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Crystal Lake

Prologue

Terra, a bright spark in one of the distant arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The planet was warm, lush and vibrant, with all the tools needed for life to evolve there. There were mechanical cities that stretched for miles and miles across the surface of the planet which seemed to sparkle and twinkle at night like fire across the surface of the world.

Terra was populated by many different races that had evolved there, so many variations. Ones species was usually determined by one's appearance however unlike some other planets, not one species had risen in dominance over the others, so many different species of animal life had evolved sentience here.

Of one of the most famous cities on Terra was the aquapolis of Crystal Lake.

Crystal Lake was placed in the middle of a gigantic lake, spreading out and consuming the small isle that used to be there. The city had grown huge over the centuries and huge metal wharfs and quays stuck out of the city, making it look like a gigantic star from orbit.

The city had been the major technological breakthrough of the Vulnira race, a variety of anthropomorphic foxes that had sprung up around northern hemisphere, by far the most widely travelled on all of Terra.

The Vulnira species had suffered brutal oppression and many eventual military successes for almost half a millenia against the neighbouring Dratari, a formidable draconian species originating from the nearby mountainous regions, almost driving them to extinction. However, ever culturally changing, the Vulnira people moved from a constitutional monarchy to a much more sympathetic democracy and had long since reconciled with their Dratari neighbours who had begun to flourish once more.

That was how the Vulnira were known on Terra, as the "peacemakers", the ones always willing to fight against tyranny although over time the great irony of a deep seated corruption and arrogance had arisen at the highest levels of Vulnira society

The three million citizens of Crystal Lake however were clueless about this, reassured in their hubris brought from their technology, some of the most advanced on Terra.

Vulnira technology was built by some of the most high profile companies on Terra, providing their technology to a global market. Having just perfected a new type of engine which ran efficient on bio-fuel, the Vulnira were in a position to make themselves a significant impact on an international stage.

Chapter One

Janus smoked his cigarette while watching a small house in the more impoverished parts of the Lower city.

He had promised his wife multiple times that he was going to give up the faint orange illuminated his faded citrine eyes but somehow, he always ended coming back to this.

"It's the stress of the job" he thought, narrowing his eyes as a light illuminated the window of the vulgar looking building.

The building, which had once obviously been a grand block of apartments in the lower city had seen much depression over the years. Bits of brickwork and metal were exposed on the exterior and the guttering from the flat roof was swinging in the wind.

This part of the city had not seen any economic investment in years. But then, why should it? Most of the successful people lived in the huge skyscapers that dominated the skyline of the island, or in the comfortable suburbs around some of the coast line.

Janus tapped the steering wheel of his car.

"Showtime" he thought.

He reached for the door and climbed out in the torrential rain which was bombarding the street in a sombre melody. In the distance he could hear the sounds of the lower city, sirens in the backgrounds, people shouting and babies crying. It assaulted his ears as a symphony of desperation and everything that he thought was wrong with the social mobility of this country.

He pulled up his jacket as he crossed the empty street, taking a chance to look at the small, run-down cinema behind him. It was still showing the latest films but had certainly seen better days as doors were marked, chipped and scratched in many places.

He approached the door of the abandoned apartment block, his small stature dwarfed by the size of the building, pulling out a piece of paper to check the address.

"What are you doing here!? Just get back in a car and drive away."

His heart was thumping in his chest as he reached to knock on the door, his brown fur that covered most of his body almost standing on end as he gave it a loud knock.

There was almost an immediate fumbling sound coming from behind the door. Janus froze for a moment, taking a deep breath to control his fear and the sudden urge to run that was so commonly associated with his species.

A slot in the door opened a pair of deep yellow feline eyes peered through the battered metal door.

"Yeah?" said the creature behind the door, with an acerbic tone.

Janus spoke softly and with a polite and formal accent most commonly associated with those within the Upper City.

"Excuse me..." he said, with slight trepidation to his voice. "I believe was giving this address for some "fun"?"

The shutter immediately slammed shut and there was a long moment of silence where Janus feared that it may not open at all and he would be left standing out in the pouring rain, his hair and his fur getting drenched.

Finally, after a few seconds, the door whooshed open with force.

The glaring yellow eyes were replaced with the full body of a large buxom female feline, her fur jet black and her appearance showing that she was not original from the country of Vulnira but instead, from the far off region of Fesalis, a country far to the east, known for its exotic reputation.

Janus was drawn her large, plump breasts which complimented her rather full physique, suspended in a black leather brassiere which extended them from her chest in a lucious and seductive manner.

She flicked back her long, vibrant, clearly dyed scarlet hair and looked down at the Vulnira, who only came up to her chest in height, her long seemingly endless legs, both sleek and thick at the same time, leaning against the door as she talked in a peculiar foreign accent.

"Money?" she asked, as she pulled out a cigarette from the packet in her hand, her lips somewhat teased Janus with anticipation as he learnt down to light it.

"Oh... Um..." replied Janus, clearly not expecting to find a female dressed like this. Suggestive outfits such as what this black panther was wearing were clearly a violation of the strict religious and social conventions that dominated the entire Vulnira culture.

The female scoffed, flicking back her long scarlet hair again. "We get lot of a boys from Upper City here..." she said, her hand going to her mobile phone, which was a simple black screen that projected a holographic interface straight into her eye. Such devices were common, even amongst the poorest in society and were available on the mass market. However females could not own one with the supervision of their male mate.

These devices provided total privacy to the user, however males could still observe who their female mates were sending messages to at any time. Such was the order of Vulnira culture dating back to the time of the Great Prophet Athen, over three thousand years before.

"Yes... I have money..." replied Janus formally as he produced a familiar yellow banknote from his pocket, all crumpled and overused.

The panther looked up from the black screen, she had been scrolling through the messages on her mobile phone which to Janus, only looked like a black screen but she could actually see a whole interface inside her eye. The phone automatically scanned the retina of the creature the possessed it and transmitted a visual signal directly to an implant worn behind her small triangular ears on the top of her head.

She reached out with her large, clawed paws and snatched the note straight out of Janus's hand. "Thirty minutes... " she said, returning to look at her phone and waiting for Janus to hurry up and enter.

"But... I was told forty-five..." said Janus, somewhat scared to argue with her. She looked like she could eat him alive.

Not in the way that he would have wanted.

"New prices..." responded the feline without looking up at him. "Economy... y'know. Do you want or not?" she asked in her foreign accent.

"Yes..." replied Janus as he decided to enter the building. He walked slowly into a disgusting looking kitchen which had most certainly seen better days Dirty dishes lined the counter in the corner of the box-like room, with only a single small table and a rather intimidating looking male of the same species as the female.

He gave Janus a glare that made him uncomfortable as he entered the room.

"You want tight?" he asked, when Janus entered the room and looked around, noting the large shotgun which was laying on the table, obviously for anyone that tried to make trouble.

"Eh..." Janus raised his small vulpine ears, the black tips standing slightly on edge as he looked over at both panthers in the room, both of which glared at him. The male was the same colour as the female, though even more bigger, sat in a large pair of shorts and no shirt to show his impressive collection of muscles.

He rose to his feet, his stature towering over Janus in almost every way. "You look like faggot" he said in his broken accent, chuckling to himself. "You want boy?"

"I..." Janus was extremely intimidated.

"Get out of here... NOW!" the voice in his head getting louder and louder but he had already stepped past the threshold of no return.

"No!" responded Janus, somewhat louder then he had to, trying to make his apparent nervousness seem nonexistent.

"Good!" replied the panther, slapping his shoulder with considerable force that Janus was almost knocked off his feet. "I get you tight" he said, returning to his seat, shouting some unfamiliar words down the hall, an open door with bead like drapes which let to a darkened hallway.

He sat back in such a way that Janus could see his considerable bulge, barely contained within his pants. Fesalis were known for their somewhat obvious physical attributes compared to the Vulnira.

The Fesalis were one of the most recognisable cultures on Terra, they originated from the harsh climate of their home and had evolved from various nomadic tribes into the region in a continental superpower that dominated most of the globe.

"First door on left" replied the male Fesalis. "She gives good..."

Janus tried to ignore his crude attitude. He was concerned about what the female had said, that "many boys" had come here. He knew that people from the Upper City would regularly journey down to the Lower City for certain tasks but he was still surprised that others would do it.

A heavy haze of smoke lined the corridor as he passed the kitchen, walking down a small, dimly lit and dank corridor to find the correct door. In the distance he could hear the sounds of various different species all performing acts that were much better not thought about. The smoke choked him and made him feel like he was going to wretch on it, but he recognised the smell, various different narcotics that he had encountered during his life.

He found the grimy door, checking to see that the door guard had gone back to speaking to the female who was still standing at the door, smoking her cigarette and talking a language that he did not understand.

Turning the greasy handle, he entered the room.

Inside, the room had been converted from the living room of an old apartment block, to the seedy den which it was now. All the windows at the back of the room had been blacked out by heavy sheets, with a cheap double bed.

On the bed, laying with a sheet half covering her naked body was a slender female Corvidae, a voluptuous black raven who raised her head from the bed slightly when Janus had entered the room cautiously. She was long and slender, like the female panther that he had met out in the kitchen but she was almost completely naked, her small petite frame and breasts drooping down as she raised her head in a daze.

From the way that she was moving, Janus could clearly tell that she was intoxicated, possibly even drugged. She stared at him with a distant, almost longing stair before sitting up and wrapping herself in the bedsheet.

"How long have you got?" she asked, her beak was short and stubby as she stared at him with her sleepy yellow eyes.

Janus was unsure how to respond, his eyes narrowing all over her slim, feminine physique. Her beauty was captivating, from her jet black feathers around her body to her rather small head and seductive eyes, still entrancing, even in her current state.

"Tira LeBlanc?" asked Janus, checking behind him that the door was completely sealed. The raven's eyes went from a sultry glance that looked a million miles away, to a harsh bump back down to earth at the mention of her real name.

"W-Wha? How'd you know that?" she said, looking somewhat distressed and rather scared by the whole experience. "Did my father send you?"

Janus reached into the pocket of his long coat and produced a small card wallet, revealing his identification card as he paid careful attention to the door and was trying with renewed vigor not to blow his cover.

"I'm undercover for the Crystal Lake Police Department" he said, hoping that she would not immediately start screaming the place down. His paw travelling down to his concealed gun which was tucked into his belt behind him, just incase the two Fesalis from the kitchen decided to come down the hall and check in on him.

The Corvidae looked at him with a perplexed expression, her heavy eyes looking more and more glazed over as she spoke with hushed tone, sitting up to prepare an ominous grey powder that was laying on the table. "I won't go... " she said, looking to Janus who should have known better then to come here with no backup, especially with the tip off he had received.

Janus cast his mind back to a few days earlier. He had been working undercover as a trafficker of Corvidae refugees into Crystal Lake and other cities throughout Vulnira. The Corvidae were a fairly small nomadic tribe that lived peacefully in the far east, bordering with Fesalis territory.

A few weeks previous, the royal family of Corvidae had been assassinated in a bloody uprising which saw the current king, his wife and all nineteen of his children murdered by political extremists.

As a distant country, far from the conflict and free from the constant warfare associated with the eastern regions of Terra, Vulnira had watched with continual interest as the political extremists seized direct control over the government and requested the Fesalis to take control of the country. This confirmed the worst fears of many that Fesalis may have been assisting the rebels in order to expand their territory.

Many of the displaced people during the conflict had become homeless refugees, fleeing the country as the might of the Fesalis army crushed opposition to their occupation of Corvidae. Seeing an opportunity in the chaos, many of the Fesalis people had begun to traffic Corvidae people into other countries under the promise of a "better and safe environment", with many sold into slavery.

Janus had been investigating this rise of illegal Corvidae refugees into Crystal Lake when he had received a tip off from an informant.

Suggesting that Tira LeBlanc was actually Princess Tira Et Corvidae, the last surviving member of the Corvidae royal family who were all believed to have been murdered. Janus had well admitted that the story could have been absolute bogus but he decided to investigate it...

... without asking for backup.

"Is my father still alive?" asked Tira, looking over at Janus, without looking up, busy preparing some kind of drug which was on the bedside table. "I did not get a chance to see him before they moved me..."

Janus shook his head and tried to look as compassionate as he could while also keeping an open ear for any movement coming down the hallway.

"I...I don't know..." replied Janus truthfully. "My informant discovered you when he was visiting another girl here."

Tira pushed her beak into a line of powder that she had created out of an old savings card for a local supermarket and took a large long snort as she inhaled the product, pausing for just a second to enjoy the high before looking directly at Janus, her eyes even more distant than before now.

"Helps me cope..." she said, looking over at Janus as her eyes began to glimmer slightly in the dim light of the room, tears of regret for what she had allowed herself to become. "You have no idea... to go from being a Princess to... this..." she cried.

Janus rushed over to her and put a comforting paw on her shoulder while still making sure that the area was secure. He needed to find some way to get her to calm down so that she did not blow his cover.

There was a slight creak in the distance from the chairs in the kitchen and the sound of clanking metal as another guest had arrived.

"I've come to get you out of here..." he said, realising how stupid he must have sounded and how equally stupid he must have been to come into the lion's den without any sort of support or backup. He dropped down to her level, crouching down to be eye level with the softly weeping raven in front of him. "You gotta trust me and do exactly what I say..." he said gently, giving her the best warm and reassuring smile that he could.

There was sudden clunking down coming from the other end of the hall, which caused both of them to jump slightly. Janus reached round for his firearm, pulling it from behind him and releasing the safety, the black metal shimmering in the dimly pink light of the room. He understood that there was not really another way out of this.

Tira pushed out a claw, placing it lightly on the top of his gun as she broke herself from her despair for a brief second of drug fueled lucidity. Both Janus and her knew that a gunshot would attract unwanted attention and the two Fesalis that Janus had seen early could not be the only ones in the brothel of this size. "No..." she said softly, her natural Corvidae accent coming through more clearly now.

Janus lowered the gun as the handle on the door began to turn and before he had a moment to react, Tira had brought out her petite black breasts and pushed them into Janus's face.

He felt a surge of hormones as he stared at her naked black feathered breasts, with Tira shaking them slightly to indicate what she wanted him to do.

"Of course!"

They needed to make it look as if he was engaged in a sexual encounter with her. Janus reached up with his paws to slowly caress the small but plump pair of breasts in front him. His natural reflexes making this situation very easy for him as he began to feel movement within his sheath buried deep within his trousers.

Her slowly ran his paws over her small and perky breasts, flicking the nipples slightly as she could not help but let out a little moan in satisfaction and a small stifled exhale as he slowly caressed her.

The door creaked open and the male Fesalis from earlier stood in the doorway, watching them for a second with a perverted interest. Janus supposed that he really wanted to see if Janus was actually gay or not.

Janus opened his muzzle and gently used his tongue to lip over her nipples on the end of her breasts which caused Tira to moan in such a way that Janus could not tell if she was acting or was genuinely sexually excited by all this attention.

"Twenty minutes..." responded the male in the doorway. "Want more... pay extra" he called out to Janus before chuckling and closing the door behind him.

After the door was shut, Janus immediately broke contact with Tira as she leaned back on the bed, leaning back in a sigh of relief although as she leaned back, he could see the slightest glint of moisture from between her legs.

"She had definitely been enjoying it!"

"How do we get out of here?" asked Tira, looking over at Janus with a perplexed expression as she immediately reached for a packet of cigarettes which also lay on the bedside table.

"I'm working on that" said Janus, he smiled at her reassuringly, raising his gun which he had been holding all this time but had made sure that the Fesalis had not seen it while he had been faking foreplay with Tira

In reality, he did not have a clue...

Chapter Two

Janus's heart pounded inside his chest.

He looked over at Tira and could see that she was clearly so influenced by the effects of the drug that she could not even stand presently. He looked down at the black metal of his handgun, still glistening gently in the dim light of the seedy room.

He only had two bullets with him so shooting his way out was not an option.

"Why did you not come here with more firepower!?" he asked himself.

In truth, he had not expected to find that the rumours were true. His informant was considerably unreliable and had given him false leads before. Why should this time have been any different?

Instead, this time, it was... very different.

"Can you walk?" asked Janus as he looked around the room to find an exit point that they could escape to safety from.

"Bingo!"

He spotted a window on the far side of the room, there was a good chance that he could escape through that with Tira and get her to safety.

The only problem was that Tira was now laying on the bed in a daze, the drugs coursing through her system. She made some gentle soft noises in response to his question but it was clear that she was unable to help him, or even move in the state that she was in.

Janus could not help but feel sorry for her and wondered about all the young Corvidae children that he had helped to traffic into Crystal Lake as part of his cover. What had become of them? This had been the toughest and most heartbreaking assignment of his entire life. These people wanted nothing more then to be somewhere safe, a right that should have been afforded to everyone on Terra.

Instead, their Fesalis masters, who had promised them freedom and safety had taken children away from their mothers in order to force the woman into sex slavery. These desperate mothers were forced to service many powerful figures from the Upper City of Crystal Lake and in exchange, the police had very much turned a blind eye to the massive influx of brothels in the Lower City.

The Police were only going after the small-time traffickers and not the huge crime syndicates which were expansive enough to afford bribing city officials to keep their sordid operation afloat.

This injustice burned deep within Janus's soul but there was so little that he could do about it. His department had barely been given any resources to deal with the problem by the police commission, who considered it "not a critical issue".

He longed to save those people, but if he had acted then. He could have been killed when his cover was blown or worse...

"They could have walked free from court!"

Janus moved to the far side of the room, pulling back the musty old heavy velvet curtains, attempting to find the easiest route to escape from. This part of the building was only on the ground floor of the now crumbling apartment block and it should be easy for him to push Tira out of the window into the alley behind and escape out into the night.

"Shit..."

There was no window. It has long since been bricked up. Possibly to prevent exactly what he was trying to do.

He was trapped.

These guys were clever, they had obviously anticipated that their "prizes" may want out of this kind of disgusting life and bricked up the possible exits to prevent them from escaping.

Tira was now fully sprawled out on the bed, both naked and unconscious. Janus stopped for a second to look at the former Princess, he could make out the faint outline of bruises on her arms and legs which suggested that she had been beaten into this life. Consistent with all the other woman that he had met sold into sex slavery by the Fesalis.

"Fuckin' Monsters!" He thought to himself momentarily.

He felt himself filling with hate for these people with each passing second, the anger making him shake as he gripped his handgun tightly, wanting to release the wrath of hell on these bastards for what they were making these females suffer through.

"Tira..." he whispered as he took a moment to compile himself. Tira responded with a gentle sigh but it was clear that she was pretty out of it when he walked over to her.

"Tira..." he said again, shaking her this time as she opened her eyes gently, still embraced by a drug fueled haze that made her continual abuse somewhat easier each time. "We can't get out that way so I'm gonna call for backup."

He took a small black device from his pocket which was given to all undercover operatives encase of emergencies and this certainly qualified. The device contained an automated signal that would transmit his identification and triangulate his position anywhere in the city. He could expect a response within ten minutes.

He had just pushed the small black button on the top of the device where a powerful shotgun blast came straight through the wall, narrowly missing him in the spread.

Janus dived past Tira, to the other side of the bed pulled her off the bed as well in one motion, causing some of her large black tail feathers to be left on the bed itself. Tira was still semi unconscious, seemingly unfazed by the shotgun blast that had been inches away from her and could have killed her if it had been any lower.

The wooden door bolted open as Janus pulled his own handgun and tried to look round the bedframe, trying not to give whoever was shooting at him a clear shot. A piece of shotgun shrapnel had skimmed his cheek, causing blood to trickle out.

"FUCKING KNEW YOU WERE COP!" came the familiar voice of the male Fesalis, who was holding a shotgun and standing in the doorway, scanning the room in front of him.

Janus did not understand how he could have known that, he took every available precaution and...

Something twigged in his mind. He had not checked the room for hidden cameras, ones that could be easily linked up to a holophone. It's possible that they had heard everything that he had said and he had stupidly blow his cover.

"You FUCKIN' idiot!"

His emergency transponder gave a small beep as the dust from the wall settled around him and people in the other rooms started screaming in shock and horror at the sound of the blast. There was continual thumping and crashing sounds coming from above him.

At least he knew that help was on the way.

He looked under the bed frame, leaving Tira in a haze for a second to climb gently under it, slowly and gently. The other side of the bed, he could see the massive paws of the huge feline species that stood in the doorway, determined to kill him.

This was one of the most intense moments of his life. He had only been on the force for two years and had never been under fire before, he had spent most of his days giving out traffic violations, rather then dodging gunfire.

This was his moment, the murderous feline was walking towards the bed, he cocked his handgun, took aim and...

BANG!

There was slightly quieter sound from the shotgun followed by an exclamation of pain from the Fesalis as he collapsed into a heap on the floor, clutching his leg which was now heavily bleeding from the wound that Janus had just made.

Using his vulpine agility, Janus took his chance, he dashed out from under the bed, using his tail under his coat to achieve perfect balance and dived for the shotgun, pointing it directly at the head of his victim.

He wanted to pull the trigger. It could have been so easy to avenge people like Tira and he most certainly wanted to. He could claim it was an accident and this piece of shit would never see the light of day again.

But that was not what he had vowed to do. He needed justice for these people, not revenge.

The female Fesalis came dashing into the doorway, straight into the line of fire of Janus with his handgun firmly point at her with his other hand.

"Well now..." he said, his posh Upper City accent coming back through as the crisis had been averted. "You are under arrest so sit down... shut up... and be good boys and girls." he said with a grin, feeling the rush of adrenaline that he had never felt before. He felt reborn...

Empowered.

***

The operation had gone off without a hitch. Two arrests, both Fesalis were led away to the holding cells while the obviously drugged and traumatised residents of the brothel had been moved to a refugee facility outside of Crystal Lake.

Tira had been taken straight to a hospital for detoxifying and Janus was unsure what would happen to her next. Perhaps she would one day be able to reclaim her throne in Corvidae.

Janus felt like he had done himself proud as he answered the phone outside of the chief's office. It was his wife, checking to see what time he may be home from work as they had special plans that night. They were due to go out and see a movie on the harbourside, it had been Janus's first night off in weeks.

"Yes, I'll be home soon baby." he said, smiling into the phone while turning around to wonder why his police chief, a rather frightening ursine with dark brown fur was appearing to be shouting inside his office on the phone. "Look... I just have this one meeting and i'll be home".

His wife laughed from the other end of the phone.

Janus pressed the button to end the call and turned towards the door of the office, he could see the police chief from the glass wall that separated the waiting room and the office itself, usually it was covered by blinds but they were open at the moment.

He wondered why Police Chief Barrus Sturgeon looked so angry as he slammed the phone down and collapsed into his chair, his blue police shirt stretching slightly over his large masculine stomach. Sturgeon gave a few breaths before touching a button on his desk and speaking into it.

"You can go in now, Janus" said a secretary, a feline with a large purple headband sat at the desk. "I wouldn't keep him wait, if I were you. He seems pretty shitty about something..."

Janus chuckled a little under his breath as he moved towards the door. "Sharon, he's always shitty about something..." he smiled, turning the doorknob as the secretary returned to her work on the computer console on her desk. Technology that was only slightly more advanced from that on our modern day Earth, with no monitor, just a hologram to display information, however looking at it from behind, it would display nothing at all, to maintain privacy.

Barrus lit a cigar as Janus knocked on the door, waiting for permission to enter. "Get in here Janus!" he boomed at the door as he ruffled through some papers that covered his desk.

Janus was legitimately confused. He had brought him results, surely he should be happy?

"Yes... sir?" he asked politely as he entered the room. Barrus pointed to a chair as he got up, going over to the window and looking out over the air shuttle traffic which zoomed over Crystal Lake in the late afternoon.

The sky was slowly darkening, becoming a bright shade of red as the sun began to set over the city.

Being in a skyscraper had its advantages.

"That was Senator Cordelia of the Supreme Court on the phone..." he said, his voice was low and gruff as he smoked his cigar. "Turns out that guy you busted was an aide to Ivan Grace... They want him out..."

Janus looked like he swallowed a lemon as he struggled to come to terms with what he was being told. "What!?" he said loudly. "But Sir!?"

"He's got full diplomatic immunity!" shouted Barrus, his voice coming down in harsh, earth-shattering waves that let Janus know that he possibly could not win this argument. "I have the foreign office up my arse about this. They want him released or we can kiss our manufacturing agreement with them goodbye!"

He sighed in frustration before leaning against the far wall as he sucked on his cigar, still looking out of the window. "I don't need this now... I've got enough press heat over the Hartkland Scandal.

The Hartkland Scandal was a media frenzy which had happened in the sub-urban region of Hartkland near Crystal Lake. Three former police officers were caught trafficking drugs in this region and growing illegal substances in the neighbouring farmland. The initial raid had killed two police officers. Of course the media had blamed the lack of security measures in the police force as responsible for this and had claimed that the police already knew about the drug farms and were ignoring it.

"He was caught red-handed in a whore house with enough Yiff to supply the whole city!" claimed Janus, feeling that he needed to speak out against this. He had always somewhat respected Barrus but this decision had struck him in his core.

Yiff had been a new designer drug that had been sweeping the city and most certainly what Tira had been taking when he had first met her.

"Don't argue with me! Just do it!" shouted Barrus as he looked down at the floor. He did not intend to explain himself to one of his subordinates.

This was not the first time that Barrus had dealt with several allegations of corruption during his administration. Two years ago, he was caught with a female prostitute in a high class hotel which he had paid for with public funds for the police force. However Ivan Grace had helped him to contain the media storm and prevent the information from getting out to the general public. Ever since then, Grace had his balls in a vice and was slowly extorting him to protect his personnel.

Ivan Grace was the current executive of a huge pharmaceutical giant, Phoenix Grace or "PG". Phoenix Grace was responsible for most of the medical breakthroughs on Terra for almost the last fifty years and its political presence was felt almost everywhere. A truly autonomous corporation that transcended the sovereignty of countries and acted in its own corporate interests, with offices all over the world. Trusted by the public.

But of course, the bigger something got, the more cracks appeared in its foundations.

"Sir... You just can't do this!?" Janus yelled back in response after a few seconds of stunned silence. He suspected that this decision was more based on personal reasons then on professional one. It was true that Phoenix Grace had diplomatic immunity however it was a simple matter to write to the home office and revoke it. Janus stood to his feet, somehow hoping to get the message across.

Barrus shot him down with a glare, looking somewhat enraged that one of his peons had questioned him. He put down his cigar at the table, keeping his eyes fixed on Janus who shuffled uncomfortably back into his chair after he realised that he stood a real possibility of being fired on the spot.

"It's done...and the case is closed... there will be no follow up investigation."

That was another gut punch for Janus. He had been working on this case for almost six months and felt that this was the first time that he had actually got some results. If he could not question the suspects then he stood zero chance to stem the flow of Yiff into the city.

"But..." he said quietly, his thoughts immediately turned to his wife and how he would ruin this special night if he had to go home and tell him that he was fired. That thought suddenly faded away to rage, fire that built up inside him.

"So... you going to bury this like you did Hartkland!?" he shouted without thinking, getting Sturgeon's immediate attention. He turned and walked straight over to Janus, reaching over him to close the open blinds to his office before waiting a second.

It was that second Janus realised that he had gone too far. His desire to be serve justice had got him into a lot of trouble right now.

Barrus picked up Janus and slammed him into his desk, bending him flat over the desk and holding him there. "Don't test me Everson!" he sneered into his ear with Janus unable to move underneath his massive weight.

However it was strange, Janus did not feel intimidated at all.

Infact, he was feeling something else... was it... pleasure?

Yes, it was pleasure... the smell of his bosses thick cheap aftershave permeating his nose as their bodies pressed against it other, the large bulge in his bosses pants pushed against his rear end and suddenly there was nothing else he could think about.

Even his wife burnt away in his mind, replaced for a longing, a desire. Did he actually desire his boss and his large masculine body?

"Do you understand me Everson!?" he sneered into his ear, seeming to acknowledge Janus's arousal, even just on a subconscious level. He gave a slight grin as he realised that he could relieve the throbbing tension in his pants... this was arousing for him too on some level.

"Yes" muttered Janus, staying perfectly still as he felt his trousers starting to wobble... Why was his boss undoing his trousers?

"Then stay there... you little bitch" growled Barrus as he used his pawed hands to pull down Janus's pants and release his pert butt-cheeks and his long brown tail. His hole was like a small, tight spot between his cheeks, it looked deep and tight and in contact with air, it seemed to be begging him inside.

"W-What are you doing sir?" asked Janus, worrying slightly about what was going to happen. He suddenly thought to his wife and the urge of panic suddenly set in.

He needed to get out there!

However the urge to run was suddenly replaced with something else, deep warm pleasure as his boss began to lick his hole, something he had not done for years and something his boyfriend had refused to you, some pink meat begin to emerge from the sheath between his legs.

Janus could not help it, he let out a moan with his bosses muzzle licking over his small hole. Barrus prayed on that, he was banking on the pleasure that Janus was receiving to keep him there. If he could not convince him through words, he would use a different medium.

