FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Daddy?" Entropy climbed atop her foster father's golem and straddled the pointed cockpit lip, the barely-adult barely-human now far too large to fit inside the machine. "Daddy, are you okay? Please don't cry."

"Entropy... It doesn't work that way. Sorry." Niishal placed Eiita's custom plasma caster pistol next to a lit candle and forcibly paid more attention to his daughter. "I'll be alright. I've been through this before. Do... Do you need something, Little Sprout?"

"We're back to that nickname again? Great Ones, daddy..." Entropy took a deep breath and scooted herself closer to shield herself from the harsh sun. "If it makes you feel better, call me whatever you like. You and Fuzzies are all I've got now, so I'll take whatever you want to hand out. I love you, daddy."

"I knew you were soft on the inside. You were always so playful as a child. Eiita always—" A silence fell between the two, the Yangurra eventually changing the subject just to break the awkwardness. "Are you doing alright, besides this? Hungry?"

"I'm a bit... I feel a bit odd." Entropy tweaked her posture as the cockpit ground and bit into her thighs. "I think it might be a side effect of my treatments."

"I was expecting more severe issues eventually. For the record, I was not enthusiastic about splicing your genes with that of animals. Your mother backed that idea... and proved you knew your genetics in doing so. I guess it allowed you to survive where she could not—a true mother's gift." Niishal reached out and met his hand with his daughter's furred paw, forming a very basic Link between them. "You realize you have more in common with Mister Fuzzies than me, right? If we're being honest about family, I'm not—"

"You're not my real father. I figured that out when I was your size yet still growing." The one-ofAKind hybrid fought her father's probing as any teenager would, but her grasp of the Link was too primitive in comparison. "You're still my daddy. We're still family. You don't need to worry about that, if that's your point."

"No, I simply don't want to hold back the truth or lie to my daughter. You deserve to know everything, especially when your true genetics may one day affect your health." Niishal torqued his head sideways as he found a peculiarity. "Speaking of which, your hormones are different than their typical balance. Perhaps we should give you another treatment rather than waiting another season?"

"No... I actually think that's normal for me now." Entropy lingered her gaze upon the burning candle and then shared a stare into her father's eyes. "Are you afraid of being alone now?"

Niishal broke that stare to eye the same candle. "I'm not sure how to answer that without upsetting you, Little Sprout."

"You miss her. I can feel that even without the Link. You miss her amazing cooking? You miss her silent laughs?" Entropy squeezed her thighs together as her implanted instincts took over. "You miss her touch?"

"I... Entropy, I don't know what..." Niishal leaned back in his seat as his daughter encroached upon his personal space. "I... I miss her delicate touch, yes."

"You wish you had a true child of your own with her, then?"

"Little Sprout, we have a wonderful daughter. I don't need any more than that."

"Then why did you two have sex ~at least~ twice a day?" The hybrid slowly reached forward to pull her father's robes apart, her paws sliding sensually over her his growing planthood. "Do you miss this kind of touch as well?" She leaned forward to whisper, her own sex grinding into the lip of the cockpit in the process. "Would you like to keep this sensation in your life?"

"Entropy, stop..." Niishal took his daughter's paws away for a moment and forced her to make eye contact, her dedication to her most recent cause appearing absolute. "You truly desire me? This isn't unheard of, but... maybe we shouldn't fall victim to our basest desires in our situation?"

"But we can't stop now. Once you're excited it only gets worse with time." Entropy eased her paws away, now using them to flip over and present her hindquarters and lifted tail rather than fondle her father. "So if you're going to eventually claim me out of lust, wouldn't you want me willing and ready instead of pinned down and raped?"

Niishal swallowed hard as that imagery flooded his head, the actual dripping pussy before him only driving the point home. "Without your mother here... I'm afraid what I might do to the only other female in my life. Still, I might hold out until we find more traders."

"Bullshit. You only lasted hours with mom around." Primal instincts drove Entropy to action, the girl pressing her hips back until her father's alien cock barely pressed inside her. "I want this, daddy. I want you to claim me, here and now."

"But your mother only just crossed Paths this morning. I'm not sure she'd—"

The remainder of her father's flowery cock punched against Entropy's cervix in a single, mildly-painful motion. "Stop thinking about her and breed me!"

"Great Spirits, give me strength..." Niishal reeled back his hips temporarily, but only enough to lean forward and rest his head on his daughter's back. "You've never tried this before. Is it uncomfortable?"

