FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ Chapter 13- . . .are Live Fire _

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' -B-Deck Room 18> June 8, 2085

Canith took the stairs down, both as a way to warm up before they hit the moon and partially to avoid the inevitable crowd on the grav lifts. He was joined by both Will and Tyco, with everyone else heading to the lifts. On the way down, Canith struck up some conversation to pass the time.

"I have questions about this whole situation. Firstly, it seems the crew is a bit to familiar with combat actions like this. And that seems at odds with the whole 'exploration' angle we have going on. Secondly, if we are going to do this more often, wouldn't it make more sense to have a larger crew?"

Tyco was silent, but Will spoke up after only a moment. "The crew has been in a few scraps, true, but I wouldn't call it a regular occurrence. And as to why, most all chartered ships, be they anthro or human, are called to answer distress calls if it is within their power to do so. Most frigates will not do things like this, due to the much smaller crew size, and anything larger than us is usually too slow. So we get the dubious honor of coming to the rescue."

Canith mulled on that one for a few turns on the staircase. "But why not increase crew size anyways? Maybe not by a lot, but having couples share rooms would free up some space, and the extra bodies would help make day to day operations go smoother, and operations less risky."

Tyco gave a laugh at this. "There are maybe 3 sets of 'couples' on this ship, and everyone else hops into and out of beds faster then supply stops at stations. Plus, this ship is designed with a rather fixed amount of crew. Any more would strain supplies, and less would compromise coverage for if something went wrong. Plus, lets not forget about E-deck. Each person essentially has to be vetted by both the captain and the crew. If they are not, they get the boot."

They were approaching engineering at this point, so Canith lapsed into silence as they made their way out of the stairwell. Will clasped him on the back reassuringly. "No one is forced to stay on the ship. Before Sean, I remember this bear about 2 months prior that decided that flying everywhere was nice, but he would rather settle down. The captain gave the go ahead, and E-deck even set him up as pure male, as when 'he' originally joined the ship it was as a 'she'. Sure, you can flip back and forth while on the ship, but if you decide you like one way more then the other they won't force the issue." Another nugget of info for him to think on. Not that he 'minded' the female fun he was experiencing. At least, when he had himself under control at least.

They made it to one of the airlocks, where there was already the makings of 3 teams. At him looking around trying to count, Aura chimed in._:Team One, led by the captain, will be staying on board in case the raiders decide to make a run at the Tiamat. Team Two will be securing the base's hanger, for similar reasons, and Team 3 will be securing the living quarters. As the Captain indicated, our final goal is the lab furthest from the entrance, but we are going to be securing the floor above as well, giving us both basement levels to clear.:_Canith nodded, and formed up with the rest of the team as the ship started vibrating slightly below him. _:Atmosphere entry, diffused by the shields and the inertial dampeners. Gravity is roughly .95 Earth equivalent, so you should not have to compensate any.:_He shot Aura a word of thanks, and then focused inward.

He hadn't done this in a long while, since before he had left Earth in fact. One of his martial arts instructors had taught him how to achieve a mental trance to help with the acts of true violence, not just sparring. He had never needed to use it, although he had been drilled in it. (Breath in, hold, release. Focus on the rhythm. Let go of unneeded thought. This enemy is unworthy of your thoughts. Breath in, hold, release.) Using that mantra, he cleared his mind of all but the fight ahead, and he began to feel something stir within him. He couldn't place it, and the feeling was quickly cleared away by the mantra.

The inertial dampeners could not mask the large ship touching down with a solid 'thump' on the ground. Terry had disappeared before the landing, but came back just after. She handed him a small o2 bottle and a mask. "If you feel lightheaded, take a couple deep breaths from that. It's more to keep up you oxygen levels then as a respirator." She took a second look at him as he nodded slightly, but didn't say anything more. A minute more, and the crowd began to flow out the airlock door, which had been set up with a field to keep the relative atmospheres on the respective sides of the ship. As he passed through himself, he felt the difference.

They had landed less then half a mile from the base. The entrance was also not quite at the same level as the ship, instead perched slightly higher on the mountain, but the hills around it looked easy enough to climb to get to it. He could also see the hanger bay doors above that, closed for the moment but visible by the metallic sheen. The wind on the moon was low but constant, stirring his fur and mane for the first time since he had changed. He tilted his head back, basking in the feeling. Then, he took off at a jog to catch up with his team.

