FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Hello All, here is the next chapter of Into the Horizon. Under 18, then go away. Over 18 then enjoy.

Into the Horizon: Betrayed and Wounded

Bane walked thought he hallways of the Siberia. They had departed for the oncoming battle a little over a week ago. In that time they had made up with their good friend Ron, gotten the ships in as good of a condition as was possible, and prepared the crew and medical facilities for a battle. He knew that if they didn't get help when they got to the coordinates that it would be a very short battle. More than likely they would be forced to withdraw. He was actually on his way to the bridge. They were scheduled to arrive at the destination shortly and he wanted to be at his post when they arrived. Something simply didn't sit right with him about the situation. He wanted to trust Admiral Williams, but he didn't trust the situation. As he stepped onto the bridge, Max seemed releaved that Bane would be coordinating their arrival to the coordinates. Everybody hoped for the best but expected the worst.

As the ships dropped out of slip stream, they were greeted by a fleet of fifteen wolf battleships. Alarms rang out through all three ships as everybody braced for a fight. They had been set up, but it just didn't make sense to Bane. Why would somebody go though the trouble of helping them only to betray them now? He received his answer as the lead ship hailed the command ship.

"Attention rebel scum, this is Admiral Ulra. You have been surrounded, if you surrender we will let you live."

"Admiral Ulra, my name is commander Bane on board the earth ship Siberia. We are not prepared to surrender. I would, however, like to give you a chance to surrender."

"Us, surrender, I think not, but would you consider surrendering for the life of your precious Admiral Williams."

At this point Bane realized what had happened. As he watched Ulra dragged Williams into the view screen. He had been badly beaten, his fur was blood stained and he looked like he was about to pass out. No doubt from the pain inflicted on him. His pained voice rang out over the stunned bridge crew of the Siberia.

"I'm sorry, I've failed you. I've failed everybody. They tricked me, they fed me the information I sent to you to see if I would pass it along. I didn't realize I had been made, and they arrested me shortly after I sent it to you. I didn't have time to warn you. I'm so very sorry."

With this Ulra hit him in the head, hard. He collapsed under the blow, and lay lifeless on the floor. No doubt knocked out. There was no telling what form of Hell had been cooked up for him.

"So as you can see you have been discovered. We know about you and the base, and ships have been dispatched to deal with your comrads. Surrender or die."

With that she turned her back and issued an order. She left the view screen on so that all may see what she did. She ordered the ships with her to stay and take us into custody while she took the Admiral to be dealt with. At this the transmission ended and the fleet began their assault on the poor outclassed ships. Four of the ships engaged the three rebel ships, the rest held off. Bane didn't understand why, but wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. The shields held, but all knew that it wouldn't take long for the poor ships to be destroyed. Explosions rocked the Siberia as previously repaired systems gave way. As Bane considered his options Scott's somewhat worried voice came though the intercom.

"Bane, we have I problem!"

"You have just one, I'll trade you."

"Not funny, the power core's taking a pounding. If it keeps up its gonna blow."

"Scott I thought these things were stable!"

"Yeah, when they are not being shot at! I rigged this one into working because I didn't have a few part I needed. The core's on the other two are fine, but we are looking at a cascade failure."

"Perfect," said Bane sarcastically, "evacuate the ship if its going to blow its going to take out some of the wolf ships with it."

With that the crew began to be transferred onto the Justice and Titan. Both ships were holding their own, but the transfer was made difficult by the constant movement. The transporter crew's had to manually target the ships because the computer had been damaged. The wolf ships couldn't detect the transfer because of the interference caused by their weapons impacting on the ships shields. The Justice and Titan managed to take out a wolf ship each, and the constant maneuvering was the only thing that kept the ships from being destroyed. However, every time they were able to take out a ship, another would take its place. It was clear that the rebel ships would lose this battle sooner than later. As the last of the crew was evacuated, the Justice and Titan prepared to run.

Max sat in the bridge of his ship as everybody evacuated. It was clear that the reactor would go critical soon, he was using his command codes and the automated systems to hold his own aboard the ship. He knew that the other two ships couldn't last much longer, there was only one answer. He walked over to the power control console and began to punch in commands. If he rerouted some of the power flow back into the crystal core then the explosion would be much larger than it ordinarily would be. He also increased power flow to the shields to mask what he was doing. He then set a course with sub lights into the center of the remaining wolf ships. Somebody had to do this, and he was the only logical choice. He only hoped that his death would matter. He hoped that his sacrifice would mean something. With that he hailed the Justice, as Bane had said that was where he was going.

As Bane was preparing to order a retreat, somebody still aboard the Siberia contacted the Justice, the ship that Bane had evacuated to. They were shocked to find it was Max.

"Capitan Max to Bane aboard the Justice, can you read me."