Janus had always been like this, he was an addict of sexual energy, letting it cradle him, living in the moment and not worrying about anything. He had not felt so alive since he had been married.

For about ten minutes his boss continued to thrust his muzzle into the rear of Janus, making him howl out in animalistic pleasure. Then his boss climbed to his feet, rubbing something large and hard between Janus's bare buttcheeks. Janus didn't dare turn around... but he could imagine, his bosses cock felt huge.

He growled low as his boss pushed his bare, cock deeply into his ass. The size of it made him wince and grimace before the feelings of pleasure began to set in, causing him to moan. His boss's cock was enormous, much bigger than his boyfriends, it must have been about nine or ten inches but very thick... it stretched his hole.

"Ugh... Yeah... I could tell what a fag you were when I hired you!" smiled Barrus as he continued to pound Janus's ass, causing them both to pounce from the pleasure they were creating in his office. "Fuck... that ass is tight..."

"So this is what you do..?" thought Janus as he began to slightly recover from the euphoria he was feeling. "Fucking your employees, surely there is a law against that..."

Barrus began to pant in a familiar tone, Janus could tell that he was getting read to shoot his load inside him. He groaned and tried to fight off the orgasm himself. He could not go home to his wife with this... how could he tell him about how he hadn't even tried to fight?

No... he could not tell him about that.

It was too late, the size of his boss's cock causing a familiar warm feeling from the bottom of his balls and rising up his large, throbbing pink meat, now fully erect outside the sheath. He groaned as he felt the first pump of his boss, the cum hitting the front part of Barrus's desk. He moaned hard, letting himself enjoy the wet feeling now inside his arse.

"Now... are.. we clear?" Barrus went back to his desk and returned to smoking his cigar which had to be relit.

Janus just laid there, processing what had happened. Something he had secretly enjoyed turned so sour when he realised the magnitude of what he had done.

"Per-Perfectly" he said.

Chapter Three

It was getting late, the sun was getting lower and lower in the sky as Janus drove home towards his home on the outskirts of the northwest pier of the city. He had gone through his head a thousand times about if he was going to tell his wife about his affair with his boss.

He had been married for almost five years and this was the first time he had messed up.

He had messed up in a big way...

He tried going over numerous excuses for being late home, as it was soon getting to about seven o'clock and he was supposed to be home almost an hour ago. He knew that the plans for the evening had been ruined but that was usually the case anyway when he had to work that.

"Cassata will understand..." he told himself as cars began to put on their headlights to counter the blanket of darkness which was now falling on the city."She's used to me working late... she'll understand".

Despite the recent invention of anti-gravity shuttles, only the richest could afford them as a mode of travel so the rest of the working population had to make do with conventional combustion automobiles that had been in service for many years.

It was almost dark as Janus pulled into the driveway of his home, it was a small detached house backing onto the waterfront, with a neat green front garden and drive. They had only moved into the house last year, before which having to make due with a flat downtown until they both had enough money to buy a nice house.

This was the dream that Janus had worked so hard for, all his life.

He had originally met Cassata, the person who would become his wife on nightclub bust almost seven years earlier. The police had conducted a raid on a rave in a converted warehouse on the docks which had been organised by Cassata, a well respected artist who had a wide variety of followers. However they had fallen in love almost instantly and since Cassata was eventually cleared of what turned out to be false allegations of drug trafficking, she and Janus had grown close, meeting in a more personal setting.

Now his "perfect dream" lied in ruins before him, all because of one man... Janus did not know if he should have felt guilty or violated, expecting some great resolution that absolved him of his sin.

He had always had a somewhat naive view of justice, believing that good would always triumph over evil but during his time on the force he had learnt that good and evil were just "words" and had vastly different meanings to different people and sometimes, doing the wrong thing for the right reason could be just as bad as doing the wrong thing outright.

Today he had learnt a lesson...

Justice was some lame idea that somebody had made up to give meaning to the chaotic nature of animals and now... it just seemed to him that Barrus would go on living his life without a care in the world of what he had just done.

And that made Janus angry...

He sat outside in the car for a few minutes, thinking over what he should say to his partner and through all the multiple scenarios that he had played out in his head... not one would help him.

He approached the door, surprised to see that the lounge light was not on. Usually his wife would be there, watching the day's news. But this time there was not a trace of that Vulnira in sight. Janus could see in slightly through the window, the television was not on and there was an eerie chill in the air.

Maybe she had gone out without him?

Janus shrugged on the explanations, saving them for later. He reached in his pocket and took out his keys to unlock the door however as he reached out for the door, it blew ever so slightly open.

Why was the door open?

He began to get very suspicious as he entered the door and into the hallway which was windowless, small and dark without the lights on. The dying light of the sun shone through the kitchen window at the far end of the hall.

"Hello..? Cassata?" he called out into the darkness, hoping to hear some kind of reply. He could not believe that Cassata would be so incompetent as to not lock the door as she headed out. Though what other explanation could there be?

After a few seconds of silence, there was a few bumps coming from the upstairs bedroom, Janus heard them with alarm and reached into his pocket, drawing his sidearm and proceeding slowly and quietly up the stairs.

It seemed completely logical to him that they might be being burgled.

He decided not to call out anymore as they might alert whoever was up there to his whereabouts in the house, even if they heard the opening call. Although from the frequency of the bumps in the floor upstairs, he could guess that they probably had not.

He edged ever closer up the stairs as the sounds became more and more clear, a strange moist sound came from the bedroom. It was difficult to describe and not something that Janus had ever heard before but again, he was able to deduce that he was probably dealing with just one person.

Janus headed down the landing at the top of the stairs and towards the bedroom, edging ever closer to the sound that was coming from the other side of the door. It was a truly disgusting sound, like squelching but more raspy.

The door opened and Janus walked inside the bedroom and the sight that befell him, drove him almost to shock and terror.

On the floor was the body of his wife, Cassata with another figure standing over her, bending their head down with their back towards Janus so they did not see him enter. He had no idea what they were doing and for a moment he thought that maybe his wife had been seeing somebody else and he had caught them but then he saw it...

The figure was wearing a dark hooded coat so Janus was unable to make out his face until he turned around. It was the face of a wolf, more specially another type of Canid species, someone that Janus had never seen before and his jaws were dripping with blood.

He had been eating Cassata!

Janus recognised this straight away, he was a Yiff junkie, same as the ones that Janus had encountered before but this one was in his house. He thought that paradise could never be so bitter.

He looked at the body of his wife with a large bite wound on the side of her neck which was heavily leaking blood onto the carpet, the warm crimson soaking into the it's pile, pooling and shimmeirng. Her eyes were open in shock and terror, glazed over and seeminly now empty of life. There was nothing he could do, the wolf had driven its fangs deep into a main artery. She was already gone.

At that moment, Janus had no idea how he should be feeling, looking into the crazy, bloodshot eyes of the attacker, he held out his handgun with no remorse.

He knew if he tried, he could have taken him alive...

No... He didn't want to...

A gunshot echoed in the room as the bullet impacted right between the eyes of the junkie, killing him instantly and turning him into a head on the floor. Janus just stood, silently... his wife was dead. Perhaps if he had gotten here sooner...

Perhaps if he hadn't been...

"Ohhhhhh GGGGOOOODDD!" yelled Janus as he let out a roar of anguish and moved towards the body of his world and collapsed to his knees alongside her body, his head hung down in abject anguish. His love... everything that he had wanted out of life, seemingly now all lost. He had failed her... He had failed him because he was enjoying himself with another man.

At that moment, he felt he could have taken a gun to his own head. He had nothing left to live for as the most important person in his life was taken away from him. Nothing would ever cleanse him of this pain... of this guilt.

However... he rose to his feet after holding his dead wife in his arms for several hours. He needed to get to the bottom of this drug... to stem the supply of it. It had taken his wife away from him and he wanted something much more than an outdated sense of honor and justice.

He wanted to find the people who did this and make them pay...

He wanted one thing...

Revenge...

Chapter Four

Six Months Later...

"Ooooh baby, that's nice". The feline, specifically a western offshoot of the Fesalis is race watched over the naked body of one of his dancers straddling herself over the pole, her already moist pussy dripping over it as she danced to the music in the club.

"Hmmmm... anything for you sir" she said smiling, the dancer was a quite distinctive skunk with a certain exotic calibur about her. She was completely white, except for a long black streak that ran from her head down to her tail. She giggled as she worked herself on the pole, enjoying pleasing her boss.

This was the domain of nightclub owner and self-appointed small time mob boss, Remmy Teron, who had very expensive tastes. The private chambers he was sat in were crammed with tackiness, purple shag rugs and a large mahogany desk, which in no way would have looked good in any room together were inside this personal quarters.

The quarters was a small overhanging balcony room that looked over the dancefloor of the club below were many Terrans were enjoying a break from work for some much needed relaxation and time with friends.

This had been a good night so far and the club was doing well, becoming one of the fastest growing in all of Crystal Lake's southern docks. "The Water Tiger" was known for great club anthems and great dancing girls. All led by the solitary vision of Mr Teron, who made sure to enjoy everything that his club could offer... including his own staff.

"Hey baby... you wanna earn a few more credits..." smiled Remmy as he unzipped his tight black suit pants. He was a big Tiger, fat by many people's standards and he had been described as nothing more than a pimp but in Remmy's mind, he was the King and this was his Castle and the girls here needed to meet "specific obligations" to work here.

The female skunk nodded as she presumed to get on her knees and crawl seductively over to his position, waiting for him to bring out her prize. He reached into his pants, his already fat, but rather short cock was already erect as she sunk her lips onto it.

He was in such euphoria from the lips of his dancer that he did not hear multiple knocks at the door until one loud one rudely awoke him from his ecstasy. He pushed the girl away, standing up to push his fat penis back into his pants quickly.

"What!?" he shouted with annoyance as the girl went back to sitting on the sofa on the other side and wrapping a dressing gown over her, to cover her modesty.

One of his men, a fat little rhino, this one with distinctive black marks on his ivory horn came inside, he was dressed in traditional black that made him look like he was a member of the Fesalis Crime Syndicate. That was how Remmy liked it... Classy.

"Sorry to interrupt, sir" he said in almost a sheepish tone for somebody so big. Remmy sat back down again, his pants properly tucked in and proceeded to pour a glass of whisky from the decanter on the coffee table which also conveniently doubled as pole dancing platform.

"Well..!" he exclaimed with annoyance. "What the hell is it...?"

"Sorry Sir" said the rhino again in the same submissive tone. "But Detective Everson of the DEA is here... he says he wants to speak to you."

"Wait... " Remmy chugged the glass of whisky like it was water. "Janus is here?"

"Yes sir... should I tell him that you are..."

Remmy looked somewhat concerned but also puzzled about why the DEA was so interested in his establishment. He had always tried to remain on friendly terms with the local law enforcement. That way they could occasionally turn a blind eye to some of his more "questionable" dealings.

"No..." interrupted Remmy, ushering the dancer to scram out the door on the other side of the room. "Let him in... we'll see what he wants."

The rhino left immediately to go downstairs and deliver the news to Janus and send him up, giving Remmy precious seconds of valuable breathing time as he walked over to his desk, closing down all of his accounts and tax returns for the month on his computer.

He could not imagine what the penalty could be if the police discovered that he was embezzling money from the club in order to avoid paying taxes.

"J-Janus" he said, looking up at the door to see a short brown fox staring at him as he managed to close down the files on the computer and bury a few incriminating details on his desk. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

Janus had transferred to the Drug Enforcement Administration about five months ago after he got back from leave over the death of his husband. Janus had insisted on following up on the "Yiff" case. He was able to reopen the case once Barrus Sturgeon was arrested for soliciting with a minor, a honey trap arranged by a "few" members of his staff.

Sturgeon had been kicked from the force but a few months later had re-emerged, unscathed to become Chief of Immigration Control at the Home Office. Janus could never get over that... as far as he was concerned, the man was guilty of murder.

He got away lightly... Janus had considered murdering him but he knew that Cassata would not want to see him get executed for murder.

The Drug Enforcement Administration was set up only a year ago, to combat the alarming rise of drug related incidents in Crystal Lake over the previous years. People were going out, using Yiff once and then getting hooked and some had turned to incredibly gruesome murders in their frustration. However despite successful anti-drug enforcement actions all over the city, people were still getting it and using it.

So much for "stemming the supply".

Remmy sipped his drink quietly as he listened to the light opera he had on in the background and looked down over his domain. "I presume this is not a social call?"

"No..." said Janus, almost immediately, still standing in door. He was wearing a black coat with a simple grey shirt and jeans as officers in the DEA were not required to wear uniform on duty. "I need some information..."

Remmy almost laughed for a second. A police officer wanted information... from him!? That had to be a first for him, something he found highly amusing but he managed to contain his inappropriate joviality.

"What kind of information?" he asked bluntly.

"Specifically about a Phoenix Grace Employee that comes to this dive often..." said Janus, choosing not to mince his words with such a small time crook. He could get him for health and safety violations alone in this dump.

"I'm sorry officer..." he walked back over to the large red, tacky leather sofa and sat down on it, almost in the exact position he was before since Janus could still see his arse-print from his fat butt. "I'm afraid..." he exhaled as he sat down. "I don't know anyone who works for Phoenix Grace."

"You know this one..."

"Oh? Do enlighten me then..."

"His name is Obsidian Greyfell, he works in the department of virology and he comes here every wednesday..."

Remmy chuckled... "Fascinating. Well, I don't have personal biographies of everyone who frequents my bar so it appears you are out of luck. Still why don't you sit down and have a drink with me officer. Unless... of course... you are on duty".

Janus kept his eyes lock on Remmy as he moved over to the other sofa and sat down carefully, pouring himself a glass of the whiskey and nodding.

Remmy let out an outrageous laugh that could probably have been heard from downstairs despite all the noise from the music. "Well that's what I like to see, a cop that knows how to bend the rules!" he applauded. He then settled down in the chair. "So what has this...Obsidian... Odd name by the way? Done to earn your "oh so busy" attention?"

"We are following up a chain of inquiry" mumbled Janus.

"Ah I see... so this person has not done anything wrong. Why did you think that my humble establishment would be able to put you in contact with him."

"Because you're a wannabe crime boss... but you occasionally do the right thing" he stated bluntly.

"Oh... you wound me sir!" mocked Remmy, picking a bit of meat off his extremely well polished teeth. "I assure you, there is nothing "wannabe" about me. I just believe that the law and "certain ventures" can co-exist, as long as nobody gets hurt."

Janus got the feeling that Remmy may have been trying to mess with him somewhat. He just did not have time for this. He dashed up, kicking over the table and taking out his sidearm and pointing it to the side of Remmy's head while he was not expecting it. "I am not in the mood for your fucking games!" he shouted, being careful to make sure that the guards downstairs did not hear him. The last thing he needed was a firefight on his hands.

Like an egg, Remmy's calm demeanor began to melt away before him to be replaced with something a lot more sincere. "Look! I already told you, I don't know already!" he shouted. He began to panic as Janus rammed the loaded gun into his face.

"That's bullshit... a call was made from YOUR phone to the DEA office by Greyfell and you have no idea what it was about or what was said? You want me to believe that you are that stupid!? I know you tap your own phone lines Remmy!"

Busted...

Remmy put his paws up into the air in an attempt to calm Janus down. He usually did tap the phone lines in the bar and listen to the all the outgoing calls so he could use some of it for blackmail and extortion later on. He wondered if he confessed, would he be arrested for this... but it was either that or his life.

"Alright!" he said finally after a couple seconds of trying to call Janus's bluff silently. "Greyfell comes here often. He wanted you to know that he should meet you at the Car Park on Elson Street near the Southwest Pier. He didn't explain why, he just asked specifically for you. You know the rest!"

Janus clicked the safety back on his gun and slide it back in the holster, taking the time to turn back over the expensive glass coffee table in courtesy. "Thank you... We get along much better when you cooperate" he smiled.

"Don't ask me what he wants you for... he didn't say. He just paid me for pointing you to him. He said it had to be secret." said Remmy, taking a recovery sip of the whiskey from the shock that had almost given him a heart attack.

"Believe me... I'm not asking you... He's not stupid enough to tell a mob boss that." he said, walking over to the door. "If I were you, I'd remove the phone bugs, violation of privacy and attempting to blackmail are seriously offenses... Next time I'm around... I'll inspect your lines and if they haven't been taken out... you are going to a cell." he said.

Remmy watched him walk out the door and ruffled his paws through his hair. He had no idea that Janus had known about the wiretaps for this long. He had felt that they had built up a good working relationship and Remmy had also helped to report the large drug traffickers inside the club and get them squarely arrested.

Until a few days ago, all was normal. A regular of the bar, who used to come with a group of his research associates suddenly turned up on Remmy's door, asking to speak with him. He tells him that he must contact DEA Officer Janus Everson and ask for him to meet with him at this location. He then disappears without a trace and Remmy just forgot about it, until Janus came to his door. He was uncertain why Mr Greyfell had chosen to make contact this way but it must have meant that he was being watched and he was unsure about being followed.

Oh well! he thought, calling one of his employees upstairs to tell him to removed the wire taps. "It's not my problem anyway..."

Chapter Five

Seventeen years previous...

He looked out of the car window, watching the traffic glide by as they passed the huge towers in the Upper City of Crystal Lake.

Space was at a premium on this island city so all the privileged residents lived in the huge hundred floor tower blocks that jutted up from the foundations far below as the freeways and artificial streets, built on a "plate" separating the Upper and Lower city, continued to support the traffic and the middle class residents.

Originally, Crystal Lake had been one city at ground level but over the hundreds of years, engineers had been brought in to build an artificial plate high above the Lower City, supported by four massive colemns that protruded from the exterior of the plate, down into the abyssal depths of Lake Crystal.

Only the most expensive and exclusive residents could afford to live in the highest blocks of the many different skyscrapers that protruded high into the sky, with the most expensive properties being rich and exclusive manors built at the top of each skyscraper.

"Master Everson..?" asked a rather parched, old Cervijord, a deer-like species with long white hair that had once been a brilliant shade of blonde, possibly decades earlier.

The Cervijord originated from one of the most northern countries on Terra, which some of the coldest climates on the planet. Many had emigrated to different countries and were seen doing many different jobs all over more temperate areas such as Vulnira.

A twelve year old Janus Everson looked away from the window where he had been watching over all the hustle and bustle of the streets outside, with the many different cafes and boutiques. He faced the old doe, looking at her brilliant white fur which she had assured him before that she had been born with.

She was wearing a long back dress and a hat with a long veil that made her face more difficult to see, a very conservative dress which was strictly adhered to by all the females in Crystal Lake.

"Yes?" he asked, speaking with the beginnings of the same formal tone that would come to dominate his adult life.

The inside of the vehicle was spacious and comfortable, filled with many expensive fittings and comforts that were not afforded to less affluent people, especially those in Lower City which people in the Upper City prefered not to talk about.

"Lady Everson has requested that you be brought to the study when you come home from the Education Centre" said the doe. She looked down at a collection of files by her side and pulled one in to log Janus's location as she had been required to do by his stepmother.

Janus's biological mother had died when he was only three years old during an accident at the plant which Janus's father owned. Janus's father was one of the most respected manufacturers of satellite parts for use in Vulnira's attempt to create a holographic cellular phone system in orbit above Terra.

His mother, Celine had been commissioning the latest manufacturing plant of the time for Everson Systems when the infamous "Sarantaga Riots" happened almost nine years ago.

The Sarantaga Riots were one of the darkest chapters in the history of Crystal Lake. For over two hundred years, the rich citizens had been using the run down industrial estates of the Lower City to create huge processing plants, offering extremely low paid work and minimal safety to the residents of the Lower City.

Many residents had already died because of the toxic fumes being produced by these operations and that the local government had not installed atmospheric air purifiers in the Lower City, deeming it "too expensive" to set up and maintain.

The Sarantaga Riots changed all that...

Over five hundred manufactory workers from the small region of Sarantaga in the Lower City rose up against the local government in protest for better working conditions and sabotaged dozens of local manufacturing plants with makeshift explosives.

Celine Everson, a woman that had been extremely influential and was considering running for office as Mayor of Crystal Lake was reduced to just a name on a long list of victims of the uprising. Many more being added to the list as the local government with backing from the National Parliament decided to put down the revolt with brutal suppression.

In the end, the death toll was way over eleven thousand and it became infamous as the most violent loss of life since the formation of modern Vulnira.

The loss of his mother had greatly affected Janus's father who switched the companies focus from Cellular Technology, to Weapons Development and now Janus rarely saw him at all. His care was left to that of his stepmother, Elise.

The vehicle approached towards one of the colossal skyscrapers, boarding a huge platform which could be driven on from the road itself.

The platform then began to elevate up the side of the building, stopping every so often to let the other cars on the huge vehicular elevator off and enter the building through huge glass doors with internal roads leading into the massive glass skyscraper structures.

After about ten minutes, Janus reached the top of the colossal glass tower and his car drove off the lift and onto the driveway of an impressive, multi-story manor house. This tower was not the largest in Crystal Lake, that honour the Governmental Tower with the Mayor's residence on top of it however from this tower, Janus could see the distant shoreline of the many small villages that lined the shores of the lake.

There was a large shimmering transparent force shield that held back the intense wind speeds at this altitude and provided a way to protect people from falling off the top of the tower by accident. However the gardens and the manor itself easily rivaled the most exclusive stately homes of our world.

The car came to a complete stop after driving up the driveway and onto a beautiful crafted drive, with a huge fountain at the center of the courtyard. Janus knew this fountain well as it was the same one that he had almost drowned in when he was only four years old. He was still unable to completely recall the incident, only the sensations he felt and what happened when one of the servants pulled him from the water.

"Mrs Skuld?" asked the young Master Janus with a curious tone as they began to get out of the car and breath in the beautiful clean air that the rest of the Lower City could only dream about.

Mrs Skuld paused to get out the car, she had been busy putting away her files and looked back at him through her small spectacles, a substitute for her degrading eyesight of her older age. She also made sure that her outfit was completely smooth as Lady Elise Everson disapproved of anything that was not perfection.

"Yes my dear?" she said, a kind and loving smile coming over her old and aged face. She had known and helped to raise Janus since he was a baby. In a way, she felt as close to him as any mother did and she know that Janus felt the same way.

However there was always a formality there, always a "Mrs Skuld", she longed to be something different. Regretting the fact that she had chosen this life and never decided to have children of her own.

"What did Elise want to see me about?" asked Janus inquisitively.

"You mean "mother", do you not, Master Everson?" asked Mrs Skuld, who was struggling to get all the way out of the deep leather seats inside the car as Janus very chivalrously gave her some help.

"She.. is not my... mother..." grunted Janus as he attempted to pull the slightly overweight doe from her chair and help her out of the car.

"I would not let her hear that if I were you..." cautioned Mrs Skuld with a serious expression. "She does care about your greatly."

Rather than argue, Janus decided to remain silent, finishing helping Mrs Skuld out of the car who really should have been retired by now as the driver of the car also came to assist them and brought the old lady her walking stick.

He knew different.

"Go to the study, Master Everson" replied Mrs Skuld who was already out of breath just from that one little task, struggling to recapture it as she spoke. She had severed this household for a long time and by extension, it had given her a very privileged lifestyle as confident and, what Janus believed could have been a possible lover to his father. "I shall be fine."

Janus nodded and walked up the steps into the lavishly decorated great hall, taking the first door on the left and proceeding down the hallway, his tail twitching nervously.

He was absolute dreading this...

His school bag slung over his shoulder, he approached the large oak doors of the study and wrapped on it with his knuckles.

After a few seconds, he heard a soft and sweet call to "come inside, sweetheart.".

This made him especially weary.

"My sweet little pudding..!"

A female fox with long red velvet hair sprung to him wearing an elegant purple dress. He had distinctive red fur with the occasional white fur markings that travelled up the side of her body.

She rushed up and pulled Janus into an intimate hug. Something that he had always hated about her. Elise was always so tactile with him, even when he had not asked for it.

"How was today?" she asked, looking down at him with her large, dark red eyes, large and alluring and something that his father had found irresistible. "Did you have a good day?"

"Fine" replied Janus, looking down at the floor and trying to make direct eye contact with her stepmother as beams of sunlight illuminated the room through the large bay windows at the back of the study.

There was an awkward silence as Elise released him and returned to her desk, surrounded by the books and the large marble fireplace that adorned the walls of the study.

Janus did not move, he just stood there, looking down at the floor, hoping that he would be allowed to go up to his room in short order.

There was no such luck today.

"Come... Come!" gestured Elise to a leather chair beside her, pouring herself a cup of tea from the boiling teapot on her the desk, which was strewn with papers labelled "Everson Systems" on them. Janus's father had allowed Elise to take an active role in the management of the family business as a consulting director, which meant that she had direct access to all the buisness accounts.

Janus felt that he should comply and walked over to the leather chair, dropping his bad by the side of it and slumping down into it as Elise, as glamorous as she was dressed up, slumped down in the chair next to him.

Elise was an enigma to Janus. He had absolutely no idea where she had come from or where his father had met her. He barely saw his father as he was regularly off around the world to various corporate events. He just woke up one morning a few years ago and she was there, moving her belongings into their house, something which Janus had absolutely no say over.

She ran her fingers through her long scarlet hair, now a bit worn and past its prime but still kept in perfect condition with the amount of hair products that she used in it every day. "So... do you like my dress?"

Janus grimaced a little internally. How did he know that the first thing that came out of her mouth was going to be about her?

"It's nice..." he said, almost immediately, trying not to look directly at her. It was if he had been a robot and was preprogrammed to give these kinds of responses, without emotion, or feeling.

"Nice..." replied Elise with somewhat of a sound of frustration in her voice as she trailed her spoon around the cup of tea that she had just put sugar in. Tipping it forward slightly but deliberately, the boiling contents spilling only slightly on Janus's exposed leg.

Janus winced in pain while Elise looked at him. For a second, her loving and sweet facade replaced with a cold and psychopathic glare, deriving some measure of satisfaction for his insolent insult.

"Oh my!" she said immediately, returning to her sweet side almost immediately after. "I am sorry Janus, my hand must have slipped."

"It's alright..." replied Janus, almost on command while using a cloth from the desk to clean the boiling hot tea from his trousers.

He had lived with Elise since he was three years old and she was always doing this to him. She used to play "games" with him where she would pinch him and ask him to pinch her back. But over the years, her treatment of him had become even worse, she would continually burn him with the back of hot spoons from her tea or knock books onto him on purpose while she was sorting out the collection in the library.

Janus knew that she was a monster, but he was powerless to do anything about and deeply confused from her behavior. It had led him to become a very quiet and insular child, especially when she would watch him with the servants to make sure that he was not going to say anything about her treatment.

She would pretend that this was all a game...

But it was not a game to him. This was his life.

"I... " responded Janus, the tears welling up in his young eyes.

"Ah!" said Elise, stopping him mid sentence. "What did we say about crying?" she said, as she casually sipped her tea.

"Crying is for girls?" responded Janus, still trying to hold back the tears.

"Are you a girl?" asked Elise, looking rather unconcerned as she sipped her tea.

"No..."

"Then don't cry... Or I'll have to make you dress up in little pink ribbons and march you round the house again. I doubt you want to go to school like that." she said, without showing any sort of emotion on her face, although through that mask, Janus could see a slight glint of sadness in her eyes.

Her own pain... buried deeply and quietly.

"Go upstairs and do your homework muffin" she said, looking over at him.

Janus immediately got up, he had finally been given the excuse he wanted to leave the room. He reached for his bag, his tail high up behind him, indicating his nervousness.

"Wait... " said Elise, looking over at him from the chair.

Janus looked over him. What did she want now?

"I have heard from Mrs Skuld that you have been refusing to call me mother." she said, a flash of anger in his eyes that instantly made him fearful. "If I ever hear that again, I shall come into your room at night and cut you up into tiny pieces so that your father will never find you. Not that he cares about you that much."

The evil comments filled Janus with sadness but he knew better then to react to such words.

"I'm sorry... mother" he said, almost automatically.

"Oh I'm sure you didn't mean it sweety" Elise beamed a smile at him and the sunlight had returned to fill the room, for now. "I love you."

"I love you too... mother"

"Now go, dinner will be served soon..."

Janus rushed out the room as fast as he could. Elise took a perverse pleasure in reminding him that his real mother was dead and she was all he had now. He could not cry.

He would not cry.

Chapter Six

A car pulled up in the abandoned car-park just outside the south-west docks of Crystal Lake. These docks had been hardly used since the invention of shuttle however now they were used mostly for private boats of the most privileged in the city.

The car park was also falling into disrepair after several decades of neglect, parts of the walls were beginning to crumble under the weight of the structure. However the government had seen no need to replace it as only a few citizens actually used it.

The car that was turning into it new proceeded up to the second level and parked in a suitably discreet darkened corner. Some junkies had decided to make their home here and this place had become a refuge for the homeless on the higher levels. Janus turned off the engine and waited patiently.

He was not sure what he was going to find when he encountered this "Obsidian" who had asked for him. He was a low ranking scientist at one of Phoenix Grace's archaeological research sites and it did not seem that he would be much use.