"It's the best! I've watched so many animals mate before, but I never knew it felt so good." Entropy practically melted over the edge of the cockpit, relinquishing control to her father. "Daddy, don't worry about me. I just really, really want to make you feel better."

"Is that so?" The smaller adult shoved the whole of his length back into his daughter and held himself still. "You're... so hot inside. I'm not sure I can last long enough for you, Little Sapling."

"I said not to worry about me. I just want to feel your seed inside me!" Entropy clenched her nethers tight every time her father nudged her swollen cervix, her molten core super sensitive for her first time. "I want to feel what mom used to feel!"

"You want my seed? You truly want my child?" Niishal picked up the pace, slipping in and out of his daughter's vice of a pussy with impossible ease due to her excessive lubrication. "No, of course not. We aren't compatible. We should... We should be able to do this as much as we like."

"Then save the soft and tender stuff for next time! Daddy, please..." Entropy began shifting her hips backwards to match her father's own motions with greater force like a battering ram against her womb's defenseless gate. "Breed me, please!"

"Little Sprout, I'm... Ah! I'm there!" Niishal drove himself as deep into his daughter as possible as his alien seed plastered her gaping cervix. "Divine Paths, yes!"

"Oh, f—!" Entropy lost control of her limbs as her heated body responded positively to being filled with virile cum. "Daddy! Yes! Give it all to me!"

"Ah... Entropy, keep... I can't keep..."

"Ah, damn... I forgot that part..." Entropy fought against the putty that made up her arms and legs and managed to rock her hips back and forth, drawing out her first orgasm longer as she milked her father's for all he had. "G-Gods... This is h-harder than m-mom made it look..."

"Ouh... Sorry, Little Sprout." After a moment Niishal took over for his daughter, fighting past his own elongated orgasm to shallowly thrust into his daughter. "If you want it all, I must... continue until it hurts."

"N-Not a b-bad issue to have, d-daddy." As Niishal continued his climax his planthood bloomed inside Entropy, scooping and shoving all of his cum forward until it had nowhere to travel except into her womb. "Daddy, I think... I might..."

"Let it happen, my sprout. Don't fight it."

"I'm—" Entropy froze solid as her second orgasm overtook her. After a few shakes and jolts, she silently cooed and squeaked as she once again became one with the edge of the cockpit. "That... That was good. I feel... almost like a new person after that."

"I'm glad your first mating brought you joy, Little Sprout."

"It's more than that. I was... I actually craved your smell, your musk." Entropy slid herself into the cockpit to curl up into a ball once her father was finished, never once concerned with the growing puddle at her hindpaws. "Maybe it was a side effect of my mutations? I've witnessed something similar when Mister Fuzzies would seek out females."

"Perhaps. That reminds me of a few tales of ouschee. Hm... Do you feel any better?" Niishal slid back into his seat, pulling his daughter's head into his lap. "I definitely do."

"I still have... an itch, if that makes any sense. I'll be fine and you need rest before you can go again anyway." Entropy's ears quirked, prompting her to lean out of the golem. She then bulged her eyes and rolled out of the machine, straightening her loincloth on landing. "Daddy, stay quiet."

"Entropy? What is it?"

"We have visitors—hopefully not raiders." The hybrid touched her father's mech and forced it to close its cockpit. "I'll try to deal with them. Help if things go bad."

Niishal Linked to his fir and used the external sensors as his eyes and ears. "Be careful."

"I will." Entropy stood out in the open as two humans dressed in matching gear approached her, but she hid behind the golem's stone body once another five came into view around a hill to her side. "Stop! Announce your intent or stay where you are!"

"Shit, it can talk?"

"Bones, shut up. Everyone play nice and do as she says." The only of the men not brandishing a weapon raised his hands and took a few paces forward so he wouldn't need to yell. "Hello there. We were on a perimeter patrol and came across this thing of yours. You can't blame us for checking out a possible threat, right?"

"No... That makes sense. We arrived here today."

"We?"

"Ah... My golem and I." Entropy touched the machine and made it wave for the men. "He isn't nice to raiders. So, where do we go from here?"

"Seeing as you're all alone in a death zone, our orders are normally to bring you in for treatment. You don't seem worse for wear though." The leader sat down and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "My name's Marshall. You?"

"Ent... Entropy."

"That's a pretty name, Entropy." Marshall held out a cig in offering, or perhaps bait. "Why don't you join me? You smoke?"

