutely just a wonderful accident. It had me thinking though...>" Buck gave his lover another reassuring kiss, taking his time to savor it. "<You just got done your heat, right? So you're safe for a little while, which means...>"

"<Does it really feel that much better finishing inside instead of on me?>" Fleur stared into the cutest puppy-dog eyes she'd ever seen and gave in with a sigh. "<Ugh... Alright, you silly oaf. But only today; I don't want to risk anything.>"

"<Only today. Thank you, my lady.>"

Carbon banged his head into the hallway bulkhead, having given up on using a wall console in favor of intriguing conversation he happened to overhear. «I want to kill him. He's trying to ruin our daughter's life now.»

«You don't really want to do that. You know he's a good guy.» Evelyn sent out of wave of calming memories from her crystal form, soothing her former host in a very familiar manner. «You've got it the wrong way around, too. The only thing he's trying to do is give you grandchildren, and even then he's not forcing Fleur. He loves her.»

Carbon peeked into the Bridge, ducking back out and hiding as the two walked past hoof in hoof. «Well I still don't like it. He's taking my little girl away from me.»

«And he's replacing her with a strong, beautiful woman.» Evelyn formed her body, then immediately went to work petting Carbon's head. "She can't stay your little orphan girl forever, Carbon. Let her live her life."

"Yeah, and I'll let her make her own mistakes," The hybrid grumbled as he went back to work checking his console, "even if they're the cutest, most wonderful mistakes of her life."

Eve roped her love in close for a deep, happy kiss. "~There's~ the otter I love so much."