Phoenix Grace, under the directorship of Ivan Grace had spent most of his time repairing public relations after the Equus Village Disaster, almost twenty years ago. Phoenix Grace had attempted to move the nomadic Equus people from their established settlement some twenty-five miles from Crystal Lake. Many of the local populace felt that the nomads were "unsophisticated" and were a danger to their culture, some even going as far as to discriminate against the equine-like race when they attempted to come to Crystal Lake to sell goods and trade.

Truthfully, a lot of people did not understand the highly spiritual nature of the Equus and saw them as a threat because of that lack of understanding. However Phoenix Grace, along with the Vulnira Government had discovered that their settlement was sat near a canyon with rich Coramaline deposits which could be used to build more efficient engine parts for their experimental shuttles. Phoenix Grace attempted to apply pressure to the Vulnira Government in order to have the Equus forcibly relocated.

Despite their agreement and various rumours of corruption and accepting bribes within the government, Phoenix Grace was given permission to look for a suitable relocation site so that they could begin strip mining the area. This enraged the Equus who felt deeply connected the planet and the land so they refused to be moved.

The Vulnira Government, wanting a swift resolution to this crisis, deferred authority over the matter to Phoenix Grace who claimed via local media that it was "economically viable" to do this in order to back public opinion for a forced relocation.

Out of fear and distrust of their foreign ways, the people agreed.

However the relocation did not go according to plan and the Equus began to peacefully resist, many refusing to leave their homes. Phoenix Grace, under the ruthless ownership of Cecelia Grace who had been a ruthless businesswoman all her life, ordered the troops to remove the Equus by "any means necessary".

This action resulted in the deaths of over one hundred and fifty people, with Phoenix Grace claiming it had been the result of toxic fumes that had unexpectedly triggered during their attempts to mine the Cormaline. Phoenix Grace managed to take some of the responsibility but suppressed the truth of what they had done.

In an attempt to mend public relations, Phoenix Grace had ordered a number of community and historical projects and had recruited scientists all over the world. They also provided for the education and upbringing of the few children that survived. As a result, Phoenix Grace was able to maintain most of their public approval and avoid a huge scandal.

However, when Cecelia died, almost ten years ago and her son, Ivan took over, Phoenix Grace became much less involved in the affairs of other governments, not exercising its huge political influence on many occasions, allowing the people to trust the company again.

Now Phoenix Grace was the face of pharmaceuticals all over the world.

Now Janus was wondering why an employee would want to talk to him about the Yiff trade. Maybe, some high level executives at Phoenix Grace were using and he could expose them which might lead to the source of the drug?

He leant back and took out a cigarette, lighting it and running his paw through his hair. He looked like he had not slept well since the death of his husband and there was something more cold, more uncaring from the idealistic young fox that he used to be.

He never used to smoke until that day.

There was a knock at the window that brought him out his train of thought. He unlocked the car door and set his gun on the dashboard. A guy with a hooded jacket on got into his car. He couldn't at first tell if it was a guy or a girl.

"Are you Janus Everson from the DEA?" he asked quickly, confirming it was a male, despite Janus not being able to see his face clearly in the dark. Janus looked over to the mysterious male, examining him up close to make sure that this was not a trick or some kind of deception.

"Who wants to know?" he said quickly.

"Answer the question..." the voice replied with a serious, but somewhat frightened tone, all the time the figure shuffling nervously on their feet while looking over thier shoulder intermittently.

"Yes, I'm Detective Everston" said Janus, feeling somewhat bemused by all this cloak and dagger nonsense. He felt like he was in a spy movie.

The figure pulled back his hood to reveal the elongated face of a white horse. He checked around the car park to see if there was anyone there and turned his large green emerald eyes onto Janus.

"My name is Obsidian Greyfell, I work at the Everonth Mountains archeological dig." he said quickly, as if he was seriously pressed for time, taking another quick glance over his left shoulder, his ears flicking back and forth, straining to pick up any sort of signs he had been followed.

"Uh-huh..." nodded Janus. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"I am getting there!" interjected Obsidian quickly. "Well, a few months ago we discovered pieces of this artifact which appeared to be of an origin that we have never seen before. There was lots of fused parts of metal that we couldn't account for in the region. Further digs are underway but we uncovered some chemical vials from this area... but they were stolen. Take a look at this."

Obsidian dipped his hand into a small brown satchel that he brought with him and produced a small piece of crumpled up paper which he passed to Janus. On the piece of paper was a list of numbers and picture of what looked like some kind of chemical chain that Janus had seen in school one.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak nerd.." said Janus with a sarcastic quip.

Obsidian sighed and was kind of hoping that he would not have to explain himself. "Well... those were the chemical analysis of the content of the vials stolen from the dig. See anything familiar?"

"No... should I?" asked Janus, feeling this might have been a complete waste of time.

"Those are the chemical compositions from those vials and this..." he produced another piece of paper, this one notably cleaner. "This the chemical analysis for Harprognatus Exornus, commonly known as Yiff".

Suddenly a thunderbolt went off in Janus's head as he compared the two images, both were identical. It was the same chemical. Janus could not actually believe it when Obsidian had claimed that the chemical was not even natural in origin, that it might have originated from another planet... like aliens... The whole thing sounded ridiculous.

"So where does this stuff come from?" Janus asked again, just to be sure he heard it right.

"We don't know, we have never encountered anything like this before. It is completely possible that this chemical is not actually naturally occurring on this world."

"Oh come on!" laughed Janus as he smoked his cigarette. "You don't seriously expect me to swallow that shower of rubbish, do you?"

"Well personally, I don't care because it is the truth. We don't know where it comes from. All we know is that somebody stole it from the dig site and is now manufacturing it as a narcotic."

Janus felt like he needed a drink. "Alien Drugs!?". This all sounded like something from a science fiction movie rather than real life, he figured that there was probably another explanation that Obsidian had not accounted for. He looked like the type of person who would jump to the conclusion of "aliens" pretty quickly, like one of those nutjobs on "The Alien Conspiracy" television show.

"So, do you have any idea who it might be?" he asked, after a few seconds of silence.

Obsidian looked around again, making doubly sure that Janus and him were completely alone before he indulged him.

"Well, I reported the vials as missing and a few days later, Phoenix Grace commandos sealed off the camp. They also made me sign a nondisclosure agreement so I would agree not to talk about our discovery with the press or the police."

"Well... fat lot of good that did!?" sneered Janus as he threw the used cigarette out the window.

Obsidian did not look impressed at all, infact that statement had produced a rather annoyed look.

"You may want to take the piss but I don't. Phoenix Grace has people watching me ever since we made this discovery. There is something seriously wrong here. Are you going to help me or not!?"

There was an awkward silence in the car for just a few seconds before Janus turned the key and ignited the engine. The car sprung to life. "So... what do you want me to do?" he asked, turning the car out of the spot and proceeding down the ramp into the street.

"Take this" said Obsidian, pulling out a short rectangular card which he passed to Janus as he went to get out the car. "Its my key card, replace my photo with yours and it will give you full access to their central office building in Upper City, where you can investigate. If you don't find anything, at least I can rest easy."

Obsidian looked around him before stepping out of the car, not so much as wishing Janus goodluck before proceeding to rush off to the stairs of the car park. Janus sat in the car for a moment, thinking over if this guy was actually mad or not.

The card at least appeared to be genuine. He was not sure what he was going to do yet but this plot had only deepened. He had a burning desire to find out who was responsible for the murder of his wife.

He would follow each and every lead until he found that person. There would be no trial, no prison, no judge, no sentence. There would on be the sweet bliss of revenge, and he did not care who that person was in life.

They would suffer as his wife did.

Chapter Seven

High above the skyline of Crystal Lake, in one of the tallest skyscrapers, a building that jutted out the ground like a giant tower of glass and steel, shining like a sword at the near center of the city was the Phoenix Grace Regional Offices.

The building shone bright like a diamond, even amongst the blackness of the surrounding sky. There was not building in Crystal Lake more magnificent than this even the central tower of the Vulnira Governmental Tower. Each level had been painstakingly crafted to a beautiful tower that contained a huge, pyramid shaped structure constructed completely of four large highly reflective mirrors.

These mirrors were designed to guide air traffic, both shuttle and commercial aircraft at night so that they did not smash into the side of the colossal tower. The beams of light, appeared like a ray of light from heaven itself as it reflected for miles around the lake that encompassed Crystal Lake.

However these huge spires were not unique to just Crystal Lake. Phoenix Grace had commercial interests all over the world and buildings like these began to tower high into the sky at major cities around the world, including the Phoenix Grace Headquarters in the mountain city of Helfheim in the northern country of Cervijord.

These colossal spires were the brainchild of Phoenix Grace's former CEO, Cecelia Grace herself and a team of architects. Cecelia had wanted to demonstrate the far reaching power of the company and its need to transcend political allegiance or borders to one particular company. They had been a massive construction project that had taken most of her life to see completed but ironically, she never lived to see their completion, some fifthteen years ago.

That was her legacy... a legacy of heavy handed business tactics, extortion and political corruption which she had forged against all odds.

Her son however, was different.

From his official take over of the massive conglomerate, Ivan Grace had attempted to rectify many of the mistakes his ruthless mother had made and given Phoenix Grace a much more friendly face in today's world. He knew that secretly, his mother had actually devoted a lot of corporate time in developing private military contracts for general weapons and viral weaponry, going as far as to make deals with terrorist organisations under the nose of many of Terra's governments.

"Whatever makes money" she used to say to him growing up. He had never really challenged her on this as his mother was an intimidating person in life that could never be talked round.

Now Ivan was free, free to try and make something positive out of his company. However due to his many philanthropic actions around the world, the company has suffered somewhat financially and other rival companies, smelling the scent of blood at Phoenix Grace were starting to edge closer and closer, hoping to get a chance to sit at the table.

"Yes!?" said Ivan as he looked up from his office on the top floor of the Crystal Lake Branch Offices. He normally would not come out to this branch personally but the current situation warranted his attention. The beeping from his desk continued.

"Dammit!" he thought as he had clumsily forgotten to press the button down and talk through the intercom that was embedded into his desk with its flashing, holographic display. He pushed the button down and then spoke again.

"Yes Gina, what is it?"

"Sir, a Miss Equinox is here to see you. I tried to inform her that you were busy but she was insistent..." said a female voice over the intercom.

Ivan looked around for a moment before responding. His office was huge, easily the size of a grand ballroom, each of the four walls were made out of glass which showed the dazzling cityscape of Crystal Lake from every direction. The floor was completely marble, mixed with Jevonite, a rare and beautiful green gemstone that glittered as you walked over it, like small stars in the night sky.

There was a small circular elevator at the other side of the office which was glass and gave access to the floor below where his secretary, Gina was currently working. The lights of the office were currently dimmed so that Ivan could enjoy the breathtaking view of Crystal Lake, Lake and the mainland farmland beyond. This was by far one of the tallest areas in Crystal Lake, a place for solitude and to truly admire the city.

Ivan himself was a rather small looking hybrid of Fesalis and a smaller ocelot like species called Miravikta which had long since seen their country consumed by the vast Fesalis Empire. He was light brown with dark spots all over his body.

His mother had been a Fesalis Viscount, part of the nobility and she had hoped that her son would have more of her traits, something she had constantly reminded him of when she was alive.

Ivan, always a lover of simplicity and efficiency, wore a black turtleneck shirt with black trousers and small framed glasses that he required for reading.

Ivan pressed down the button at his desk again, aside from the elevator and his desk and chair, the room was almost completely empty.

Minimalist... as he preferred.

"Send her up" he said before sitting back down in his chair to relax for a second as he heard the whirl of elevator going down.

Ding!

A Vulnira female walked off the elevator and started the walk to Ivan's desk. The "click-clack" of her high heels could be heard on the marble floor as she walked, echoing off the walls and over the complete silence in the room.

The female was tall, about five foot eight and she wore a white office shirt with a small black skirt. Ivan noticed that the shirt was barely able to contain her rather large breasts which jiggled through her visible cleavage, her chest seemed like it could burst out at any time. Her hair was a rather unnatural dyed blonde, long and straight but it was currently tied up in a formal bun.

She appeared to be carrying a small, metal briefcase but Ivan had only noticed that as he had been looking at other things as she walked up to the desk.

"We have a problem..." she said, her voice, powerful and stern with a slight dominatrix tone to her voice that Ivan found somewhat intoxicating. He was sure that she dressed this way on purpose, to please potential male business clients.

Ivan sat back in his large comfortable leather chair. He was having a hard time, not staring at her rather large boobs which seemed to have a mind of their own. "W-What sort of p-problem?" he asked.

Equinox sighed, powerful men were so easily swayed for a bit of flesh, it always seemed rather pathetic to her. She had made her career on the backs of the men like this.

"Aaron's "little side project" has gone a little out of the realms of our control." she returned, keeping her eyes fixed on Ivan as she sat down at his desk.

All Ivan could look at was her huge boobs.

"How puerile" she though, noticing his rather intoxicated gaze. The esteemed Ivan Grace was known for being a serial womanizer by much of the media.

"I told Aaron, his little genetic splicing experiment could only take place as long as it did not risk the majority of our mission, Cassandra!" exclaimed Ivan, snapping back into the real world from the land of "Boobopolis" for a just a second. He looked up at Cassandra's hazel eyes as he spoke.

"Well it seems he thought he could make a better profit, selling it on the black market...." she spoke softly but there was a decisive element of strength to her character.

Doctor Cassandra Equinox was a well known business aide and confidant of Ivan Grace. She had begun her life as a nuclear physicist, designing new weapons of mass destruction from the Vulnira Military. It was the hope of the country that these weapons would never be used in combat but were destructive enough to leave cities as smoldering craters.

After a short hiatus, Cassandra had decided to start a company that manufactured missile parts for the military. Within the first year, she had already made her first million and within five, her company had officially become part of Phoenix Grace's overwhelming majority, rising quickly to take over as the head of Research and Development for the Crystal Lake branch.

"I see... what would you suggest we do?" asked Ivan, getting up and looking at the huge transparent windows behind him. "We cannot allow his greed to compromise our plans..."

He was talking about the former Director of Sciences within Phoenix Grace, Doctor Aaron Naga who had since gone missing after the Everonth discovery. He had been leading a number of different projects in the area but had not reported in work for almost two months. Phoenix Grace private military had raided his house under the "Company Secrets Act" and had found nothing suggesting that he had fled the area.

"I would be more concerned about him going to the local authorities" said Equinox as she adjusted her shirt while sat on the table, her tail swinging behind her. "He could cause a lot of problems before we are ready to commence with the operation."

Ivan looked somewhat concerned, he could not risk another incident with the public and the backlash like his mother had. It had taken him years to build the company back up from the last scandal to a position of trust again. "I can't believe he would do that, he gains nothing from it."

"But still, it is a concern and I suggest that we track him down and have him eliminated before this gets out of hand."

"I really don't think..." started Ivan who wanted to avoid any kind of bloodshed or problems within the company.

"Really Ivan, you think he won't go to the police..." interrupted Cassandra, leaning fully over the table at him, so far that he could clear see her large breasts. "He knows what we are trying to do and we must take all measures to protect the Project until it is complete..."

"B-But..."

"No buts! I have already taken care of it and speaking of "taking care", you seem pretty tense, perhaps I can help you unwind..."

Cassandra grinned as she slowly began to open her shirt. Ivan was slightly pushed back, her body was amazing. He knew he was going to enjoy this.

Chapter Eight

"The weather tomorrow will be cloudy with a touch of rain..." The advisor on the screen spoke in soft terms as the broadcast was coming to a close across the city.

Marilyn, a small orange vixen was watching the news report with her feet up on her desk as Janus entered the room. She had been waiting for him to get back so that she could lock up the office and leave but Janus had kept her waiting for almost two hours.

The police station had long since closed with nobody else left in the huge skyscraper. Janus had a small office in the west wing of the tenth floor, where his secretary, Marilyn Carson, a young but perky Vulnira managed his affairs.

"Mr Everston!" she exclaimed as Janus walked through the door at almost half past ten at night. "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming back. I've been here for two hours! I hope I'll get paid for staying out so late!"

Janus sighed, she had started the moment he had got in, blaring with a voice like a foghorn that just went straight through him. She had a really annoying voice, it was high pitch and Janus thought that she could probably hear her from the other end of a rugby pitch.

"Marilyn?" he asked as he plonked his coat on the rack besides the door. "Why are you still here, I told you I would be out working tonight..."

"What!?" asked Marilyn, releasing that she never really had to be here at all. "When was this?"

"I sent you an email from my car." replied Janus, as he took out a cigarette and opened the window of his office, which allowed sounds from the city below to seep into the room, car horns and police sirens.

The heartbeat of the city itself.

"I never received anything!" blared Miss Carson as she checked her email inbox on the computer. She had not received anything from him all day, it had been extremely boring with no calls and she should have headed home at seven o'clock.

Janus put his paw to his head as he leant out the window and took a drag on the cigarette. Smoking was usually prohibited in these buildings and Janus took great care not to set off the fire alarm and sprinkler system.

"Well I don't fucking know, do I?" he shouted, finally having enough of her irritable voice. His mind was still on the meeting with Obsidian and how his investigation had led him to Phoenix Grace. "It probably didn't send, signal isn't perfect, y'know!?"

Marilyn was about to say something but as Janus turned around he noticed a small red dot moving about the room. He looked at the window to see where it was coming from but could see nothing in the darkness of the night. Turning back, to ignore Marilyn's latest complaint and the barrage that he was about to receive, he suddenly realised.

But it was too late...

"Get Down!" he suddenly shouted before a bullet smashed through the glass of one of the window panes with a quiet but deadly whizz. Janus suddenly dived to the floor, pulling out his own sidearm which he had been carrying with him.

He had tried to warn Marilyn but it was too late, the bullet hit her straight in the gut and sent her reeling backwards with a scream. She landed behind the desk, which effectively covered her against the other two or three shots that came afterwards.

Janus suddenly felt exposed. His heart was pumping as he attempted to get behind that narrow edge of a shelving unit of case files. He poked his head out and peered into the night, attempting to assess where the sniper was shooting from.

He could not believe anyone would attempt to kill Marilyn, she was annoying but...

Oh no... he suddenly realised that they might have been attempting to aim for him but his movement from the window while he was arguing with her had caused the sniper to hit her instead.

He couldn't see anything in the whirl of lights that lit up several skyscrapers across the plaza from his building.

Then just as he poked his muzzle out...

Whoosh! Another bullet came flying past his head.

He could not deal with this alone, he needed support. There was no commotion in the street below, no screaming that would normally come with somebody firing a weapon and no sound of a gunshot.

That meant the assassin was probably using a silenced sniper rifle of some description.

Janus had a plan.

He quickly turned, shooting a few rounds into the same pane of glass that the sniper's bullets had come through, causing it to shatter. His gunshots were loud and unsilenced so they echoed through the empty building, the window shattered as he intended a breeze of cool air from the outside flooded the room, while an ailing Marilyn's heavy breathing behind the desk.

The noise had created just the reaction he wanted, the shattering of the window had caused commotion down in the street below with people screaming as the walked by. Help was on the way as people came investigating the gunshots and the glass and there was no way that a sniper could operate that way without being notice. Janus just hoped he had not injured anyone on the street below.

After a few seconds, Janus made a bolt across the room, diving behind the desk as he had the opportunity to attend to Marilyn who was clutching the bullet hole in her stomach. She was in obvious pain and the wound was causing a substantial amount of bleeding.

Using the desk as cover from anymore shots encase the sniper was still there, Janus ripped off the arm of his shirt, using it to form a makeshift bandage and applied pressure to the wound that Marilyn was clutching. He knew that help was going to arrive soon and he had seen a lot of bullet wounds, this one was serious but survivable.

"A-Am I-I going to d-die?" asked Marilyn while looking up at Janus. From the sound of her voice it was obvious that shock was slowly setting in as the loss of so much blood, so quickly had severely weakened her.

"Listen!" said Janus commandingly as he kept his paw down on the cloth over the wound. "You are not going to die Mari, I promise you that. I won't let you... y'hear?". He couldn't help but have flashbacks to that fateful day that had changed his life forever and what that meant to him.

He wouldn't let another person die.

"I... I'm s-sorry, I s-shouted at y-you" she said weakly.

Janus did not understand, the bleeding just would not stop. He reminded himself of the first aid course he had taken on gunshot wounds.

"1. Apply pressure to the wound in order to stop the bleeding and remind the patient not to panic."

Why was this not working!?

He heard the blaring of sirens approaching the police station, he knew that help was coming. He just had to make sure she stayed alright until then. He never really liked her, she was a rude, overbearing bitch but he would not lose her.

He would never lose anyone again.

"Sshhh!" said Janus calmly, he knew it had suddenly gone from looking good to going very very bad but he could not let her know that. She had to fight, to hold on to that flicker, even when all the life was draining out of her. "You aren't gonna die!"

Marilyn closed her eyes and Janus instantly checked her pulse. It was extremely weak. "Hey Hey! Don't you dare go to sleep on me, you old bitch! Come on... Stay awake!" he shouted in desperation as Marilyn slowly began to slip away from him, her large blue eyes suddenly beginning to close.

Janus just felt it again... the pain, the powerlessness. "I-I'm sorry, I'm so... tire--"

Her warm blood was still soaking up the makeshift cloth bandage as Janus attempted to stop the bleeding by adding more, taking off his whole shirt and trying to stop the bleeding. "No! No! I won't let you go! Please god! No... Not again!"

Silence just filled the room as Marilyn's paw dropped to the floor as she touched his muzzle one last time.

She was gone.

Janus could not cry. He had spent all his tears on that day. He wanted to cry for her, she was an innocent, taking a bullet that was meant for him. Hell. She would not have even been here if it had not been for him. If he had come back to the police station after his meeting with Remmy.

But he could not cry, the tears would not come. He laid her lifeless body, the last flicker of life pouring out of her through the hole in her gut.

But why had she died?

Was it him? Did he do something wrong? Or was he just unable to protect anyone, was he such an idealistic fool in his youth and this was Athen's way of showing him he was. How much more was he going to take from him?

His feelings of remorse were suddenly replaced with something else. A willingness to accept his fate. Somebody wanted him dead...

They could have him dead.

He rose to his feet and waited. Waited for the bullet that would end his life, his suffering, his pain and the void that had been there ever since Cassata had died. The void that had turned him into an uncaring, unfeeling monster that could not even cry for the death of an innocent young woman.

"End my pain" he thought as he waited. Waiting for the end. "End it all"

But that bullet did not come. All he felt was the chill of the wind and even a few seconds later, when armed officers crashed through his office door. All he could think about was one thing.

"Why was he still alive? How much more was he going to suffer before the end?"

However a small flame of hope still burned inside him. The sniper had obviously fled once Janus had returned fire and caused such a racket. That had probably saved his life. He was alive for a reason. He still had his revenge.

But now it was a revenge for two.

Chapter Eight

He felt like he had to watch his back every single time he ventured out the front door now. He was not really scared of that though, being killed was the least of his worried. He wanted the truth, that was all. Something so simple but could be absolutely devastating to so many people when he discovered it.

A week had passed since the incident and he had been detained by the police for questioning for a little over five days. They always asked the same questions, like they were testing him, hoping to catch him in a lie about the sniper and he was not allowed to leave. Not until the autopsy results had come back on Marilyn's body.

The report had shown some interesting findings but had also taken almost five days to complete. It had shown that Marilyn had suffered from Type-2 Diabetes in the early stages and probably would not have become aware of it until a few years later. However, the most interesting part that absolved Janus of all suspicion of this crime was the bullet that was found.

It was confirmed as being fired from a long ranged, B1988 semi-automatic sniper rifle and the bullets trajectory matched the physical evidence in the office itself, suggesting that it had come from the Furadyne Cosmetics building just across the central plaza which was vacant of staff except for a tiny security force at the front desk during the night.

There was something more interesting about the bullet which had baffled the team who performed the autopsy. The bullet was also a capsule which was designed to open when it impacted the body, releasing a powder anticoagulant into the wound which would hinder the body's natural attempts to close the wound and prevent additional bleeding. People shot even in a minor place with this kind of bullet would bleed out anyway and probably die without proper medical care in hours.

This made the bullet an efficient, nasty weapon.

Janus had finally been released from the cells after a rigorous five days of interrogation where he almost felt that the police were almost desperate to pin the crime on him. Having someone in custody already for the crime was much more media friendly then having somebody still at large with the dogs of the media accusing the police of doing nothing.

However he had avoided going to Marilyn's memorial service as he did feel a certain level of responsibility for her death. The bullet was meant for him. Somebody had tried to kill him and he could not understand the reasoning or how anyone could have known about his investigation.

This all seemed to be somehow connected to his investigation into Yiff. He needed to discover the truth. For the sake of two people's memories now.

***

Seventeen Years Earlier...

The entire mansion was quiet, there was not a sound except the wind outside. Some of the servants were still up, preparing the food for the next day and there was a faint sound of footsteps as the Canid security guards routinely patrolled the perimeter.

The night was extremely calm but Janus was unable to sleep.

He just could not take it anymore. He had tried to get Mrs Skuld and his father to listen to what Elise had been doing to him and he just could not seem to get anyone to take him seriously. His father had told him to "Stop inventing stories" as Mrs Skuld claimed that she had never witnessed Elise doing anything of sort with the small kit.

Nobody would understand. Maybe it was because none of them actually wanted to consider it.

Now he had been pushed to far.

He waited... for hours until everyone had gone to bed in the massive mansion and then he made his move.

He had previous stolen some food from the kitchen quarters downstairs while the chefs were unaware of it and wrapped it up in an old shirt, placing it into a bag with other essentials.

This manor was practically a fortress and he would have to wait until morning, when his father left to go to the office in order to stowaway on the huge tower elevator and then work his way to freedom.

Anything to be away from her.

He slowly and carefully opened the door of his huge bedroom, abandoning his warm and comfortable four poster bed and creeping out into the large marble floored hallway.

Janus had taken the time to plan this operation to the letter. His first real operation. He had played soldier in the garden alone when he was younger but this time he was playing for real.

He crept down the hallway, trying not to make a sound, trying not to wake anyone as he approached the huge master staircase.

"This is so stupid!" his mind kept telling him.

Where was he going to go? What was he going to do? He had tried to think these things through and decided that he wanted to be an actor. There was a travelling theater that was currently down at the dockyard for a few nights and he would stow aboard their ship to join them.

Anything to be away from her.

There was a noise and the sounds of hushed voices coming from a room on the way down the hallway. One that he would pass if he was going to make it to the staircase.

He took great care as he passed. One paw carefully placed in front of the other. He heard his name and could slowly but surely make out that his father and Elise were talking.

Curiosity got the better of him as he listened closer to the door.

"His grades are slipping darling, the teachers are really concerned that if this keeps up, he will be expelled from the Education Center."

His father, who Janus could not hear through the door responded.

"Yes" he said in his deep voice. "But do you think we really need to send him all the way to a specialist school. Anasera is so far away..."

Janus's eyes widened as he understood what they were talking about. They were going to send him away. Anasera was the country that bordered Vulnira and was fifteen hours away by plane at least!

"Trust me darling, it will really help install some discipline in the boy. I've already enquired about the school and they are happy to take him. They deal with many mentally dysfunctional children."

Janus was horrified at the conversation. Elise was lying. He had been doing really well at school but she had all his performance reports sent directly to her. How was he mentally dysfunctional? He had nothing wrong... It was all her!.

He accidentally knocked the small table next to the door as he turned around in sheer panic to leave, causing his parents to see him for a small second.

He needed to get away... He would not let them send him to Anasera, where he would never see his friends from the Education Center or Mrs Skuld again!

As he darted down the corridor, almost reaching the top of the stairs, he felt a paw grab him before he could run down them. He turned round in horror to see Elise had caught up with him and was now holding him by the wrist... very tightly.

"You should be in bed sweety" she said in her calm manner. Janus struggling against her, his paw suspended in the air as his father came out of the room to see them standing there.

"You're a liar!" spat Janus, looking to his father. "Father! She's lying!"

"I am very sorry that you needed to hear that sweety" smiled Elise sweetly. "But I'm afraid the decision has already been made. Isn't that right..." she looked at Janus's father with a renewed sense of triumph. "Darling?"

Janus could not do anything. He was powerless in this situation. Elise had won. She would get him sent away for some purpose. It all made sense now. She had been hurting him to claim that he was making up stories, she always hurt him in ways that never left any visible marks on his fur or body.

She wanted him out the way!

Janus felt an intense surge of anger, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Summoning an intense rage, he yanked his hand free and pushed Elise back, causing his father to come running down the hallway.

Elise, unable to keep her footing was pushed back, falling down the stairs backwards, her soft head, so laden with makeup and other cosmetics smacking the cold marble staircase on the way down.

She finally came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, blood trickling from her head.

Janus's father rushed down the staircase and past Janus to help her. Janus, who should have been relieved, was horrified by what he had down but also confused that his father had not thrown him down the stairs as well. Maybe he had not seen clearly what had happened, it was dark in the hallway.

