FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Fifteen - When the Stars Fall

August tapped angrily on the desk as he waited; it had been nearly an hour since he had called the original Bal'Kar up to his office and when he finally did show up he was shocked to see the draconic sabrewolf only in his guise form. "I thought I told you to come in the containment suit," the tiger growled as he watched the creature move towards the desk and sat on it, the wood creaking as it struggled to support his immense weight.

"I think you ought to know by now that we can contain ourselves just fine when in your presence so that you don't get infected," Serathin shot back, picking up one of the desk objects and playing around with it in his hands. "Speaking of such things, how is Nate doing?" the smug grin that Serathin had on his face fell instantly as August didn't reply and looked down at his desk. "That bad, huh?"

"None of your business," August replied as he looked at the sabrewolf while rubbing his temples. "You can't keep turning people into Bal'Kar like this, I had a hard time keeping the higher-ups off my back when it was just you and then the other two, not to mention when that containment breach happened and I had to shut down part of the facility. I'm still wondering how one of them managed to get themselves into your caverns even after I shut down the entire wing that led to it."

Serathin continued to grin as he just shrugged his shoulders and set the bauble back down on the desk. "I told you what was going to happen if you tried to take those who wanted to be Bal'Kar away from me," he said as he stood back up. "Between the increased restrictions and the trickle of information that we're getting from you on Sarkov, I dare say that this deal may have reached its natural end."

The note on the end of that sentence caused a shiver to run through August's body despite his need to remain composed. It was clear that the Bal'Kar had grown weary of their arrangement, and now with over half a dozen known creatures in the caverns with potentially more that were skulking inside the facility, he knew if they decided to revolt it would be all over. The tiger was at an impasse; ever since his insurrection with General Percine and the subsequent lockdown he wasn't able to get any new information on Sarkov, and with the state of the cavern system he wondered just how far the Bal'Kar had gone. Now one of them was right there in front of his face threatening to take over the entire area because they were no longer of use.

Suddenly a voice came over his phone line that broke the tension in the room, and August motioned for him to take the phone, which the hybrid nodded to. "Dr. Winters," the voice on the other side of the line said. "I think we've found the breach into the facility, do you want us to seal it off right now?"

"Hold on a second," August replied, glancing over at the smirking creature before turning his head slightly in an attempt to conceal his conversation. "Keep a perimeter there if you can, we're going to be down there as soon as possible."

There was a look of curiosity on the sabrewolf's face as August continued to hammer out the details, then hung up the phone. "Something brewing in the lab?" Serathin asked. "Perhaps you've finally found that miracle cure you're risking Nate's life for?"

"Shut up, Serathin," August replied, causing the Bal'Kar to hold his hands up in the air. "We're going on a little field trip, now since we're talking about rearranging our deal why don't we go and look at how well you're keeping up on your end of the bargain."

The two immediately left August's office and made their way through the metal hallways towards the breach that security had found, stopping only to put on a hazmat suit from the abandoned observation wing. With Serathin out and about they had put in a precautionary quarantine and ordered the workers of the facility to remain in their designated work station while there was a Bal'Kar in the open. The tiger could tell that the hybrid was watching him with bemused interest as he put on the protective gear, and even though August felt a little silly, himself, attempting to prevent infection with a suit when the entire facility was growing more compromised by the second, he still put it on. A low growl escaped his throat when he heard the voice behind him ask if he needed help with it and turned away while he put on his helmet.

Once he had finished suiting up the tiger continued on his path with the sabrewolf trailing behind him once more. August tried not to think about how this looked, the head of an organization that was trying to find out how to stop the spread of the Bal'Kar while leading one of them through his own building. It seemed almost absurd at this point, and part of him felt like he was on a sinking ship trying to bail it out with a small bucket. But as he got down into the maintenance tunnel he saw the potential to at least plug up one hole, or at least stem the tide of potential contamination.

When August got to where the guards were he nodded to the German shepherd and orca, who continued to watch the airlock that they had secured with their weapons drawn in full hazmat suits and riot gear on top of that that made them look like faceless tanks. Though most of the security personnel had taken up the mantle of their tasks once more there were still a few that held out, but that wasn't the tiger's concern at the moment. Very slowly he moved his way past the lock and into other side of the utility tunnel, seeing black tendrils of the Bal'Kar spreading over the metal walls like rubber roots of some alien plant.

"It's about time you've finally come down to meet us once more, August," a voice said on the other side of the corner on the corridor, August slowly turning it to see the smiling snow leopard on the other side. "Welcome to our humble abode, would you like me to give you the tour?"

"Newlyn..." August replied. "How could you do this to us... to me..."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Newlyn replied as he stared at August with those haunting green eyes. "You keep looking at us like we're monsters, like we're trying to take you and eat you or something. Though we can certainly do that we'd much rather save you from yourselves, bringing you over to biological perfection... just like Serathin is about to do."