"No, thank you." Entropy moved out from her hiding place and sat a few paces away from the human. "You might be the record holder—longest anyone's gone without asking about my fur."

"I didn't want to upset you. It is a concern though."

"I've changed myself so I won't die out here. You mentioned a perimeter though. You protecting a caravan?"

"I'm not sure how much I can say here..." Marshall lit his cigarette, happening to steal a glance between Entropy's legs as he did so and forcing him to cough up smoke. "You've been attacked? Sweetie, you should have said something sooner instead of playing tough." He tried to move closer to inspect the hybrid but was greeted with pointed teeth. "Woah... No, we aren't like that. We aren't here to rape you like some fucking raider assholes."

"Yeah? Prove it or I'm out of here."

"We could have forced you if we wanted by now. That's not how we operate." Marshall sat on his ass but still looked like he wanted to move closer. "Entropy, we guard a city that helps girls like you. Wildebrooke is an untouched place and safe for everyone."

"A... 'city'? I've never heard of a 'city' before." Entropy finally caught onto the liquid drooling down her thighs and stood to make it less obvious. She wanted to explain that she desired that cream filling, but didn't want to give away her father's position in doing so. "Where is it? Maybe we'll join you there, after we're sure we can trust you."

"Sweetie, I can't let you do that, not with that unknown robot thing of yours out of our control." Marshall stood, but moved backwards while making a short hand gesture. "For your own good, I think we should take you in and get you checked by a doctor. Then if you want to leave, we'll let you leave."

"What? No. I'm staying here if that's my only choice."

The jumpy soldier from earlier, Bones, led three other soldiers to surround Entropy. "Who said you had a choice? Just come with us nice and easy and we'll make it quick, little rat."

"What!? No! I'm fine without this 'city' of yours!"

Niishal didn't let a single hair on his daughter's pelt so much as jostle irregularly in the breeze before he powered up his golem. "Stand away from her!"

"Holy shit! She wasn't bluffin'!"

The men tried to run, but Niishal caught one straggler in a concrete fist. "Back away or this one dies. We can all walk away from this no worse for wear."

"That's my line. Look, robot..." Marshall sprang upon Entropy and pulled a pistol from a holster on his back. "This strange little girl has been attacked and needs medical attention. A few good meals probably wouldn't hurt either. If we need to, we'll protect her by force. Stand down."

"He won't!" Entropy bit down on Marshall's wrist until she drew blood and forced him to release his weapon. "Get off of me!"

"Over here, Entropy." The hybrid fled to behind her father's mech brandishing a shiny, new weapon of her own. "Now we're leaving. This man will be left in our wake, as healthy as he is now."

"I can't allow that, not now." Marshall sighed as his training drove him to follow his orders to a tee. "They're attackers, men. Open fire."

"But I have your man!" Niishal stood still as a few bullets ricocheted off his concrete shell, but a particularly large caliber rifle from his side soon began chipping away at the golem's concrete armor. "Wait! This is insane! You'll kill your man and my daughter!"

"Daughter?" Marshall held up a closed fist and the firing ceased. "Well I'll be damned... Surrender, the both of you, and we'll forget this ever happened. I'll also need my gun back, miss."

"That's not an option. We don't work well with humans."

"Carter." A sniper-grade weapon punched a small hole in the cockpit, causing the area above it to crumble inward soon thereafter. "I have orders. I'm trying to work around them as best I can. Trust me when I say it could go a lot worse."

Niishal shoved the rubble out the front of his golem's cockpit and stared the man in the eyes. "I trusted a human before and it only led to his death. You don't want the same fate."

"And I have a guess who that might be. I thought her face looked familiar." Marshall reached into his back pocket and produced a wallet, then subsequently a packet of nearly-ruined photos. "My brother-inLaw was always saying he had something he wanted to talk about, something worth breaking orders over. Just before the bombs hit he mentioned something about a project with plants." One of the photos was picked out and flicked into the cracked cockpit. "Funny thing is, my sister worked with him and she said the same things. She asked if I had somewhere to hide a 'project sample'."

Niishal took the photograph and examined it carefully, his eyes not fully able to see the colors it contained but allowing for vague outlines. "This... This is Vivian." Niishal looked to his daughter, then back to Marshall as he lowered the hostage solder. "You're her brother. I see."

"And you're her experiment, I guess." Marshall slowly walked over to the mech now that tensions had calmed, offering a hand to the alien inside. "Nice to meet you."