Infact, he felt many different emotions all at the same time. The one that troubled him the most though...

Was relief...

Chapter Ten

The wind fluttered through the fur of Janus as he drove carefully down the open, dusty road. Traffic had been an absolutely nightmare getting out of Crystal Lake due to closures on several of the direct bridges to the mainland, causing him and Obsidian to take the ferry.

Obsidian, who was busy making sure that his long black main was not falling out of place due to the wind, had been forced to come along when Janus had turned up unexpectedly at his small flat in the Lower City and demanded that he had come with him to show him Everonth.

It really seemed as if Obsidian had not been given a choice. The death of so many people had driven Janus to an almost unnatural obsession with getting to the bottom of this case.

He had been suspended pending further investigation as the new Police Chief, a rather critical female Vulnira, was instantly suspicious of his tale of a sniper attempting to murder him. Janus was absolutely sure that they would try to pin Marilyn's murder on him eventually but at the moment, lacked critical evidence of such.

So Janus had decided to take matters into his own hands. He had handed over his identification and his sidearm but he had not handed over this case. This case was his and he was going to solve it.

Janus's car was rather expensive for the salary of a Police Officer. It was one of the newest models, a Stalis convertible, one of the most glamorous and expensive models on Terra, used by all the top celebrities.

Obsidian had enquired in a less direct way, how he managed to afford such a vehicle and Janus had responded with a cryptic response about how his father had once owned a sizable company and he received a multimillion pound inheritance when he died.

In actuality, Janus had seized the company from under his father when he was eighteen and then sold it. He had spent years, slowly buying up shares within the company until finally he had enough for a corporate takeover. He still remembered how good he felt, making his father suffer for all the years that he had let that evil witch Elise abuse him.

He had even claimed that Janus had pushed Elise at the time of her death but the local police found no evidence of that and her death was ruled as accidental due to the rather large quantity of alcohol in her bloodstream.

He had not meant to push Elise on that fateful night but now...

Now he wish he had.

However even he could not have anticipated how far he went...

For after he had seized Everson Systems and sold the company for the lowest bid, for his revenge, his father committed suicide.

Janus could still remember the bitter taste of the air at his father's funeral. Suddenly, victory did not taste as sweet as he thought,

He had won the war but was it worth it?

However by his twenty-first birthday, he had blown most of the money on lavish parties and on drugs and orgies, ending up in hospital multiple times. Was he simply trying to replace his feelings of abandonment with that of constant drinking, drug taking and countless sexual encounters with both men and woman?

He was not sure but he could not go on like that.

After one particularly indulgent party, he had landed himself at hospital, close to death. The doctors were forced to give him an emergency stomach pump and for a brief second, he saw his mother.

Whether it was the medicine, his imagination or a profound spiritual experience, it had a profound experience on the young fox. Once he recovered luckily, he changed his life, giving away all his remaining money to charity except the things that he had bought before, like the car and enrolling in the Crystal Lake Police Department.

Now he was a changed man from his youth, but still somehow scarred by it.

"I don't know why you wanted me to come with you Officer..." replied Obsidian, who took out some rather dorky looking sunglasses from his bag. They did not fit his long Equus face at all. "I don't see what more help I could be?"

"Simple!" replied Janus, shouting over the wind as they drove down the empty, dusty plains of northern Vulnira, towards the large mountains which were beginning to form in the distance. The road was almost completely empty, giving them an easy straight drive there. "I will need help getting into the Archeological Dig. That's where you come in."

"But I was only a minor historian!" replied Obsidian, who clearly wished that he had stayed behind. "I cannot even get into the classified areas myself!"

"Just help me get into the dig site and I'll do the rest!" replied Janus, though he had absolutely no idea what to expect from this. It was entirely possible that Phoenix Grace employed their own private security to this dig site, especially if it was as important as Obsidian had claimed it was.

"Look, I'm not getting shot for you..." replied Obsidian, almost immediately.

Janus looked at him, keeping one eye on the road. "Nobody is asking you to!" he responded curtly. "Once you get me inside, you can piss off back to Crystal if you want!"

Obsidian gave a rather feminine pout of disapproval as he crossed his arms in the chair. "I never asked to be involved in this in the first place" he said, making his annoyance obvious. "And... if Phoenix Grace discovered I helped law enforcement, I'll lose my job."

"Look... don't worry!" replied Janus as he picked up speed down the highway. He smirked and then said quickly. "It's not like you make that much anyway..."

"Oh you bitch!" replied Obsidian, looking at him in shock and annoyance, his white fur going a little pale due to the dust on the wind. "This dust is going to ruin my complexion and when we get back, I'm reporting you for kidnapping!" Obsidian continued, histronics clearly evident in his voice at the turn of events.

"Fine... whatever" replied Janus. He could not believe he had to spend another hour in the car with this drama queen.

***

Crystfall, was a small town on the edge of the huge Everonth Forest, at the base of the mountains. The town consisted of a few buildings, loosely strung along one main street, with only a few shops and utilities nearby.

This town had once been a mining town, mining precious minerals from the nearby Everonth Mines however the town had been greatly reduced in size over the years when the Vulperian Government had discovered that imported from Fesalis could be considerably cheaper than those produced locally.

This meant that the once great mining town, near the huge Everonth Mountains and at the springs of the river Crystal was reduced to a minor backwater town that nobody really paid any sort of attention to these days.

It was dusk when Janus's car pulled into the small car park of the local hotel, many of the shops and facilities that the town relied on almost completely were now closed but the porch light of the hotel continued to flicker gently as Janus got out the car.

"We are staying here?" replied Obsidian, looking at the crusty and dank hotel which consisted of a small office, owners residence and several rooms accessible from the porch, all made of a cheap white wood and painted about fifty years ago.

"Yeah, kinda reminds me of your place..." chuckled Janus as he began to walk over to the officer, ignoring Obsidian's camp failing at the snide jab.

The bell on the door range as he walked inside. The room was very small, consisting of a high front desk and two seats either side which looked like they had seen better days, like the net curtains on the window that had distinctive signs of mold growing on them.

Janus noticed a slight problem as he walked in the room and Obsidian entered behind him, still huffing and puffing like a child.

This desk had obviously been constructed for larger species and he was unable to reach the bell on the desk. He tapped his feet, slightly annoyed at the apparent lack of consideration in the construction of this place.

This was supposed to be his home country after all.

Obsidian let out a slight chuckle, looking at the situation. "Oh wow... you're not invincible" he said, ringing the bell on the desk for him.

Janus shot him a look that could have curdled cheese. Had he been carrying a weapon, he probably would have killed someone.

There was light footsteps coming from behind the desk as a tall grey and white deer-like Cervijord entered the room. He looked down at Janus and then over to Obsidian who were both standing there cluelessly.

The region of Everonth covered most of the northern border of Vulnira, beyond which was Cervijord, homeland of the Cervijord species which populated most of that area. Many of the people from Crystal Lake did not journey this far north without a reason.

The Cervijord looked over at both of his guests with his large black eyes. His ears twitched on the top of his head as he waited awkwardly for them to speak. He had a rather unusual pattern of white splodges scattered all about his grey fur, a pattern that Janus had never seen before but he rarely encountered Cervijord anyway. His antlers were rather small, probably cut down to keep him from smacking them on doorways which was a common problem among the Cervijord species.

"Yeah gents?" said the Cervijord deciding that he should speak first. He had been out the back, fixing a old motor vehicle, which were pretty common around this parts as most of their cars were unable to hover or completely incapable of flight, something which the modern cars and shuttles were easily capable of doing.

He smelt of engine grease and his cute tuft of light brown hair had streaks of black oil entangled in it, his hands wringing gently in a heavily oil stained rag that he used to clean them rather lacklusterly.

"Hi, I'd like to book a room for the night please?" asked Janus, discarding his usual well-spoken mannerisms. He suspected that his normal accent would not be very welcome around these parts. Residents of Crystal Lake's Upper City were renowned for their snobby attitudes,

"Oh sure thing!" replied the young buck, from his age, Janus could tell that he could not be any older than twenty. His smooth feminine frame was complimented by a set of blue garage overalls. He turned round to grab the check in book from the shelf behind him, Janus staring at his small, perfectly formed bubble butt and small cute tail which raised up above it.

"Do you want a double room, the honeymoon suite is still available... " said the young buck, looking through the pages of the hotel check in book.

Both Janus and Obsidian looked at each other and grimaced. "We are not a couple!" they both said in almost perfect unison.

The young buck rubbed his chin with his cloven hooved hand. "Riiight?" he said sarcastically. "Don't worry, we are discreet here boys." he said, giving a short wink.

Obsidian looked mortified and Janus looked like he had swallowed a lemon. What exactly was this buck referring to?

"Look, we'll take a room with two single beds please!" he said, producing his bank card.

"Very well" replied the young buck, asking them to sign their names into the book and taking Janus's back card with a chuckle. "Room 2... You can push the beds together in there..." he said with a cheeky wink. The wink was enough to push Janus over the edge.

"Look... " replied Janus as he slammed his right fist down on the desk with some force, the sound filling the air. "Listen to me here. I.. AM... NOT.....FUCKING....GAY!" he remarked with some force in his words, behind him Obsidian was sniggering.

The young buck game him a look over and produced a set of keys which he gave to Janus for the room.

"Shame..." came the soft retort from the buck as he then closed the guest book, placed it back under the counter and turned to walk away.

Chapter Eleven

Darkness had now fallen on Crysfall and the usually sleepy town had become both desolate and windy during the night. The wind howled through the trees as it seemed obvious that a storm may have been on its way.

The town's residents had already begun boarding up their windows and securing their storm shutters as the weather around this area could be heavily unpredictable. Just last year, the banks of the river Crystal had burst during torrential rain and flooded much of the north of the town.

Storm season was coming...

Obsidian lay with his mouth open in the other bed. Loud noises were coming from his mouth, a mixture of snoring, talking, moving and the occasional passing of gas that would have made this horse, so careful in his appearance, completely horrified to see.

Janus sat reading with the small lamp next to him illuminating his work. He was reading the reports that Obsidian had provided him with and they were vague at best. All the evidence pointed to something being discovered at the Everonth Mountains but that data was classified way beyond that of a simple historian like Obsidian.

He let his mind wonder for a second. Exactly why did Obsidian's parents decide to name him after a black stone when he had white fur? He could not really get around that while he looked around the room and then at the small, tatty digital clock on the bedside table.

3.30 AM

"Damn" he thought, really knowing that he should get some sleep but not feeling tired in any real way.

He looked around the hotel room. It had certainly seen better days, the dust filling the air and careworn atmosphere within it. It seemed as if it had not been decorated in ten years. There was wallpaper hanging off the walls and the design looked like something that would have been popular at least twenty years go. A floral motif...

It reminded him of Cassata. She always did like retro things and once wanted to wallpaper their living room in a similar style, something that Janus protested about loudly... in front of her parents. That did not go down well after they had left.

He remembered the day that he had told the new of Cassata's death to her parents. Both Vulnira collapsed in a pile of grief and her father explicitly told him never to contact them again in a fit of rage. He blamed him, and rightly so. Maybe he had taken his pursuit of justice too far?

Still things about that fateful day just did not add up...

His home was not in the Lower City, there were no junkies that roamed the street in his neighbourhood? So how did this particular junkie break into his specific home?

He shunted those thoughts aside in order to think about something else but it kept coming back to haunt him. Feeling the warmth drain from his wife as she lay there, in his arms and there was nothing he could do to save her.

Some days he could almost blot out the memory, especially with a drink.

Today, simply was not one of those days.

"Fuck" he thought as he got out of bed, making the cheap wooden floorboards creak as Obsidian continued to talk to himself about his need to buy bananas for the bath. He could not help to look at the horse and give a slight grin. He was certainly a character and he really did not want to see him get hurt through any of this.

He hoped that he would not.

Creeping slowly across the room, he came to the front door, and opened it. The slightly colder mountain air him straight in the face as he opened the door to go outside and suddenly he felt completely awake, as if the mountain itself had given him a forceful slap.

He stepped out on the wooden porch, the wood still creaking beneath his feet and took out a cigarette, lighting it and looking to the sky.

He was mesmerized by the completely clear sky, being able to make out every star, every constellation. Even at night, the towers of Crystal Lake were not able to conceal the light pollution from the city below. It was truly extraordinary.

Taking a moment to admire the beauty and to look at the thick vale of trees just over the main road from the hotel. He could understand how people could find it so peaceful here, almost immortal. Very little changed round here, compared to the constant hustle and bustle of city life.

Sometimes it was nice to stop and appreciate things like that.

"Maybe... when all this is over" he thought to himself as he sucked gently on the cigarette, creating a small orange glow in the darkness. "I'll move out of Crystal Lake and come here..?"

"F-Fuck!" shouted a voice coming from behind the hotel office, cutting through the silence like a knife, even at that difference.

Janus reacted instinctively, his hand going to his firearm and then realising that he had given it up. He slowly started to walk over towards where the sound was to investigate, his paws making a light crushing sound as he walked off the porch and onto the gravel of the car park.

He suddenly felt a vibration that made him stop in his tracks.

It was coming from his pocket and he recognised it immediately. His phone was buzzing to remind him of something. He had left it in the car for most of the day and only brought it in before he went to bed, leaving it on silent.

He flipped it open. Fourteen missed calls from Janice Truthtail.

Janice had been a close friend since he entered the Crystal Lake Police Department. She was a strong, intensely religious vixen who had joined the police at the same time that Janus did. They had gone through basic training and even had a small fling before he met Cassata and decided to get married.

She had played the role of best male or in her case; best female.

That decision had caused a lot of controversy within Cassata's family, even Cassata herself somewhat disapproved of having a female fill a role that was traditionally male. Janice herself had insisted that she wore the traditional veil that all females were encouraged but not required to wear in Vulnira society.

It has been a long time since face veils had been mandatory however a female showing too much fur was still considered a whore in Vulnira society. Females were also forbidden from owning businesses or making profit without the explicit consent of a male.

That is what Celine Everson, Janus's biological mother had done, registered her company through a male name, as most of the successful and rich would do in order to get around this, what Janus considered to be, outdated and discriminatory law.

Obviously Janice was calling him to ask why he had just taken off after the questioning yesterday. She had been concerned for his welfare after Cassata's death, especially after he had outright refused to take annual leave, preferring to continue to work obsessive for the DEA.

Janus flipped his phone back down. He did not want to see Janice end up like Cassata and Marilyn had done. No. It was better if she had no idea where he was. She could not be hurt if she was not involved.

He took a moment to put his phone back into his pocket and continued to walk across the car park towards the sound, which was replaced with soft sounds of clanking metal and grunting of some sort.

Behind the hotel office, was a small dirt path which when up behind the building, to what would normally be the private home of the hotel owners. Janus proceeded carefully, trying to avoid getting mud up his trousers as he walked up the dirt path.

It had been raining before they got here, the ground was still moist.

He stopped when he found a little garage with a small light on and the same young buck from earlier bent into the bonnet of what looked like a very old and obsolete model of car.

His stance softened. It was only the hotel owner. He had been jumpy ever since the attack in the police station and constant felt like he should be on his guard.

"Hello there" he said.

The buck bolted his head up so quickly in surprise that he whacked it on the bonnet lid of the car. "Owwww!"

"Oh I'm terribly sorry" replied Janus, feeling like he probably should have not said anything and walked off.

The buck turned to face Janus, his left eye half closed, wincing slightly in pain, his right hand stroking over the now very sore part of his head. "Don't sneak up on a guy like that. Gave me a fuckin' heart attack!"

"I know..." replied Janus, looking down at the ground. "Its just, I heard a noise and I.. eh..."

He stopped why he thought up some excuse as to why he would be skulking round a hotel at three o'clock in the morning.

"Thought that their might be a burglar?"

He cringed at how stupid that sounded.

"Nah, no burglar... just me. It's pretty quiet round these parts, everyone knows each other so its pretty safe" replied the oblivious and yet honest deer buck, who wiped off his cloven hands onto his overalls which were somewhat dirty. "Why... You a cop?"

Janus nodded. "Yeah, off duty at the moment, thought I'd come up this way for a holiday?" he lied, trying ever harder to mask his natural well spoken accent with something a little more casual.

He had grown somewhat more lax in his language since the death of his wife, who was always correcting him on the proper usage of language. She reminded him of Mrs Skuld and not in a good way.

"Strange place to come for a holiday... Most guys go to the beach or at least somewhere hot" responded the buck. "I'm Carrus, Carrus Sternhorn." extending a degresed cloven hand.

Janus reached forward and took his hand, shaking it gently. "A bit young to be a hotel landlord, aren't you?"

"Hey! I'm twenty actually..." responded the buck, he looked at him with his large, strikingly blue eyes that seemed to twinkle in the dim light of the garage. "Well... I got left this hotel by my grandfather, he passed away last year."

"Oh I'm dreadfully sorry." replied Janus, forgetting to do his usual tough guy impression and slipping back into his original dialect.

"Nah, its fine. He had a good life, he's buried out in the forest." replied Carrus, closing the bonnet of the car while he talked. "He loved to go walking there and it's what he wanted."

Janus nodded, unsure what to say next. There was a short silence between them as they looked at each other, a bit clueless. Carrus pointed to a small desk which was also inside the open garage. "Do you drink?" he asked.

"Only to excess..." replied Janus, trying to be funny as his brain just told him that he had failed miserably. He was not even sure what he was doing here, it was hardly keeping a low profile as he wanted to do.

Carrus took out two glasses from one of the drawers in the old desk and a bottle of unlabeled drink, pouring it into two glasses and then presenting one to Janus. "My Grandpa's recipe" he said, smiling. "Didn't know shit about cars but he knew how to make good booze."

The clear liquid had very little aroma to it, Janus instinctively necked the first shot, only to cough hard. "Fuck me....what's this stuff? Rocket fuel?" Janus thought to himself as he set the glass down before Carrus poured him a second fill.

Janus spent the next hour in conversation with Carrus about a wide number of different topics. They talked about cars, with Carrus complimenting Janus on what a nice car he had and all the while as Janus drunk more, his voice lapsed more and more back into his traditional accent.

"So... you from the Upper City?" asked Carrus finally.

Janus froze and looked a little shocked as he was gradually enjoying the taste more of this frankly awful, whatever it was. It certainly was effective though as he felt considerably more lightheaded.

"Yes, I was born there." he remarked, not looking to happy to admit it.

"That must have been nice" remarked Carrus, pouring himself another glass while he leaned back in the wooden chair while Janus sat on the desk. "I'd love to be rich, I can barely make ends meet here as it is."

"No, it was fucking awful!" Janus shot back, his words slurring. "People think that money can get you all sorts of happiness but it can't, it just fills the same shitty void that everyone else has. Mum was dead, Dad was away... and... at the end of the day, you may have all the things in the world but the one thing you want most is something you can't buy!"

"Yeah, life's shit like that" remarked Carrus, giving himself another drink and feeling that he should probably change the subject. "So... you married?"

"No..." replied Janus, wanting to gloss over that subject as well, while his bushy brown tail stood a bit on end at the question. It was the last thing he wanted to talk about. "Married once before but you know how it is... right?"

"Not really" replied Carrus, looking at him, his little cute white markings on his face seeming to glow slightly in the dim light of the oil lamp in the corner of the garage. "I prefer guys anyway. Thats... " he gulped and took a second to stop and breath, taking another swig of alcohol before looking over at Janus.

"Thats why mum and dad sent me here" he said. "They were embarrassed about me. Said I brought shame to the entire family."

Janus's facial expression softened as he looked at him. He had reacted with somewhat of a hostile facial expression when Carrus had told him that he was gay. After all, he had enjoyed his first homosexual experience with Barru, but it had also distracted him from getting home earlier and possibly saving his wife.

"Where are you from?" asked Janus, looking at the young buck.

"Same place as you, Upper City. My dad owns a Deli on Melrose Street. He always had lots of exclusive customers and rich businessman come in and he felt having a gay in the family would ruin his chances of getting in with these kinds of people. My mum and dad are so desperate to be famous, they'd sell out their own son." he sneered, gripping the glass tightly in his hands.

Janus was completely caught off guard. He had assumed that this guy was just a simple country bumpkin that had live all his life out here but he was beginning to discover that he had a lot more in common with him then he thought.

"Have you ever been... with another guy?" asked Carrus, once again catching Janus completely off guard.

His mind flashed back to the encounter with Barrus in his office. "No... Not ever" he lied again, possibly out of fear of what would happen if he admitted he had and he liked it. Did that make him a homosexual? Why do people have to resort to such labels?

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his leg, squeezing his leg through his trousers in such a way that made his spine tingle.

He could have screamed, run back to the hotel room and bolted the door at Carrus's touch but something inside him made him stay. Was it just the alcohol or was there something buried deep, deep inside, a longing that he had buried since that fateful day where he had his affair with Barrus and his life had come tumbling down?

"Well... suppose you have a lot to learn then." chucking Carrus as he unzipped his mechanic overalls, revealing his beautifully toned, small, slim body with a natural feminine curve to it. Janus had been so caught up in talking that he had completely failed to realise just how beautiful this guy was.

He turned round, letting his overalls fall to the floor, revealing his little pert rump and the small, white spots in his grey fur that ran all the way down his back. He turned round, his small but well preserved abs only just definable in the gas light.

He was sported a rather impressive erection for a guy of his size. Janus was somewhat both terrified and intrigued by this obvious sexual power play as Carrus came and sat on his lap, grinding his small pert deer butt up against Janus's trousers and looking him straight in the eye.

"I haven't had the company of a guy in so long..." he said, rather drunkenly. "Not many guys pass through these parts."

Janus was not as stupid and naive to believe that. He was sure that there was something in this town who was enjoying that pert little deer ass on occasion, possibly even the whole town. That thought alone, did nothing to stifle his own erection, which had sprung to life from the sheath inside his pants.

"Oh god.....Why is this happening to me again?" Thought Janus as his mind raced, flashbacks of the past racing into his mind.

He reached out and patted the soft fur on Carrus's back and he looked up at him. His heart racing with a mixture of excitement and mortal terror.

Their eyes locked together like homing missiles, edging closer and closer to each other before their muzzles met in a deep and passionate kiss, their tongues entwining and the full extent of the passion between them unwinding.

Janus had not felt this way since he had been with his wife. Even the encounter with Barrus faded away and he pulled Carrus closer to him within a passionate embrace.

It was as if he had discovered passional and sexual desire for the first time.

His desire took a hold of him, a passionate urge to make this young Cervijord moan in so many ways. He began to tear off his clothes in a wild array of passion, picking up his new lover while their muzzles were locked and slamming him down, on his back on the bonnet of the car, the both of them now naked, his hard, throbbing vulpine cock, full erecting from its sheath.

Carrus looked down. "Whoa!" he said, laying on the bonnet of the car, looking down towards his now throbbing nine inches. "You're a pretty big fox!" he said, with a mixture of surprise and delight.

Janus could not believe that he was doing this. Was it lust? At the moment his did not care. He smiled at Carrus's statement, pulling his small legs apart and lifting them up, running his tongue between his buttcheeks.

He had never tasted the hole of another male before, something about it was intoxicating, maybe the pheromones were going into his head but the moment that he started licking out this guy as if he was with Cassata, Carrus started moaning and sighing in pleasure.

He felt an enormous surge of sexual excitement as he licked. He was going to make this deer orgasm so hard that he would have to come back for more. There was a longing there, a passion, a drive that went beyond what he would have expected.

Janus reached out and grabbed the nipples of the young buck, making him moaning harder as he licked deep into his pert little ass, so surely and confidently as it had been a pussy, using all of his experience to make this deer moan into the night.

"Ooooh fuck!" replied Carrus, who was in a world of ecstasy that he never wanted to leave. His six inch deer penis, full erect, standing to attention as he slowly jerked himself off as Janus continued to lick out his beautiful little deer ass.

After a few seconds, Carrus looked up at him. "I gotta get a taste of that" he said, his hand going to Janus's throbbing and longing cock, his girly frame sinking to his knees as Janus watched him. Carrus carefully putting his mouth round the giant fox cock, almost gagging on it as he slowly sucked and the air was filled with the sound and small moans of a hungry deer gagging to be used.

Carrus reached out and stroked Janus's balls, which sent shockwaves of newly found pleasure through his body on a level that Janus had never encountered before. He had known this deer only for a few hours and now, he had never had anyone suck him with such love and attention since his wife had died.

Unknowingly to both of them while this action took place, Obsidian stood just concealed on the dirt path, watch with intent. He had woken up and wondered where Janus had got, surprising himself that he found himself in coitus with another man. He did not even think that Janus was that way inclined, he was so defensive about it earlier.

He should have turned around and left them to it but something inside made him want to watch out of curiosity, his hands travelling down to his bulging underwear, watching them both profusely.

Carrus rose to his feet, bending over the bonnet of the old car. "Please..." he said, looking back to Janus with a primal longing in his eyes. "Please fuck me..."

This confident deer had now turned into a completely submissive sissy and it excited Janus in more ways than he could have ever thought possible. He had never considered himself a homosexual but this was so different then his sexual encounter with Barrus that ruined his life, he was genuinely excited by this.

He lined up his throbbing, red vulpine penis, rubbing it gently against the hole of the slutty deer as used his finger to apply some lubrication to it. Pushing the tip gently between the buttcheeks of the deer that was so willing to be his slut.

"F...F...Fuck!" he grunted as he felt the tightness of this buck for the first time. Every nerve ending of his body sending waves of pleasure and he began to slowly move backwards and forwards, making the car slightly rock as he pounded into the deer's ass slowly.

"Do you like that big foxy?" asked Carrus, his eyes filled with lust and pleasure as he looked back towards Janus. Janus looked down, seeing his large meat impaling such a little tight pert butt, his eyes rolling over in pleasure as he thrusted into him. That little tail of his was the perfect little inclusion to make him look absolutely beautiful as he slammed into his fragile little butthole.

Janus was in so much of a state of pleasure, all he could do was grunt in acknowledge and reach out with his hand and pound this deer harder and faster, causing Carrus, which his hair pulled back by Janus, to moan harder and louder as Janus's cock infiltrated deeper into his hungry little boy hole.

Obsidian could not help himself. He was not just willing to go back to bed. He had already unzipped his pants and was slowly jerking his own thick black equine cock while making sure that he was not seen by other party, rubbing his shaft slowly and sensually, all fifteen inches of his own meat. This was just too hot.

"Ugh... Yeah..." called out Carrus, looking back at Janus with his slutty little eyes. He was getting exactly what he wanted. "Fuck me big fox! Use me!"

Janus could not take it anymore, he wanted to see this beautiful bitch moan. His moaning was such an incredible turn on, he could not stand it any longer. Reaching out, he pulled out of Carrus, he own throbbing cock ready to knot the girly deer and seed deep inside him.

He wanted to see him properly. See his newest bitch.

He gestured Carrus to turn over, both of them taking a breath before Carrus pulled his legs apart, Janus wasting no time in pushing back into his slightly spread hole as all of his fat vulpine cock returned to breeding the slutty deer who had provoked him.

Janus held him down. This bitch was no useless... his prisoner and forced to take his cock. All the pain of the last few years had fallen away, replaced with an absolutely pure desire...

...to breed.

"Oh... yeah...fuck... harder!" screamed Carrus into the night, feeling the fox slamming his prostate with considerable force, making his own penis twitch and throb, without needing him to touch it.

Obsidian just could not take anymore, the sight of these two going at it with such vigor and his perfect view of Janus pounding the little deer, his semi wet balls slapping against that tight boy hole was enough to make Obsidian breath heavily as a thick, huge stream of sperm erupted from his fat, large, throbbing horse hood.

He gave out a short groan but tried to keep it quiet as his cum painted the wall he was hiding behind, splattering up it like paint. Janus and Carrus were just too heavily into fucking to actually care.

They had changed position as well, with Janus laying on his back on the bonnet of the car, with the windshield supporting his back while Carrus continued to bounce up and down on his large wolf meat.

Finally, stretching his hole around Janus's already throbbing knot which had bulged and grown during the intercourse was just too much for the young buck, his face twisting in pleasure as he closed his eyes.

"Fuck!" he sighed, his voice going all high pitched and girly. "I'm gonna cum!"

His suddenly let out several loud moans which could have easily woke up the neighbours, his butt securely taking all of Janus's knot as it began to expand and contract from the involuntary spasm, his own Cervijord shaft releasing his seed into the air.

The resulting spasms was enough to make Janus feel his orgasm approach as he gave a few final pushes, pushing him way over the edge as he moaned, filling his buck with so much thick Vulnira cum that it began to flood out of him and down onto Janus's twitch balls.

"Ugh! That was incredible" thought Janus, surrendering himself to the heat of passion.

"Maybe I do like boys?"

Chapter Twelve

The conversation had been rather awkward all morning as they hiked their way through the forest. Obsidian had not told Janus about what he had witnessed the night before and had gone back to bed pretty soon after.

There was a light drizzle as they stepped through the light foliage of the forest floor, both carrying backpacks which they had prepared previously and that Carrus had oh so kindly helped them to prepare before they left the hotel.

