FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Krystal smiled as she slunk through the base's shadowed halls. She moved like a ghost, ephemeral and fleeting as she skipped from one shadow to another. The shapely Vixen flowed like water around the corners and like wind through the corridors. She ghosted past the bovine and equine guards with near-impunity. It was almost too easy. These idiots only employed bulls and stallions to guard their base, and, while they had physical power in spades, their resistance to her psychic abilities was almost nonexistent.

She smiled as she stepped around one unusually large bull that was guarding the entrance to the third level. The bovine was a hulking brute of a beast with a frame that strained the armored bodysuit he wore. He was certainly imposing, but with a little psychic pressure, she removed herself from his vision. It was a simple thing to do; just a small mental probe and she blocked the signals traveling from his eyes to his brain. Primarily, she did the psychic equivalent of white-out, removing herself from his vision without blocking his line of sight. It was a trick she learned growing up on a planet filled with Sharpclaws and massive dinosaurs. She had figured out how to remove herself from their vision for a heartbeat while she slipped past them to safety.

Krystal grinned again as she stepped around the beast. She couldn't help but praise him for his dedication to his post and how intently he was watching the hall, but his mind was as easy to influence as a child's. She couldn't help but scan his mind as she passed and she was amused by what she found. He was truly dedicated to his cause and believed that he was doing the right thing in joining up with a glorified terrorist cell, but his simple mind was easy fodder for the ideologues that ran the "Sons of Corneria."

As Krystal made her way past the big bull, she thought back to Starfox and the rest of the team. Leaving them had been the best idea she had ever had. While she cared about Fox, his controlling demeanor had stifled her progress and her passions. He had literally confined her to the Great Fox to "protect" her. The little fool had no idea what Krystal was capable of, and neither had she until she had broken free from his controlling yoke.

The vixen smirked as she flitted down the stairwell, her tight blue bodysuit flexing as she took the steps two at a time. When she had left, Fox was heartbroken, but the rest of the team had seen it coming. They had tried to talk the mercenary captain down and get him to lighten up on her, but it only ended up making it worse. It had finally gotten to the point where she couldn't take it anymore and one offer from the admittedly seductive Panther Caroso had her fleeing from the Great Fox and into his arms. That didn't last either because, while Fox was controlling, Panther and his boss were outright tyrants. She had left them even faster than Fox's team and struck out on her own. For a while, Krystal had lived tight and barely made end's meat, but then, when General Pepper approached her with a particular job to infiltrate and eliminate a hidden cell of Andross loyalists, the down on her luck former pilot had jumped at the chance. That is where she found out that she had a talent for espionage and infiltration. It was also where she had discovered the full range of her psychic abilities.

The first job had been far from perfect, and she ended up having to shoot her way in and out. That meant little to Pepper, who was just happy to see the renegades dealt with. To Krystal, it provided a full bank account and her foot was in the door of a new enterprise. Most of all, she had gained valuable experience along the way.

The next time he called her, the job went smoother. A group of gun runners in the outer system. She still had to shoot her way out, but it went far more fluidly than the first job. She had snuck in, shut down the defenses, and let the Corneria defense force move in. She had gotten some use out of her pistol there, but it was nowhere near as bloody as her first run. The third job was even easier and she only had to fire her gun twice. Eventually, she was ghosting entire cells of Andross loyalists without even firing a shot. Most of them didn't even realize she was there until the defense force came knocking on their door and they realized that their defenses were down.

Pepper had been overjoyed to have such a wonderful asset at his disposal. A talented pilot, skilled infiltrator, and deadly warrior all rolled into one, and he paid her accordingly. Soon, the formerly penniless psychic had more money than she knew what to do with and she had embraced a life of luxury, interrupted by brief moments of tense espionage and horrific violence. It was all part and parcel for her, though. She had lived on a primal world filled with massive saurian predators and sadistic reptilian conquerors for the majority of her life. Danger and conflict were so ingrained in her mind that this was just another jungle and the terrorists were just another pack of predators that wanted her dead.

She had worked hard to get to that point, to where it was like second nature for her to psychically blind a sentry and be able to creep past a security system without leaving any trace of her passage. So, when she had been approached by a Cornerian secret agency for her largest job yet, she had been profoundly intrigued.

