FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Part 2

Shockwave

Jack

It had all happened so fast, one minute everything was fine, they had been shopping, enjoying themselves looking for something to make Jason's house seem a little less empty and barren. The next thing he knew, Jason had wrapped himself around him, and it had felt like the world was shaking as an explosion went off. The very next thing he knew, they were out in the car park, by the car, and Jason released his grip on him, before dropping to his knees. The Scalie was bleeding from wounds in his back, it had looked pretty bad, and it has taken him a few moments to realize what was going on. Jack had quickly caught up, before helping Jason into the back seat of the car and telling the AI to drive him to the nearest hospital.

That was where he was now. Sitting in the waiting room, waiting for the doctors to come out and say everything was going to be ok, Jason was being operated on right now, there was shrapnel from the explosion everywhere in his back. Jack thinking back to what had happened.

Jason had suddenly turned around and pulled him in close, covering him with his body, then the explosion happened and he must have blacked out, because it seemed like he was instantly outside next to the car, Jason releasing him and clutching at his back. He had moved so fast, taken all that shrapnel in his back, and then carried him out to the car. Jack could hardly believe this was happening, his hands where covered in blood, Jason's blood.

More and more people where starting to show up, most on emergency stretchers as the victims from the explosion where being rescued and brought here. It was horrible, people of all species where being rushed in, some missing limbs, others with shrapnel wounds, making Jack even more worried about Jason, putting his hands to his face and crying softly as the room around him was in pandemonium.

About an hour later, he heard a strange noise, different to all the rest. He looked up and jumped to his feet as he saw Jason emerging from one of the doorways leading off from the waiting room. Jack ran over to him, noticing that the large Dragon had no shirt on, instead nearly his entire torso had bandages wrapped around it. He reached him and looked up into his eyes, restraining his almost overpowering urge to throw his arms around him.

"Jack." Said Jason, smiling down at the teary eyed Feline.

"Jason." Replied Jack, raising his hands to the man's face and standing on tiptoes to kiss him. Their kiss was interrupted a moment later by a female voice trying to get Jason's attention. Rushing over to them and saying.

"Sir, you shouldn't be walking, you need to lie down, how are you even awake?" Jason looked towards the woman, who seemed to be a doctor. "Doctor, I'll be fine, there are people who need your attention now more than me." Raising his arm and motioning towards the waiting room filled with people, many nursing minor wounds. Jason didn't wait for a response, and started gently guiding him towards the exit with his hand as he finished speaking. He got the message, Jason wanted to leave before they made him stay, and he starting to walk, Jason following him. The doctor didn't make any further effort to stop them, and they made their way slowly to the car. Jason getting into the front passenger seat, gingerly, the pair then pulling away from the hospital.

Jack had helped him out of the car when they got home, helping him inside, and then to their bedroom, where Jason gently lay down on his stomach. Jack lying down on the opposite side, facing him and gazing into his eyes.

"Thanks for saving me." Jason said to the feline looking at him. Jack smiling before saying.

"Me? I was just about to thank you for saving me!"

"Hmm, I guess all debts are settled then." Replied Jason, grinning slightly. Jack leaning in and kissing him in response. After a few minutes of kissing Jason said. "Hey Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"You're covered in my blood." Jack let his gaze wander down to his chest, and noticed that he was indeed covered in blood, his clothes where drenched in dark red bloodstains, blood also matting some of his fur, especially on his hands.

"I better go wash it off then." He replied, smiling warmly.

"Yeah, I'm pumped full of sedatives, and half my blood is on you, so I think I'll fall asleep now." Making him giggle, before standing up and wandering towards the bathroom. Jason closing his eyes and letting himself be overcome by his sleepiness.

Revelation

Jason

Jason started to wake up, and slowly he began to remember what happened, there was an explosion, and he had taken a big heap of shrapnel to protect Jack, and he had got slightly burned too, but he hadn't mentioned that to the already worried feline. He tested moving, rolling slightly to the right, the pain that shot through him wasn't as bad as he was expecting, and he gradually tested more and more of his back, finding the worst pain just underneath his shoulder blades, He opened his eyes, and as they quickly adjusted to the almost pitch black darkness he could start to make out Jack's sleeping figure on the other side of his king size bed.

Sarah must have noticed his movements, because she raised the lighting in the room slightly, probably an automatic feature left over from the last occupant he thought to himself, being a Dragon, his night vision was even better than the other species already enhanced ability, and he could see in near total darkness quite well. With the additional lighting, he could make out even the small details in the room, deciding not to remove the feature.

Jason gingerly slipped his legs out of the bed, gradually standing up, trying to do it without moving his back too much. Once on his feet, he straightened up and made his way to the door. He had some questions that needed to be answered. Hopefully the news would have the answers he wanted, the explosion had come from a missile, he had just seen it, as it broke through the skylight three stories above where they had been standing. Which means it was either a deliberate attack, or a terrible accident, Jason didn't know which he would think was worse, but he burned to know. Making his way to the lounge, and getting Sarah to put the news on.

His question was answered almost immediately, a reporter referring to the incident as a 'terrible and cowardly crusader attack.' The crusaders every few weeks used one of their stealth craft to terrorize the population, the vessels and the men who flew them were called 'Terror Squads' because that's exactly what they did. They almost always attacked civilians, and they usually got away with it, because the military had no way to detect the craft. The Terror Squads would pick a new target and wait a few weeks before attacking. Jason turned off the screen, thinking about what had happened, and what might happen, as he did so, he became painfully aware of how little he could do to protect Jack, or any of his other friends.