"Carrus became much more helpful" thought Janus, who was just glad that nobody had witnessed it. He had always believed in his mind that he was completely straight but these latest experiences showed him that he was not.

It had thrown his whole belief system into chaos.

His father, odious and lecherous creature that he had been, easily dominated by the strength of other woman, had always been extremely against the idea of two males being in a committed relationship. Although he owed nothing to his father, nevertheless, this attitude had rubbed off on young Janus.

"Homosexuals are a sin against Athen" he thought.

But...

Was it not stupid that he believed that but rejected almost all of Athen's other teachings? Surely he was already condemned in the eyes of many intensely religious Vulnira?

He could not bring himself to acknowledge the hypocrisy of his outdated views, which were more influenced by his biological father and the customs of his family, rather then some greater religious or cultural purpose.

He owed nothing to his family so why did he cling to them so tightly?

The mid-morning sun had already broken through the thick layer of clouds that had dominated the sky since dawn but it was still an omen that a far greater storm was coming.

Obsidian was panting and complaining since they had set off this morning. He was clearly not used to his creature comforts. He had complained about everything, from the lumpy bed of the hotel, to the pace of which Janus was walking through the forest.

"Why couldn't..." he wheezed, stopping for a moment to catch his breath. Janus found this rather amusing, to see such a large horse, much larger than him struggle so much with the incline. "we... just... have taken the car... up to the dig site?"

"I wanted to check out the site first" replied Janus, sitting down on a log, waiting for Obsidian to catch up with him.

Obsidian was taking his time, trying not to fall over as he climbed over the dense foliage on the surface of the forest.

"Remind... me... to file... a complaint..." he wheezed, finally reaching the same position as Janus.

Janus scoffed and rolled his eyes. "If you want you can fucking sue me..." he said callously. All he cared about was getting to the bottom of this mystery and finding justice for his lost wife and everyone else that had suffered because of Phoenix Grace.

It took several hours of continual complaining from Obsidian and very uncomfortable walking to finally reach the small plateau on the side of the mountain, where the Phoenix Grace Archeological Dig was located, during which time, Janus had reminded Obsidian that if he spent as much energy walking as he did constantly complaining, he probably would not have had to stopped so often.

The stopped just before the entrance to the base, which was sealed off with a large wire fence which covered the entire of the site, with only one entrance, a gate on the only mountain road that existed on the side of Everonth.

"This used to be a car park?" asked Janus, whispering to Obsidian, who was lying prone on the ground next to him, tails pinned to their bodies as they peered through the fence, not wanting to turn around and look at the sharp, steep incline they had just spent several hours climbing up.

Janus swung his backpack over his shoulder as he pulled out a pair of binoculars from his backpack, holding them up to his large, yellow eyes to survey the surrounding area as Obsidian whispered to him, looking somewhat nervous. It was obvious that he did not want to be here.

"Yes, it was a look out point for the Everonth Park nature reserve..." he whispered, using the opportunity of lying prone on the ground to recover his strength. His long, hair-like horsetail whipping gently in the air to keep annoying biting insects away. "We've got permission by the Vulniran Government to seal it off so we can commence excavation into the side of the mountain."

There were several armed guards stationed all around the complex and several tents set up right in front of them, which Janus guess housed some sort of research equipment. There were also several shuttles, small two man vehicles that were capable of linear landing and take off, used for equipment transportation.

However by the huge rock face of the mountain itself was several huge drilled holes which led into the mountain. Whatever this discovery was, it had Phoenix Grace extremely interested as the majority of the security was based around it.

"We need to get in there..." muttered Janus as he peered at the entrance with the binoculars.

"Correction..." whispered Obsidian, looking over at Janus with his large green eyes. "You need to get in there. As I told you, I don't have security access for that part. I can get you inside the complex but that's..."

"As far as you go?" replied Janus, not surprised by Obsidian's cowardice. He had, of course been forced to come with him.

"Alright then..." replied Janus, putting the binoculars back into his backpack and giving Obsidian a rather stern look. "Let's go then..."

Both of them slowly rose to their paws, carefully treading over to the fence, Janus producing some bolt-cutters from his bag, creating a hole in the wire mesh, behind one of the tents so that they could both enter, lifting the fabric of the tent so they could climb inside without being seen.

"This is such a bad idea..." whined Obsidian as he booted up the computer, on a desk inside the tent, prompting the holographic display to come to life, projecting an image of a log in screen.

Janus watched the entrance of the tent, checking to make sure that none of the guards were heading towards them while Obsidian worked.

Obsidian tapped a few commands into the keyboard and entered some information into the computer, causing it to produce a piece of white plastic and handing it to Janus.

"I've registered you onto the system, you are a "Consulting Archaeologist" but you will need a Level 4 or higher keycard to access the dig site security. This is only a Level One access card. You're Doctor Syrus Melbourne."

Janus took the card and looked out into the dig site. "Crap!" he thought as he noticed a female, unusually not dressed in the typical female attire that was so common in Vulnira. She was approaching the tent with a computer tablet in her hand. "We've got company..." he whispered.

"Come on!" gestured Obsidian, almost panicking. "We can get out through the hole in the fence." rushing to lift up the back of the tent cloth.

"No time..." replied Janus as he rushed over to the computer, with a very confused Obsidian staring at him.

"We can't stay..."

"Mr Greyfell!" replied a rather formidable female voice as somebody else entered the tent. Obsidian almost flailing in surprise at the sight of the white furred Vulnira with blonde hair looking straight at them both disapprovingly.

Janus could not help but gork at her. She was astoundingly beautiful, much tall then even he was, with a sultry, endless legs which perfectly complimented her busty frame but not in such a way to overwhelm her. She was wearing a small tank top, under her white overcoat, with a rather odd-looking sun hat to protect her from the harsh sunlight this far up of Everonth.

"D-Doctor Equinox" replied Obsidian, unsure of what to do. "I-I'm sorry... I..."

"Who is this?" she asked, looking over at Janus with an accusing glace. Her eyes narrowing over her strong jaw line that made her distinctive white muzzle.

Janus had to think fast. It was simply no good to rely on Obsidian, who had obviously crumbled at the first sign of any real danger.

"Doctor Syrus Melbourne" said Janus confidently, allowing his Upper City accent to fully come through. Most of the educated elite were from the Upper City of Crystal Lake. "Anesera University. I confess... Mr Greyfell failed to mention how beautiful, his co-workers can be."

He flashed her his card that Obsidian had just made for him, really hoping that this would fool her, if not, then the charm offensive might.

But Cassandra Equinox was absolutely no push over.

She looked at him with cold eyes, obviously unamused by his compliments. "I see..." she said, tapping her computer tablet. "Mr Greyfell, I thought you had gone on annual leave?" checking the personnel roster.

"Y-Yes M-Ma'am..." replied Obsidian, his lip quivering as he looked decided nervous.

"For Athen's Sake!" thought Janus, feeling the tension of the situation. "Don't you dare blow our cover!"

Obsidian took a moment to compose himself while Cassandra glared at him. If Janus had not known better, he could have sworn her parents were Serpentaris, a snake-like species which were renowned for their piercing gaze.

"Well?" replied Cassandra, who seemed very busy tapping on her tablet, breaking eye contact for just a moment to respond to something while looking directly at Obsidian.

Obsidian took a deep breath and finally regained control from the urge to panic.

"I am on leave ma'am. I met Doctor Melbourne here at an archaeology seminar at Anasera University and I thought we could use his opinion on the recovered artifacts. He has been studying artifacts from the "Forgotten Period" for a long time and is quite the expert."

The Forgotten Period was a period of Terran History which existed over a massive amount of time until five hundred year previous. During that period, there were no written historical documents and only minor artifacts discovered until now. It had been one of the most significant mysteries across the whole of Terra.

The Church of Athen claimed that the world had not existed prior to five hundred years ago but several recent historical discoveries, including this latest one made by Phoenix Grace at Everonth had disputed this commonly held belief. However the church still considered such evidence to be blasphemy.

"This project is classified Mr Greyfell" replied Cassandra with a scowl. "You cannot just bring your friends here when you feel like it!"

Janus could feel the situation rapidly deteriorating, but it had also provided him with the opportunity he needed.

"I am very sorry" replied Janus, putting on the most sympathetic voice he could before moving towards the exit. "I convinced Obsidian to show me the artifacts. I shall surrender myself to security immediately"

"As for you, Mr Greyfell" she said. "You will be given a full disc..."

She stopped mid sentence as she collapsed onto the floor face first, Janus giving her a hard blow to the back of the head as he had moved behind her to go outside.

"What are you doing!?" exclaimed Obsidian in harsh tones. "Now I'm gonna lose my job!"

"Look..." replied Janus, looking up at him, taking time to look over the unconscious body of Cassandra, removing her white coat and putting it on while taking her identification card. "I needed a way to get into the dig site... she didn't really leave me with many options. I deplore hitting woman."

"But..." continued Obsidian. "What if she wakes up!?"

"You'll think of something..." replied Janus, who had no time to lose. He was going to discover the secret of this place.

Even if he died trying...

Chapter Thirteen

Five Hundred Ten Years Ago...

The Terran Federation was at the zenith of its influence. This advanced civilization had been growing steadily for millenial, eventually reaching a place where all the species of Terra had been united by a common cause.

The call of exploration.

High above the atmosphere of the lush, green world, was the most prestigious achievement of Terran engineering.

Celestial Gate Station.

Celestial Gate was a large, ring shaped station that christened Terra as if it was an angel. The large metallic ring was home to thousands of Terran people and served as the main shipyard for the Terran Federation Navy.

Vast ships of exploration were built here, employing the latest technology created by Terra and her neighbouring allied worlds. Everything from small patrol and frigate class vessels to heavy cruisers and huge battleships.

Docked on the outside of the gigantic halo was a rather unremarkable light cruiser known as the T.F.S. Valkyrie. The Valkyrie was one of the first light cruisers to head out into deep space and had just returned from a ten year odyssey into deep space. By now, this vessel was horrifically out of date and the time had come for the old girl to see decommissioning.

"Oh fuck!" exclaimed Kestra, she moaned hard as Allandra pushed his penis into the soft wet folds of her already excited pussy. She gripped the bed behind her as she laid on her back, the large hulking muscle of the Taurone, a huge bull-like species pushed his thick veiny cock in and out of her small and tight vagina.

Kestra knew that they should not have been doing this. It was Navy policy not to fraternize with those under your command but after ten years alone amongst the stars with only each other for comfort, bonds born aboard the ship were difficult to break with. She had sought solace in her First Officer, Commander Allandra Marcell.

He pulled out and flipped her over so she was laying face down, rear up on the bed, pushing himself back into her welcoming moist hole. "Uhhh... fuck..." he moaned in pleasure, their uniforms scattered over the floor.

Kestra herself, a Tachyrea, an extremely rare "Echidna-like" species from the isolated Serenitas Island Chain deep within the Paciricas Ocean in the southern hemisphere of Terra. As a child, she had been part of the sole tribe that lived on the island with a primitive state of technology, until they were discovered by the Vulnira, who pledged to protect the island and its unique culture while given dozens of Tachyrea children the chance to come to the mainland and integrate into "modern" culture.

Kestra was only twelve when she left Serenitas, longing for adventure and now at thirty nine years old, she had her fill of it.

She opened her legs wider against the huge bull, his much larger body slamming into her while his huge, heavy orbs slammed against the cheeks of her bum with considerable force as his pace quickened.

There was a considerable size difference between the two. Kestra was several feet smaller compared to the hulking Taurone and her body was a lot sleeker, but no less athletic than his. She had distinctive brown, chestnut coloured fur with a small black button nose and long "spines", which replaced ordinary hair which extended down from her head, giving her a unique, ,shimmering experience from the cream coloured spines as they reflected the light in the small cabin.

"Oh no... this won't do" she smirked, giving him a sharp kick to the side, not enough to injure him, apart from a bruise but forcibly rolling him over as she learnt force, forcing his huge throbbing meat to separate the lips of her feminine hole.

The bull sniggered as he thrusted up into her, every push was a new surge of ecstasy which filled his body as she gripped his torso. "I always liked you better on top Ma'am" he chuckled as Kestra leant back, the nipples on her pert breasts standing to attention as he used a spare finger to tease her clitoris.

Beep, Beep...

Kestra hoped the noise would stop. "Not now!" she thought, wondering if she would ever get any time alone on this ship. She waited a second, letting the sensation of his big meat, forcing her apart fill her with pleasure as she continued to lubricate his pole, just from her arousal.

Beep, Beep...

She opened her eyes, the communication system was putting her right off her orgasm. She climbed off him, leaving the Taurone to complain that she should "just leave it" and come back to bed. She knew she could not. It could be an Admiral or something important.

She disabled the visual feed. She really did not want an Admiral to see her in bed with a member of her crew... naked.

Or her crew for that matter.

She smacked the button on the tiny, wall mounted desk at the other side of the cramped cabin. "Yes!" she said loudly. Her accent was strange, her voice sounded a lot older and more croaky then her actual age would have implied.

"Commander Valentine, we are getting a priority one from Celestial Gate."

Kestra looked puzzled. How could they have a priority one in dock? That was only used in case of emergencies.

"Have comms confirmed it?" she asked. The rather nervous and inexperienced voice on the other side of the communications system replied almost instantly.

"Gate want us to check out an anomaly that has formed only a couple AU's out from Terra." he said, his confidence returning slightly. Kestra could tell that it was probably one of the newer crew members she had taken on and not one of her tested and experienced unusual crew.

She glanced over to Commander Marcell, who was busy putting on his white navy shirt and looking as confused as she was.

"Roger that" replied Kestra, looking around and trying to find the rest of her uniform. "I'll be on the Bridge in a second."

She started to frantically search for pieces of her uniform, that had been discarded during the heat of passion. Her and Commander Marcell had not slept together in months.

Today was turning out to be a very unusual day.

***

Janus crept slowly past the guards at the entrance of the mine, hiding behind some crates that had been set up at the entrance. The guards were too busy talking to each other rather than looking for intruders, probably because nobody had tried to break in here before.

It was times like this that made him wish that he really had a weapon, especially if he got caught.

"You really have gone too far now!" screamed the voice in his head. It sounded too much like the voice of his cowardly and unhelpful father. "You are probably going to get yourself shot!"

Janus discarded the voice and tried to focus on the objective at hand. He would worry about escaping later.

Using his long, bushy tail for additional balance, he rushed down the small tunnel into the mines passageway, the dense rock only illuminated by a string of electrical mining lamps that had been set up by Phoenix Grace.

He looked back to check that nobody had seen him enter.

"So far... so good"

He reached the huge metallic door which had been set up by Phoenix Grace to keep people out of the digsite. It was a hulking, silver metal door that towered above him, cold to the touch and with a small keycard reader on the frame next to it.

Janus inserted the keycard and held his breath. It was entirely possible that there were additional security measures that he had no accounted for, cameras, retinal scanners for example and that he would even get past this door.

He was lucky.

The light on the keycard reader switched from dark red to bright green and the silver doors swooshed open.

Janus walked through and could not believe his eyes. He was standing on a massive cliff face, which descended into the darkness below, only illuminated slightly by the mining lamps and at the other side of the crevice was a massive metallic structure that he was unable to completely make out but it was absolutely colossal, so much so that much of it extended into the darkness below.

There was a mining elevator which seemed to extend all the way to the bottom of the crevice. Janus wasted no time in getting into the elevator and pulling the level to make the hulking metal frame descend into the darkness.

Minutes seemed to turn into hours as the shaft was filled with the sound of clanking metal as the elevator descended and Janus felt extremely exposed, there was absolutely nowhere to hide on this elevator if he got into a firefight as all four sides of the elevator were completely open.

The sounds seemed to echo through the chamber, as if announcing his coming. If there were guards at the bottom.

"I'm fucked" he thought, reminding himself that he had come into a top secret research site, uninvited and with absolutely no weapons. This ranked as one of the stupidest things he had ever done, something that he was sure Janice would remind him if he ever got out alive.

After what had seemed like eternity, the elevator came to a stop.

Janus carefully stepped off to see many different scientists in lab coats wondering around different pieces of technology which had been set up on the bottom of the shaft. They did not pay him any attention, apparently too engrossed with their work and besides, he looked like one of them.

He looked over at the large searchlights embedded in the floor of the pit, shining a bright and powerful light on the metal hulk on the other side of the crevice. He still could not make out what this metal structure was and why it was embedded in Everonth Mountain but he could make out the large cracks along the surface of the structure which suggested maybe some sort of violent impact.

He walked onto the rocky floor, taking care not to trip on any of the multiple electrical wires which were all over the floor. He needed to find some sort of access terminal, something that would allow him to see what was going on here.

Maybe then he could call for help?

Who was he going to get help from? The Police Department in Crystal Lake? They had already suffered from multiple allegations of bribery from big companies just like the Vulnira Government. Maybe there was somebody in the military that could help him?

But at this moment, that was not important to him.

All he wanted was the truth. For Marilyn, For Cassata...

Now was his chance! He spotted an enemy computer terminal which was connected via massive metallic cables to a portable generator which hummed gentle in the center of where the scientists continued to work.

He walked over to the console, inserting Cassandra's keycard into the reader. The monitor blazed to life as it recognised him immediately as the Director of Research and Development.

Janus began to search through the files and what he found, shocked him to his core.

This massive metal structure was a ship! A giant extraterrestrial space vessel which had to be seen to be believed, with technology that was completely beyond what Terra had produced that Janus could not make heads nor tails of it.

Janus could never have believed that such a massive vessel could have been constructed in this manner but it also confirmed what Obsidian had told him in the car, on that night.

The files also revealed that Phoenix Grace had been experimenting with some synthetic chemical of alien origin recovered from the wreckage of this ship. The chemical was a massively addictive substance that appeared to provide intense euphoria, while also stripping back a species to their most primal form, inciting rage in some of the more aggressive species and passivity in other, less aggressively evolved species.

This chemical, known as Harprognatus Exornus in the database seemed to be some sort of advanced biochemically engineered designer drug, originally designed by an unknown source to strip away sentience from all the species of Terra, reverting some back to an animalistic state.

The files also showed that in some people with a specific gene sequence, this compound was programmed to completely rewrite their DNA. But Phoenix Grace was unable to test that as none of the test subjects possessed the necessary genome.

Janus looked horrified, they had performed this test on live species hundreds of times and they had been getting away with it.

But that was as far as he got...

He felt a hard blow to the back of his head, falling forward and knocking him out cold.

He was at their mercy now.

Chapter 14

Janus awoke, his arm defaultly rising to cradle had throbbing head. He could not move it somehow. A long, deep groan emitted from his dry lips as he opened his eyes very slowly.

It took him a few seconds to regain consciousness of his surrounding, there was a bright light shining directly in his face but he could feel the restraints around his hands and feet as he lay on the metal table.

He struggled against the restraints in some futile effort to break free of their hold. The restraints were made of heavy metal and all the struggling in the world would not be able to break them.

"Ahhh...." replied Cassandra's voice. He could not see her because of the light shining directly in his face. "You're awake at last."

Janus squinted in the light, the room was cold around his fur and he could make out the outline of Cassandra's buxom figure but not much more than that. He felt a cold draft running over his legs.

He was naked.

"W-What!?" he asked with disorientation, still struggling against the chains. The bright light shut off, allowing his narrow vulpine eyes to adjust to the room, which was dimly lit.

His eyes then fixed on the figure that came into view, the same female fox that he had incapicated to break into the mine. She had changed her outfit during the time were he was unconscious, now wearing a white blouse that barely help in her buxom cleavage, allow it to spill over the top slightly. Her trousers was replaced by a small mini skirt which was both extremely feminine and somehow appropriate for office work.

She was holding something as she walked to him in her high heels, giving him a sultry, almost mischievous glance. Janus barely had time to work out what it was before she raised it and smacked him square across the muzzle with it, with considerable force.

"Tch... Tch" she said, using the item, which Janus could now clearly see was some sort of riding crop, to slowly tap the bottom of her chin after she had just struck him. "Naughty boy... " she said, enjoying every second and allowing herself to reveal in the power of control.

This was how she preferred her men... submissive to her will.

Janus winced him pain from her smack but he had been through considerably worse before and he was not about to be intimidated by some jumped up bitch with a domination complex.

"I ask the questions" replied Cassandra, seeing the steely resolve within Janus's eyes. Again, how she liked her men.

At first...

She had contacted Ivan Grace after they had apprehended Janus trying to extract data from the dig site. Ivan had wanted to avoid unnecessary murder, especially that of a registered police officer, even one off duty, but they both agreed that they had to interrogate him.

The thought of the interrogation made Cassandra's lips moist and almost quiver with the anticipation and excitement.

"Ugh..." groaned Janus, spitting onto the floor. "If you want answers, you are going to have to hit me harder then..."

"Silence!" interrupted Cassandra with a sharp, strong tone, who brought round her riding crop into a precise underarm to connect with his testicles.

Janus lost his breath, gulping in pain as the crop smacked his balls with such speed and precision, that he barely had time to wonder how practiced Cassandra was at this.

"Now then..." she said, turning over to pick up a clipboard on the other side of the room. "You are, a Mr... hmmmm" she said, looking for his notes. "Ah yes... Mr Janus Everson. Any connection to Everson Systems?" she asked out of curiosity, why thumbing through the notes.

Janus had a good look around the room. He had reason to believe that he was possibly still underground, or maybe they had moved him. He did have somewhat sketch memories of the sounds of helicopter blades while he was drifting in and out of consciousness.

The room was dark, but it resembled something more out of a modern office building. The floors and walls were all made of metal and there was a large mirror behind Cassandra, which he was sure was a two-way mirror. They were used all the time during suspect interviews at the police station.

There was only one door which was metallic and modern, with what looked like a keycard reader, similar to the one that he had encountered in the mines.

"Well...?" responded Cassandra, looking at the restrained naked Janus on the table. Janus decided to continue his silence. He knew how these things went tand it was usually better to give Phoenix Grace any information at all.

Cassandra was growing impatient, she picked up riding crop and gave a progressively harder smack across his face then she had done before. Janus yelped automatically and wondered if she may have been getting any perverse sexual pleasure from this.

"You're enjoying this, arn't you... you sick fuck!" he sniped without thinking, the pain getting the better of him.

Cassandra giggled, she enjoyed seeing the fire in his eyes, the lust for revenge. She wanted to snuff it out...

To break him completely.

"Oh yes... I enjoy making guys squirm..." she chuckled. "So as I understand it. Your father was CEO of Everson Systems until you took over the company in a hostile takeover, sold it and he was left to commit suicide. Fine example of a good son."

How did she know that and then what was the point of asking him if he had any connection with Everson Systems if she already knew? Janus wondered what exactly she was doing but his police training had taught him the answer to that.

She was testing his willingness to answer questions...

He had learnt in the Academy, that it is sometimes useful to ask suspects questions that you already know the answer to, in order to gauge their reliability and how susceptible they are to answering other questions truthfully. It was an essential technique to gather evidence.

He stayed silent...

"I see" smirked Cassandra, walking up to him, so close that her large bust was almost touching his fur. "No love lost between father and son eh?"

Janus bit his tongue, obviously she had gained access to his records, possibly even through the Police Department itself, as he had long since suspected corruption at the very top.

"How did you feel when you father killed himself?" she asked, hoping to provoke a reaction.

The storm was gathering in Janus's head, a pounding, throbbing sensation and he tried to prevent this odious woman from getting any sort of rise out of him. Once she had done that...

She had broken him...

"Elated? Cold? Sorrow?" asked Cassandra, tilting her head after each word. "Come on Janus, you must have felt something."

Janus stared at her with cold eyes, the only way he could find of containing the inner fire raging inside him was to simply imagine what he would do to Cassandra when he escaped these bindings.

She smiled, pressing himself up against his slim naked fur, caressing him gently and sadistically as she ran her paws down his body, all the way between his legs, gripping his balls firmly. "Not feeling talkative..." she grinned manically, slowly making her grip tighter and tighter until Janus began to feel the searing pain pulsating through his body.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes concentrating on her frail neck, her delicate features which would be so easy to snap.

Cassandra gripped tighter, pain shooting through Janus's body like somebody had taken a knife to his bollocks, finally releasing them them and turning around to make a concerted sigh. "Mr Everson, I applaud your resilience." she said, looking back at him with her piercing cerulean blue eyes. "I had no idea that the Crystal City Police Department produced such steel..."

She walked over to the table that was laid out behind him while Janus was suspended, unable to see what she was doing.

"Enough with the past. Let's talk about the present..." she said, walking back in front of him, holding a syringe filled with a peculiar green viscous liquid. "Do you know what this is?" she asked him, holding up the syringe to his face.

"Yiff" replied Janus, still recovering from having his testicles throtted and attempting to recover his breath.

"An astute observation for a Police Officer..." taunted Cassandra, waving it in his face. "Actually, it's not "Yiff"or "Harprognatus Exornus". That is merely a byproduct, a refinement of this, if you will. One of our scientists stole Harprognatus Exornus and converted it into a narcotic, almost destroying our company image in the process. This however... This is known as "Orichalcum Exomus"."

Janus had to wonder what she was babbling on about. He was not a scientist, all he knew was that Phoenix Grace had discovered a crashed alien ship in the Everonth Mountain and had discovered some sort of chemical which became the narcotic "yiff" which was responsible for destroying so many lives in Crystal Lake.

Cassandra continued, unaware that Janus seemed to be losing interest in her lesson. "Orichalcum Exomus is the original chemical that we discovered in the wreckage of this ship. It was designed by an alien species to cause massive mutation in the host and rewrite their DNA. Of course, all our test subjects died horrible deaths, reverting to protoplasm as we did not known the correct dosage or concentration to give but..."

"I am hoping that we have better luck with you..."

.

Chapter 15

Obsidian opened the door of the research area, the door swooshing to life in front of him. He had no idea why he was being so stupid. He could just go back to his home and forget all about this craziness but something inside him decided that he could not live with himself if he had not at least tried.

He walked inside the research area, all the lights were off in the laboratory as they began to flicker to life automatically. The started out dim and then slowly converted to full brightness in order to avoid blinding him.

It was the early hours of the morning, most of the staff had already gone home and here he was, trying to be a hero.

Something he had repeatedly failed at.

He looked around the room, noticing the cold metal table which Janus had been strapped to securely... It was empty now but he was sure he could still hear the echoes of what horror had been done to him in this room.

His heavy hooves clunked on the cold metal floor as he journeyed deeper into the room.

He had been held in another part of the building for what seemed like hours. Cassandra Equinox had questioned and berated him continuously about how he had allowed an undercover police officer into one of Phoenix Grace's top secret facilities. He had somehow managed to convince here that he was unaware of Janus's identity as a police officer and that mirage seemed to have convinced her and the other disciplinary judges.

He had been lucky to escape losing his job... or worse.

There had been an old story about many different employees across Phoenix Grace going "missing" shortly after they had been terminated from the company. Obsidian had feared that he could have been next on that list.

He certainly would be if they caught him here.

He must have been crazy. Why was he doing this? He owed nothing to Janus, who had coerced him to taking him to the dig site in the first play. So why was he here?

The disciplinary hearing had been a harsh near miss for him and here he was, risking himself again.

But still...

Something inside him wanted to make sure that Janus was alright and that part of him just would not be silent.

He also had some new information for him.

He had returned to his old work area after the disciplinary hearing and accessed his computer in an attempt to get on with some work and ignore this whole situation. It was his hope that immersing himself in his historical analysis would somehow alleviate the guilt he felt over Janus's fate. Saving his own neck, rather than helping somebody else who was clearly going to be in mortal danger.

His office was on the thirty second floor of the Phoenix Grace Regional Headquarters in Crystal Lake. It was small and cramped, but it was still his. He had worked so hard to get it and to prove himself as a valued asset to the company that it became a symbol of his triumph. His achievement, something that his drunken parents had told him that he would never amount to.

He had grown up in the Lower City of Crystal Lake. His father was a factory worker for one of the large manufacturing plants that were a common site in the Lower City. He had met Obsidian's mother at an exotic dance club that he used to attend after work. She thought that he would save her from her terrible life and give her a normal, loving home.

She was wrong.

It was not long after Obsidian was born that the couple spiralled into a continual cycle of shouting, swearing, punching and escalating violence. Obsidian's mother blamed him for denying her the life that she could have, instead being chained to her abusive husband. She never understood that she had chosen that life and refused to break the cycle through her own actions.

Obsidian had been ignored by the authorities, who were more concerned with protecting children in the Upper City then dealing with the constant problems of destitution in the Lower City. He grew up to be a coward, somebody who looked in the mirror every day and hated himself.

But there was a flicker of hope.

Despite all that had happened to him, he found his solace in his education. Learning and history became a passion to him and he had used to passion to obtain a degree from the most prestigious university in Vulnira and was offered a job in Phoenix Grace.

He was now risking that entire achievement, for some police officer he had only known for a few days. He must have been mad to do this.

However, while he had been reviewing his files on his work computer, he came across a service report from a "Miss Cassata Everson" who had been documenting "Yiff" exposure within Crystal Lake for Phoenix Grace. Janus had only mentioned Cassata once but the name had stuck in Obsidian's head like a knife, he had a keen eye for details.