It took them about ten minutes for everyone to get to the base of the mountain. Most had no trouble, but one or two of the smaller anthros were clearly having issues with the low O2 levels. He grouped up with Terry and the crew, and waited. Lt. Harris was at the door working on bypassing the scanner to get in, when all of a sudden it clicked open and he heard, faint with distance :He was taking too long:

Canith chuckled, then filled Terry in when she looked at him in askance. She shook her head ruefully, and motioned them forward. Once inside, they headed down a long corridor, past what was obviously a security checkpoint. There was no sign of any bodies, or any blood. Then, as they past that, they came out to the central area.

The Atrium, if that's what it was, was impressive. Easily half the size of the Tia', it was lined with walkways crossing here and there over a several story drop. Lining the walls were doors, with hallways branching of in opposite directions. Terry motioned for the team to follow, and they headed to a standard elevator by the checkpoint. Canith saw Team Two approaching one on the other side of the entrance, and both teams headed down.

The cameras had shown that the majority of the scientists working had been down on B1, which comprised of mainly offices and meeting rooms, so they headed there first. As they were going down, however, Canith spotted movement. A lone sentry had been standing in a shadowed alcove of the Atrium on B1, and upon spotting them coming down had ran off, probably to tell the rest. Canith relayed this to the team, and prepared to call forth his blades.

The elevator let out a ding as they arrived, and a female tone stated that they had arrived on the office level. The doors opened, and he stepped out. Nothing happened when he did, but he still called his katana and tonto to hand, side-stepping to let Tyco and Mist out after him. Tyco had a pair of short axes in his hands, and had at some point painted three diagonal lines across his face in red. His eye color, normally blue, was also a light pink, and together with the markings and paint made him look feral and fierce.

Mist on the other hand had a spear slightly taller then he was, and a streamer seemed to shimmer insubstantially from below the blade. The both took up positions, and the rest of the team filed out. Canith motioned to the left, where he had seen the raider go, and suddenly he could see them lining up, waiting in front of the door. He shook his head, then realized that Aura had connected to him through the network in the base, and was feeding him security camera footage.

"They are getting ready for us, we need to move. If we don't hurry, they could think to use the scientists as hostages." Canith said to Terry, his voice low.

"Chances are, if we give them a moment to do so, they will. Lets go." With that, the team moved, and as they crossed to the hall, movement in the back ranks of the group caused him to slow. His senses were screaming something was wrong, but before he realize what it was Mist went to dart across the hall to take position for the charge. Canith simply reacted, pushing him with his mind as a loud crack rang out. Mist jerked sideways mid dash and push, blood spraying from his shoulder as one of the individuals in the back fired an old style gunpowder rifle. The round would have hit him in the heart or head if Canith hadn't push him, but he sagged regardless against the wall, dazed with pain.

"FUCK, they have rifles. Holly, anything you can do about that?" Terry called, that one shot taking the momentum from them before they could start.

"I don't know. Too many factors- what type of ammunition, what speeds, hell, what kind of rifle. If it was lasers I could easily deflect them, but not this old school shit."

Tyco chimed in, dark humor in his voice. "So much for no guns these days. Oh wait, this isn't a ship, it's a base. In a mountain."

Canith, for his part, was furious. If he hadn't seen that glint through the camera, Mist would be dead. Then, he had an idea. "Holly, how quickly can you fling a bolt of lightning down the hallway?"

She gave him a shrewd look. "If prepped in advanced? I just have to point."

Canith smiled, a plan forming. "Start building up a big one, and I'll give you a distraction so you can take out that sniper." He took a deep breath, then crouched, planning his next moves with the aid of the camera and Aura. Holly gave the affirmative, and Canith drew back his tonto, and at the same time leaped into the hall. Said hall looked to be about 40 ft long, and terminated at a pair of double doors that held the raiders and the scientists. As he lunged forward, he hurled the tonto, assisted by Aura's calculations, rolled, then sprung up, his feet landing on the wall about 6 ft up.

The rifle report was deafening in the confined space, and he felt more then saw the air rip as the round went right through where he had been a moment before. He hadn't actually jumped, he had phased up to the wall. This all went through his mind in a flash as he kept moving, kicking off the wall at a diagonal, in case of a second sniper.