Niishal followed through with the handshake and laid back in his seat. "So where does that leave us now?"

"I take it she didn't survive?" Marshall peered around the golem to his apparent niece, but let her hide all she wanted. "I promised I would help her before all this happened. I owe it to Entropy here to make that right. Let's sneak you two into town and figure it all out from there."

"But you have orders..."

"Generic ones, yes. If I never found you two though, there's nothing to report..." Marshall looked back to his men and raised his brow. "Isn't that right, guys?"

"Sir, yes sir."

"See? We didn't find anything." Marshall reached into a pocket and produced a partially-eaten chocolate bar, placing it on the ground for his niece. "Let's get you a warm meal and some real clothes, Entropy. Then maybe we can talk about how someone got between your legs and go from there."

"Ah... I did that." Niishal leaned back as far as possible, trying to hide in what remained of his cockpit. "She was in need and... I love her..."

"She's your daughter and you're all alone out here. It's better than shoving a piece of nature in there, after all." Marshall gave Niishal a playful slap on the shoulder. "But don't worry! We've got plenty of hot-blooded guys her age just itching to rebuild the population!"

"Oh, gods..." Rolled her eyes as she heard that, then repeated that motion with far more passion as she had her first taste of chocolate in her life. "Oh, gods."

— — — — —

"—Eve!"

Evelyn shot upright as she shook off her latest memory, accidentally whacking Carbon in his face due to the tight confines of his custom golem. "Ah, sorry!"

"It's fine. Never mind that. Eve, we need you to call the dropships for us." Carbon held Eve's arm and brought her into his Link with Ex so she could get up to date without wasting too much time. «The ships had to take off because more troops rolled over the landing zones. These idiots are soaking radiation just to keep us here.»

«And the same radiation is scrambling your radios. Well I can probably power over that, but I don't think the dropships can speak back. One sec.» Eve gave that hypothesis a trial and shot out an unfocused, digital radio burst. "Anyone picking this up? If you copy, attempt a response. If we don't answer in a few minutes, try something besides the radios."

Ilaria popped onto her radio for a confirmation. "We've got Eve on the case? Sweet."

"Yeah, I finally reached her. Now stay off the line for a minute, Ari."

"Oh, sorry."

"—ing five. Trick, pinging six. Trick, pi—ng s—ven..."

"Trick! I'm picking you up on channel six just fine. Copy?"

"Ah, fucking yes! I was about to bite my own arm off if I didn't get some food soon."

"Oh, crap. We unloaded all the supplies, didn't we? Sorry, Trick." Eve signaled she was about to open the cockpit out of habit even though Carbon could breathe the air here just fine. "What's the status up there? Any issues?"

"It's been quiet and boring. My plan to use an oblong orbit seems to be throwing off their puny anti-orbital defenses."

Eve took a long look at the surface, her super-massive body allowing her to step out both from the cover of Ex and a large rock slab over the hiding friendly soldiers. "We have a few dozen bad guys here we need to take care of before you can pick us up. It'll have to be a hard and fast ordeal, too."

"Well keep me in touch and I'll relay to the other ships. I'll get the ones in the fleet to launch again while we wait. If we lose contact again, we'll drop twenty minutes after that."

"Thanks, Trick. Over-out." Eve scanned the enemies in the open and grinned as she saw nothing but squinting eyes. "They're basically blind with this radiation. You doing okay, Carbon?"

"Yeah, mostly. Ex is filtering what he can for me." Carbon shut his cockpit and brought the mech to the edge of their cover. "Any ideas? Those rooks sounded like they broke free a little while ago, so we can't simply dabble."

"In that case, " Evelyn tapped a larger 'under-barrel' cannon on Ex's secondary arm as she explained, "I think we need to risk the bigger guns. We can scatter them and clean up with the lighter fare."

"My power reserves are already low. I can't sustain that, so you'd better be right." Carbon ominously charged the weapon as he administered a basic targeting survey. "So what was so important you knocked yourself out again? Find us a solution to that black hole?"

"Not yet. I did feel something oddly important that time though, like..." Eve perked up as she remembered the feeling. "It feels like when I break a Link with you and start another with someone else. I think... No, I'm certain I changed perspectives there."

"Perspectives? They're all my father's memories, though."

"Not really. You forget there was someone else required to bring those memories to you." Eve sat with her back against the shielding stone, knowing how long Carbon's weapon took to warm up. "Now I'm starting to understand why we needed more intact forms of your father's genetic memories. It wasn't to rebuild his side of things; it was to access your mother's side."