Was this the same Cassata as the one that Janus had mentioned. It was a very unusual name.

So Obsidian had cross referenced the files with the global net discovering that a "Cassata Everson", wife of Janus Everson had been murdered over six months ago at their home in the Upper City.

Obsidian checked the dates, there had been no more entries from a "Cassata Everson" since that time. He managed to find a picture of this vixen on file and it confirmed that they were indeed the same person.

Janus had obviously been unaware that Cassata had worked for Phoenix Grace. He had not made the connection himself. This was simply too suspicious for Obsidian to just sit on so he had to come tonight to find Janus and tell him what he had discovered.

Obsidian crossed the room to another door which led to the containment pens, inputting a security card into the door. He had disabled access to the security cameras in the area so he would not be observed while he did this.

He was not even sure what he was going to do. One thing at a time.

***

High above the towers of Crystal Lake was the floating resort complex of "Vista", a huge floating platform powered by the greatest repulsorlift technology in all of Terra. The complex made daily laps around the lake and the city before returning to its refuel position on the far shore of the lake.

Vista was considered the most exclusive resort in all of Vulnira, possibly the whole of Terra. Only the most privileged Upper City residents to afford to spend time at this resort, which constantly had small shuttles back and forth from it while it orbited high above the city.

Just another symbol of excess.

The resort was filled with many different leisure activities, all available to creatures, for the right price. There were a huge assortment of bars, restaurants, theme parks and other leisure facilities in the colossal floating complex, all providing stunning aerial views of Crystal Lake and the surrounding shoreline.

One of the most expensive of these facilities was "Coeur De Leon", an exclusive restaurant serving only the finest of Terran cuisine, catering to both carnivores and herbivores, it was a pure indulgent paradise where only the most wealthy could even hope to go.

The dining room had open balconies which provided stunning views all around the restaurant, with interior and exterior seating. There were live musicians who performed stunning concertos on the piano every night and the smells were enough to completely overwhelm the senses.

A sizzling filet mignon travelled through the packed dining room, filled with the many different and diverse species of Terra. Rich businessman rubbed shoulders with politicians, film stars and musicians here, all from the four corners of the globe.

Before the Vulnira breakthrough in genetically engineered cattle, the carnivores of Terra would prey on the herbivores and brutal wars had broken out. However the cunning Vulnira designed their first genetically engineered species, which they dubbed a "construct" and used that to offer the nearby carnivorous Canid and Dratari a near endless supply of food, in exchange for a peace treaty between their peoples.

Both species eagerly accepted and soon that technology was offered to all the species of Terra, eliminating the need to kill each other for food. Such technology could have easily been used to feed everyone on the planet but it had not turned out that way as the leaders of each species realised that it would have crippling effects on global economics.

Once again, profit had hindered progress.

"Your steak sir" said a rather snooty looked Mustalis, a weasel like species that had shared the country of Vulnira with the foxes since ancient times. He head his nose to the air as he placed the steak on the table. "Do you require any additional condiments?"

"No, thank you. That will be all".

Ivan Grace was just about to take his first bite when he looked up from the table to see Cassandra Equinox had entered the restaurant and was craning her neck out over the tables, seeing if she could spot him. She was wearing a rather sleek looking black dress that showed off the full voluptuous curves of her feminine figure.

"What now?" he sighed, looking into his meal and ignoring her as he started to eat, digging his cutlery into the steak. Was he not even allowed to enjoy a meal these days without interruption.

He pulled at his suit collar, he had wearing suits and was much more comfortable in his usual black comfort clothes.

"We have a problem" said Cassandra, forgoing even a greeting to get to point and she shooed away an approaching waiter who must of assumed that she was there as Ivan's date.

Ivan was getting used to Cassandra saying that, he took a napkin and gently dabbed the juice of the succulent steak off his lips.

"Do we now?" he said, covering his mouth and suppressing a little belch. He took the glass of wine from the table and began to sit back in his chair as he watched his employee carefully.

There was a light gentle piano sonata in the background as they conversed while through the large bay windows, one could see the shimmering lights of the island that was Crystal Lake.

"We have captured a police officer who was snooping around our Everonth dig site. He made it all the way to the Valkyrie wreckage." she sneered, trying to keep her voice down as she spoke, her tail twitching a little behind her.

"You are interrupting my dinner because..." replied Ivan, with a growing level of annoyance. Why exactly did she want to bother him with a minor security breach like this. This was exactly what he hired staff to deal with.

Cassandra sat back in her chair, she wanted to slap Ivan in the face but she wanted to keep her job even more. "We've identified him as Janus Everson."

Ivan stopped eating for a second, putting his knife and fork down. "As in Cassata's husband?" he replied, looking to her with the smallest flicker of guilt in his eyes. "That is interesting."

Cassandra nodded, looking over at him with her piercing blue eyes, her black nose on her muzzle instinctively twitching for a second. "I have checked with the Crystal Lake Police Department. It seems our sniper did not do his job and did not stay to confirm that he had actually killed him."

"If he discovers his wife's files..." replied Ivan, looking at him with the tension showing on his face, turning into a scowl, exposing his razor sharp teeth. "He could find out about the Project. Are you sure that we should continue?"

Cassandra shook her head almost instantly. "Relax..." she said calmly. "The Project must continue as we planned. Janus is not going to be a problem for much longer, we have him and I have decided to make him the latest test experiment."

"You promised me you would only test the pathogen on condemned criminals!" exclaimed Ivan, trying to keep his voice hushed as the restaurant continued to murmur around him. He did not like this at all, Cassandra had gone too far.

"I have taken every precaution. When have I ever let you down Ivan?" asked the vixen, looking at him her usual seductive glance she gave when she wanted to get her own way. "There will be a news report about his death during a "climbing accident" on Everonth Mountains out tomorrow. Nobody will care about one insignificant detective."

Ivan shook his head. He wondered why he had ever agreed to this project when Cassandra had confronted him with it in the first place. They should not have been attempting to manipulate an alien chemical which they were yet to fully understand.

This was that line...

Was this project worth murder?

Chapter Sixteen

Five hundred Ten Years Ago

The bridge of the Valkyrie was a small circular room with heavy computer consoles on the wall, it had a distinctively cramped feeling, with its grey metal furnishings and distinct lack of colour. The bridge of itself was one of the old designs and lacked the comforts that many of the newer ships in the Terran fleet possessed.

Commander Kestra Valentine walked out on the bridge, straightening up her uniform as best as she could after her extremely inappropriate sexual encounter with her first officer, who she believed was still getting dressed in her cabin.

"Commanding Officer on the bridge!" bellowed the security officer, a small Miravikta who was standing on duty next to the entrance to the bridge.

Kestra sighed, running her fingers through her spines as she looked around the room, the three other members of the bridge crew all shot up to pay her the correct respect as demanded by naval tradition.

She hated naval tradition.

"As you were..." she said, raising her hand to calm the situation. She had not demanded this of her crew in years and they knew it. They had bonded together, almost like a family but since their return to Terra, she had been posted with some new crew members who were not familiar with the way that she liked to run her ship.

Kestra had been the brightest star of the Terran Fleet Academy. She had proven that she was a capable commander and was promoted to Commanding Officer of her own ship after she took command of the "Chariot", during the original border conflict between Terra and the neighbouring principality of Alexandria. Eventually the two worlds formed a strong alliance, one that Kestra was proud to have been a part of.

"What's your name?" she asked, stopping to look at the young looking security officer. She could barely remember being as young as he looked. His tail gave away his experience, it fluttered involuntary as she spoke to him.

"Midshipman Abbas Amari, M-Ma'am" replied the rather nervous looking security officer, his accent confirming that he was near the hot and dry country of Fesalis.

"Well..." replied Kestra, feeling almost sorry for putting the boy on the spot like this. He could not be any older then twenty-three. "Mr Amari. On my ship, there is no need to announce my presence everywhere I go, understood? I am sure that other commanding officers enjoy that... I don't"

"U-Understood M-Ma'am..." replied the young Ocelot. Kestra could not help but crack a small smirk at his reaction. He looked like he was going to fall apart.

"Don't worry about it." she replied, a casual response for somebody in such a high position. "Give it time and I'm sure you'll make a fine addition to the crew." she beamed a smile at him that made him feel like heaven had opened up and the angels were singing.

"Absolutely Ma'am" he nodded his small, feline head, feeling a new sense of confidence that she had given him.

"Carry on Midshipman..." she tilted her head forward in a nod, looking round to the other crewman on the bridge that she had known a lot longer, most of them trying to stifle their smiles. They had known that Kestra had a distinctive dislike of naval tradition for a long time.

There were three other crewman on the bridge. The first was a rather tempered and aged Corvidae, by the name of Lieutenant Commander Aaron Summerton. His feathers, once brilliant black had dulled over time and were showing streaks of grey. He was much older then Kestra and had served as Chief Science Officer on many different ships in the Terran Fleet but he had never been interested in a command of his own, preferring the solace of his own research. He wore the same black naval uniform that all the crew of the ship did, something that he consistent complained about as it was "not designed" with winged species in mind.

The second person on the bridge was a young Dratari Helmsman called Steinar Yver. He also complained about the uniform, due to the lack of "wing support" as he put it. He was a stunning green dragon with an odd, almost metallic finish to his scales which made him shimmer in a way that petroleum did on a surface in daylight. His scaled possessed an almost mesmerising capacity.

The third and perhaps the most unusual member of the crew was Chief Engineer, Arthur Vereshchargin, a member of the almost xenophobic Ursidae species. The Ursidae species were a large and powerful bear-like species who were known for being extremely xenophobic, preferring to keep their unique and ancient culture intact. Very few Ursidae were seen outside of their northern homeland, to the north of Fesalis.

The Ursidae possessed a unique and complex set of beliefs, essentially a nomadic species with no fixed cities or settlements, they roamed the dense forests and semi-arctic tundra to cultivate the food they needed to survive the harsh winters of their climate.

Their xenophobia was only natural after the Fesalis attempted to invade their homeland almost one thousand years prior, destroying much of their forests which the peaceful Ursidea considered sacred. However since the affirmation of the Great Peace between all the species of Terra, they had retreated into their own territory and become distrustful of outsiders while being considered one of the most spiritual and dedicated creatures of Terra.

Arthur had decided to put his heritage to one side and become the first Ursidae to join the Terran Navy. He had decided, long ago, much to the ire of his parents, to reject his species xenophobic tendencies and embrace things with a more open mind. He was known to the crew of the Valkyrie as a spiritual, wise and very patient person.

"Commander" called Lieutenant Commander Summerton, looking over at Kestra after she had finished with the new security officer at the rear of the bridge. Kestra walked over to him, wondering what all this could have possibly been about, why was Celestial Gate asking them to investigate something when they should be on shore leave.

"Go ahead Aaron" she said, looking at him through her large eyes. They had been friends and colleagues for years and although it was considered "unprofessional" to refer to her crew on a first name basis, she had always preferred it. A more casual attitude promoted trust, in her opinion.

The raven tapped the console, bringing up several black and green diagrams of some sort of strange spatial anomaly. Kestra despised the computer systems on the Valkyrie as they were horribly outdated. She had begged Fleet Command for one of the more modern systems available on the larger capital ships but had been denied due to command thinking that it was a "waste of resources".

Then she had to be dragged out the room before she punched the Admiral.

"It's some sort of spatial anomaly" replied Summerton, with a harsh tone to his perfectly formed traditional accent. "We cannot get a precise reading, Celestial Gate has ordered us to investigate."

"Can't they send one of their own ships?" asked Kestra.

"I was thinking that too!" replied Helmsman Yvar, who was busy getting the engines ready for a possible departure from the station. His young but deep voice conveying the frustration that Kestra was feeling. They were supposed to be on holiday.

"Unfortunately not, most of their ships are under repair or refit. Our ship is the only one that is current spaceworthy." replied Summerton.

"Alright then..." replied Kestra, looking at the two of them. "Let's get this over with... Helm, release docking clamps and request undocking procedure from the station."

Yvar sighed and took the two large silver rods in front of him to steer the massive hulking hull of the Valkyrie. "Aye Ma'am" he replied.

The Valkyrie's glowing blue engines blazed to life as the ship slowly reversed out of the dock. The ship itself was one of the smaller vessels in the Terran Fleet but it was still easily seven hundred metres long. Yvar took extreme caution to make sure that the Valkyrie did not smack into the outer ring of the station as he pulled up to fly over it and out into the cosmos.

It took two hours for the Valkyrie to reach a position just behind the seventh planet in Terra system. Her Ion drive was slow at sublight speeds and with her Faster-Than-Light drive offline due to repairs, she was restricted to a slow crawl through the system.

By this time, Commander Marcell had joined Kestra on the bridge with them trying not to look direct at each other with the same longing that she had a few hours earlier in her cabin.

The Valkyrie came to a full stop as a huge, swirling vortex of yellow burst into view in front of her. It was unlike anything the bridge crew had ever seen before and seemed to be hiding within some subspace layer, eventually bursting into view at timed intervals.

Kestra looked at her Science Officer. "What do you make of it Aaron?" she asked.

"I'm not picking up any readings at all Ma'am" replied Aaron, who was busy using his clawed hands to manipulate the computers, running a diagnostic on the sensor system to see if they were at fault.

"Looks like some kind of spatial vortex? Almost like a wormhole." remarked Arthur, who had been also sending what remaining damage control teams he had to check the sensors as it was possible there could have been a glitch in the system.

A wormhole was a highly rare spatial anomaly, they have been theorised by the greatest minds of Terra but a stable one had never been discovered. The anomaly was a passage through space time that could provide instantaneous travel from one region of space to another, however they had never been encountered before.

"This is strange..." muttered Aaron, after a few seconds of silence on the bridge. "Sensors seem to be working fine. But I'm reading no matter, no energy... nothing. It's almost like its there but isn't there."

"Take the ship to Condition Two" replied Kestra, she did not like the look of this at all.

A klaxon blared throughout the ship, alerting the crew of possible danger. Condition Two was used when the ship was investigating something could possibly dangerous. It was used to read the crew against a possible crisis situation.

"Hold on..." replied Aaron, looking back at the Commanding Officer from his console. "I'm picking up an energy emission, its a nadion pulse... Brace!"

A pulse of orange energy shot out from anomaly and impacted the Valkyrie blowing a massive hole in the side of the ship and entire ship to shake. The impact automatically took the ship to Condition One as the bridge's lights flashed red and emergency power was automatically transferred to Kinetic Barriers.

"Hull Breach, Decks G... H... I..." shouted Arthur as he attempted to get emergency teams to seal the breach as soon as possible.

Kestra had been blasted off her feet from the force of the impact, picking herself up from Commander Marcell who had caught her just before she bashed her head on the cold metal flooring of the bridge.

"Kinetic Barriers are online and full charged!" exclaimed Arthur as he tried to get a handle on the situation.

"Turn us around!" yelled Kestra to Helmsman Yvar. "Get us out of range!"

The Valkyrie began to slowly turn, the hulking mass, now with a large hole in its side, limping away like a wounded animal, turning to one side. From the outside, the damage had been heavy and the hole in the ship flickered from the disconnected power conduits. The life blood of the vessel.

Too slow...

Another pulse came through the anomaly, shooting straight through the kinetic barriers and blasting off one of the Valkyrie's struggling engines, spiraling the debris into space.

An explosion rocked the bridge, causing the main helm console to explode and Yvar to be blasted backwards into a scaled heap on the floor. His wings over him, hiding his lifeless body.

"Medic!" shouted Commander Marcell, who rushed to check if he was alright while Kestra attempted to take command of the situation.

"Kinetic Barriers had no effect! They are slicing straight through them!" shouted Arthur as he was stuck, at a loss how to explain this. Kinetic Barriers were energy shields, designed to repel incoming fire and debris but this type of energy passed straight through them.

Commander Marcell, reached out with his huge hands and touched under the wings of the fallen dragon, looking to Kestra and shaking his head. "He's dead..."

Kestra slammed her fist down on the railing. It was her job to protect these people, to be ready for anything. She had not taken this seriously because she was still stuck in "shore leave mode" and now, a member of her crew were dead.

"We are receiving a transmission..." called out Aaron, interrupting her moment of self loathing. "It's coming from the anomaly."

Kestra rose to her feet, her helmsman was dead, her ship crippled and she wanted to know who was responsible for this. She wanted to make them pay!

"Put it on speaker..."

An echoed voice filled the room, a strange sound that made this female voice sound like it was projecting itself into her mind directly.

"Your time has ended, the Pantheon has come..."

Kestra had no time to react before, out the massive window at the front of the bridge, the anomaly burst into view again, one huge, massive vessel, bigger than all the ships in the Terran Fleet came into view.

"We have come to reclaim what is ours..."

Chapter 17

Carrus had finished locking up for the evening as he switched the lights off in the hotel office. It had been one long, boring day. Occasionally he would not get any business for the entire day, his hotel a barren shadow of its former glory.

He put away yet another bill in the draw under the desk and wondered how exactly he was going to pay for all this. He had tried to keep the business afloat since his grandfather died but managing a hotel by himself was both time consuming and expensive.

He had considered selling the business but then...

This hotel had been with his family for generations and he wondered if he could live with himself if he let it go.

He locked the doors to the hotel office. Occasionally he had some late night guests, maybe a local with their secret lover that they did not want their wife to find out about.

Whatever... He did not judge.

He bolted the door, walking through the back of the reception area and into the back office for the hotel, opening the door to what had been his grandfather's residence.

He missed him.

Sometimes he could almost feel his grandfather's presence, a kind old Cervijord, who by today's standards would be considered to be a horrible bigot due to his outdated views on other species and gender. Still... he had never caused anyone any harm and had been very good to Carrus all his life, taking him in after his parents had sent him into exile.

His parents believed that the rugged atmosphere of Crysfall would help turn their son into an actual man, rather than a "sissy bitch", as his father had put it numerous times.

He had been eighteen and stupid. Falling in love with another guy at his college and then trying to hide his sexuality from his overbearing parents. When they discovered him with this other creature, they were disgusted. Not just because of the homosexuality, but because he had been dating a Dratari, the long term enemies of the Cervijord species.

None of that mattered to Carrus, of course. All he knew was that he had fallen in love with another person despite what species they were or what gender. It was a progressive standpoint that his parents could not tolerate.

He never saw that guy again.

Over the years, his parents had contacted him less and less. His mother was really the only person from Crystal City that kept in semi-regular contact now. Regardless, he was rather happy about that as he was equally disgusted by his father.

He was just making himself some hot chocolate when there was a sudden loud banging on the wooden front door of his decaying residence.

Carrus opened the door, he never got callers or guests this late at night.

He stared at Obsidian as he opened the door, the large white horse carrying an unconscious fox over his shoulder, looking like he had been dragged through a hedge backwards. His large green eyes were filled with a mixture of terror and desperation.

"What the fuck happened to you?" asked Carrus, looking at the unconscious body of Janus on Obsidian's shoulder.

"P-Please..." wheezed an out of breath Obsidian, who had been carrying Janus for quite a far distance. "I-I didn't... know... where... else... to... go..!"

He struggled to catch his breath, carrying Janus had been an extremely difficult task. He had needed to hide his body in a sack as he attempted the escape from the Phoenix Grace facility which had been secretly built right under the residents of Crysfall's feet.

"Bring him in..." remarked Carrus, putting down his mug of hot chocolate and rushing to clear off the table in the center of his dusty, old kitchen.

A noticeable smell assailed Obsidian's large equine nostrils as he entered the room. It was the smell of damp and dust, clearly this old residence was at the point of falling apart. He could not believe that some people choose to live like this, his snobbery from his privileged, safe and secure city life kicking in.

Maybe they did not choose this at all?

He deposited Janus on the table who looked absolutely terrible, large clumps of his fur were coming off by the handful as Obsidian placed him down. Carrus had seen nothing like that before. He was completely unsure of how to react or what to do or even what had happened to this Vulnira.

"Fuck..." exclaimed Carrus as he took the time to full examine Janus's body, which seemed to be twitching in agony, even while he was unconscious. "What happened to him?"

Obsidian began search round the room and going through the cupboards without even asking Carrus. He wished he had the time for such pleasantries but he was pretty sure that Janus was in terrible shape and he needed him alive or Phoenix Grace might come after him next.

"What are you looking for!?" exclaimed Carrus, looking at the horse with a slight hint that his privacy was being violated by somebody that he hardly knew.

Obsidian finally found what he had been looking for, a medicine cabinet with some painkillers. He was still unsure of what Phoenix Grace had done to Janus so this was simply the best he could do. He took out the tablets and put two in Janus's mouth, rubbing under his muzzle, forcing him to swallow.

Carrus had clearly had enough. "Can you tell me what the fuck is going on!?" he shouted, causing Obsidian to stop in his tracks and stare at him.

Obsidian was not sure what to tell him. Was he intelligent enough to understand what they had been through or was it easier to invent some story? But still, he could think of no lie good enough to explain how Janus had ended up this way.

"He's an undercover cop" replied Obsidian, looking over at Carrus and trying to explain as quickly as he could. "He was investigated the Phoenix Grace dig site up on the mountain. He got caught and they did something to him. I dunno what..."

"Iknew you guys weren't here for a romantic getaway!" scoffed Carrus, retrieving a pillow and gently lifting the head of the Vulnira, who just a few hours ago, had screwed him on the bonnet of his car.

"Obviously not..." replied Obsidian sarcastically.

Janus was beginning to regain consciousness, his eyes flickering as he began to open them. The pain medication that Obsidian had given him was weak compared to the agony that he was feeling. His insides were on fire, burning in a bubbling pit so much that he was sure he would have made for a nice stew.

"Wh... " he murmured, still writhing slightly in agony on the table. Obsidian and Carrus looking over him and he noticed that his fur was coming off his body in clumps, leading bald patches of pinkish skin underneath.

"Hey..." said Obsidian, with as much compassion as he could muster. They had only been together for a short time but something deep inside made him actually care about this cop that had turned his life upside down.

Janus could not muster anymore words as Carrus rushed over to the rusted sink, filling a glass of water and lifting up Janus's head slightly to give it to him.

"Look..." replied Obsidian, wondering if this really was the best time to tell him but heneeded to know, especially if he could possibly die? "I did some checking... your wife, Cassata Everson. She was a Phoenix Grace employee... they must have had her killed... I certainly wouldn't put it past them."

Carrus felt like bolting for the door and calling the local police. There was no way that he wanted to be involved in this. Especially if there was some faceless corporation going about murdering people like this.

Janus stared at Obsidian, regaining control of his pain for just a few seconds while taking a drink of water from the glass, that he could barely hold.

"T-T-Thank you..." he muttered, trying to get the words out.

"Don't mention it..." replied Obsidian, the sight of seeing somebody suffer like this was just too much.

"We need to get him to a doctor!" exclaimed Carrus, who could not stand to see the suffering of Janus either. "There is one in town, maybe I can go..."

The glass smashed on the floor as Janus started screaming, his fur falling off his body in massive clumps and his one beautiful brown tail shredding itself to pieces as both Obsidian and Carrus were almost helpless to watch him.

His nose started to bleed, blood poured out in the most unnatural nosebleed that either of them had ever seen. There was a horrific sound of bones cracking as his face was slowly imploding, his one long muzzle crushing in on itself as his fur and tail were almost completely gone now.

He fell back on the table and then...

Silence...

Carrus looked over his lifeless body. It scared the hell out of him. He looked like a mangle corpse, his fur continuing to fall off his body but there was no movement at all. He did not want to touch him just in case whatever poisoned him was infectious.

Obsidian had less sense, reaching out to touch his neck and check the pulse of somebody that he had only started considering a friend.

"He's dead..." he said bluntly.

Chapter Eighteen

Janus was dead...

Obsidian sat on the cold, musty sofa inside the rather primitive wooden house that had once belonged to Carrus's grandfather.

He must have gone through it thousands of times in his mind.

They had dug out a grave in the garden around the back of the house, deciding that Janus's body was too mutilated to surrender to the local authorities... After all, it was a pretty unbelievable story and they were more likely to believe that the two of him had murdered him.

Obsidian had been in a panic all day. What if they believed he was responsible? Was he going to prison?

All these thoughts and more came rushing into his mind as he waited for Carrus to get back from the local store. They had both decided to lay low after what had happened to Janus.

Phoenix Grace might come for them next.

The sky was slowly growing darker as dusk settled over the small mountain town of Crysfall. Obsidian had not heard a car outside for hours and somehow that comforted him as he sat on the same sofa, still in a complete state of shock.

He was sure of what Phoenix Grace was capable of and somehow, he needed to get out.

He buried his long equine head in his hands, his black mane fluttering slightly as he looked down at the floor in despair. Maybe he could just resign or look for better employment? It was not too late to walk away from this.

The television in the corner, a rather primitive set by modern Crystal City standards came to life with the distinctive fanfare of the local Vulnira News Network. Obsidian had never really paid that much attention to it previously. He had always felt that the news was never reliable and sometimes, completely fake.

His ears pricked up when he heard something on the television set.

"Tributes were paid tonight to Janus Everson, who was tragically lost in a climbing accident during a holiday on Everonth Mountain. "This is a terrible tragedy" remarked Police Commissioner Julianna Gehmore. "He was an accomplished detective and I have ordered a complete safety review in the Everonth area."..."

The television was shattering. Phoenix Grace had planned for his death and fed this rubbish to the press. Just like that, Janus was consigned to history!

Obsidian could feel his blood begin to boil, his outraging climbing. His large hand shooting out and grabbing the glass that once contained alcohol and with a desperate scream, he hurled it into the wall.

The glass immediately shattered into thousands of pieces as Obsidian slid back down, missing the sofa that he had been sat on and ending up on the floor. Tears streaming down his face.

He asked himself why he was crying. He had never known Janus that well and of course he naturally feared for his own life but it was more then that. It was the way that the media could take all that Janus was a just placate the masses with some fake story about his death. The noise from the lack of justice was deafening.

If Phoenix Grace could get away with that?

What more could they get away with?

He heard fast paced footsteps from the other room as the door from the kitchen opened and Carrus rushed in, thinking that Obsidian may have been in some sort of trouble but was instead greeted by the sight of the large stallion crying his eyes out on the floor.

He did not know what to say. Was there anything that he could say?

Carrus rushed over to Obsidian to comfort him, draping his arms around the large horse and leaving his shopping bags at the door.

"They... said it was a climbing accident..." remarked Obsidian, unsure whether he was crying for himself, as his plan to rescue Janus had completely failed or for Janus's lost memory. He did not completely understand all these emotions that he was feeling.

"Bastards..." muttered Carrus as he sat down beside him, his cloven hands still resting on Obsidian's much larger hands. He had no idea how such a powerful, noble, creature such as the Equus of legend could be capable of showing these kinds of emotions.

He was not exactly in the best frame of mind himself. He had watched a lover from just a few hours ago die on his kitchen table. He was beginning to like Janus, he had actually understood the struggles that he had gone through and he really had wanted to get to know him better himself.

Now he would never get that opportunity.

Obsidian felt his heart pumping, the surge of emotion was powerful and unlike anything that he had ever felt before even during his own parents death.

As a child, he had been one of the very few survivors of the Equus Village Disaster, he had only been ten years old. The Vulnira Government and Phoenix Grace wanted to suppress the flow of information about the massacre, renaming it to "disaster" to deflect the blame away from them. They had made sweeping promises to protect the children of those who had been tragically lost during the "disaster" and had enrolled Obsidian, as well as other surviving children into Phoenix Grace's illustrious privately owned boarding school.

Growing up, Obsidian had always been treated well and had been a joy for many of his instructors, academically intelligent but socially awkward, he preferred to devote himself to his exploration of history and by the age of fifteen, had essentially airbrushed the loss of his parents from his mind.

Now he was looking back and seeing the cause of all his pain in the first place. The memories of that day when the creatures came and killed his family for defending their homes was still there and refused to be silent. He had just done all he could, for all these years, to suppress it.

No longer...

Carrus looked up at Obsidian, both of them were in pain, they could see it reflected in each others eyes and there was a longing to make that pain, all that uncertainty and fear for the future go away... if only for a moment.

Obsidian looked at the buck, as his hands moved from under Carrus's and onto his slender, feminine body, holding his soft fur on his hip, where he shirt was riding slightly upwards, revealing his rather astonishing mottled pattern on his fur.

There was a moment of pure emotion, where a connection between these two had been formed within a shared pool of grief. Obsidian found himself moving closer to Carrus, remembering how aroused he had become at the sight of Janus and him together that night.

Carrus and Obsidian locked muzzles, both knowing that it was crazy but still unable to restrain themselves. Carrus felt Obsidian's long tongue work its way into his mouth while he shuddered in pleasure.

This was crazy but the surge of pleasure between the both of them was enough to keep their lips locked together, Obsidian's hands trailing down the back of the slim deer boy, feeling the same perfectly shaped and round firm butt that Janus had felt just as few days earlier.

Carrus had been totally unprepared for this as well, a few days day, he had been a bored hotel owner in a quiet town, until these two men had lambasted their way into his life with a whirlwind.