---

Krystal had been dining out when she had been approached by her contact. It surprised her when the most voluptuous woman she had ever seen had sat down at her table without preamble. The figure was a canid, a Doberman to be precise. She was built like an hourglass with the most enormous pair of breasts that Krystal had ever seen. They strained her blouse and instantly drew the vixen's attention. While she was happy with men, she had to admit that she had a small attraction towards the female form. So her visitor had undoubtedly intrigued her, but the businesslike demeanor and well-cut business dress told the freelancer that this was no social call.

"Hello, lady Krystal." Her voice was firm but sultry, the kind that either a lover or call girl would have when trying to get what they wanted from you. "I represent the Phantom group...and I have a...job opportunity for you."

Krystal looked up from her dinner and narrowed her eyes. She had never worked or even heard of them before, but there were myriad government agencies all working for or against one another, sometimes without one group really knowing the other even existed and often with open conflict between them. It was like the espionage industry to keep secrets and this was no different.

Krystal studied the placid-faced canine for a moment before nodding. "First...what is the pay and what is the mission?" Her tone was cold and no-nonsense. Too many times people seeking to hire her had tried to get her to work to "serve her nation" or "fulfill her patriotic duty." That didn't fly with her whatsoever. She had to eat just like everyone else and, while patriotism was a good thing, it didn't fill an empty belly.

The Doberman didn't even bat an eyelash and fished a manila folder out of her coat before handing it to Krystal. The pouch itself was rather average looking with the word "classified" emblazoned in red ink across the cover. It had always struck Krystal how mundane everything used by information agencies seemed. She had always thought top secret operations to be things of high technology and codewords, but she had learned a long time ago that the most simple techniques were often the most discreet. She flipped it open and paged through the document, her eyebrows raising at what she saw.

"They are calling themselves the Sons of Corneria and they are genuinely bad news. They consist largely of Bovine and Equine stock and are very aggressive and brutal." Her prospective new employer didn't mince words and got right down to the meat of the matter. Krystal could appreciate that. "They usually would barely be a nuisance, but they have acquired some Androssian tech and have threatened to use it if their demands are not met."

Krystal clicked her tongue and looked up at her new 'friend' and mused on that. Those war machines and weapons were no joke and could level entire cities if left to their own devices. She had first-hand experience with their destructive potential and didn't wish their use on her worst enemies, but neither was she willing to do charity work.

"What are the demands...and how much are you paying?" she asked briskly, looking to forestall any "for the betterment of the system" talk. She was no novice and she sure as hell would not deal with a group like that without compensation.

Her new friend just chuckled at Krystal's desire to cut straight to the core of the matter, seemingly unperturbed by the vixen's blunt manner.

"They want the current military government to step down and for elections to be held." This caught Krystal off-guard. Usually, she was sent after scum and murderers, but ever since the military took over the government during the Aparoid invasion, there has been growing discontent among the citizenry about the military's continued control of political capital.

"That doesn't sound bad...but let me guess...they are not bluffing, and they will release these weapons if they are not dealt with?" Krystal asked, her face growing hard at the thought. Terrorist or revolutionary, often a fragile line between the two.

The Doberman nodded, a smile crossing her face as she did so. "Got it in one." She chuckled and slowly shook her head. "I understand they want the government back to the way it was, and I even agree with them, but threatening the lives of thousands of citizens is not the way to get things done."

Krystal sighed at that thought before nodding. As it was often the case with the idealistic groups, they ended up going to further and further extremes to live up to their ideals. The Sons of Corneria had lost sight of the fact that even if they got what they wanted they would be responsible for the deaths of thousands. It was a genuinely disheartening tale. Almost tragic enough to make her wanna take the job gratis...almost.

"So what is the pay?" she asked smoothly, her eyes roaming over the profile to absorb all the information she could. Her contact snickered at that and nodded. "Ever the mercenary, eh Lady Krystal? I knew I liked you." She reached into her pocket and produced a small black credit chip and slid it across the table to the waiting mercenary. "Four hundred thousand if you take out the base's defenses and get us a layout...half again if you can find out who is funding them."

Krystal whistled appreciatively at that revelation. It was a lot of money, and it could be raised to six hundred thousand if she discovered the group's financial backer? She was sold immediately.

"Deal"

---

Krystal grinned to herself as she thought back to her new employer and how quickly she had produced the credits. It had gone through without a hitch, and before long she was in bumfuck nowhere, infiltrating a surprisingly advanced facility set into the side of some forgotten mountain. It wasn't often that she found herself working on Corneria itself, but that meant that backup was literally one call away. Not that she ever would need it. She moved through the halls and flitted past other sentries with no more problem than anything else. She already had scouted the defenses and had a general layout, but she wanted more. She wanted the group's backer and that fat 200k bonus.