He decided he would have to come up with a way to protect them, he could feel his mind shifting into gear as the possibilities started opening themselves up to him, remembering that he had seen an encrypted section of Sarah's code, referencing an area that was off limits. He would start there, wanting to know exactly what, and where, that secret area is. Seating himself stiffly at one of the computer terminals, he accessed the system, found the files he was looking for, and began the process of decrypting them.

About an hour later he was done, the files contained a set of data, and a number of commands that were previously locked out. The data referred to a bunker of some kind, underneath the main house, and the commands related to a number of doors that could be opened by Sarah. It said that the entrance to this bunker was located in the hallway that his bedroom was in. turning the terminal off, Jason stood up and made his way back towards his bedroom, standing outside the doorway to his room he said. "Sarah, open the secret passageway." And a few moments later, the whole section of wall at the end of the passage started moving backwards, revealing a set of stairs leading down and into a tunnel. Jason followed the stairs down, they curled around in a circle as they took him deeper underground, enough times to disrupt his sense of direction. He finally came to a doorway, leading into a wide open room, apart from the very low lights on the stairs the area was completely pitch black, and even he could barely see a few meters in. "Sarah, lights."

The room suddenly lit up, blinding him momentarily, when his eye's adjusted, he could see that he was standing at the doorway to a very large, square shaped room, to his left was a massive steel door, taking a few steps forwards, he realized that it was supposed to roll across the doorway from the stairs, it was at least a foot thick. He wondered exactly who had owned this place before as he gazed at the massive blast door. Inside the room where a number of benches and chairs, like a giant, empty underground workshop, there was also a number of computer terminals located in the centre of the room. And he saw that at the opposite end was another giant steel door, identical to the one next to him, currently open and revealing an unlit tunnel leading away. "Sarah, where does that other tunnel go?" he asked as he started looking around the room.

'It leads to a ladder, which can be used to access a hatch on the surface.' She replied into his earpiece.

"So, it's an escape tunnel?"

'Yes, that would be an accurate description.' Jason thought that this would be the perfect place to build something to achieve his goals. His mind was racing with ideas, and what he would need to do became apparent. He stood there for a few minutes, still thinking about the room and what he would need, for now, he would wait until Jack left for school, then he would go and purchase the necessary equipment. He was determined that he was going to be able to protect Jack, and his friends, and he was against the clock, those Terror Squads could attack at any time. Jason finalized his plans in his mind as he made his way back to the main house, closing the secret entrance behind him, and stepping back into his bedroom. Slipping back into bed without waking Jack, he rested his head on the pillows, mentally preparing himself for what was to come, finding himself too focused to sleep.

Morning came about three hours later. Jack was surprised when he awoke, and Jason was sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the other way, it seemed like he was doing something, but his bandaged back blocked him from seeing what it was. He yawned and said. "Whatcha doin?"

Jason turned his head around to look at Jack before saying. "Your homework." Smiling and holding one of Jack's data pads up. This took the Feline by surprise, because he had forgotten about school entirely with the events of the last few days.

"Really?" he asked, not totally sure that Jason wasn't joking or something.

"Yeah, I'm nearly done." Replied the large black skinned Dragon.

"Mmm, which subject?" asked the increasingly curious feline.

"All of them." Replied Jason, resuming looking down at the pad and working.

"All of them!" Jack exclaimed. "There was like a whole days worth of work there!" Jason chuckled before responding.

"Yep, nearly done." Jack was still taking this in for a few seconds, before rolling out of the covers, raising himself to his hands and knees and moving across the bed towards Jason. As he reached the bandaged man, he raised himself up on his knees, moving right up behind him, but being careful not to touch his back, wrapping his arms around Jason's front and saying into his ear.

"You just keep getting better and better." Nipping his ear affectionately for a few moments before saying. "So I guess you're feeling better then." Jason tapping the pad a few more times before replying.

"Yeah, my back still hurts, but I'm feeling loads better." Jack replied by lowering his face against Jason's neck, breathing in his scent, and staying in that position for several moments.

"How bad is it? your back I mean." Jack murmured next to his face.

"Not as bad as it looked, most of the blood was from all the little bits of glass, but they got all of that out." Hero replied, only a half truth. The Feline didn't seem inclined to move, so after a while Jason said. "You need to get ready for school, don't you?" Jack glancing over to the clock on the bedside table.

"Oh, yeah." Releasing Jason, hopping off the bed and walking over to the set of drawers on the other side of the room. Getting out his school uniform. Jason finished Jack's math homework just in time to watch the Feline get changed. Jack noticed his gaze, and made an effort to exaggerate his movements. A minute later he was changed. Wearing a shirt that was too big, and pants that were too small, both fairly tatted, like they were probably second, or even third hand.

"Oh Jack." Jason said, dismayed that the feline had been wearing those clothes. Standing up and fishing through the pockets of the bloodstained pants from yesterday, finding his data card, and handing it to the Feline, saying. "Buy yourself a set that fits." Jack looked like he was going to object to spending his money, so Jason said. "I insist." And telling him the five digit code that would allow the Feline access. Jack nodding, and putting the card into his pocket, unwilling to argue the point.

"Let's get something to eat." Jason said, motioning towards the door. Jack grabbing the data pad with his finished homework on it, and packing it into his bag, then making to follow Jason out the door.

A minute later they were seated at kitchen bench, eating their breakfast. Jason could see that something was bothering Jack and so he asked. "Something wrong?" Jack seemed to be considering his answer for a few moments before saying.