"Mom's? But how? She wasn't a Yangurra."

"Your father did something to her that merged his Yangurrar traits with her human ones. She expanded upon that to become what I assume is the first fur, though a crude one." Eve smiled with a nod as the weapon finished charging, the enigma standing in preparation for battle. "And then your father gave her another contribution. I just witnessed our conception, I'm pretty sure."

"That's... unsettling." Carbon raised Ex's arm so the internal targeting for the weapon could lock onto his chosen spot before the weapon overheated. "Did my father at least have a huge dick?"

"Your mom was young and tight. Pretty sure the fit's all that matters at the end of the day. Well, and that we exist." Eve walked over to the huddled troops and did a spot check. "Alright, Carbon's firing something pretty nasty and then we get to push forward. The blast is a lot like the microwave beams on those rooks. Yoyo, Sydney: you two should use those shields of yours just in case."

"I'm on it." Iolvin began creating shields out of super-dense air and passing them around. "You get to live, and you get to live... Everyone gets to live!"

"Okay, I'm not that good." Sydney formed a kinetic shield that was visible for only a moment with a very determined, strained look on her face. "Ready."

"When this goes off we'll need to attack them hard so they either run off or die. Weapons at the ready, people." Eve took a moment to rediscover Alex's radio frequency, walking unphased into the open as a distraction. "Trick, send in the calvary. We're about to make you an opening."

"Good copy. We're on our way. Oh!" The radio went silent for a moment except for a croaking chuckle. "I rallied a few of the destroyers. They're getting in position to rain hellfire on your command. Ever see an orbital bombardment cannon in action before?"

"We've been shot at by one, and done the shooting on one occasion. Those mass drivers are terrifying from both ends. We'll... Oh, I can't mark a target with a laser in this atmosphere. Thanks anyway, Trick." Eve waved her arms and caught the attention of the enemy troops, one squadron shifting to firing positions. "Carbon, could you do the honors?"

"My princess cries for her knight to save her?" Carbon smirked as he fired his white-hot cannon, a composite toroid of two differently colored plasmas cycling each other to slowly launch forward. The twin donuts propelled each other and accelerated the bumbling bullet, enough to curve the path and correct to the targeted area. "Heads down, eyes shut!"

"Eyes...?" The plasma volley crashed into the ground beneath the highest concentration of enemies, producing an immense flash of light and heat that blinded Sydney's uncovered eyes. "Bloody hell!"

"Sorry, honey!" The bright flash faded quickly, the resulting visuals resembling an atomic blast inside a volcano. Molten rock impressed at first, but soon took the backdrop to liquefied and vaporised remains of nearly half the enemy. "That did it. Have at it, everyone!"

"And don't step out from the rocks yet! That radiation is cancer-grade!" Evelyn swept the powdered remains of planet and former Yangurraa from her front-side, the miniature star flare affecting her more than she anticipated. "Carbon, can you give them another?"

"Ex only has a few more of those left in him. Besides, you're on fucking fire." Carbon opened up the throttle on his lighter weapons as he guided Ex to slowly close on his wife. "Go help the others, Eve. You're not as safe as you thought."

Evelyn found the fire on the top of her head and pat it out. "Well if I'm denser than a star it goes to reason I can survive one, however briefly."

"Please. I can't... I won't lose another lover to battle."

Eve wobbled a bit as she started to move. "Alright, Carbon. I'm... I'm so... sorry..."

Carbon slammed Ex to the rocky ground and used a large arm to hold his falling wife upright whilst also shielding her. "Eve!? Hey!"

"I... just need..."

"Eve!"

— — — — —

"Niishal?" Marshall peeked into his dimly lit basement and smiled upon meeting eyes with his friend. "Ah, you're here. Good. I always hate checking the attic."

Niishal nodded as he lowered from a hanging position. "We appreciate your help, no matter the location."

"Well that might change soon. I'm here to chat about the future, especially now that enough people are asking questions about my extra supplies and rations." Marshall found a chair near his washing machine and plopped into it. "Oh, hello Enty. Keeping yourself amused?"

"In the same ways as always until you arrived." Entropy crossed her legs beneath her on the washer and ran her fingers through her ferret's fur. "Come on, Mister Fuzzies. You look like you need something."

"Well don't let me stop you two. I'll just be talking with your father if you need anything."