A chill ran down August's body even with his stifling hazmat suit on as he turned to look at the draconic sabrewolf, only to see that he wasn't behind him. Instead was the two guards standing there on the other side of the airlock, both of them with their helmets off as they looked at him with similar glowing green eyes. It was then the tiger realized what had just happened, it was all a trap! Serathin had lured him down there on purpose after converting the two guards. How many more researchers and security personnel had the Bal'Kar gotten to, and more importantly where was he as the orca closed the air lock behind them?

Serathin grinned as he felt the lust from his fellow Bal'Kar inform him that the trap had been sprung, keeping August contained for the time being. While he could just have had everyone pounce on him and turn him it just wasn't his style. Even though it was the will of the Bal'Kar, his old life bled through in this regard. It's what continued to guide him through the hallway until he reached his destination and slowly opened the door. "I hope that I'm not bothering you," Serathin said as he slowly walked inside the dorm room.

"Serathin..." Nate gasped, the panther sitting up best he can as he watched the sabrewolf walk through the door. "How..."

"August and I are currently having a bit of a negotiation on the direction that we're going for this facility and I thought that I would stop in to see how you were doing," Serathin exclaimed while he walked his way in and moved towards the edge of the bed. "Seems like you're not doing well, I'm afraid, but of course I'm no doctor... although the hive has assimilated several of them so that I can use their knowledge." Before the panther could say anything Serathin moved over to where his chart was and took a look. "Oh my, this is quite the problem you have here... and it's looking like you're experiencing multiple organ failure."

Nate sighed and sat back down in the bed while the hybrid continued to read through his rather extensive medical history. "I've seen better days," the panther managed to say. "Still have a bit of fight left in me, though."

"Enough to survive getting moved to another facility?" Serathin stated, causing the panther to look away. "The relations between this facility and the Bal'Kar are rapidly deteriorating, and I don't have to be psychically connected to that tiger to know that he is seriously leaning on the option to lift the lockdown and escape. You and I know that you'd never survive the evacuation, much less any more treatments. The Bal'Kar had been your last hope, and now I'm here to see that it still is."

There was a moment of pause in the room but Serathin didn't press the matter, instead waiting for the panther to make the decision for himself. He already knew the answer that Nate was going to come to, but he needed the other male to come to it himself. "I'm surprised that slurper of yours is green and not silver," Nate finally said with a sigh. "You offer an alternative to death, but at the same time I've been wondering if that's not exactly what happens when you become one of your kind."

"To be honest I would be surprised if you didn't have some anxiety," Serathin said as he leaned against the wall. "Your situation isn't far different from my own; had the bio-extract not seeped into my wound where that guard shot me I would be dead, and now if you do not receive the same treatment you are going to be the same. The only difference is that you'll actually be able to choose what happens to you."

"And what about the facility?" Nate asked, though it was hard to speak words as he felt his strength failing.

"The fate of the facility was sealed the second that they decided to work with those who wished to see us harmed," Serathin explained, a hint of malice in his voice that took Nate back slightly. "The only reason I'm extending this offer to you and August is that I know that you risked everything in order to save me and mine, which means that you two, and only you two, will be allowed to leave. Like I said, though, I don't think you would survive the evacuation... and if you do there's nothing out there that will help you avoid your fate like I will."

Once more Serathin waited as Nate digested what he was just told, his green eyes flickering over to the monitor to see his heart rate growing more rapid. Though he felt the restlessness of the other Bal'Kar he needed to make sure that he took care of this first, needing to know what they were going to do with August and Nate. It didn't take long for the panther to make his decision, though, and Serathin nodded, telling him that he would respect the decision. The draconic sabrewolf slowly made his way to the door, taking a look back at the panther before slowly closing the door to the room...

Back in the maintenance tunnel Newlyn and August continued to stare at one another as they remained faced off from one another. Neither had talked, though the snow leopard had made an attempt the researcher had nothing to say to the Bal'Kar that wouldn't be angry in nature. Just as the tiger was about to see if he couldn't maybe push past Newlyn and make a break for it through the other side of the tunnel the snow leopard suddenly let out a moan and had a full-body shudder. In only lasted for a few seconds, and when it was done a smirk crossed the muzzle of the creature.

"Looks like we're ready," Newlyn said suddenly, the tiger tilting his head before he nearly jumped when he heard the airlock open once again and allowed him to leave.

"Ready?" August asked. "What's going on here?"

At this point Erin showed up from behind Newlyn, the many-tailed wolf smirking as she came up behind the snow leopard with Chaos and Texotic coming up as well. "Serathin would like us to inform you that the deal that the Bal'Kar have kept with this place and all those in it is officially coming to an end," she stated simply, causing August to look at them in shock. "As his thanks to you for everything he's allowing you to collect Nate and leave should you so choose. If you want to leave you will have to do so now, as we are already moving to take control of this place for our own."