"Well, no, I've known you for two days and you've saved my life, invited me to come live with you, done my homework and now you're buying me a new set of school clothes, I just feel that there must be a catch." Jason could see that Jack really did think it was too good to be true and so he said, as sincerely as he could.

"There's no catch Jack, I promise." Looking the Feline straight in the eyes as he said it.

He could see that Jack wasn't totally convinced, but he did seem more at ease. They finished their meals and then Jason said. "C'mon then, let's get you to school." Standing up and waving Jack towards the door. The pair walking out and getting in the car which Sarah had brought around.

They pulled up near the school, the car parking itself. "See-yah soon." Jason said, as Jack grabbed his bag out of the back seat, turned around, faced Jason and said.

"Can't wait." Leaning over and kissing him. Breaking off after a few seconds, and getting out of the car. Turning around and waving as he walked towards the school building. Jason watched the sexy feline walk all the way up to the school building before he turned a corner and was out of sight. He then turned around carefully, to face forwards again.

Sarah asking. "Should I set course for home?" playing her voice through the cars speakers.

"Where is the nearest hardware store to here?" he asked, Sarah took a few seconds to search for the information, before finding it and reading out its details. "Should I set course for there?"

"Yes please Sarah." The nav screen updating with the new destination, and the car slowly pulling out of the car park, and onto a main road.

A little while later Jason arrived at the hardware store, a giant shed-like building. With a giant orange logo of a hammer and chisel crossing each other painted on every side. He ventured inside, quickly running down everything on his mental checklist, placing them all into the hovering trolley. By the time he had finished he had quite a large pile of stuff in the trolley, mostly tools. All he needed now was some of the raw materials he was going to need, deciding to ask the guy at the register where the best place was. He got the register and asked, the man explaining that their sister company handled the materials side of things, and that he could take Jason's order and have it delivered later in the day. Jason recited off the quite numerous materials he needed, opting for the speedier, but more expensive shuttle delivery service. Entering in his bank details and authorization code, since he didn't have his card on him, and paying for his trolley full of stuff, as well as the materials and delivery, then thanking the man and pushing the trolley out to his car, loading it up and setting off home.

He got home and started unloading his car, first bringing everything into the house, letting Sarah park the car when he was done, and then from inside his house, down into the bunker. He had barely finished his last trip when Sarah announced that a shuttle was landing outside. He opened the door and stepped outside, a smallish cargo shuttle with the same hammer and chisel logo painted on it, only with additional wings, was landing right near his front door. Once it was down, two men stepped out of the front section, one approaching him, and the other opening the cargo hatch.

Then man approaching him, a Bear with dark grey fur, was holding a data pad, after saying hello, he handed Jason the pad, getting Jason to verify everything on the list. Jason then helped the two men unload the shuttle, the Bear commenting on what an unusual order it was. Jason just laughing and saying he was an engineer. The Bear asked if they should take the stuff inside, but Jason just told them that here was fine. The two men said goodbye and got back into their ship, taking off a few minutes later. Leaving Jason to bring the rather large order of materials and components inside.

About an hour later he was finished, he could have done it far faster, but his back prevented him from carrying anything like what he could normally, forcing him to take small loads. Heading into his kitchen, getting Sarah to make him a drink before he got there. He drained the large glass of lemon tea in one crack, and got her to refill it. He sat down on a stool at the kitchen bench as he drank the refilled glass, much more slowly this time. His break was interrupted a few moments later when Sarah said.

'Jason, you appear to be bleeding.' Jason trying crane his neck to see where from, but couldn't quite get his head far enough, noticing that he was sitting in a very shiny kitchen, getting the idea to use one of the mirror like metal panels on the wall to see his reflection. Standing up he looked over his shoulder at the highly polished metal, seeing his reflection, and a blood stain on his back, which was slowly spreading. 'Damn' he thought 'Must have busted open one of my wounds.'

"Thanks Sarah." He said out loud. Trying to figure out how he was going to stop the bleeding, wishing Jack was home to help him. He headed into the bathroom in his bedroom, taking off his shirt, finding a small towel, folding it over, and using a bigger towel to place it against his back and secure it in place, knotting the larger towel around his front. It looked very silly, but it would work ok, and he wasn't about to bleed to death anyway. And so, with a towel tied around his shirtless torso, he headed down into the bunker to begin working on a way to protect the people he cared about.

Several hours later, Sarah reminded him that Jack would be getting out of school soon, Jason had gotten caught up in his work and had forgotten. "Thanks Sarah, what would I do without you." Jason praised the AI, putting the device he was working on down on the bench, grabbing another small device, placing it into his pocket, and heading upstairs to put a shirt on before going and picking Jack up.

The device in his pocket was a bit smaller than a matchbox, with the shell made of metal, completely smooth on one side, and with a button, covered by a piece of plastic on the other. Which would make it harder for the button to be pressed accidentally. The device was more or less an alarm, if anyone pressed the button, Jason would know immediately, and he could track down the location of the device, thus coming to the rescue of the button pusher, in this case, he was going to give it to Jack. But he was planning on making a few more and giving them to some of his other friends. Until he had the time to craft another earpiece like the one he was wearing, this would have to do, he hoped that Jack wouldn't mind carrying it around.

He pulled up at the school, just as the students began filing out, some walking home, others getting into waiting cars with parents, and some getting into their own cars. A few minutes later he saw Jack's figure emerge from the crowd, as he got closer Jason noticed he was wearing a new set of school clothes, that fit him much better. Jack got into the car, threw his bag into the back seat and said. "Hey you."