The kiss was slow and intimate, their tongues intertwining, Obsidian's huge bulge between his legs becoming ever more obvious as he could not restrain himself any longer.

They both wanted this... no... needed this.

Both of them were in shock with Janus's death and it was the crazy moment that both of them had surrendered to, almost completely and utterly.

Carrus's hand trailed down to Obsidian's bulge, feeling it through the cloth of his worn hiking trousers, giving a slight gasp. He had always known that Equus were renowned for their size but to finally feel one. A million questions of what he was going to do it quivered within him, all more exciting then the last.

This was going to be just what he needed...

Chapter Nineteen

Five Hundred Ten Years Ago...

The Terran Federation Navy had amassed a fleet of only twenty ships to await the arrival of the massive vessel that had been described by the distress call from the Valkyrie.

Although they were unsure of what demon they were facing, they were resolute in their desire to protect their home. All the species of Terra stood united against this singular threat, unsure if they were truly able to defeat a vessel which was so powerful it could create wormholes out of nothing.

Terran Federation scientists based on Celestial Gate station had worked tirelessly since the Valkyrie's call had come in to try and understand this new enemy but all the data collected from the initial transmission was completely baffling. They had neither encountered or even heard of a vessel that remotely resembled this one.

The alien vessel was massive, easily dwarfing Celestial Gate herself and had a unique golden hull, a gigantic pinecone, with massive golden spikes that jutted out at the front to the vessel, the Terrans had never seen anything like it.

However the most interesting aspect of the vessel itself was the fact that it appeared translucent, almost as if it was but was not there. The technology needed to even conceive such a ship was completely beyond that of Terran understanding.

The Terran fleet consisted of several large block-like cruisers, which were designed more for efficiency rather than aesthetics. Several different sizes and classes of ship that were all in formation in front of the planet, all performing different functions from large, slow battleships like the flagship, the Tyrant Wing, produced by the aggressive Dratari, to the smaller, support vessels such as the Mercy, produced by the collectivist rabbit-like Luptari.

All the strengths of the races of Terra were united against this threat, with each race having designed and built their own flagship to serve as parts of a large unifying force.

For almost five thousand years, the Terran species had known peace and cooperation and that was not going to end today.

The was silence...

The alien vessel moved slowly from behind Terra's only moon, its massive shadow almost completely eclipsing it as it moved into view of the fleet. The communication channels of the fleet almost exploded with exclamations of terror as this colossal ship silently edged towards them, cutting through space like a knife.

The massive vessel almost completely ignoring the severely damaged Valkyrie which was tailing it. The ship had not given a response apart from its previous message and had continued to move ominously towards the planet. The Valkyrie, now only with one functional Engine Pod was struggling to keep up.

Fleet Admiral Orias Gandora was on the bridge of the largest Terran Battleship, the Tyrant Wing and was leading the fleet against this unknown foe. She was a Dratari, a rather overweight black dragon who was renowned for her volatile temper as much as she was being a valiant leader of her people.

"Silence!" she commanded over the communications channel to the panicked fleet. Most of the fleet respected the old Dratari enough to understand that when she gave an order, she expected it to be obeyed. She was one of most respected and best military commanders in Terran history, personally commanding the Terran Federation to several victories against Alexandria. She was as much feared for her ruthlessness, as much as respect for her genius.

"Unknown Vessel!" she commanded in a husky tone. "You have entered Terran space! If you do not immediately withdraw, we will open fire!" A quick nod to her tactical officer was issued, the massive cannons of the Tyrant Wing slewed across in thier turetts on thier barbettes into position, targeting and training along with the unknown enemy ship, crosshairs primed on the target, all that was needed to fire was the order.

Her demand provoked no reaction from the alien colossus, which continued to move closer and closer to the lush blue and green sphere behind them.

"Admiral Gandora..." came another voice over the comm system. This one was a snide, almost sarcastic sounding tone. "This is Levantine Bittersweet... I don't have time to explain who I am but you need to hold off that ship until we can bring the Aegis online!"

"Excuse me" replied the Admiral. "This is a restricted channel for Fleet Communications only! Who the hell are you?"

"No time to explain... just do it!"

"How dare you tell me what to do with my fl--"

Another voice entered the exchange, a voice of a much older and more mature male. "Admiral Gandora, this is President Aden aboard Celestial Gate. Authorisation, Omega Black Two One Five. By order of the Terran Federation, you are to follow Mister Bittersweet's direction!"

"What? President Aden!? I have no idea who this person is!"

"You will comply with the directive or I will have you removed and command transferred to somebody else. There is no time to debate this."

Admiral Gandora was not happen with her command being circumvented so frivolously. She had always believed that a military command structure was essential to good order and hated it when politicians like Aden interfered with military orders. However she was bound by her oath to protect and serve the Terran Federation and she intended to do just that.

What was this Aegis that this Levantine had mentioned? There was something that she was not being told and she did not like being kept in the dark about this, it was not something she was going to allow the President to get away with in future.

The alien vessel was still edging closer to Terra, she had no choice.

"All ships..." she commanded, giving a chance to take a deep breath, a calm before a storm. "Open fire!".

A massive hailstorm of bolts of lights from the railgun cannons on each of the Terran Federation ships erupted across the darkness of space, with each ship releasing massive payloads of shells and missiles at the alien ship, the Valkyrie having to swerve to the side in order to avoid being hit by the storm.

The storm however was almost completely ineffective, passing through the massive pine cone shaped ship like it was not there at all. Continual volleys continued to do nothing against this behemoth.

An orange light blazed from the front of the colossus, swirled in a vortex of orange and yellow, charging before releasing itself in a continual beam straight in the direction of the Tyrant Wing,

From the bridge of the Valkyrie, Kestra and her crew watched helplessly as the largest vessel in the Terran fleet, the Tyrant Wing and Fleet Admiral Orias Gandora were completely incinerated by the beam, their much stronger Kinetic Barriers completely ineffective against the sustained beam that sliced through their hole and straight through two other ships as the Fleet heroically continued their assault.

"This is madness!" thought Kestra as she watched the Tyrant Wing explode and with it, any hope for the situation. That was the strongest vessel that they had and if that could be destroyed so easily, what hope was there for any of them?

Some of the smaller vessels began to break out of formation upon seeing the Tyrant Wing's destruction, fleeing for their lives. Kestra could not blame them. What hope was there against such overwhelming power from an alien force that had yet to reveal themselves or their motives.

Several smaller orange bolts, like the one that struck the Valkyrie when they had encountered the ship were now released from the colossus, picking off the smaller vessels one by one as they attempted to flee in terror.

The chilling explosions and death cries of the Fleet were all that Kestra could hear over the comm.

The death cry of the Terran civilisation itself..?

The alien vessel then stopped dead in its tracks, leaving most of the Terran fleet scattered and divided. What more did it want? It had already single handedly decimated a fleet in more than one shot?

"Commander!" called out Summerton, who had been watching the terror unfold on the monitors, powerless and demoralised. "They are transmitting a visual signal!"

"Let's see it" said Commander Marcell in Kestra's place. Still trying to maintain a semblance of order and authority on the bridge in the wake of such crippling terror.

A figure appeared on the computer screen, it was a primate, but a unique kind of primate without any sort of fur covering its both, similar to the creatures of Terra but with a short nose on its face and long blonde hair, instead of fur, draping down to its shoulders.

Kestra's eyes opened in terror. "No" she said. "They're a myth!"

She had only heard about this particular species in the ancient writings of her people, which she had long since dismissed as mythical when she became the first Tachyrea to join the Terran civilisation.

The ancient wall carvings of her home depicted a hairless mammal which had once resided on Terra before being cast out by the "Gods" themselves.

The creature spoke, raising her hand to address the world. "People of "Terra"" she said, her blue eyes tranquil and calm for the massacre that they had just caused. "Know that today, your lives are over. We have returned to reclaim our ancestral home and from today, Terra will be known by its "correct" name..."

"Earth..."

Kestra put her head in her hands. This could not be true! It just couldn't be!

"Commander?" asked Summerton, noting her reaction. "What is it..?"

Kestra said nothing as she rose to her feet, looking at the figure on the monitor and letting out a quiet, broken mutter.

"Humans..." she said.

Chapter Twenty

Obsidian groaned as he plunged his large, equine cock between the tight cheeks of the cute, petite deer that gripped the sofa, looking back with a short, feminine moan.

He could not believe just how tight he was. How did Janus not orgasm within the first five minutes of being inside Carrus.

He gripped Carrus's thigh tighter as the lustful mood began to take him, his eyes rolling backwards as his equine shaft slowly moved back and forth inside the deer.

This was exactly what he needed...

How had he gotten to this point? He had been swept up in a whirlwind since Janus had taken him unwillingly to Crysfall and here he was, balls deep inside a supple Cervijord:

He looked down at the cute butt, bouncing up and down over his large equine shaft, each pump releasing wave upon wave of pleasure into himself and Carrus. Carrus had complained that it may be took big for him when he first released it from its cloth prison earlier but as Obsidian had discovered;

He was a man of many talents.

"H-H-Harder" remarked Carrus, under his breath, barely able to get the words out as he gripped the sofa, using it to anchor himself between it and the huge equine shaft that was now deep within his rear.

He wanted to feel something...

Anything...

The room was quiet, apart for the sound of the wet slapping as Obsidian's large equine orbs slapped against his tight furry hole, beginning to steadily rise as he had requested, with the continual short grunts coming from the large horse behind him.

"O-o-oh... f-f-fuck..." remarked Carrus in ecstasy as he allowed nature to take its course, his tight butt gripping the shaft as his own smaller meat hung, almost completely erect under his legs without the need to touch it himself, leaking his "pre-seed" down over the musty old sofa.

He felt as if he was being opened up from the inside, but the sensation was neither uncomfortable, nor painful. It had been at first but he had soon adapted to the thick shaft and had pushed out his ass to give Obsidian easier access.

Obsidian turned him over after a few seconds, allowing him to see the large muscular torso of the equine, glistening with sweat as they fucked senseless in the warm summer air.

Pushing Carrus down on the sofa and spreading his legs wide, without even needing to say anymore and pushing his huge shaft back into the hole of the slutty deer.

Carrus felt his animal instincts take over, he was being treated like a slut, a dirty whore to be used and he loved it. The instinct for breeding was so powerful as Obsidian began to reinsert his massive cock back into him that Carrus held his legs wide apart so the entire length could disappear into his hole.

"F-Fuck...." moaned Obsidian, acknowledging the wanton sluttiness of this creature that he was so mercilessly breeding.

Carrus reached out with a cloven hand and grabbed the muscular buttcheeks of his lover as he leant forward to hilt him harder on the sofa. His own meat was now standing completely to attention, throbbing with every push.

There were a few minutes of the continual wet slapping sound as Obsidian's large testicles bounced and slapped Carrus's ass as his large meat hilted him deep inside, getting faster and harder.

Carrus couldn't take it any longer... he felt an unmistakable rush of pleasure as his climax grew, unable to stop it, even asking Obsidian to slow down... but it was too late.

His apex came and his smaller but impressively scaled penis for his size spasmed hard as he cried out in pleasure, causing a large yet of white sperm to shoot out and land on his own face.

The force of Carrus's own orgasms and the rhythmic contractions deep inside his hole caused Obsidian to give a loud grown as his own orgasm approached, flooding the poor deer with a massive quantity of pure equine seed, so much that his butt could not contain it all.

It has been as if they had both awoken from a trance when they looked at each other, a silent, unrelenting look of shock and amazement of what they had just down as Carrus made an excuse to rush and get a towel quickly as Obsidian sat back down on the sofa, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

What had just happened?

********

It was still incredibly warm but the "hot-box" conditions of the coach made the journey back to Crystal Lake almost unbearable for Obsidian. He had tried to continue his work, attempt to decode the many photographs of the glyphs that had been recovered from the wreckage of the crashed ship at Everonth, but something kept his mind wondering.

"Was it Carrus or Janus?" He thought to himself as he ignored the many different species all crammed into the single decker coach. He felt a little guilty that he had made an excuse to Carrus and just left so soon after their intimate encounter but things had become very tense and awkward between the two of them.

The coach hit a bump, causing him to grab hold of the nearest railing and bringing him back to reality.

It really was insufferable without air conditioning, the hot Terran sun pounding mercilessly, even as it rapidly approached the evening.

He looked out the window for a second, watching trees and houses wiz past as the coach was fast approaching the Eastgate Bridge and then on to Crystal Lake.

"Maybe I should just forget about the last few days?" he thought to himself in vain, longing to go back to a simpler time where he could immerse himself in his work without the moral implications affecting his mind in such a way.

He thought about handing in his resignation when he returned to Crystal Lake and just taking a flight out to somewhere distant like Fesalis, somewhere where nobody would know him and he could make a new start...

...without Phoenix Grace.

He had never realised how much the company had shaped his destiny. What would he have become if the Equus Disaster had never happened? Probably a simple farmer or a nomad, living a somewhat simple life.

Was that better?

At least he had been giving the chance to learn more... to do more than he ever could being with his own people?

His people had been reviled for being somewhat xenophobic, distrustful of outsiders and somewhat religiously fundamental in their beliefs. Did he truly want to be a person like that?

Had Phoenix Grace and the Vulnira Government done him a favor by destroying his home and murdering his parents? Would he had grown up to be just as intolerant and backwards as his own people were known for being?

He wiped the sweat off his head and brushed his mane back, looking over at the male and female couple sat chatting in the chairs on the same aisle as him. They were giggling about what foods they preferred to eat and what they were going to have for dinner when they got home.

Obsidian scoffed to himself... "Simple people... It doesn't matter if the world falls apart, as long as they have their creature comforts, they don't care about others."

The coach stopped as it reached the long suspension bridge that connected the Lower City of Crystal Lake to the neighbouring mainland. Obsidian put his hand out to stop the sudden lurch of the breaks being enough force to send him face-first into the back of the chair in front of him.

He really hated this coach driver, a computer could do a better job.

The sun had almost finished his relentless assault on the roof of the coach now and was beginning to set into an eerie green hue of dusk in the sky. Obsidian had always enjoyed the dusk on Terra, he had watched it often growing up. Always believing that he could see a honeycomb like lattice across the sky if the sun hit just the right angle.

Of course, all his teachers had told him that it was ridiculous and that it was probably a trick of the light.

"Attention Passengers" came a raspy voice over the announcement system. "We will be crossing into Crystal City in just a few moments. Please have your tickets ready for inspection."

Obsidian felt into his coat pocket, sifting through the rubbish in there to produce a small orange ticket. He had travelled this route so many times on his way to Everonth that he become accustomed to it. There was always a staff member of the Eastgate Bridge who would come down the aisle, checking tickets and passes to see if customers had paid for their journey.

To him it was reassuring...

To him it signaled that he was home...

As if by clockwork, a rather fat Vulnira began working his way down the aisle, checking the tickets of the passengers as he went. He carried a small, portable card reader with him that he looked at as he put the ticket inside.

"Excuse me sir... Can I have your ticket?" he asked Obsidian as he got to his seat, Obsidian, who was busy bundling his research papers into his bag looked up and was a greeting by quite a large and rather surprising bulge for a chubby fox.

Fighting the urge to make a remark that his trousers were probably too tight, Obsidian produced the ticket which the vulpine slid into the machine, causing it to make a random disapproving beep.

"Sir... I'm afraid that your ticket is not valid..." he said, looking at the horse suspiciously. "Seems you have a ticket for the wrong day..."

Obsidian was both confused and somewhat embarrassed that most of the coach passengers were looking at him with almost judging glares.

"But it's an open return?" questioned Obsidian as he tried to not let his annoyance show.

"'Fraid not sir..." replied the chubby ticket inspector. "If you would kindly step off the coach..."

Obsidian was dumbfounded, he remembered booking the ticket as an open return when Janus had first taken him to Everonth, there was no way that he could have got that wrong.

But what could he do? If he started to complain, the other passengers would get annoyed and he could end up getting arrested for a harassment charge.

Giving a disappointing huff, most of the passengers paying close attention to him as most of them neither trusted, nor had ever seen a Equus before. He raised to his feet and got his belongings, shuffling past the ticket inspector as he walked down to the coach exit, feeling judged and humiliated the whole way.

"Maybe I can get a taxi?" he thought to himself as he crossed off the bus into the open air of the car park overlooking the lake.

"Obsidian Greyfell?" asked a feminine voice, standing by a car near where he had exited the coach.

He looked over to see a small, petite fox with distinctive red and white markings walking over to him. Her clothes were casual and composed of a denim jacket, small white blouse and black trousers. Obsidian had never seen her before.

"Eh... yes?" he replied, not playing it cool at all. Obsidian was incapable of playing anything cool.

The fox flashed her police badge at him which caused his eyes to widen in panic. "Sergeant Janice Truthtail" she said, looking at him disapprovingly.

"You are coming with me."

Chapter Twenty-One

It had taken several hours for Obsidian to explain what had happened when he had discovered Janus at the Phoenix Grace facility and his subsequent death.

By now, darkness had fallen on Crystal City and the Lower City bar that Janice had taken him to had begun to become decidedly more quiet with only a few people left, people who had nowhere else to be or had become dependent on the alcohol or solace that the bar provided.

Obsidian had explained to Janice how he had pulled Janus from the Phoenix Grace facility in Everonth, only to have him pass away when he reached the only place he could go for help, the hotel that Janus and him had stayed the night before.

Janice had been finding it hard to disguise her shock and disbelief at Janus's demise. At first, she did not want to believe it was true. He had been her friend for many years and she desperately needed Obsidian to be lying about this however the deadly earnestness of his eyes had convinced her otherwise.

In her heart, she knew he was speaking the truth. She was unable to describe it and she had never met Obsidian before but there was something about the way that Obsidian had described Janus's death.

That and the TerraNet videos that he showed her on his phone of the news report that Obsidian had seen on the television just a few hours earlier. She had been working at her desk job and nobody had thought to inform her about the news.

Her emotions had spiralled from despair to the depths of an abyss. Janus and her had been close friends for many years but that was all it had ever been. She had never had the courage to push any further and now;

She would never get that chance again...

She wanted to cry but her duty stopped her. She wanted to go outside and scream but she had to remain professional. She wanted to walk into Phoenix Grace headquarters, find Ivan Grace himself and demand answers but she knew that security would deal with her before she even got close.

For the moment, all she could do was question this rather acerbic horse about what had happened.

Obsidian had been trying make sense of it all himself, the vixen was shooting questions at him left, right and center and all he could do was wonder if he was going to end up getting arrested and charged with Janus's murder? What if she did not believe him? What if she thought that he had something to do with it? The thought of spending a night in a cold, noisy police cell terrified him considering it was something he had never had to face before.

Janice could sense his fear, his selfish concern for his own wellbeing. She could work that to her advantage.

She could use that...

He told her about what he had discovered about Janus's wife, Cassata and how he had no idea that she had been in the employ of Phoenix Grace. Janus carefully sipped her orange juice, being careful not to give anything away as he talked, her large brown eyes at the base of her muzzle fixed on the horse in front of her.

It was so obvious to her. She had seen it in thousands of other criminal investigations over many years. Phoenix Grace had Cassata killed because she had discovered something or knew something that could have jeopardised the company. She knew about the seedy backhand bribes that Phoenix Grace had been paying towards Barrus Sturgeon and other powerful figures because she had filed his tax returns.

Dirty money...

Janus had walked into a conspiracy which took him close to the center of corruption that festered at heart of Crystal Lake and had paid the ultimate price for it.

She owed it to her friend, somebody that she never would have passed the entrance exam to the force without, to discover what that was and expose this conspiracy.

She told Obsidian that he was going to help her break into the Phoenix Grace computer files in their central headquarters. She knew that HQ was going to be furious but she did not care. Obsidian was reluctant to help but the slight nudge that he could possibly be implicated in Janus's murder soon convinced him otherwise.

She was going to finish what he started...

***

It was almost half past three in the morning when Obsidian used his employee pass to open the office door. The central headquarters for Phoenix Grace was deadly quiet, with only a few security guards left inside the building.

The automatic lights on the twenty third floor of the massive tower flickered to life as soon as Janice and Obsidian entered the Historical Research Department of the building. It was a large room, dominated by rows of workstations and office cubicles and historical artifacts encased in glass littered throughout the room. There was an usual skeleton of some extinct species on a wall with the rest of the walls being open glass windows that looked out over the city lights of Crystal Lake.

Obsidian had managed to convince the guard at the front desk in the lobby that he was there to collect some research files.Janice however was not an employee and this forced her to get creative, making up a story about being a new employee that had lost her pass and wearing a low cut top with her physique had been enough to convince the guard to let her pass.

Janice had always wanted to consider herself an actress, as a young cub, she had convinced herself that she was going to be a glorious actress and the star many plays and films. It was a dream that had long since been suffocated in this god forsaken city.

Obsidian quickly logged onto his computer. Janice could tell that he was not used to sneaking about as he was moving with such a degree of suspicion, she was surprised that they had not been caught already.

His computer wallpaper caught her eye, it was a rather interesting pornographic display of two very muscular Leodis, lion-like men who originated from Fesalis. She raised an eyebrow at it and remarked if it was really appropriate to have that kind of material on a work computer.

Obsidian, already embarrassed enough, chose to ignore her as he accessed his email, his hands gliding across the holographic keyboard that came online as soon as the computer was booted up, scrolling down the email that had first caught his attention and mentioned Janus's wife.

"Here it is..." he said, looking over at the rather scantily dressed vixen who sat on the table beside him. He looked her over from head to toe, she had really dressed for the part but he supposed that this was part of some official police operation and she had to look the part. She had told him that back up was nearby if they needed it, ready to storm the building.

It was a lie, but it was a successful one.

"Fuck..." replied Janice under her breath, causing Obsidian to look over at her in surprise. "It says here that Cassata was responsible for documenting "Yiff" exposure within the city."

Obsidian grimaced at her. "Wait... did you not know that Phoenix Grace was interested in documenting drugs in the city?"

"I knew they had several drug rehabs set up but..." muttered Janice as she read on, her voice trailing off. "But this is nothing to do with treatment programs, this is distribution research!"

"Wait... " said Obsidian, who had never really had that much of a knowledge of drugs in the first place. He knew that Phoenix Grace had been avidly committed to helping the war on drugs as a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company but he had never really looked into that side of the company that closely before. "Does that mean that Phoenix Grace has producing Yiff?" he asked her in shock.

"It sure looks that way..." replied Janice. "Look here, there are requisition orders for chemicals from Everonth, where you worked... they were sent to a refinement facility in the Lower City and it looks like Cassata was responsible for paying off the Import Officials to look the other way."

Obsidian felt somewhat overwhelmed by all this information. He found it increasingly difficult to believe that Phoenix Grace, a respectable company, one that he had worked with continually for the last decade, could be responsible for creating and distributing one of the most dangerous designer drugs in Crystal Lake.

"That's... impossible" he said, finally.

"No... look here... there are shipping receipts for an "undisclosed chemical", signed for by a Doctor Aaron Naga, who is the Head of Research and Development for the company..."

"Former head..." corrected Obsidian. "Doctor Naga left the company last year to spend more time with his family."

"Oh... seriously?" replied Janice, looking over and wondering how somebody so big, could be so dense. "Corporations say that when they have to fire an employee... It's a way to keep the press from knowing too much about the circumstances"

Obsidian sat back in the chair and rolled his eyes. He was tired of everyone always assuming that he was stupid but maybe had been just too trusting of this company. He had known nothing but Phoenix Grace since he was a child and he found it incredibly hard to believe that the thousands of people that worked for the company were all bad. They were just like him in so many respects.

Janice looked away from the computer and thought for a moment. There was only so much one unsecure email could tell her but it certainly raised questions about Phoenix Grace's company image. Maybe this, Doctor Aaron Naga could help shine some light on what exactly was going on and exactly why her friend had to pay with his life, to keep it secret?

"We need to find this Doctor Aaron Naga..." she said.

"I'm afraid that the former head of Research and Development killed his wife and children and then shot himself." replied a feminine voice from the other side of the room that made both of them jump. "Unfortunately he was a deeply disturbed man"

Obsidian's blood froze. He knew that voice. He kept silent and looked over the figure standing in the room, the same one that had confronted Janus and himself inside the tent and that Janus had rendered unconscious.

"You!" replied Janice, almost immediately pulling out her gun, from its concealed position behind her. She had put it in between her belt and her trousers so she could easily conceal it and she felt safer knowing that it was there.

"Hello Janice..." replied Cassandra Equinox, who was stood in the doorway, eating an apple as she spoke, seeing the gun and smirking gently.

"Oh dear... is that any way to greet your sister after such a long time?"

Chapter Twenty-Two

Janice grimaced at the sun as she was finally pulled out of the back of the large black van. It felt as if she had been stuck in there for years, the hostile sun pounding the top of the van relentlessly.

She was being held by two large Canids with bulging muscles, the canine eyes concealed through thick black sunglasses. Her throat was so parched that she felt that she would have died from thirst if she had been kept in there any longer, her fur only compounding the insulation and making her feel even more clammy and uncomfortable.

She tried to put one foot in front of the other and resist the firm grip of the two men, fearing her fate at the hands of this merciless conglomerate. Trying to reach out to restore her balance as she was persistently dragged across the dusty road.

Mustering, only enough energy to lift her muzzle, her eyes began to focus on where she was, something telling her that she was a long way from the temperate climate of Crystal Lake.

The van had pulled up a small dusty road in the middle of a dry and parched land. There was a large grey building in front of her that resembled just a plain rectangle slightly ahead of her and this part of the complex was fenced off from the surrounding world, with tall barbed wire fences, although she did wonder why they would need fences out here in the middle of nowhere.

She thought she had seen a mirage as she glanced up, being led towards a patio set which was just in the middle of the dusty nothingness, a large umbrella covering it to shield it from the merciless and unrelenting sun.

The two Canids moved her to one of the chairs, her eyes fixed on the pitcher of ice cold lemonade that was standing on the table under the canopy. She glared at the ice cubes inside the pitcher with almost lovingly affection, she had never been this thirsty.

"Let me get that for you..." remarked a familiar voice. "I imagine your trip here must have been rather tiresome."

Janice looked up to see her sister, Cassandra, pouring a glass of lemonade for her, her vulpine eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Mother used to make lemonade?" smiled Cassandra, looking at her with a rather ruminating expression. "Do you remember Jan?"

Janice could not even summon the energy to reply, she eagerly grabbed the glass of lemonade that Cassandra offered her, guzzling it down, getting a lot of it already down her already dirty and somewhat dusty top. She did not care at the moment, the only thing that mattered to her was the life preserving nature of the lemonade she was drinking, it tasted as if heaven itself had sent it. She finished the glass, putting it back on the table and leaning back in the chair, finally able to think clearly again without thirst clouding her thoughts.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking over at her sister, who was casually dressed in a rather large sunhat and dark sunglasses, her summer dress with a distinctively gaudy floral motif on it.

"Fesalis" replied her sister, much to Janice's surprise. No wonder her trip had taken so long, they had been driving for almost a thousand miles. She was pretty sure that she had passed out on the trip and it had actually been a lot longer than just hours.

"We haven't seen you for years..." whispered Janice, her throat still a bit dry. "Not since dad..."

Cassandra slammed her hand down on the small table with such force that it made Janice jump. "We are not going to have a repeat of ten years ago!" she said, terminating that line of conversation.

Janice was not sure what she was even doing here or why her sister was involved so closely with Phoenix Grace. The last time she had seen her sister was when her argument with their father, on the eve of her enrollment at Crystal Lake University. Cassandra had always hate her father for an unknown reason and their quarrels had driven a wedge between her and her entire family, who viewed her as a contemptuous teenager.

Cassandra took a deep breath, it was clear that the conversation still filled her with vitriol and considering her position, Janice decided that it was in her best interest not to pursue it any further.

"Where's Obsidian?" she asked.

"The horse..?" replied Cassandra. "Oh, he is back in Crystal City, being turned over to the police for Janus's murder and the subsequent murder of Janus's wife, Cassata." she said, sitting back down in the chair, shooing the two canid guards away.

There was nowhere that Janice could run to anyway.

"But you know that Obsidian didn't commit those crimes..." replied Janice smartly and cooly. She reached out to pour herself another glass of lemonade.

"Of course he did..." chuckled Cassandra. "He was the only person on that mountain with Janus and pushed him to his death."

Janice stopped pouring and looked at Cassandra, her large brown eyes giving the indication that she was slightly confused.

"What did you think... Janus just slipped and fell to his death?" remarked Cassandra. "Wow... you really are just as dense at the rest of the police in Crystal Lake. What did he tell you?"

"He told me that he rescued him from a Phoenix facility in Everonth and that he died from some experiment that the company was running."

"You mean the dig site!?" laughed Cassandra, letting out a howl that echoed across the desert. "We don't have any other facility in Everonth! Hell, you think the Vulnira Government would let us have one? The taxes alone on our central HQ are bad enough, that's why we brought you out here to our underground facility at Fesalis."

Janice just sat there and listened in amazement, she had always been unable to read to sister and after not seeing her for almost ten years made her even more illusive to her.