"You can't do this," the tiger stated as he looked between the guards and the three that had been converted. "The military is never going to let you hold this place for your own, they will come and eradicate you, especially if you turn everyone here into a Bal'Kar."

"We have nested deep into these mountains," Newlyn explained, unfazed by the tiger's declaration. "Should they decide to come with their bombs and level this place the very stone that protected it before will continue to do the same for us. Now I would strongly urge you to make your escape if you so wish, there won't be much time for you, and that suit of yours can only protect you so much."

It was clear to August that the Bal'Kar were finished talking and he could see the lustful looks on their faces that indicated they were ready to pounce. The tiger took this as the time to leave and made his way through the airlock, though he went one step further and closed the airlock door behind him when he did. Though his cleverness may have bought him a little time he knew that one Bal'Kar likely had the strength to tackle down that door in no time, which meant that with several he likely only stopped them for about a minute. Hopefully it was more than enough time to get the evacuation call out as he raced back up through the maintenance tunnel into the facility proper.

By the time the tiger got to the control room he was completely out of breath, taking only a few seconds to regain it before he got the attention of all those that were in the room. "Listen up!" he shouted, drawing all their attentions to him. "The Bal'Kar are mounting an attack on this facility, we need to release the lockdown and get all available medical and security personnel to the main gate! Start from the sectors that are closest to the maintenance tunnels and the observation deck and work our way inwards from there!"

A roar of panicked conversation broke out amongst the control room crew as they began to scurry to their posts in order to fulfill his order. "Is it really happening?" his grey wolf assistant said. "Are they actually trying to get us, just like they said they would?"

"I believe so, Marko," August said with a sigh as he began to type on his own computer to activate the evacuation alarm and unlock the blast doors that separated them from freedom. "Hopefully we can get as many people out of here as we can before-"

Suddenly the entire room shook so violently that both Marko and August tumbled forward, the tiger flipping over his own terminal while the wolf tumbled forwards down a small set of stairs that led to the lower part of the control room. All the lights and electronics in the room flickered before going out completely while the sound of an explosion continued to reverberate through the room. Everyone that had been working, even those sitting down on a chair, had been brought to their feet as the shaking stopped just as suddenly. Once August had regained the wind that was knocked out of him he slowly stood up, groaning loudly just like the others as the emergency lights flickered to life and showed a room in complete disarray.

"Wha-what happened?" one of the researchers asked as everyone tried to get back to their respective stations. "Did they blow the generator?"

"If they did that then we'd all be dust particles scattered around the mountain range," another said as he looked at his own flickering monitor. "But you're not far off, looks like they targeted the primary junction station... and from the readings it's been completely destroyed. The whole facility is running on emergency power."

"How is that possible?!" A third voice cried out. "The junction room is on the other side of the mountain from the Bal'Kar caverns for a reason!"

As August continued to hear the rising panic in the control room staff he immediately raised his voice to get them to shut up so he could think. What they had said wasn't wrong... even if they did take over the maintenance tunnels the generators and junction rooms were kept purposefully away from the caverns in case the Bal'Kar revolted. He needed to know how they did it, and as he went back to his computer in order to try and lift the lockdown once more he told Marko to activate the security camera system in the Bal'Kar caverns. August could feel every second pass by as his fingers, hindered by the hazmat suit that he had on, continued to type out commands until he heard the canine say that the cameras were up on the main screen.

The picture that came up on the viewer caused many to pause and gasp; most of the cameras had been destroyed either intentionally or through the natural processes of the Bal'Kar, but one in the far corner captured the likely cause for their power outage. It was a large hole that had been blasted into the side of the wall, and though they were unable to see how deep it went it was likely that they had fired their disintegrator straight into the junction box using the knowledge gained by those they assimilated for its location. While August had heard stories of the Bal'Kar disintegrator beam he had never seen proof until that moment, and if that was the devastating potential they wielded, he realized they had far less time than they initially thought. The other thing that caused them to move was the fact that several of the Bal'Kar had their tentacle bodies latched against the walls of the observation deck and were banging their bashers against the thick, bullet-proof glass and causing it to break.

August told Marko to turn off the feed, not only because he didn't want to see it anymore, but also to take those whose eyes were glued the screen to snap out of their trance and go back to work. Despite being on emergency power they still had the opportunity to work their way through the lockdown so they could evacuate the facility. But before long the tiger began to hear people having problems, stating that their command prompts weren't working or that something kept kicking them out. Even with August dug into the code itself he found it changing on him mid-rewrite, and just as he was about to shout on what was going on something completely different appeared on the viewscreen.