"Hey you." Jason replied warmly, the Feline leaning over and kissing him warmly. Soon after, the car set off, taking them home. "Someone looks sexy in their new clothes." Said Jason, only partially joking.

"Ahh, now I know why you wanted me out of those old ones, you big randy lizard." There was a brief pause and then they both burst out laughing. After they had stopped laughing, quite a bit later, Jack asked. "You know how you did my homework this morning?"

"Yeah." Jason replied.

"How long were you doing it for, before I woke up?"

"A couple of hours, maybe." He replied.

"Because, you did like a days work, and got every single question right, in all six subjects."

"Really?" Jason asked, being modest.

"Yeah, it's amazing, but now my math teacher thinks that I understand the subject, and I have no idea."

"Haha, well, I'll teach you when we get home."

"Mmm, sexy, heroic, and smart too." Jack teased, leaning over and again kissing him. After a while Jason said.

"Speaking of heroic, I've got a favor to ask."

"Hmm, what's that?" Jason fishing the small device out of his pocket before answering.

"Carry this around with you." Holding the small metallic object out to Jack. He picked it up and gave it a quick look over.

"What is it?"

"It's a beacon, you press the button, and I come find you. For if you get in trouble."

"Okay, I can do that." The Feline answered his question, pocketing the device.

The car soon arrived home, and as they got out, Jack noticed that the back of Jason's shirt had a small bloodstain on it. "You're bleeding." He said as Jason walked towards the house. Jack looked worried and Jason reassured him by saying.

"It's fine Jack, I just pulled a few stitches open earlier." In honesty, his back burned, itched and stung fiercely, but he didn't want to burden Jack with his pain. He pulled the Feline into a hug with one arm and said. "But thanks for caring." Getting a small smile from him in response as they walked towards the house.

Revelation part 2

The next few days proceeded in much the same fashion, each day Jason would get up, take Jack to school, then come home and work on his project until it was time to go pick him up again, then he would spend the rest of the night with him, sometimes helping him with his schoolwork, sometimes just enjoying his company, watching a movie, or just talking and getting to know each other better.

On the third day, after taking Jack to school, he went into the bathroom and took off his bandages, finding that the majority of his wounds had healed, apart from the two large ones on either side of his spine, just below his shoulder blades, he was awake during the surgery, and he'd watched on a screen, unknowingly to the doctors, who thought he was asleep, a piece of metal bar be removed from his back. It had struck the hard outer ridge that ran the length of his spine, the speed at which the explosion had propelled the bar had caused it to bend around it to either side of the ridge when it struck, digging into his flesh and leaving large open wounds. He knew at that speed, if his protective ridge hadn't stopped it, that bar would have severed his spine. As it was, the two holes either side had only just started to heal over, a very raw layer of skin stretching across the twin holes.

It was however, healed enough for him to have a shower, as long as he was careful. He was glad to be able to, as he had started to really stink. He stepped into the shower, the water stinging mildly as it ran over his back. He washed himself thoroughly, and got out again, glad that he didn't need to use a towel to dry himself. Putting on a fresh set of clothes, he headed downstairs, to continue his work, which was coming along nicely.

A week after the incident, Jason's devices were starting to take shape, He was building a small portable shield emitter, a technology that had so far been considered impossible. Along with that, he was building another multipurpose device. It consisted of two main components, a piece resembling a thin backpack, and a piece resembling a hand held cannon.

The backpack had a larger anti-matter generator than the small shield emitter, and it was capable of alternating different frequencies. Allowing it to power different things, in this case, two thin metal rods folded out from either side, projecting a sheet of force-field, making them act like wings. And two very small and heavily modified anti-grav modules attached to the outside of the backpack, similar to those used in the car hover technology, only smaller. The cannon component was attached to the backpack via a metal cable, the backpack's generator powering the weapon. It would, theoretically, produce a plasma bolt, of variable power, more than likely enough to shoot down those Terror Squad's ships. This was the only component he had ever previously worked on, the prototype himself and Derek had sold the military quite similar in design, although less complex.

They were still all unfinished, the backpack was most of the way there, the wings were attached, and once he got the power source going, they would probably work. He had already finished a small computer that was strapped to his wrist, allowing him to control the entire system once it was built. Most of the parts he harvested from a small data pad he had found lying around, and it was easy enough to get to work, the screen a couple of inches tall and double as wide. He hadn't started working on any of the software to make any of the devices work yet, deciding to get everything built, and then write one very good piece of software, and adapt it to all three pieces, rather than writing three separate control systems.

As was starting to become a custom for him, he stopped work shortly before he had to go pick up Jack. Leaving the bunker, which was now more like a lab, and closing the entrance behind him. Jack happy to see him as always, the pair kissing for most of the trip home. Jack's teachers had been complimenting him on how much better his work had been. Thanks to Jason helping him with his homework, and tutoring the Feline. Strange he thought as he considered the concept, since he himself had not finished high school, and now he was helping someone else improve their grades.

"You're a bit of a hero at my school you know."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Once I told a couple of people I was in that explosion, and you had protected me, the rumors kind of erupted." Jason knew exactly what he meant, in high school you could tell someone a bit of news, and it would be retold so many times, that when it came back to you twenty minutes later, it was a completely different story.

"Mmm, I seem to have that effect on high school kids." Jason replied, suppressing a giggle.

"Yeah well once they found out you're sexy too, there was just no stopping them." Jack teased playfully, poking him in the side. Jason laughing for a moment before saying.

"Really? Maybe you should give me their numbers then." Poking his tongue out at the Feline and grinning. Jack laughing and punching his arm before saying.