"Max, what the hell are you doing, the ships going to blow!"

"I know, I've activated the self destruct. I'm going to take the ship into the center of the remaining wolf ships and take out as many as I can. Go, escape and I'll hold them off."

"Max this is stupid."

"There's no choice, somebody's got to do this now go! This is the only way the rebellion will survive. GO!"

With that the transmission ended and the Siberia headed towards the remaining wolf ships. The Justice and Titan headed away at maximum speed. They were headed towards the home base, Bane had managed to contact them and warn them of a potential attack. The defense cannon had been brought online. If anybody appeared with hostile intentions, they were ready and capable of defending themselves. As the two fleeing ships watched on long range sensors, the power core went off. The resulting explosion was larger than anything anybody had ever witnessed. It destroyed all ships in the system. It was a painful victory though, the rebellion had lost one of its own, and one of its ships. They had been wounded, but not killed. They would not allow his death to go unpunished. The trip back to the base planet was a somber one. The arrival was even more somber. Upon dropping out of slip drive, they found twelve wolf ships surrounding the planet. There was also the wreckage of multiple ships floating away from the base.

Bane ordered his two remaining ships to red alert and prepared to try to defend the base. However, this was it. They could not defend against this many ships, they simply didn't have the fire power. Just as Bane was preparing to order an attack, the lead ship hailed him.

"This is Commander Blaze of the Wolf Ship Destiny. Do not fire, I repeat do not fire. We are not here with hostile intentions. Please respond."

"Commander Blaze, my name is Bane, I am the leader of the rebel alliance. Please state your purpose here."

"Bane, we are what is left of Admiral Williams fleet. After he was discovered he managed to get word to us and we ran before the rest of the empire could get to us. He sent us the location of this base. When we arrived it was under attack from space. However, something down there blasted the three attacking ships out of orbit before we could assist. We are here to serve you, and rescue the Admiral."

"Perfect," replied Bane, "are you willing to follow my orders?"

"Yes, we are under your command as per the Admirals orders."

Things were bad, but were looking up. The Admiral, instead of saving himself, had sent his ships to aid the rebellion. He was indeed a selfless man, although there was no telling what he was going though. Bane beamed down to the base only to find that there was no damage. The ships hadn't been able to penetrate the base's shields. Scott had changed the frequency of the shields to prevent the Wolf Empire from looking it up and gaining access. They had been beaten, but not destroyed. Bane took time to inform Dasher of Bill's abduction. Although he had been with them the entire time, he had not been present for the transmission to the Siberia. He was distraught that his friend had been treated the way he had. Tears ran down his face as he begged for them to mount a rescue mission. Bane assured Dasher that they would rescue him; they had a good idea of where he would be taken. Williams had done a lot for the rebellion. He has saved them instead of himself, and a selfless act such as that deserved to be repayed. With the increased resources at his disposal, he could now make a dent in things. He now had fourteen ships at his disposal, and they had taken fifteen of the wolf ships out at the battle, or Max had at least. The wolf's had lost a total of twenty seven ships. That was a considerable loss for them, it would take time for them to rebuild. Bane hopped to take advantage of this to strike a blow against their war effort. If he could defeat the wolf war machine, then the humans and fox would surrender. There was now a fourth faction involved in this war, and that faction had struck more of a blow in one day than the Humans or Fox had in twelve years, thanks to the sacrifice of Max and the selflessness of Bill Williams.

Admiral Williams sat in his cell. The events of the day ran though his still very sore head. He had been beaten almost constantly since his capture. He knew death awaited him, but he had no regrets. He had almost saved the empire the trouble of killing him after the Sub Space bomb incident. It was what made him realize what needed to be done, but there was no way to accomplish it. Then the trio arrived and started gathering support. He had sent his ships to serve the rebellion. He knew no rescue was coming for him. His judgment day had come, but he was fine with it. It seemed right, although he wasn't guilty of treason to the people of the Wolf Empire; he was guilty of not stopping the war sooner. He was guilty of all of those citizens death after the explosion. He could have stopped the war; he had the opportunity shortly after the war started but didn't take it. Now he would pay, and it seemed right. As he lay his head down he smelled gas being pumped into the room. It was sleeping gas; they must be at the prison colony. He would be transferred into a new cell. He would be beaten, and potentially raped by both the guards and the prisoners alike. His life would become hell, but he had earned it. He had made other people's lives hell. He only hoped that he would find forgiveness one day. All he wanted was to be able to rest, the only desire he had left in life was forgiveness but he knew it wouldn't come. It was the end, but there was nothing bitter about it.

** Is it the end of Admiral Williams? Will Bane keep his word to Dasher? What will happen to the Admiral? Will Ulra finally get what's coming to her? We shall see..."