"Alright." Entropy hopped off the washer and carried her pet to the ætir for a checkup. "Let's see what's bothering you, Mister Fuzzies. Just let me start this thing up..."

"...I had to explain to the quartermaster why a crate of MREs went missing..."

"We're putting him in a bad position, aren't we? At least you catch your own food, Fuzzies." Entropy pinched her pet's skin and watched it fall slowly back into place. "You're dehydrated. Did you get sick out there today? Maybe giving that lady friend of yours a good time?"

"...At least she seems calm considering what's happening..."

"You don't need to whisper about me behind my back. I can hear everything with these ears." Entropy took her ferret and placed him safely on the floor to continue his mating season in peace. "I'll get you fresh water, Mister Fuzzies. Keep yourself hydrated."

Marshall turned his chair around now that the girl had forced her way into the conversation. "Can you...? No, you can't possibly talk with him."

"Having a bit of Fuzzies in me doesn't give me ~super animal speech powers~. We just understand each other in other ways." The hybrid found a seat on a soft rug next to her father. "Don't change the subject. How much trouble are we in here?"

"We just need to find other ways to get supplies besides stealing. Sadly they also stopped handing out ration cards to soldiers since we have meals on base."

"Is there some way we can help? We can make things for you with the ætir."

Niishal corrected his daughter's idea before it got off the ground. "The ætir is not to be used fleetingly. Without æti to power it we must wait for it to slowly recharge. We may be stuck in a corner if we need to use it for defensive reasons and it won't function."

"Yeah, but you also have that robot thing of yours in my garage—which is also bringing around questions with my car at the street by the way." Marshall groaned as he sat back in thought. "This would all be easy if my wife were still around. She used to earn extra rations working small jobs on the base."

"I could do that." Entropy smiled and stood, heading for the ætir to make a basic snack from the scraps of another. "If we think about it, I could hide my face somehow. We could find something for me to do that doesn't involve prying eyes."

"Perhaps, but if you get found out we'll catch hell."

"And? If I get caught daddy can still hide. If they think I'm by myself they won't look for him too." Entropy started her conversion, the old food visibly melting before reforming into a bar similar to a brownie. "I've been thinking and... I don't think I should hide for too long. What I've done to myself lets me survive the radiation and everyone else is slowly dying of cancer or dissolving away."

"Little Sprout..."

"Daddy, don't. I'm grown up enough to know I could make a serious impact on the world. I should." Something caught the girl's attention, causing her to scan her paw over the ætir in curiosity. "It's just a matter of timing and finding the right people to... uh..."

Niishal stood as his daughter collapsed, rushing over to cradle her. "Entropy, what's wrong? You're better at biology than me."

"I didn't know..." Entropy appeared to be without pain nor injury, yet she was cradling her abdomen oddly. "I didn't know we could reproduce..."

Marshall shifted his seat again and lifted Entropy into his lap. "What now?"

"I believe she means... we may be having a child." Niishal smiled along with his daughter, the both of them rubbing her stomach now. "This is... Well, I'm glad at least one of us knows about the medical side of things now, because this is beyond me."

"That settles it, then. Enty, you're getting a job. We've got another mouth to feed." Marshall lifted his niece and carefully carried her to the stairs. "You're sleeping in a bed from now on. Rest a few days and I'll see what I can do about that job. As it happens, I think the medical lab needs an assistant."

Niishal nodded at the foot of the stairs, understanding that Entropy could risk being seen for the sake of their child. "Marshall, we cannot thank you enough."

"Don't thank me for one bit of this." Marshall tapped the basement door open with his boot as he embarrassed his niece by toting her around. "You're family. Family is all we have left in this barren world."

— — — — —

"There she is!" Vasily picked up a wounded soldier and one-pawed his rifle for some cover fire. "Boys and girls, we need—kak!—to make one hell of a distraction!"

Evelyn shot awake as the senior soldier's boot crunched the gravel near her head. "Vasily? What's...?"

"Finally. Eve, no offense here but you're ~heavy~ when you're sleeping." Eve noticed Ex's hand trying to lift her off the ground and shifted her gravitational impact so she could actually be moved. "Come on. Those rooks are right over that ridge. We only have a few minutes to run."

Eve scanned the horizon and found the hazy aura of the rooks' power supplies. "Less. We need to fight them off in a few seconds if the orbiter isn't here yet."