"No way, you're all mine." Leaning in and kissing him again. The kiss went unbroken for the final few minutes before their car arrived home. Releasing each other as they got out of the car. As they reached the door Jack caught up to Jason and swung himself up and onto his chest, using his legs around Jason's waist to hold himself up, and using both his arms to pull Jason into another kiss, this one even more passionate. Jason could feel that Jack was hard through the Feline's pants, he hadn't been this excited since before the explosion. Jack must have decided he was well enough for it. Stepping inside, still carrying Jack, Jason tossed his bag onto a couch on the far side of the room, walking to and sitting down on a closer one.

The pair sat, Jason on the black leather couch, and Jack in his lap, for several minutes, just kissing. "The schoolboy look really turns me on you know." Jason said, teasing the feline straddling him.

"Maybe I should leave them on then." Jack teased back. Jason chuckling softly and resuming the kissing. A few seconds later he raised himself off the couch, turned over and lay down lengthways on it, the feline now trapped under him.

"Right where I want you." He said as he finished the movement. Using his arms to stop his heavy body from crushing the cat. "No place I'd rather be." Jack said as he briefly broke the kiss. A few minutes later the pair where interrupted by Sarah saying.

"Jason, there is a news story on that I think you would be interested in." Through the speakers in the lounge. Jason broke off the kiss for a moment and asked. "What about Sarah?" nuzzling Jack's neck as the AI considered her answer.

"It's concerning a crusader attack that has just happened." Both of them stopping their affectionate actions as she said it.

"Turn it on Sarah." Replied Jason, lifting himself off the feline and sitting back in the couch, looking at the large screen which was just turning on. When the image appeared, it showed a distant school building with a crusade vessel hovering above it, several soldiers sliding down ropes into the building, guns held in one hand firing down as they went. There were several hundred students and teachers fleeing the scene in every direction, and the hovering vessel went and sat itself down next to the building, two more soldiers at the rear hatch firing at the fleeing furs. About a minute later the men who had roped into the building came running out and climbed back aboard the ship, it then started to take off, turning invisible soon after, the scene was now only occupied by dead and wounded students.

Jason was glad the picture was so distant, he doubted Jack could have handled watching students, not unlike himself, being butchered up close. As it was, the Feline raised himself up and pulled Jason into a hug, pressing his face into Jason's side. After a few minutes of a reporter talking about the incident, listing the approximate death toll upwards of a hundred, Jason asked Sarah to turn it off. Wrapping his arm around the Feline and pulling him in tighter, A few moments later he said. "It was a school Jack." Jason becoming all too aware that could have been Jack in the news being butchered. Jason's mind kicking into gear, he had to get that shield, and that gun done, before Jack got hurt.

The pair sat on the couch for several hours, unmoving, using each other for strength. After dinner, and some homework, they both turned in early, Jason waiting until he was sure Jack was asleep before silently slipping out of bed, and going down into his Lab to work on his devices.

Angel of Destruction

Jason didn't sleep a wink for the next week, he worked in his lab while Jack was at school, going to pick him up, and then going back down into his lab when the Feline was in bed and asleep later. Working until about half an hour before he expected him to wake up, before going back into the bedroom and slipping back into the bed.

Jason suspected the Feline knew he was slipping out of bed during the night, as he had been acting a bit differently, especially in the mornings. But it could have just been the worry that he could be attacked by crusaders while he was at school. Jason wanted to tell Jack that he was working on a way to protect him, but he felt that it would be better if he finished them before burdening the Feline with false hope, just in case his devices didn't work out.

All three devices were assembled, the wings and the cannon were totally finished, but untested, and his shield emitter was assembled, but he had not yet completed the program to operate the shield. He had hoped to be finished within the day.

That hope was dashed by something terrible. The small computer strapped to his arm, flashing red and a siren going off. Sarah also announcing that Jack had pushed his emergency beacon. Jason's tired and overworked mind snapped into total clarity, throwing the backpack on over his bare torso, clipping the unfinished shield to his shorts and grabbing the cannon as he rushed towards the entrance, fitting the metal cable into the socket on the backpack as he leaped the stairs three at a time. Yelling "Sarah door." before he had even reached the landing, Sarah barely managing to get it open before Jason got to it. Running outside, Jason tapped a few keys on the screen and the two projector rails sprung out of his pack, the purple force-field wings forming a moment later. He took two more steps before leaping into the air, tapping a button on the screen as he did so, the two thrusters kicking in and propelling him quickly into the air.

He had about a minute to finish the code, before he arrived at the school, tapping furiously on the touch screen as he used his tail as a rudder to guide him towards the school. In the back of his mind he knew that even without the shield it would still be possible to save Jack, but their chances of survival were infinitely higher with it, Jack wouldn't have pressed the button unless something was seriously wrong, which probably meant crusaders. He flew low over the treetops, trying to save every possible second he could. From the air his surroundings looked almost completely different, and he had to focus incredibly hard to write the code and stay on the correct heading.

Suddenly the treetops gave way to a parking lot, with the school on the other side of it. He looked in horror as he saw that there was a crusade stealth ship parked on the opposite side of the building, and he could hear gunfire coming from inside. As he made the final twenty meters to the building, he finished the code and hit the button firing it up, the shield forming seconds before he aimed himself at the skylight the crusaders had roped down through, grabbing the cannon from where it was clamped on his backpack and swinging it around. Once he had picked up enough speed he retracted his wings, his controlled decent becoming projectile.