The world came alive with light and sound as an arc of living lightning snaked through the hallway, just under where he was traveling across the hall. It didn't hit the sniper- it hit the man in the middle, then arced out in both directions, spreading over the entire group of raiders in a bluish net of electricity, paralyzing them instantly, before knocking them out.

Canith didn't stop, though. Four more bounds brought him even with the door, and he tucked into a roll as he did, the blade in his hand vanishing. As he came through, he used his tail to put a spin on his roll, throwing both hands out as he did. The kinetic knives flashed through the air, taking the pair on the other side of the wall who were waiting in ambush, right in the throat. Another thought, and he had his sword back out, looking around for more targets. The room contained, as they had surmised by the camera feeds, most of the base personnel. A quick head count, as well as cross referencing with Aura, put them 10 short of all of them. Then, he heard a small sob.

Turning slowly, he saw something that made his blood run cold, then hot. His eyes clouded over with red rage at what he saw. It wasn't just unmarried individuals on this base. There was at least a few couples. With kids. And one of them was sobbing staring at the raiders, obviously never being close to violence, let alone death, before. At this point Terry, with the help of Will, was helping Mist into the room, and Tyco was watching the hallway.

"Damn, should have know they would have a rifle." Terry kept muttering, along with several other self recriminations, to herself. Mist's eyes were just glazed with pain, and Will had his hands full with keeping a pressure bandage on Mist's shoulder. Once of the personnel noticed the blood on the bat, and immediately ran over to assist, calling for someone to bring their first aid kit.

Canith, in a fine rage, reached out with his mind, finding both Snow's mind, as well as Aris's, they being the leaders of Teams 2 and 3. :General warning, Hostiles have firearms of older make, utilizing gunpowder munitions. We have one injured on B1, Mist, and have in turn secured most of the base population.: Only a touch of rage colored his sending, and neither of the team leads responded with more then a general affirmative, from what he could hear. Turning back to the task at hand, he tapped Will's shoulder, and motioned for him to follow.

In the hall, he noted that Tyco had appropriated some sort of rope, and had tied the group of raiders up. None were stirring yet. "Tyco, you should probably stay up here and watch this group, while the rest of us take care of the B2 group. There are only," he paused, and Aura, reading his intentions, focused on multiple angles of cameras on B2, "12 more down stairs. Of them, only 5 or 6 actually look to be watching their backs, and do not seem to notice that we came in. After all, wouldn't they have done something by now?"

Will nodded at this. "Agreed. It's either that, or an ambush."

Holly came out of the room at this point. "Mist is looking like he will be stable for now. We got lucky that the bullet wound was rather clean, and didn't hit anything vital." She glanced at Canith. "How did you know that they had a gun, let alone have the presence of mind to Push Mist out of the way?"

Canith was silent for a moment, gazing at the splatters of blood on the ground and railing that had been behind Mist. "Instinct was screaming something was wrong, and when he went to move, I saw movement, through Aura, at the end of the hall. Maybe a glint of metal, I don't know. All I knew, thinking back, was a rising sense of danger, and I had pushed him before the rifle's report even sounded."

Holly looked at him closely, then let out a breath. "Well your gut instinct saved his life. Working with lightning and on fighter style ships has taught me a lot about projectile pathing and aiming. Judging from that, I figure that was a solid heart shot you made miss. He owes his life to you." She gave the tied up humans a kick. "The base crew has offered to keep an eye on Mist while we go rescue their co-workers. I feel like they have a bit of payback coming."

"Hey Canith," Terry called from the room. "Can you come back in here for a moment, you might be able to make sense of this." Confusion clearing away a bit of rage, he stepped back into the room. Terry was crouched down a bit, talking to one of the white coated scientists, and she motioned him over.

As he approached, he started hearing what they were saying. ". . . the prototype is nowhere near ready, of course, but the frame is functional on a basic level at least. We think that is why they are really here. Someone must have leaked the project details, and this crew of ne'er to do wells wanted to take of with it to sell to some 'less reputable' individuals, or else sell it to a military." The individual was human, probably mid forties, and had a slightly balding head of salt and pepper hair. He saw Canith approach, and Terry quickly pulled him closer.

"I'm only following about half of what he's saying, I heard AI, platform, and military, and everything else was to technical for me. I mean, I think I understood it, but this isn't my area, it's yours. Figure it out, then we move."