"Trick's right over there. We just need to hold the line long enough for her, and you need to act the VIP and get the first seat." Carbon spotted the 'heads' of the rooks and prepared for an attack, using Ex as a shield for anyone brave enough to stay. "Shit. Eve, move. Okay guys, what now?"

"We finish off that one we damaged." Sydney took the hint and hid behind Ex's thick leg as she readied her revolver. "I have a few shots left. Maybe now that the armor is cracked...?"

"You can shoot through walls and crap, right? I've seen that field you make around your gun before."

"Ah... Our girls helped with that. I'm not sure I can do that by myself."

"Someone grab this—ga-hah!—this guy for me!" Vasily shoved his wounded soldier behind a rock and carried the guy's weapon behind Ex's other leg. "You can make those shields of yours, right? Isn't that the same—kak!—kind of thing?"

"Mm... Maybe." Cid held up her pistol and focused on the same font of power inside her as her shields—producing exactly one shield ahead of her weapon as usual. "Um, maybe not?"

"Focus, Cid. I believe in you, just like I believe in my kids and their crazy powers." Vasily gave Sydney a slap on her ass. "You can kick some tail if you focus, I'm sure."

"Volk... I'll try." Cid focused on her shield, changing the shape and size a bit until she managed to form a faint hole in the center. "That's it! I did it!"

"Honey, do I have to remind you of the death robots?" Carbon fired a volley of bullets at the rooks, but they didn't seem interested enough to take the bait. "We need to stop them firing those heat beams at the dropships."

"Okay. I can do this." Sydney aimed her magnum carefully and let loose a shot... that knicked the edge of her shield's inner circle and ricocheted at mach-12 into the mountainside. "Uh... oops? Let me try again."

Vasily reminded, "Ammo?"

"Shit, right..." Cid checked her cylinder and found only one round remaining. "Gotta make it count. Here goes."

"You've got this, Cid."

Sydney nodded to her mentor and resumed her practiced aiming routine. This time she shifted her shield to follow her shoulder sway so it wouldn't clip her shot—and the results were spectacular. Her shell picked up insane speed and instantaneously punched into the damaged shoulder of the wounded rook. That shoulder shredded into powdered stone, as did the one behind it, leaving the rook's 'face' smashed into the ground.

"Yes! Screw you, stubborn cunts!"

"If you had more ammo we might just stand a chance." Volk grinned and offered his borrowed rifle. "I hope this will work, because we're fresh out of .357 slugs."

"Ouh, and AK-M? Beautiful, but... I'm not that accurate with one." Sydney took the rifle from her wounded friend and locked it into her shoulder anyway. "Not like we have anything to lose by—"

Suddenly the remaining three rooks fired their microwave weapons, forcing the group to hide behind whatever looked solid. However the sizzling heat they expected never came. A quick glance around revealed two of the landers were now spiraling out of control, their electronics fried by the attack. One landed hard, but the other combusted into a fireball before even touching the jagged ground.

"Fuck, the Russians." Vasily checked the other landers as they set down and sighed in relief. "Looks like the Canadians are picking up the slack already. Good ol' Canucks."

"Yeah, but that puts us on tighter limits and we can't afford to make a second pickup run." Carbon shot out Ex's satellite drones and gained a bird's eye view of the field. "Trick is in place. I'll hold these guys off. Get to the orbiter while you still can, guys."

"Nope." Vasily sighed and took back his rifle. "We always took the last ship together. Remember?"

Carbon charged Ex's plasma cannon, the massive power required coming from several vital sub systems out of desperation. "Volk, you weren't injured that badly those times. You didn't have children those times."

"And it's precisely because of my children that I'm staying." Vasily checked his weapon was primed, then verified he still had two thermite grenades he'd scavenged amongst the other troops. "You might need a paw. Don't argue that."

"Volk... Vasily..." The cannon finished charging likely its last blast and Carbon began targeting the central rook. "Let's see what this does first. Then when Trick needs to take off, you go. We clear with that?"

"Worth a shot, old pal."

Sydney created a shield and enlarged it to cover both herself and Vasily. "Well fuck that. I'm staying too."

"No. After this blast, you head back too. You have children of your own, Cid." Vasily slumped against his cover with a sigh. "Besides, you're like another daughter to me. I'm not losing a single child today."

"Volk..."

Carbon fired his mega-weapon and made direct contact, a blinding brightness obscuring the remaining rooks. "Fuck yes. Oh, right. Fire in the hole?"