Krystal knew she didn't need it. The base pay alone would be more than enough to keep her well supplied for months, but the extra would push her over the edge, and she could take a year or so off from work. It would be a nice change of pace to just lay around and be a couch potato for once. She had never tried it, but being a lazy fuck sounded terrific when compared to her normal life.

So Krystal went deeper into the facility and sought out the server room. She was not the best hacker, but she knew enough that she could figure out what she wanted to know. These fools were long on muscle and ambition, but short on brains and proper security. It had genuinely surprised her that the government had paid her so much to deal with a group that a couple of wet workers could have dealt with in an afternoon, but then again, if they released the Androssian war machines that they had stored in the lower levels, the death toll could be catastrophic. The server room was easy to find and even easier to get into. It had been left unguarded and the door didn't even have a lock on it, making the Vixen scoff in surprise at the idiotic security of her current opposition. It was almost like they had intentionally done everything wrong and wanted some enterprising young infiltrator like her to come in and take them for everything they had.

She slid into the server room and grinned. Everything was here for the taking and she intended to take it all. She plugged her wrist comp into the first bank she saw and went to work. It didn't take much for her to work the program out and find exactly what she needed. Backers, bank accounts, supply houses, everything and anything to do with this pack of bumbling morons was hers for the taking. It seemed that these fellows were being bankrolled by several private interest groups backed by several Cornerian politicians. These fellows had lost their jobs during the Aparoid invasion and were waiting for the military to release control of society. Apparently, several of them had waited long enough and planned to force the government's hand.

Krystal could sympathize with that sentiment and indeed could support it, but this was not the way to do it. Either do it through official channels or, if that wouldn't work, formal rebellion. Those options actually had public support, but releasing weapons of mass destruction on the populace would only serve to hurt their cause, not help it. The raw stupidity of it would have made her scream in frustration if she wasn't on the job, and besides, their idiocy was helping to fill her pockets.

She downloaded the needed intel alongside codes and keywords to the base and other safe houses around the area. That done, she quickly unplugged and made for the door, her thoughts expanding outwards to detect any of the idiotic sentries. When she was sure her path was clear she ducked out and slinked down the hallway, her eyes panning left and right as her mind probed the way ahead. There were many of the brutes guarding the route back, but their brains had the consistency of chewed up bubblegum. They were so laughably easy to fool that it was almost comical and she quickly made her way through the facility with little to no effort at all.

Her mind began to wander as she moved, thoughts of how she would spend her next windfall of wealth. A proper home for one, not the nice but still confining apartment she had been living in. Something out in the forest with lots of trees and maybe a nice deep pond or lake. Someplace that she could just go and be herself. Krystal didn't want to admit it, but the clothing Cornerians wore felt profoundly restrictive to her. She hated how confined she felt stuffed into the bodysuits or shirts they wore. After spending years dressed in a small top and loincloth for ease of movement and staying cool, anything larger than an exercise bra felt restrictive as hell.

In that moment of reflection, Krystal made her first and only mistake. She let her guard slip and her usually laser-focused mind lost its crystal clarity. The daydreaming Vixen turned the corner and slammed face first into the chest of one of the hulking bovines who guarded the facility. She bounced off him, her eyes wide with confusion as she looked up at the equally surprised bull. For a moment they both just stared at one another, confusion slowing their reaction times.

Krystal reacted first, her hand snapping to her pistol and yanking it free of its holster. The bull was already raising his fist to strike, but she knew that she had him dead to rights. One shot to the temple would drop him and then the admittedly embarrassed agent would be on her way. It would put a black mark on an otherwise flawless run, but she could live with that. The gun leveled with the bull's head, and the look on his face told her everything. He knew he was done and, while she didn't relish the idea of killing another sentient, she knew that she didn't have much choice in the matter. He would die so she could live...and get paid.

She squeezed the trigger, expecting to hear the whine of the energy discharge and see the neat little hole that the bolt would bore through his forehead, but all she heard was a small but seemingly deafeningly loud click. She blinked, confusion crossing her face at that development. There was no way she was out of ammunition or anything of the sort and she had cleaned it thoroughly before beginning her run. There was no way it would malfunction. Then she saw it: the battery was slightly off-center and did not set correctly when she slotted it at home. To be undone by such a rookie mistake would have made her laugh...if a bowling ball sized fist had not collided with her face and sent her tumbling into darkness.

---

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