Canith nodded, then sat down in front of the scientist. "So what is the issue?"

The man took a breath, then started explaining again, almost sounding like he was trying to dumb down the concepts for him. "The AI mobile platform integration system we had designed is in the lab these brigands have laid siege to. It was never meant for war, only for scientific and maintenance practices that were too dangerous to be done with flesh and blood bodies. We had gotten most of the kinks worked out of the platform itself, and had focused most of our attention to the integration interface for fully independent AI's to use, when this attack came. Honestly, we kept running into issue after issue, from bandwidth bottlenecks to processing overload. Every time we came up with a potential solution, it would either fail or cause more issues. As I was telling that charming gryphon, the platform prototype is of course no where near ready for field tests, it's more of a proof of concept for the integration system. And not for war, never for war. It would potentially put too much strain on the AI's if they did that."

Canith was glad he had sat down, or he might have fallen over. Here was an opportunity for Aura that he hadn't thought of, a body of their own. "How do you know the proof of concept works? I figure that if you can claim it works, you had some way to test it with an AI or something to make sure all the motion controls and relays were functional. Otherwise they won't walk away with anything usable."

The scientist stared at him for a moment. "You actually followed what I said, understood the design concepts of the project, and then asked a technical question about it. Not as someone that is ignorant to the concept, but as one who actually understands it." The scientist gave him a long appraising look. "We used an amped up Aura interface as a relay for a low grade AI to interface with the platform itself. It was functional, but all motions were delayed due to multiple levels of processing between the AI, the interface, the controls, and the platform itself."

"Wait, so you didn't just use the Aura interface to tie directly into the control schema to bypass the redundancy of processing things three times?" Canith asked, confused as to why they were going about it in such a round about way.

"I took you for a tech savvy . . .er . . . individual. But seriously. The Aura system couldn't handle that. After all, it was designed as a buffer interface for data. We are already stretching the design concept of it massively thin just using it as a medium to not overload the controls."

Canith could see where they might think that, and after a moment's recollection on the capabilities he had stripped from that design backed the scientist up. If it had been HIS Aura though . . . no extra steps. Straight connection. If any interface would be needed, it might be to make the memory core more mobile. But if that platform could be accessed, a quick scan and between him and Aura they could duplicate it.

"I get it, I really do. But forgive me for distracting you from something I can tell you are passionate about. What can you tell me that would be of tactical importance?"

The little man looked shocked to be praised like this, and thought for a moment. "Ah, yes, I digressed when trying to explain to you compatriot. That hallway has extra security in it. The raiders probably hacked the system, as it's an isolated system, same as the lab's internal network compared to the base's." He shrugged his shoulders once more. "Without security authorization from before the system got locked down, you will probably be facing at least 2 gatling turrets mounted to the ceiling. Not to mention whatever they have."

Canith's face grew hard for a moment, before he calmed himself down. He thanked the man, then stood up. As he walked away, he saw the young child clinging to the pants of the medical tech helping Mist. He felt his rage flaring up again, and decided then and there that no one else gets hurt with him. He headed back out the hall, past the rest of the team and down the hall towards the lifts.

Terry, Will, and Holly caught up with him. Terry, sensing something, grabbed his arm. "If you are thinking of rushing in on your own, don't. We work as a team. What did you learn."

Canith glowered. "The are entrenched down there, with turrets and more rifles, both gunpowder and laser rifles. It's going to be a shooting gallery, as it's a straight shot from the lab, down an 80 foot hallway, across the atrium, to the elevators." He double checked with Aura. "And no other ways in or out. On top of that, depending on what they know, they might even have a mobile platform that can be remotely operated by an individual or an AI."

Terry began cursing furiously, Will looked shocked, and Holly simply shook her head. Canith looked down from the balcony, then to Will. "Question, can phasing decrease momentum, instead of increase it?"

Will looked up, then said, hesitantly, "Sure, I guess. I haven't personally done it, but I guess you could." Canith nodded, then hopped the railing he had looked over. The move took everyone by surprise, and left him falling towards the ground faster and faster. He focused, then, like with the wall dash, phased towards the ground, aiming to break his momentum.