"You don't have control over that once it charges. It's okay, pal." Volk groaned as he stood tall to survey the damage, then slumped in defeat when he found the rooks were only scarred with molten stone on their armor. "Well ~fuck~ me. Fuck!"

Sydney ignored the sudden dizziness her shield brought upon her in favor of calming her role model. "Volk... D-Dad..."

"Cid, I'm... sorry. I'm so sorry. We—" Vasily's eyes shot open as he found his granddaughters jogging over, effortlessly carrying a huge assembly between their tendrils. "Girls!? Get back to the boat!"

The two shook their heads as they aimed their contraption toward the rook, the mechanical beast charging their next microwave volley in turn. <Gramps, we won't make it if we don't stop them. If the two of us stay behind, there's at least a chance we'll find an opening in the radiation to make a portal home.>

"Uh... Sorry?"

"They want to stay and fight because they might be able to get away, however stupid that sounds." Sydney shook her head in disbelief. <I'm responsible for you losing you mom and I'll be damned if I allow her kids to follow in her footsteps. Go back before I drag you back.>

<At least let us try first.>

Mikhaila flipped a switch as Michelle braced the rear of their machine to anchor it. A short moment later a concentrated beam of fire streamed out of a nozzle on the front. The odd weapon aimed high at first, but the girls fought it to lower the beam. One of the rooks' arms immediately cleaved free with a molten wound remaining. The girls ceased their attack with a flip of the power switch, allowing them to regain control over what was obviously supposed to be a mounted weapon.

<That isn't easy. Oh, but we seem to have gotten their attention.>

"Damn... Okay, I'll give you two props for that." Carbon fought to open Ex's underpowered cockpit hatch, his last shot leaving no choice but to ditch his golem for now. "Shit. Sorry, buddy."

"They're... taking cover. I guess the series... of effective attacks is... freaking them out." Vasily crawled over to the crazy new weapon and forced his granddaughters away from it. "That's a good opportunity... for you guys to get off this rock. I mean all of you."

"What? Volk, we aren't—"

Carbon's suddenly grim expression silenced Sydney. "Vasily... I didn't... I couldn't tell with just Ex's sensors..." The hybrid fell to his knees near his old friend, his x-ray eyes settled on a large rupture deep within the husky's chest. He was bleeding internally near his lungs, his coughing and wheezing now making perfect sense. "No... We need to get you back to the ship, fast!"

"No, not this time. We've been... stuck underground too long... and I've... bled out too much. I know a dead fur walking... when I see one." Vasily found a heavy, jagged rock, inspected it up curiously, then smashed it into Sydney's helmet. "I know you'll try anyway, but it's useless."

Carbon freaked out as Sydney's faceplate cracked open, leaking air at a rapid pace. "Wh-Why!?"

"Cid's too stubborn... over this sort of thing. This is for the best. She'll be fine... if you go back now." Vasily held out his rock, hinting he would do the same to his granddaughters' helmets if they didn't follow suit. "I'll hold them off with this thing. It's a hell of a toy, girls. I'm proud of you."

<We call it a... a 'vapor furnace'...> Chelle tugged her sister's arm, hinting that they should help carry Sydney back now that she was gasping for air. <We love you, Grandpa. Thank you.>

"Now that one I happen to know." Vasily mirrored the sign for 'love' with a pained smile, then the old dog manned his final weapon. "Cid? Can you hear me?"

"I... I-I... Uh... Y-Yeah..."

"I have one last job for you—a request." Vasily powered up the furnace and dug the rear into the gravel for a pivot. "Watch over our family for me. And... help Catherine understand why I'm doing this. Tell her I love her to the end."

"Y-Y-Yeah... I..."

"She needs air. We... We need to get moving. Ex... watch over him until we can return." After a faint blink of confirmation from the robot, Carbon lifted his wife to her hindpaws and practically carried her to the orbiter. "Vasily... Good hunting, my friend."

"Anything for family... Always for family. Semper fi, old pal." The vapor furnace shot off a hefty beam that the Volk fought with his whole body weight to control. "Semper fi, mother fuckers!"

The group retreated to their orbiter, heads hung low. Thrusters fired. Otters complained. A rook grazed a beam into the cockpit, only deterred from dealing lethal damage by a veteran's experienced aim. Fresh helmets were donned. Otters screamed. Carbon took over piloting, Trick becoming incapacitated by the hit. Otters cried. An explosion silenced the battle below as the last dropship escaped. Otters fell silent.

"Semper fi, Volk."