He crashed through a piece of the skylight that still had glass over it, and before he hit the ground he took stock of the room, there were four crusaders around the room firing in all directions. He impacted the ground, his shield taking the brunt of the impact and kicking up a cloud of concrete dust as he pummeled a small crater into the ground. He raised his cannon and fired at each crusader in sequence, dropping all four before they realized what was happening, the cannon working flawlessly. He heard more gunfire from his right, and snapped around to see three crusaders charging down a hallway at him, firing as they came, his shield stopping the bullets easily. Without missing a beat he aimed his cannon and fired three times, the green bolts of plasma barely leaving the end of the tubular weapon before he had already re-aimed and fired again.

The three crusaders dropped, and he saw two more at the other end of the same hallway turn around and flee. He charged after them, using his massive muscles to propel himself down the hallway after them. He reached the end of the hallway a few seconds later, finding himself outside, and the two fleeing crusaders clambering aboard their ship about ten meters away, he had to re-calibrate his gun so it would be strong enough to punch through the ships shields and hull. Holding the gun with his left hand he used to his right to tap in a few commands, finishing a second later he took hold of the gun with his right hand, raised it and aimed towards the engines of the fleeing ship. The large bolt of plasma that erupted from his cannon tore straight through the vessel's shields and burrowed into the hull, leaving a large burnt hole right where he thought the engines would be. The stealth ship's propulsion cutting out a split second later, and the ship which was about ten meters into the air started falling out of the sky.

Jason charged forwards, aiming and firing again, this time towards the cockpit, killing anyone who was in there. Before the ship had even finished crashing, he was again adjusting his gun, still running towards the falling ship. He reached the ship and pulled the trigger on his cannon, instead of a bolt of energy a constant stream of plasma erupted from the end, extending about a meter before dissipating. He used the beam like a sword, cutting himself a hole in the hull, leaping inwards he quickly decapitated the few remaining soldiers, dazed from the impact. Confident that he had got them all, he left the vessel and sprinted back towards the school building, clipping his cannon back onto his backpack as he ran, then raising his arm and switching his screen to a tracker. Seeing that Jack's beacon was broadcasting from inside, he made the final few strides leaping over several bodies and wreckage as he sprinted back into the hallway.

Once back inside the main chamber he raised his arm again, seeing that Jack was somewhere off to his left he leaped towards the door most likely to be the entrance to the room Jack was in, bashing the hinged door down with his shoulder as he went. Jack was in the room, he was close, a table was overturned at the other end of the classroom, obscuring the feline from view. Jason ran the few steps over to the table, reaching out and picking it up, throwing it sideways, out of the way, sending it clean through a window. Jack was lying there, a pool of blood underneath him, his shirt had two holes in it, one over his abdomen, the other over his right side.

Jason's mind threatened to break as he saw the Feline. He quickly picked Jack up, and ran holding him back out into the main chamber, as he reached the centre of the room he shouted. "Sarah wings!" Unable to just tap his screen. His backpack's wings again shot out, and he leaped with all his strength up into the air, the thrusters kicking in and sending him up and clear of the skylight. Without missing a beat he used his tail to steer himself towards the nearest hospital, it was about two minutes away by air, but he didn't know if Jack had that long to live.

Saving Grace

Jason had been at the hospital for a little less than an hour when he noticed that a group of armed soldiers were approaching him, gun's raised, obviously considering him some kind of threat. He made no movements and the soldier's slowly approached, a few seconds later they were surrounding him.

"Get on the ground." One of them said, probably quieter than he normally would, since they were in a hospital. Jason just ignored the man, and continued to stare at the floor, with his hands to his forehead and his elbows resting on his knees. Two of the soldiers approached closer, they looked like they were about to jump him, he was just starting to consider warning them when the two men lunged, both bashing headlong into Jason's shield. Which shimmered purple for a second as it absorbed the energy of the impacts. Fading back out to be totally clear a moment later.

"You're not a polite bunch are you?" He said, still staring at the ground. A few of the other soldiers approached and put their hands out, touching his shield. He couldn't see their faces but he assumed they were either shocked or confused, and in the case of the two who had smashed their faces on his shield, in pain. He sat back in his chair, looking up and finding one soldier in front of the rest, a dark furred Wolf, probably their leader.

"We have orders to bring you in for questioning." The man said. Jason looked him in the eyes as he considered his response.

"I'm not going anywhere right now, my friend is in there." Gesturing with his hand towards a set of double doors, "Being operated on. Tell whoever gave you your orders I'll be happy to answer any questions right here." The soldier seemed to think about this for a few moments before tapping his mike and saying. "Connect, Colonel J Briggs." Jason could just make out a voice over the soldier's headset, the Wolf trying to convey that the subject wasn't co-operating, but neither could they do anything about it. Trying to get across that he would let himself be questioned here. The voice on the other end of the line got much louder, and angrier, Jason just sighed, "Sarah, scan frequency and tap." A few seconds later he was tuned into the conversation. "Colonel is it? This is the Dragon you sent these nice men to retrieve." There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Who gave that man a radio?" he demanded.

"Colonel, no one did, I tapped in on my own, now, if there's something you wanted to ask me feel free to ask right now, or come down in person." The soldiers in front of him looked appalled, and perhaps worried about the dressing down they would probably receive. The line was silent for a few moments before the voice said. "Ok, don't go anywhere and I'll be right there." Jason heard the click as the man on the other end disconnected himself.