It mostly worked, and he went into a roll as he hit the ground at less speed then he had been gathering, but more then was safe to try a flat landing. He quickly righted himself, Looking at the slightly darkened entryway to the labs. He saw the turrets now, as they were positioned in a blind spot of the security cameras. As suspected, both were online and pointed towards the elevator, their sensors rotating slightly looking for targets.

He thought for a moment, debating using his long range artillery. Aura, their voice faded slightly with distance from any transceivers, warned that he was not ready for something like that again, with his limiters further blocking that action. Then, another idea began to form. He took stock of what choices he did have. Telekinetics, telepathy, phasing. His basic shifting wouldn't help here, and even if he had energy crafting he had no idea how to use it. 3 k-blade crystals. "Wait a moment. . ." he muttered to himself. Sure, the original concept of the third was complex constructs, but what about simple ones?

His thought were interrupted by one of the turrets beginning to wind up, and then he heard a sound that made his blood run cold. The tell tale 'ding' of the elevator. The doors opened, and there was the rest of his team. Will was standing in front, with Terry and Holly both having a hand extended past him. A shimmering field was in front of him, like a woven net of translucent light.

Then the turrets opened up.

The sounds they made as they fired were high pitch whines as the they discharged rapidly, sending bolts of deadly plasma hurtling at his team. As they hit the net, it flared, absorbing some of the energy, deflecting the rest around them. Will had his blades out, crossed in a X shape, the are in front of him, yet behind the net, misting with the cold. This went on for only a moment, when a sharp crack resounded from the hall, and Will went down on one leg, the other taking a deflected shot from a sniper.

And Canith snapped.

His eyes, which before had only misted over red, went visibly red. All plans went out the window. He threw his two blades in twin arcs, cutting the torrent of plasma off from it's power source. He then barreled down the hall, roaring like a feral beast, his weapons trailing behind him.

The raiders were not expecting a charged, but recovered and began firing. Shots missed Canith by a hair as he phased to and fro, but one lucky and smart gunner saw a pattern to this, and lined a shot up, taking Canith in the leg to slow him down. It was a laser rifle, and the impact of it knocked his leg out from under him. As he went into a tumble, a small voice in the back of his head spoke. It was Aura's voice, but not Aura- simply a remnant of the AI's coding.

:Adrenal levels spiking to dangerous levels. Bodily trauma detected. Limiters removed. . .

Kaiser Protocol Initialized.:

Suddenly, time seemed to stop for a short instant. Then, his awareness_Expanded,_ and he could see things he only could faintly understand- bullet paths, both where they had traveled, and where they would travel. Where the enemy was aiming. But most of all, he felt it. That feeling from earlier, that serpent of feeling that he had felt when he had went into the meditative trance. It beckoned to him, asking to be let free. And between the detached pain, the blind rage, and the desire to rip these assholes to shreds, he let it.

Pain raced through his nerves, as his body phased forward on it's own ignoring the shot leg. He let go of the constructs, he let go of his sentient mind, the plans, the designs. He became rage and pain, fury and anger. His body blurred again, but this time, it wasn't to phase. He gained mass, and that mass shifted him from two legs to four. His body swelled, and the fur he had was shed, once more becoming crimson scales. He felt, distantly, wings erupt from his back. There was pain from this rapid transformation, but also pleasure.

With his expanded awareness he felt the power of the muscles, the serpentine swiftness, as he bounded as before on a wall, only instead of phasing across he kicked off with his hind legs, denting the plasteel wall and hurtling him the last 20 feet he had left to cross. Then his claws flashed out, dying themselves crimson in the blood of his enemies. He made short work of the team of 15, the whole charge taking less then 30 seconds. The last thing he felt, as he stood panting over the bodies, was an internal click, more felt then heard. Then there was a falling sensation, as everything went black.

Terry looked over the bloodbath in front of the door. The frontal assault had been a horrible idea, and they now had three injured to deal with. Will could still walk, with a bit of help. The shot he had deflected had only grazed his leg. Mist would be fine, but might lose a bit of movement in his arm. Canith though . . .

Canith had passed out after literally tearing the raiders limb from limb, and it had been a sight that was straight out of an old fantasy film. Once second he lost it, rushing down the hall. The next he was shot, and then he blurred. Where there once was an anthro eastern-looking dragon was a full on western feral, but with small details remaining from the eastern strain. His horns and mane retained their eastern configuration, but he had reverted to scales. Marring on the scales shone in the lighting, a testament to the laser fire he had ran through. Surprisingly, other then a wound in his leg that was barely trickling blood, he appeared fine. Well, fine other then the part where he passed out after.