"It appears that you're trying to leave," the digital draconic sabrewolf said as his visage filled the screen. "Did you honestly think that I wasn't going to get into your system, did you forget that I was a hacker in my past life? When you established those communication lines you gave me a handy door into your systems and I've been planting all sorts of fun little tricks, including this video. Since you've all been complacent in working with those who we deem as enemies you will be converted, there is no escape for any of you... I look forward to greeting you all when you join the hive."

The video file ended and the second it did every system in the control room went haywire, people shouting and yelling at one another to try and regain the reigns on the system. August knew that they wouldn't, between the disabling of their primary power supply and whatever malicious code Serathin inserted into their system it was likely a losing battle... but there were other options. "Marko!" August shouted, bringing the wolf over towards him. "There's nothing we can do here, but the blast doors have a manual release in case they jammed, do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, it's in the security office that's near the gate," Marko replied with a nod, but before he continued on with what he was about to say something caused him to stop and pause. "Hey... do you feel that?"

Even though the padded soles of the hazmat suit August knew what he was talking about, as did the rest of the control room. Murmurs of it being another explosion caused by the Bal'Kar quickly circulated but as they all looked around the vibrations didn't stop, in fact they grew stronger and more localized. Soon people started looking down at the floor as items began to shake off of people's desk, hitting the floor as the metal beneath them started to visibly shake. Just as August thought to get everyone to evacuate the metal paneling in the middle of the room began to visibly bulge, those closest to it backing away before it suddenly burst and a black spire lined with white bone erupted out of it.

"Spore spire!" August shouted, grabbing Marko to push him out of the door as a heavy cloud of orange spores fumed out from it. Those closest to it screamed and tried to run, only to be knocked down over by the sheer force of the plume. Even though August was still protected by the suit he didn't want to test the limits of what a full-blown exposure would be like. Instead he took Marko and a ram that had been fortunate enough to be close to the door when the incursion occurred.

The three of them made it through the threshold August quickly closed the door behind them, though they could still hear the screams of the ones trapped inside as August initiated a contamination lock. Even though it only took him a few moments the weight of the situation came down on him like a ton of bricks. The Bal'Kar invasion was starting... and not only were they coming from the caverns, but it appeared they had wormed their way through the entire complex. It was clear that the tentacle monsters were not letting anyone escape from here, but that didn't mean that the tiger couldn't try.

"My god..." Marko said once August had finished with the likely useless containment protocols. "They're all infected..."

"Get away from that window," August ordered, pushing the wolf off of it. "There's nothing for you to see there." Though he tried not to look himself he couldn't help but see what was happening out of the corner of his eye. The orange spores had quickly adhered themselves to those that were inside, those that were closest were almost completely covered as their bodies began to warp and grow bigger while the others that were now pounding against the sealed exits had a few attached to them. It wasn't long though before those who had only been infected a little bit quickly began to succumb to the lust of the Bal'Kar, their shouting and pleading for help soon turning into moans as they began to strip themselves of their already decaying clothing.

Marko and the ram told August he needed to come with them but the tiger couldn't help it, he had to watch... because this was his doing. Every spore that was in the air and stuck to the blackening flesh of those infected with the cells of the Bal'Kar. Only one was necessary to start the process of their transformation but most of them had dozens, their veins turning a bright green as it spread quickly across their forms. For most of them their eyes had already started to get a green tint to them as they began to turn on one another as their growing tentacles did the same.

August felt a tug against his shoulder and the tiger turned to see Marko and the ram both motioning that they had to go, and finally August was able to pull himself away so that they could make their escape. As they ran towards the front entrance they could hear the shouts of others that had gone out into the hallways, and more than once they passed by a lab that was occupied by a Bal'Kar and a number of victims being transformed. Given the limited space most of them were in their guise form, though that didn't stop them from having a tentacle formed from their flesh that was buried deep in the orifice of a changing researcher or guard.

"They're everywhere," The ram gasped as they passed yet another pounced researching being stuffed from both ends by another Bal'Kar that was only partially transformed. "It's true, their lust is spreading, they're going to take over this entire facility. We're all going to become those tentacle monsters!"

"Quiet down!" August shouted to bring them back to attention. "If we can just get out of the facility you two can get down to the military base and tell them to evacuate."

"What about you?" Marko asked.

"I'm going to escort you there but not leave," August replied. "I have to go back to get Nate so that we can escape this facility together." The two looked at the tiger in shock and both told him that he needed to come with them and that there was no way he could move Nate before the Bal'Kar infested the entire station before August stopped them. "They told me... that they would let me through with Nate."

Though Marko was shocked at the news it clearly didn't hit the ram the same way, the male getting angry as he crossed his arms. "I should have known..." the ram said in malice. "What, was this the plan all along? You just a Bal'Kar without the glowing eyes!?"

"Not now, dude," Marko said, a worried expression on his own face. Though it was clear that the ram wanted to get into a bout with August the sound of yet another creak of metal and buckle from further down the hallway indicated that they needed to hurry.