"I guess he likes to have the last word." Jason said aloud, to no one in particular. The soldiers weren't really sure what to do, but with the situation seemingly disarmed and no further orders, some went and found nearby benches, others stood guard near him. And the leader even started talking to him, He asked him about his friend. Not entirely sure how the military man would react to him saying he was his boyfriend, he simply referred to him as his partner, the soldier could think what he wanted. The man seemed to get the gist however, and just nodded, his curiosity sated. Jason realized that he probably looked quite silly, the only clothing he had on was a pair of shorts, and the flight pack he was wearing wasn't designed as a fashion accessory, and was quite minimal over the front, most of his chest exposed.

The Colonel arrived in a much larger craft than these soldiers must have, he could hear it as it settled down in a open cark park about a hundred meters away. A few minutes later, the Colonel stepped around the corner, the soldiers all around him standing to attention. "At ease." he called out as he made his way towards Jason, the soldiers only really standing slightly less straight in response. When the large Bear with graying fur made it the final few steps to them, he asked "Captain, does this nice man have a name?" Directed at the leader of the soldiers, the Wolf, who he now knew was a Captain looked abashed as he realized he didn't know it.

"Jason." He chipped in, standing and de-activating his shield to shake the man's hand, the Bear grasping it, and gazing into his eyes.

"Tell me about what happened at the school Jason." Jason re-seated himself and closed his eyes for a few moments as he gathered his thoughts. He opened them again and began to retell the tale.

"My partner hit his distress beacon, and I came, well, flying." Using his hand to motion towards the vest. "When I got to the school, I saw the crusade ship parked just outside and I could hear gunfire, I burst through one of the skylights and killed the ones doing the shooting. I saw some them start to flee as I killed their friends and they realized they couldn't hurt me, and I chased the ones left out towards their ship, once I got outside, it was already taking off, so I shot it down."

"Shot it down? With what?" exclaimed the Colonel, obviously in some disbelief, that this man in front of him, wearing little but a pair of shorts, had taken down an enemy ship.

"This." Jason said, tired with this conversation already, un-hitching the cannon from his backpack, and bringing around to his front. After briefly showing it to the Colonel, he swung it back around and re-attached it.

"The first eye witness reports say the rounds those crusade dogs fired at you had no effect, and you say you flew?" The Colonel was obviously anxious for answers, and Jason decided that co-operating would probably give him some leverage over the outcome of the next few days.

"You know that anti-matter project that the military started R&D'ing about two months ago? The super classified one?" The slight shock on the man's face telling him that he did indeed know about it. "I was the other guy who developed it, all this gear is based on the same anti-matter technology, The missile attack at the shopping center two weeks ago gave me some incentive to continue my work." Then after a pause. "The shield, the wings and the gun are all prototypes."

"Very damn effective prototypes!" the Colonel beamed, obviously excited about the prospect.

"Not effective enough." Jason muttered under his breath. The Colonel seemed confused at this, gazing around for someone to fill him in. the Captain quickly spoke up, "His, uhh, partner, was wounded in the attack, he's in surgery right now." The Colonel made an 'oh' mime with his lips, obviously realizing the gravity of the situation. Jason could sense that the Colonel was about to ask him to share the technology with the military, and stopped him just as he started opening his lips.

"Don't ask me right now, because I'll say no." Looking the Bear in the face as he said it. The Colonel was very careful with his response. "I can see now is a bad time, I'll be getting in contact with you in the next few days." Then, turning his head towards the Wolf. "Captain! You and your team can guard Jason, escort him wherever he needs to go."

"Yes sir" The Captain replied, the group of soldiers all saluting as the Colonel turned and left. The noisy craft he arrived in firing up a few minutes later. As the soldiers got themselves comfortable one of them muttered something about fucking babysitting, the Captain quickly pointing out that this babysitting gig could be the key to ending the war, and the words 'you retard' were used. The soldier averting his gaze, abashed. Jason probably would have thought it was hilarious in any other situation. But right now most of his attention was focused on the black Feline in surgery.

A few uncomfortable hours of silence followed, only interrupted by the occasional nurse or doctor passing by, or by the soldiers' shuffling gear. Out of the blue the Captain said. "Captain James Black, UFAS, army division." And holding out his hand, Jason turning to shake it.

"Jason Wallace." He replied, before letting the man's hand go.

"I'm going to assume those are the first people you have ever killed."

"If you're worried about me mourning them, don't, they attacked a school, full of children."

"Fair enough." Another ten minutes or so passed before he said. "Listen, I've been trying to access your file, but it says I don't have clearance, and I've got clearance to pretty much everyone except for high ranking military officers. Who exactly are you?" Jason thought about that, he had assumed the military would have classified his file after his involvement in the anti-matter project. Tapping his earpiece, he said. "Sarah, access the military database, find my file and grant the good captain access."

"You can do that?" the captain asked curious.

"See for yourself." The captain again tapping on his small data pad, putting his name into the database, the image projected onto the visor in his helmet as well as the small screen. He could see that this time the file had opened for him, and the man spent the next half hour flicking through it. "This anti-matter thing is fucking huge, says I need A5 clearance just to open the brief, not even the Colonel has that." He said, looking sideways, perhaps seeing if Jason would unlock it for him.

"I wouldn't want to get you in trouble Captain."

"Yeah I'm probably better off not knowing, your right." A brief pause followed before. "You're a very interesting man Jason, Says here your only 18, and we know for a fact that you have killed more crusaders than anyone else sitting here. It also says you gave more than half of the money you made from the AM project to your family, who you weren't currently speaking to, as of two months ago. Your father was a weapons engineer aboard the Calcutta, oh, umm."