A quick mental call upwards to Snow had him promising to come down directly to deal with the new feral dragon, as his team had only encountered a couple of individuals in the hanger on guard, including the anthro's that had been spotted in the feeds. That done, she stepped over to the door's panel and paged those inside. There was a click, and a frightened and clearly hysirical woman answered.

"I told you, we will not open the door for you. And you will not penetrate the defenses here either." The speaker clicked off.

She held the button. "Ma'am, I'm Lieutenant Terry of the Cruiser 'Tiamat'. We came due to your distress call."

The speaker clicked again. "How do I know this is not a ploy to get us to open the door?"

She thought about this for a moment. "You know, it might not be a bad idea to keep the door closed till we can get the rest of you personnel down here to give the okay. Any preferences?"

The speaker clicked almost immediately. "What, so you can force them at gun point to get them to open the door for you. No thank you."

Terry sighed, and went about picking up pieces of raider and moving them into a pile that they could dispose of. The stench was horrible, but bearable. It was only then that she noticed that Will was kneeling in the blood by Canith, arms wrapped around his neck. Holly had already started a pile, and stopped to look back at them.

"Huh, never seen anything quite like that. I know some can shift into feral forms, but that was silly. Not only was it fast, it was mid combat. And judging from the roaring he was doing, and mind you it was not tame enough to be a war cry or a loud yell, it wasn't even fully conscious. "

Terry nodded in agreement. "My main worry is how he will get out of here if he cannot shift back immediately. After all," she pointed behind her to the elevators, "I doubt he will fit on there."

They both lapsed into silence for a couple minutes, then the other elevator descended and opened with a soft ding, and Snow walked out. He didn't say anything, but gave a low whistle as he looked around. Spotting Canith, he did a double take, then gave a soft sigh and strolled over. As he did, Will looked up, then at an unheard prompting placed a hand on the floor, and all the blood in the area instantly froze into a sheet, which then cracked by some unseen pressure into manageable pieces.

Snow, for his part, sat down at Canith's head. He took the larger dragon's head in his hands, and closing his eyes, went into a trance with Terry and Holly looking on.

Darkness and pain.

He floated in the darkness, alternating cold and burning hot. The cold was like razor blades across flesh, and the heat burned him up. It was like a cycle, and it's all he could think of.

Then, from out of the darkness a form appeared. His mind hurt, so he did not apply a name or a tag to it, only noted that is was different from the darkness. The ghostly form soothed the burning areas, and wrapped the cold areas in layers of warmth. Slowly, thought returned.

:Huh . . .: he focused a bit more :Who?: He kept trying, slowly pulling information from his mind, but it came sluggishly. The familiar feeling individual shushed him, and then moved around him, enclosing him in walls. Braziers lit the darkness as they came into existence in the darkness, and the light helped banish some of the blurriness in his mind. :Snow?:

The individual smiled. :Good to see you are still in there. What can you remember?: The wolf kept moving around as he pondered that question. :I remember . . .I remember . . .: Then, like a light kindling too bright, too fast, memory rushed into him in a flood. The mission. The battles. Mist. Will. And then . . . an odd blank spot, like he had just lost a portion of his memory. He worried the area like a loose tooth, trying to figure out what was missing.

Snow finished with the room and turned and sat in front of him. He was laying on his side, his body heavy with weariness. His wings were only loosely held to his back, and it was a struggle to move anything. :Let me see if I can help you solve this part of the mystery. You and I had a discussion before, about level 2 shifting, and about limiters. I didn't mean for them to get tangled up, but when you broke through the limiters, something else happened that accessed part of your psyche. When it did, it triggered a full level 2 shift, and while I didn't see it in action, the mess you made of those in front of you was quite impressive.:

He let that sink in for a minute, just sitting there watching him. Canith. His name. :There you go. Are you ready to pull yourself back to reality?:

Canith looked around the mental landscape, taking the room in. :What is this place?: The room was made of stone. Walls and ceiling were dark stone, engraved with symbols and pictures that his mind was not_quite_ up to puzzling out. The floor was way more interesting anyways. It looked as if four different streams of varying colors and materials were flowing into the center. He couldn't tell what they were in the dim light, but it seemed important.