"Jan, I thought you would know better then to buy into some disgruntled employees conspiracy theory."

"But I saw the manufacturing files for Yiff! You've been producing the drug for distribution."

Cassandra pressed her lips together before speaking. "That was the Former head of Research and Development for the company. "Yiff" as you call it, was just a new cheaper alternative painkiller that we were designing and he discovered he could make more money selling it out on the street as a high."

There was an awkward silence as Janice considered this. Maybe she had allowed her obsession with solving Janus's murder cloud her judgement? A hot wind stung her like a wasp as she looked at her sister with a stare that could have iced over the desert around her.

"Then why the news report claiming Janus's death was an accident?"

"That's because they thought it was!" exclaimed Cassandra, putting her small glass on the table. "They only just discovered that there was another person with him on the mountain. Obsidian disposed of the body but there has been an eyewitness that has come forward and said that he saw Obsidian push him. Apparently, he had become obsessed with Cassata, Janus's husband and murdered her when she rejected his advances, that is how they knew each other in the emails you read although I'm sure he didn't show you them."

Janice nodded. Her mind was racing. Maybe Cassandra was telling the truth and Obsidian had told her this story in order to cover up what he had done.

"I apologise for the manner that the men brought you here, but you have to understand, I wanted a chance to clear this up with you first, before you reported Phoenix Grace for any misdemeanors that would tarnish the company's image. I'm sure you understand."

At that moment, Janice was not sure what she believed. She had seen dirty money flowing through her office at the Police Department but nothing more then that. Phoenix Grace had been responsible for massive social projects to benefit the poor and had a very good reputation as a company so she had already found it hard to believe that they were capable of committing murder. Maybe she had just wanted to believe them guilty and all this was the wild machinations of some crazed psychopath. She had encountered them plenty of times before in her work.

Janice scratched her muzzle, unable to think of anything else to say, other then "I see..."

"But still..." continued Cassandra, her paw outstretched and placing it on top of her bewildered sister. "It is good to see you again."

Janice could not help but smile. This was not the family reunion she had been hoping for but it was still undeniably good to see her sister after so many years out of touch. "It's good to see you as well, Cassie"

Cassandra smiled back, a genuine and seemingly happy smile at being reunited with her sister after so many years. "Come on... " she said. "I wanna show you some of what we do here so you will have absolutely no doubt that Phoenix Grace has only people's best interests at heart."

Chapter Twenty-Three

"This is our main hospital facility..." explained Cassandra as the two Vulnira walked into a large room from the a long underground corridor behind them. The room was large and white, resembling that of a traditional hospital, with beds lining the outer walls and sterile smell to compliment the fresh white linen on the beds. It was clear that this facility was well paid for and well kept.

Janice was just glad to get out of the relentlessly hostile Terran sun, which had been making her feel increasingly more uncomfortable in her own fur since she had arrived in the Fesalis desert. She had ventured down into this expansive underground facility cautiously with her sister who she still felt untrusting of.

"So... what is this used for?" she asked, glancing her eyes over the room, fixing her narrow gaze on a couple on the far side of this unsettlingly white room. There was a Cervijord nurse in the furthest corner of the room tending to, what she could only assume was a Vulnira male who was laying in the bed.

Cassandra, being the taller of the two Vulnira sisters, gazed down at her younger sister with a mixture of emotions. She was still somewhat surprised to see her again after so many years of no contact between the two however, her duty to the company would always win out over any familial loyalty that was left residing in her long closed heart.

Still... it was oddly good to see her again.

"We use this facility to care for people in advanced stages of illness..." replied Cassandra, brushing her long hair from her eye. "Information gathered from these patients can be used to research and develop new treatment plans for many diseases." keeping her description brief and somewhat simple as she doubted her sister would have any prior knowledge of how disease research was conducted by Phoenix Grace.

Cassandra ushered Janet down the room as Janet noted mentally that the guards who had stuffed her in the back of a van and drove her here, were positioned just outside of the door. This had been the most forceful tour she had ever been on.

The two approached the patient as the nurse left him with a clipboard, Cassandra trying her best to conjure up a compassionate smile. She had never been good at it, locking away her emotions ever since that day which she refused to talk about with her sister.

The Vulnira on the bed had matted fur, his face appearing somewhat tired and parched. There was something missing from his eyes, a fire that had long gone out, a zest for life that most people would cling to had long since diminished due to the condition that was slowly eating away at him.

H

e did his best to conjure a smile for the two females that approached him.

Janet gave an awkward wave, she could tell that this Vulnira was living on borrowed time. He looked weak and she felt confused as to what emotion she could show him without insulting him and making her pity seem genuine, which it was.

Cassandra gave a short glib smirk and then picked up his patient notes from the end of the bed. "This is Mr... Trinell" she said, reading off the notes with an almost blank tone in her voice. Her soul laid bare to Janet for a moment, allowing her to see the cold, lifeless person that her sister had become over their years of separation. "He is in the advanced stages of "Galway's Syndrome".

Janet shot her sister a piercing look. How was discussing his condition in front of the patient with a total stranger professional or ethical? "Cassandra... That's very..." she started, about to chastise her sister before the male Vulnira interrupted her.

"Are we going to the beach today Alice?" he asked, looking at Janet with a distant longing in his eyes, his brown irises wide.

"Oh... I'm... I'm sorry sir..." replied Janet, not knowing what he was talking about. "I don't know who..."

"You are wasting your time..." replied Cassandra promptly. "He's too far gone. Galway's Syndrome attacks the neurons in the brain, we don't exactly know what causes it but it essentially causes acute dementia... in a few moments, he won't know who you are."

Janet was taken back but the seemingly uncaring nature of her sister's voice. How could Phoenix Grace do this to actual people!? This male did not look much older then her and it was clear that he needed round-the-clock, compassionate care, not to be coped up in the middle of a desert as a lab rat for Phoenix Grace. "He needs to be properly cared for..." she blurted out, a considerable, self-righteous fire burning inside her again, as it had when she discovered about Janus's murder to expose this "company" for the mass murderers and "death merchants" that they were!

"Really..?" replied Cassandra, putting the clipboard back on the end of the bed. "Would you be so judgemental if you knew what Mr Trinell had done when he had his sanity?"

The male Vulnira looked at both of the females with a disturbing sense of wonder, saying nothing, it was clear from the expression on his face that he was somewhere completely different, experiencing something completely divorced from reality.

Cassandra continued, her voice cold and unsympathetic. "Before he contracted the syndrome, Mr Trinell was responsible for the kidnap and subsequent murder of a young girl, Alice Levain... In fact... he was convicted of the abduction and murder of fifteen girls."

The was a strong, startled silence that filled the room which was only filled by Trinell's continual humming while he started drawing on a small pad on the bedside table, to which he started to use with the same accuracy as a toddler. Janet was stunned beyond belief.

"So... does that give you the right to experiment on him?" she asked finally. She knew that her sister had crippled her argument beyond sane rationality but it was too late to back away now.

"We are not experimenting on him..." started Cassandra. She knew that her sister would like nothing better than to pin everything on her. After all, she was always so perfect growing up while Cassandra herself was treated like the black sheep, always having to suffer for her sister's mistakes.

"Cassandra... you are the oldest!"

"Cassandra...you have to look after her!"

The words of her parents echoed in her mind for the first time in years. She had tried to airbrush the memories but they crept back from her subconscious. She simply could not erase her childhood completely, fragments and memories remained intact. "If you must know... Mr Trinell volunteered to be studied when he was first diagnosed with Galway's. I imagine it was preferable to spending his declining years in prison. We provided him with the best medical care possible in the developed world."

"Who are you people!?" shouted Trinell in a sudden confused outburst, causing the nurse to come rushing back into the room. "I didn't do it! Why are you keeping me here!?"

"I think it's best that you leave, Miss Equinox" called the nurse in a soft voice as she attempted to restrain the male Vulnira, who was thrashing about widely on the bed, the nurse towering over him and attempting to administer some kind of injection, hitting the panic button on the wall beside the bed to call for assistance.

"Alice was so beautiful!" cried out the deranged fox. "It wouldn't last... not forever... but I loved her."

Cassandra pulled Janet from the room, who was still in shock at the sudden violent outburst of the seemingly benign fox in front of her. She had dealt with these kind of people during her history at law enforcement but something about this experience struck her to her very core. She had just been absolutely proven that her assumptions, had meant nothing and if she had been so wrong about this man?

Could she have been wrong about Janus's death? Could Obsidian have killed Janus too?

"You see... "little" sister..." replied Cassandra as they moved out into the corridor with Janet looking visibly shaken by what had happened. "It would be easy to label Phoenix Grace as evil... black and white... so simple to you... The "big, bad corporation, praying on the innocent". But can you even tell what true evil is anymore?"

Janet felt her entire world shatter before her eyes. It had been a powerful demonstration of how her judgments could be wrong, especially when she herself, was not in the possession of all the facts. She had judged a monster as an innocent man and a victim of the "big, bad corporation" that she wanted to believe in.

But life was rarely ever black and white...

Chapter Twenty-Four

"How many times do I have to go over this!?" pleaded Obsidian and he looked over at the police officers, a short stubby Vulnira detective who had obviously spent one too many years behind a desk and a large muscular Tauron who stood in the corner of the room.

He had been in the interview with the Crystal Lake Police Department for almost three hours while they asked his repeatedly about Janus's death. His long face looked drained as he scratched the slightly sticky fur on his arm from the humidity of the small interview room.

He was sure that was intentional, a way to make people confess.

However after a few more hours, he was sure that he would be ready to confess to anything. Just to get out of there.

"Look Horse!" snarled the Tauron, coming over from the corner of the room and getting right in the face of Obsidian. An attempt to intimidate? It was certainly working if that was the result.

"That's racist..." replied Obsidian with a meek chime.

The Tauron looked unamused by his statement, unsure if he was trying to be funny with him or not. "Is it now?" he said. "Well... I'll be sure to report myself then..." he scoffed.

"You used to racism then?" smirked the Vulnira officer sat at the desk in front of him. "Is that why you killed Janus? Wanted a chance to stick it to us Vulnira, for what happened to you horses?"

Obsidian wanted to react, he wanted to get enraged at the Police Officer's flippant comments about a massacre and any other situation and he would do. But not here. Not now and not while it was being filmed.

"Officers..." he said, looking back at them with an exhausted expression. "I've told you everything that I know"

There was a knock at the door, causing the Tauron officer to get the door. He spoke to somebody at the door outside for a few moments of silence before returning to the room.

"You are free to go..." he responded after a few seconds. Obsidian felt a massive sigh of relief, as if the load that he was bearing was suddenly lifted from him.

The other officer looked up in protest while the Tauron just shrugged.

"Well move then!" shouted the officer.

***

Obsidian was still unsure why he had been released when he walked out onto the open streets of Crystal Lake. Perhaps they had actually caught the real killer and Janus would finally have some justice.

He had, however, been charged with "breaking and entering", although as somebody had paid his bail, he was now free to go until it went to trial. His first action would be, to find a good public defender that could represent him in court.

He was sure however, that he could claim that he was an unwilling accomplice to Janice Truthtail, who had acted outside her jurisdiction to break into a Phoenix Grace office and claim that it was an official police operation.

There was still the question of who had paid his bail as he walked along the street. He did not know anyone that would have been capable of doing it.

He had only got a few steps down the street before a voice stopped him with a "Hey". He turned, his long hair-like tail, braided so it did not look so messy fluttering in the wind as he turned to look at the person that had called out to him.

"Carrus?" he replied, looking at the deer, smiling at him. "What are you doing here?"

The small Cervijord smiled at him from steps of the Police Station.

"I bailed you out..." he said, giving him a loving smile, the same one he had felt on that day. "I came here to give the police a statement and you an alibi. I know you didn't kill Janus."

Obsidian felt as if all his dreams had come true at once.

"Why?" he asked, looking down at the deer after walking up to him. His heart beating faster and harder in his chest.

"Because I love you. I don't want to be all alone in Crysfall anymore. I want to be with you." he said, with an honesty.

Gently, Obsidian reached for his hand, he was not sure if his feelings were actual love or just gratitude for helping him but either way. He did owe him.

"Thank... You..." he said, his voice trembling. "I care about you as well. Had time to think about a lot of things. But there is something that I must do first."

Chapter Twenty-Five

Janet tossed and turned all night long. She had been given a small, largely white room at this Phoenix Grace underground facility, being left to think about her encounters of the previous week after having many sumptuous dinners with her sister, even managing to make her laugh, which for one time, showed the trace of her sister that remained inside Cassandra.

She had even asked her why she had changed her name to "Equinox" after she had left home. Cassandra revealing how she had always felt that her life had felt like an Equinox, changing like the seasons of Terra itself, from winter to a glorious summer.

Janet had never known the depth of her sister's pain. The mental abuse of her mother and the physical abuse of her father. She had never seen it and it had been a difficult thing to accept. Her mother and father had always treated Janet like she was a princess and she spent her childhood so consumed within herself that she had never once thought about Cassandra's viewpoint.

She had always seen her as a petulant child. But maybe she had legitimate reasons for leaving home?

Still, reconnecting with her sister. Even in this environment, had been satisfying on a level that Janet had really encountered. It dulled her pain over the loss of Janus so much that she found herself forgetting about it for that moment.

Cassandra had even hinted at a possible future, where Cassandra could leave the Police Force and join Phoenix Grace Private Security, allowing her to maintain a continuous connection with her estranged sister. She could not believe that she found herself actually entertaining this notion.

Blood indeed was thicker than water.

Over the course of the week, she had been allowed to investigate the facility, except for the "maximum security" areas which were limited to Phoenix Grace employees only. This was for her safety as they dealt with many dangerous pathogens down there as they needed to keep various samples of viruses to research and manufacture vaccines.

However despite that, Phoenix Grace had been extremely welcoming with her in the hopes that she would travel back to Crystal Lake and inform the authorities first hand how the company was not involved with any immoral acts.

They had allowed her access to their computer system in order to research much of the work that they had been doing there and treated her as if she was a visiting government official. Cassandra said that she had hoped to show the world that Phoenix Grace was a company bound by ethical and moral standards.

She had learned that "Yiff"or "Valatosis", as it was originally called, actually had massive applications as both a painkiller and a potentially revolutionary "stem-cell enabler", allowing the body to produce a large amount of unique "stem-cells" which could then take over any damaged cells within a host body. However just like any drug, using it consistent could produce uncontrolled cellular division as well as addiction and dependence.

This is what Cassandra had assured Janet of what Doctor Aaron Naga, former Chief Science Officer of Phoenix Grace had done. He had attempted to sell Valatosis as a narcotic, to pay off his large gambling debts, ignoring the potentially harmful effects and the drug had found its way into the criminal underworld of Crystal Lake that way.

All of this was completely verified by the huge amount of evidence that there had been.

It seemed illogical that a company, that was so dependent on consumer trust, would be conducting illicit research for profit. Such a scandal would destroy the company if the truth ever came to light.

Maybe this had all been created in Janus's paranoid mind and had been passed onto her?

If so... maybe she had got it wrong, all this time.

Still... it did not explain the distribution orders which had been discovered on Obsidian's computer at the Phoenix Grace office?

She pondered these thoughts as she walked down the brightly lit hallway to Cassandra's office. She was alone, Cassandra had called off the security escort in this part of the base once she had been convinced that Janet was not going to do anything stupid.

"Cass..?" she said as she opened the door to the office, walking inside. The office was unlike the other rooms in the complex, there was no blinding white which looked like it was out of a science-fiction movie but instead, it was more homely, with mahogany panelling covering the walls, with a more classical feel, even though they were still deep underground.

She had often met her sister here for breakfast over the last week but something was different this time. Her sister was hunched over her computer, looking somewhat concerned. She gazed up looking straight at her sister with an accusatory glance.

"Did you tell them?"

Janet was slightly taken aback, she had only seen her sister like this since they first met and she had no idea what she was talking about now.

"Tell wh- What are you talking about?"

Cassandra's expression went from accusatory to perplexed but there was something more that Janet could see behind her eyes...

Panic.

"What's wrong?" she said, somewhat louder as she could sense her sister's worry from the expression on her muzzle.

"We've just got word... Fesalis forces are on their way here!"

"Wait... you mean the army?"

"Of course! I mean the army!" replied her sister, sarcastically. Janet was instantly confused by this response.

Cassandra suddenly launched herself at her in a panic, reaching over to her and grabbing her, but not to hurt or injure her. Padding down her clothes to see what she could find, a worried frustration confusing and scaring Janet in the process. "W-Wh-Cass! What are you looking for!?"

"A tracker... a transmitter! Anything that would tell us how they found you!?"

"Cassandra!" replied Janet curtly to get her attention. She had never seen her sister like this. The cold, hard exterior had gone and she had reverted almost back to her bully self, as she was when they were just cubs.

This time though, Janet was not defenseless and using a quick pull, she'd remembered from Police Close-Quarters-Combat training, she managed to hold Cassandra's flailing paws in place for a moment. "Now explain what the hell is going on!"

A scientist suddenly rushed into the office, a rather short female Miravikta whose hair was unkempt and unruly during the panic. "We found it!" the exclaimed, scurrying into the room and causing Cassandra to let go of her sister for the moment.

The scientist, in a white lab coat, removed a black object from the case they had brought in. Janet recognised it immediately, it was her own mobile phone.

"It was kept in the item storage on the surface..." replied the Miravikta, their nose twitching in panic as they spoke quickly. "We made sure it was off when she arrived but its been programmed to switch itself on and make a call while it was locked in storage. We found the invasive program in one of the files downloaded from our office complex in Crystal Lake."

"Make a call to who!?" shouted Cassandra, looking disapprovingly at her bewildered sister.

Before the Miravikta could answer, the door opened and a number of Fesalis troops entered the room, quickly surrounding the three people already there. Janet looked around in confusion while Cassandra attempted to reach her small handgun on the desk and was stopped quickly by own of the snarling felines that had entered the room.

"Y'know... I really hate dramatic flair. It's so corny. Don't you think?" said a voice. Janet's eyes widened as she instantly recognised exactly who it was from the tone, normally so soft and demure, was suddenly more proud and confident.

Cassandra attempted to struggle one of the troops as Obsidian walked into the room, behind the Fesalis troops.

"Janet..." he said softly. "Thank you for helping to track down the illegal facility of Phoenix Grace inside Fesalis territory. I regret that you had to become involved in this."

Cassandra broke free of one of the guards and attempted to reach her weapon but was smacked in the face by the butt of a rifle, knocking her clean unconscious. "Don't hurt her!" screamed Janet at Obsidian.

"I'm not responsible for these men" replied Obsidian, his voice returning to a more confident and darker tone. "Your sister has been engaged in some pretty shady activities and its really not up to me what happens to her. I just informed the Fesalis government that this was here. Thank you for letting me place the program on your phone the other night by the way?"

Cassandra, still unconscious was draped over the shoulder of one of the soldiers as she was carried out of the room, the soldiers leaving Janet alone with just Obsidian there to talk to her.

"Those distribution orders..." said Janet, after a few seconds of silence. Waiting for the footsteps of the guards to disappear until she started to speak. A few things going round and round in her mind, inconsistencies that needed to be cleared up were suddenly so clear in her mind. "They weren't Phoenix Grace, you planted them!"

Obsidian shook his head, his long hair draping down over his head as he spoke. "No, those were mine."

"Yours!?" replied Janet. "You've been selling Valatosis on the street?"

"With the help of others..." nodded Obsidian. "But that wasn't really the point. Cassata Everson, Remmy Teron, Barrus Sturgeon... I don't think they understood the point."

Janet suddenly felt a slow, burning, vindictive rage like she had never felt before. All this time, Obsidian had neglected to mention of this. She had suffered through so much because of him, so that he could make a little extra money. He even had the former Chief of Police helping him to distribute drugs on the black market and fueling the despotism that already existed in her city.

"All that... just to make a little extra money!?" she shouted, wondering how many lives he had destroyed, either through design or through accident.

Obsidian shook his head again, keeping perfectly calm. "It was never about the money, although that was an unexpected bonus."

"So what was it about?"

"Justice..."

Justice? Obsidian had a weird sense of justice if he believed that. He had been responsible for providing narcotics, which she had witnessed first hand how they had destroyed people's lives and created so much pain and suffering.

"You call turning people in the Lower City into addicts... Justice!?" she exclaimed.

"For my people! Yes!" he suddenly bellowed. "I imagine you, in your privileged life have never known what it was like to have your people murdered before your very eyes and then have a corrupt government and a soulless corporation cover it up!"

Janet knew what he was referring to, the "Equus Massacre" had been a tragedy, but nothing in her eyes justified what Obsidian had done. "Nothing justifies murder!"

She could see how her responses had silently enraged Obsidian who felt that he had done all this for some greater moral compass. She glanced behind her, to the handgun on the table and calculated the distance in her mind that would be needed to retrieve the weapon and wound Obsidian.

But what would she do after that? The complex was probably overrun with Fesalis military personnel by now. She would never make it out in one piece.

"You... you used me!"

"Oh and you didn't use me?" asked Obsidian, his logic as sharp as ever. "You didn't use me to access a Phoenix Grace office and try to find evidence linking them to Janus's death?"

Janet was taken aback as she looked around the room. One part of her brain focusing on trying to find a way out the office, of which there was only one exit and the other part focusing on the conversation with Obsidian. She could not deny that he did have a point, she had used her influence as a Police Officer to force Obsidian to do her bidding.

Did that make her just as guilty? Was she also so blinded in the pursuit of "Justice"?

"If it's any consolation, Janus was just as bad as you. He also tried to force me into doing his bidding" smirked Obsidian, his eyes blazing with a passion that she had never seen in him before. "Of course... he served my purpose well. Did you wonder where Phoenix Grace got Valatosis from? They discovered a crashed ship in the Everonth Mountains and discovered it there, of course, all this was covered up."

"Ship... you mean... spaceship. Don't be ridiculous"

"Oh... I thought that as well... until I saw it with my own eyes. So did Janus. His determined quest to search for the real killer of his wife led him to his own death!"

"So who killed him!?" Janet braced herself, waiting for an answer that she already suspected but did not want to hear.

"I did... His wife was going to expose my plan to turn Phoenix Grace against the Vulnira Government." his voice changed, becoming more fragile. He had wrestled with this over the time since. "I tried to convince him to give up on it during my time with him but he refused. He also would have alerted Phoenix Grace to the fact that I was helping him so I was forced to inject him with a significant amount of Valatosis, knowing that was the only way that Phoenix Grace would cover it up, they didn't want their sweet discovery from getting out to the Vulnira Government, let alone the people..."

Janet just let all this information sink in, unable to feel or process anything at the moment. She was completely numb and immune to the numerous sounds of gunshots outside, echoing through the complex as the Fesalis military stormed it.

"I had tried once before..." continued Obsidian. "But I'm not much of a shot and I got the wrong target. I wanted it to be quick... painless."

Janet sunk to her knees, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. The crushing weight of the truth came crashing down around her. She had envisioned Janus dying heroically, toppling the conspiracy of a corrupt corporation... but there was no corperation... just one person, one person who had taken her best friend away from her. She had always... deep down... felt love for Janus and now he had died in such a pointless way.

It was more than she could take inside...

"I'm... sorry" replied Obsidian, with a lump in his throat. "Nobody else has to die..." he said, looking down at her heap on the floor. "Now Phoenix Grace is finished, the Vulnira Government will be exposed and Janus can rest in peace."

Janet felt a surge of rage, unlike she had ever felt before. How dare he try and justify it. How dare he rationalise it as "necessary"! After so many had died! After her friend had died! The fox she loved!

"No... nobody else need die..." she said, rising from the floor. "Except you!" she screamed, reaching over to the gun on the counter. He superior skills as a Police Officer serving her well as she grabbed the gun, turned it before Obsidian had a chance to react, feeling the incredible power that came with such a weapon.

The shot echoed through the office as she shot Obsidian in the gut, nothing left to protect him from the impact of the bullet. He immediately recoiled in pain, the one bullet passing straight through his abdomen, leaving blood spatter on the floor as he collapsed.

Janet did not care about how she was going to survive this but she would bring justice to Janus. Obsidian was clever but he had left important files including his emails to Cassata, Janus's wife and his own distribution records for the drug on her phone, on the table in the office. He would die for Janus's murder but also be condemned for the rest of living memory.

Obsidian had clearly not anticipated her actions. He had not anticipated the connection that she had with Janus. He had paid dearly for that mistake, blinded by his thirst for revenge, which he branded as Justice for the death of his people and the subsequent cover up. Janet had made sure that he would die a slow, long, agonising death as he slowly bled out for his crimes.

"W-Why..." he asked as he slumped on the floor, trying to make sense of what she had done to him.

"Because sometimes... being sorry is not enough" she replied, chucking the gun to the floor and awaiting the entry of the guards, unsure what her fate would be.

Epilogue

"Welcome to VBC News..."

"Hear are your headlines at noon"

"Phoenix Grace faced collapse today as evidence of a secret chemical weapons research center surfaced in the Fesalis desert. According to the Fesalis Government, the corporation, which employees number almost 2.3. Million worldwide, was responsible for illegal research, prohibited by Fesalis religious doctrine."

"A small strike force stormed the illegal complex during a raid conducted by local government officials, acting on information from and unknown informant."

"Phoenix Grace Head of Research and Development, Cassandra Equinox was arrested on multiple charges of violating the Anasera Convention of Species Rights, which forbids the development of any chemical weapons anywhere in Global Union."

"Police from Crystal Lake Police Department, arrested Phoenix Grace CEO Ivan Grace on conspiracy to violate the Anasera Convention and suspicion of second degree murder in order to cover up the appalling actions of his company."

"Mr Grace, son of company founder, Cecelia Grace, refused to make a statement to the press and claimed that he unable to comment due to the ongoing investigation."

"In other news... Could aliens walk among us? Bob Sturgot is here to talk with several conspiracy theorists... who believe just that?"

***

Five Hundred Ten Years Ago...

Commander Kestra Valentine's worst fears were about to be realised, her crew laying dead or dying around her feet as the Valkyrie plummeted through Terra's blue atmosphere.

She had failed. Totally and utterly to stop this new enemy, that had so effectively cut through Terran defences and breached deeper than any enemy had ever known to do.

She had always said that she would give her life for Terra, a conviction that she had always hoped that she never had to test. However the burning wreckage of her ship falling through the Terran atmosphere gave the stark realisation that this was it.

This was the apex of her existence.

TheValkyrie had been successful at distracting the Pantheon ship for long enough so that Doctor Levantine Bittersweet could activate the Aegis Shield from Celestial Gate station, using the last of the station already battered power reserves and cutting off the life support aboard the station to do it, consigning himself to a slow death from asphyxiation and the harshness of space.

The shield had created a blinding orange hexagonal wall around the entire planet, the last line of defense for the once proud Terran Federation.

However, it had not come at great cost...

The Pantheon ship, which had tore so quickly through the entire Terran Fleet and had crippled the Valkyrie was not to be defeated so easily.

Before the shield had been raised, the Pantheon ship had released an incredible biogenic pulse which had passed their pathogen onto the planet and the surrounding vessels. The virus was a biologically engineered to reconfigure the brain chemistry of those infected by it, causing it to wipe their memories.

At the same time, a mechanical virus corrupted and dissolved all seemingly advanced technologies from the surface of the planet itself, so that nobody would be able to provide resistance against the Pantheon.

Kestra wondered if this was how they colonised, no... conquered worlds? Did they wish to reset civilisations, keep them weak and underdeveloped so that they could conquer that world and play god?

Were humans really so vain?

She could feel the same pathogen at work inside her as she had already forgotten how to fly the ship as it fell through the atmosphere.

"No!" she thought. "I MUST remember".

Such resistance to the pathogen proved futile as she clung to her identity as closely as she would a lover. The bridge was wreck, most of her crew had already succumbed to the virus that had rendered them unconcious, leaving her alone to face the inevitable fate of her ship and crew.

"It can't end... like this"

Her memories, treasured memories of her father were slipping away from her. Her upbringing on Serenitas Island slipping away from her. Never before had every second felt so pressure as the alarms blared around her, smokes and sparks filling what once had been, the proud command center of her ship.

She smiled. At least she would have the knowledge of knowing that the Aegis Shield, which had been well designed after the Terran Federation's first encounter with this seemingly unstoppable species, using extremely advanced technology found on a far off planet, would keep this threat out...

Her people may have been robbed of their memories but at least they would survive to make new ones. That gave her hope. Terra would continue, even if memory of her would die alongside her ship.

"War-Warning... Warning" stated the damaged computer, the voice skipping as Kestra closed her eyes and waited for the abyss. She opened them for a second, gazing at the small rocky peaks of Everonth, suddenly becoming larger and larger with each passing second.

She tried to think of something profound to say... if not just for herself as nobody onboard was conscious to hear it.

"Fuck it..." she said finally, giving a short grin as her vessel smashed into the side of the mountain, causing a huge fireball of explosions.

The Valkyrie, the protector of Terra was gone. But Terra.

Terra would survive...