Jason knew why he hesitated, most people at all familiar with the war had heard the tale of the Calcutta, a cruiser which took on an enemy force five times the size and deliberately self destructed as a last resort, taking out the entire enemy force. After a few moments the captain continued.

"It also says you spent time in a psych hospital, and were charged with three counts of assault, which were dropped later when it was discovered that they instigated it. and just to top it off, it details the incident, lasting five seconds from start to finish, and you broke a jaw in three places on one boy, four ribs on a second, and the nose of the third, with a broken hand."

Jason had his eyes closed as the Captain outlined his file, unaware that the military intelligence guys knew so much about him. When he opened them, he noticed that bar none, every single soldier in the hallway was listening intently. He could see a flicker of respect show in the faces of the men.

While it was reassuring that he had gained some respect with a team of battle hardened soldiers the anxiety he felt about Jack took precedence, the amount of time that had passed told him that he was in a very serious condition, but there was still hope. He was tempted to get Sarah to access the video footage from inside the room, but he didn't think he could bear to see Jack lying on a table being operated on. He hadn't cried since he was an extremely young child, he didn't even cry at his father's military funeral, but he felt like he could at the moment.

"Sarah, Metal Playlist 1." He said quietly. Sarah piping the playlist through the tiny earpiece, it was only on one side, but it helped him calm his nerves.

"Metal?" inquired one of the soldiers sitting opposite him. He considered explaining it to the man, but instead said "Sarah pipe it into their frequency." After a few seconds and an audible click in everyones' headset, he noticed them all freeze, not unlike what had happened at his party, the music alien to them. However no one took their headset off or asked him to stop, the song about lost love right at the top of the playlist gave way into a heavier song about camaraderie and doing battle in the name of a king. They all listened, in silence, to track after track.

Some hours later the door Jack was somewhere on the other side of opened. Jason bouncing to his feet and quickly trapping his earpiece, pausing the song and causing quite a few of the soldiers who were almost entranced to jerk to attention. The Doctor, a white female wolf, seemed intimidated and perplexed by the hallway lined with soldiers in full combat gear, not to mention Jason's bizarre appearance. Once she had regained her composure she said that Jack was in a serious condition, but was stable, and that he was going to be fine in a week or so, saying that had Jack gotten here any later he would have died. Jason collapsing back into the chair, flooded with relief.

The doctor departed after a few moments and the Captain gripped his shoulder reassuringly, "Hear that, you saved his life." Jason looked up and saw even more clear respect on the faces of the men. After a few minutes of collecting his thoughts he said.

"Would you mind waiting here Captain, I need to go and get some clothes from my house."

"Sure, but I need to send at least one person with you."

"Ok, I can deal with that."

One of the smaller Ligers volunteered to go, thinking they would be walking.

When they got outside and the Liger asked. "How many clicks to your house?"

Jason just smiled and responded with, "Hey, do you know what weight those vests are rated for?" he asked, pointing at the man's combat vest.

"Uhh, like two tonnes I think."

"That's heaps, Sarah, wings." The two metal arms springing out sideways about ten feet either side of his pack, and with a small buzz, the purple energy fields became visible stretching down about three feet from the arms. Jason grabbed hold of the Liger's vest, and jumped into the air.

"HEY!" the soldier yelled once he realized what was going on, but they were already thirty feet in the air and there wasn't much he could do about it. Flying at a reasonable clip, it only took them about five minutes to make the trip, Jason easily able to hold on to the Liger that long. Gently gliding in to land, the soldier seemed grateful to be on solid ground again. But instead of telling him off, he just frowned at him, acknowledging that they had just saved about two or three hours of walking. The door slid open without Jason needing to give the command, and they stepped inside. "Make yourself a drink or something while you wait, I'll only be a few minutes." He said as he headed off towards his room. Once he had rounded the corner he heard over his earpiece, which was still tapped into their frequency, "We've arrived at his house, this place is massive."

"Already? What, does he only live around the corner or something?"

"No he lives about fifteen clicks away, the bastard grabbed me from behind and we flew." Jason heard a chorus of laughter on the other end.

"Yeah it's hilarious, I'm sure you would all love to be hanging from the arms of some guy wearing nothing but shorts as he takes you prisoner on a scenic flight a thousand feet in the air." The laughter died down and Jason decided to chip in.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Everyone realizing he was still listening all at once, and the line going silent. Jason laughing at their discomfort as he stripped off his gear, apart from the shield, and put on some more rugged clothes than a pair of shorts.

When he emerged from his room and entered the kitchen, he saw the Liger leaning against the counter drinking a glass of what smelled like apple juice. The Liger noticed him too, and took note of the lack of his backpack. "What, no more flying?"

"Unless you want to?" Jason quickly asked, gesturing back towards his room like he was going to go put it back on.

"NO!" came the reply the Liger raising his hands, Jason just laughed and headed for the door, saying.

"We'll take my car." Putting the man at ease. "Sarah, bring the car around." He said as he walked out the door, the soldier following.

"That AI is really advanced." He commented as the car pulled up near the door.

"Yeah I made her a bit more complex when I moved in."

As they got in the car, the Liger asked. "So what does this do? Turn invisible? Shoot lasers? Move at FTL?" Jason just laughed and said.

"No, it's just a plain old car." He could see by the man's look he didn't really believe him. About a minute after they had left, the Liger asked. "Hey could you put that music back on?"

"Sarah?" Jason asked, the track he paused earlier in the hospital resumed playing, through the car's speakers. The rest of the trip was uneventful, and they arrived back at the hospital about fifteen minutes later.