:It could be called many things, it could BE many things. But for now, it represents sanctuary. A place for your inner turmoil to lie placid, chained by your will. Always within reach though.: He moved slightly, and there was indentations in the floor. He turned his head slightly, and reached out a claw. They fit into neat slots carved into them, and the whole thing turned. :A lock:

The whole idea clicked into place in his mind, and with a deft twist, something flowed out of him, into the seal. The scene went dark again, but he knew he could come back here whenever he needed to.

As Snow sat there, cradling Canith's head, a buzzing sort of energy began to fill the air. It seemed to gather around the pair, before Canith's form began dissolving, the extra mass melting away. His form had a more western look about it, in the angle of the chin, perhaps. Different, but the same at once. He appeared groggy, and with the help of Will, Snow braced the dragon against the wall, just below the dent he had made in it.

A few minutes later, he was coherent enough to get his beings. He stood up, and with a slight focus of will manifested a staff to walk with. He moved over to the door. Click.

The hysterical woman answered once more. "I told you before, the door will not open for you." Click.

Canith keyed it up wearily. "Ma'am, you mistake my intentions. Open it from the inside if you feel like, but I figure by know that the external sensors are able to tell you that there are markedly fewer people out here than before. Also, the prototype is in no way going to be taken away. You still have much work to do on it, after all." He let go of the button, then rested his hand on the panel. Nothing happened, but he just stood there.

"Well, you are not wrong. There ARE fewer of you out there. But you could have just had the others move off."

"Well," Canith said, a smile creeping into his voice. "They did, but only in pieces. I apparently do not take kindly to being shot at, as they found out. The doorway is mostly clear, and the raiders are gone." Terry sucked in a breath at this. That might scare them more then reassure them.

Click. "How is Abby?" No context, no warning. A deceptively simple question.

"Scared, but fine. Your husband helped patch up my friend upstairs after we freed them."

There was no return click this time, instead, a pressurized hiss and the doors began irising open, and the next pair started sliding apart, and then the normal lab doors were uncovered.

A lady in her early thirties stood just in the entrance of the lab. She looked a bit relieved, if puzzled as she caught sight of the hall. But, she seemed to compose herself and motioned for them to step inside. Canith cautiously did, and him and Aura did a rapid sweep of the lab. This one was apparently the robotics portion of the project, judging from the various platforms in different states of assembly. On one table, a metallic leg was dissected into multiple parts, another held what appeared to only be circuit boards. All of this was taken in, indexed, and filed away for later. Aura used his uplink to access the internal network, while Canith turned to the lady.

"Thank you for opening the door. We mainly wanted to make sure that no one in here was in need of medical attention. But if that door was already closed when the attack started, I doubt that would be a problem. Besides, " He said, giving a weary shrug, "this was the origin point of the distress call."

The female scientist waved her hand over the lab. "We were in here doing more trial runs with the most iteration of the platform software. When the gunshots started, we simply shifted from light lock down to full lock down. The beacon was my idea as well. If security failed us, then there was no point in this lab staying terribly secret. Not that we will be giving out more then basic information." She eyed him dubiously, but as he had been focusing all his attention on her, and on staying upright, it seemed to put her at rest. "I have to ask, why do you look so haggard? I heard a pretty grizzly fight out there between the gunfire and the . . ." she trailed off for a second and shuddered, ". . . the tearing and screaming."

Canith gave a weak chuckle. "Apologies, that would have been me. As as to why, I am dead tired." He clicked the staff on the floor a time or two. "Without this right now, I would probably fall right over." He tilted his head back, giving a yawn that had his jaws wide. As he finished, he gave his head a shake. "Alright, if that is everyone, lets get you back to the previous floor, and into hands of others that have more authority then me." And with that, he escorted the team back out of the lab, and toward the elevators.

Snow was already gone ahead, as was Will. Tyco was by a smoldering pile of ash, and there were various rifles sat near it. He waved and filed in with the rest, and him and Canith made their way back surrounded by the quiet babble of the scientists. Once they arrived on B1, the two were greeted by Terry, who gathered them up, with Mist, supported by Will, and Holly, and they made their way back up and out of the base. The team crossed the distance to the ship in relative silence, broken only by the sounds of wind through trees, the occasional animal that could survive here, and their footsteps and breathing.

Canith, for the whole trip, was running on autopilot. He didn't have the energy to do anything else. Nothing, not even the unexpected fatigue from the kinetic bow, had drained him like this. One back, he swore to himself, he would sleep for a week. They made it back though, and he didn't quite get his wish.

"Canith," Cloud said as they came back aboard, "As much as I know you need rest, there is something we need to take care of. Please come with me." Too tired to care or question, he followed.

She led him over to the other lift from the one everyone else was taking, and keyed it for E-deck. The shot down the short trip, and she had him follow her into the pod room. "Here is the deal," She began as they made the way in. "You have been a bit past due to come in for a swim in the pods. From what I heard from Snow, you sought relief from Tyco, which is fine. But that point of the cycle is usually the best time to come in for a swim," She looked over her shoulder at him and winked. "Of course, I am sure you enjoyed yourself."

She led him over to one of the back ones, set up a bit larger then the normal ones, but still small by comparison to the main pod. "If unoccupied, this one will be for you. We kind of keep a rotation going, so unless it's an emergency, this one should be open for you."

Canith gathered his thoughts together a bit, and looked between the pod and Cloud. "Why now though? I am dead tired, and just want to sleep."

She smiled gently. "I know. I will not say this would have prevented it- if what little Snow relayed is correct, nothing could have. However, this will restore your faded energy levels, help balance your system out, and prevent any number of complications from flaring up, both surrounding your new form, your new sexuality, and your new ability. I know you are a potential shifter, which makes it all the more important you get those levels back up." She gently pushed him towards the pod.

He sighed, giving in with little argument, too tired to question further. He shed his suit, which for some reason did not have any blood on it other then on the pants leg he had been shot in. Shambling forward the last foot, he placed his hand on the reader, and it beeped, opening the pod. He practically fell into it, and as it clicked shut, fell into slumber.

Snow came into E-deck several hours later, and had to do a double take at the operators there. Mist was recovering in a pod, as would be expected. Cloud, however, was furiously alternating between angrily tapping on a keyboard and staring at a screen. He never saw Cloud get angry.

"Cloud, what is wrong?" He asked it simply, as everyone who worked on this deck reported to him.

She glanced up for only a second, the returned to the screen. "Trying to figure out why Canith's pod over there threw an error not even 5 minutes to getting him hooked up." She pounded away some more. "Every time I query the systems or Sylph, I get all green, but that shouldn't be the case."

He raised an eyebrow at this. "Why would you say it's an error if both say it's not?"

She scowled once more, then pushed back from the desk and motioned him over to the pod in question. "That's why." She said simply, pointing at the display. The display in question was flickering in rapid code, and occasionally would show a timer. The timer, however, was in days, not the normal hours that the pods were designed for.

"Ah." He said simply, and beckoned her back over to the desk. She had lost the scowl, and was puzzled. She followed, and he sat down and pulled up various charts and readouts coming from the pod in question. They all showed dangerously low levels. "The reason for the extended time is threefold. One, he pushed past the time he normally would come in, if it had been explained properly. That one is on us."

"But that doesn't explain . . ." Cloud started, but Snow simply held up a finger, and she quieted."

"Two, He was still recovering from system shock from a couple of days ago. The psychic strain was rather severe, and although the stain was eased, it was not erased." She didn't interrupt this time, a pensive look coming over her features.

"And then you have three. Today, he taxed his body and mind to an absolute extreme, and it forced him first to lose control of himself, then to black out. And that is not even taking into account the gunshots and laser burns he took."

Cloud looked at him. "I saw the one gunshot, just a graze. I didn't, however, see any laser burns. You sure on that one?"

Snow had a small smile on his face. "Positive. After all, he combat shifted when he went blank, and went full western dragon. I had a fun time guiding his unconcious mind to revert that change. As it was his first time, it's no wonder it wiped his reserves. I'm more surprised that he was able to walk back to the ship after."

Cloud's face went pale, then looked back and forth between Canith's pod and Snow. "Well then, I guess that really isn't an error after all. But what about all that coding. I have not seen it do that before."

"I might have a theory on that one." He tapped out a few commands then spoke at the pod. "Greetings Aura, might I ask what you are up to with that pod?"

The holo field that Sylph usually used flickered to life, and the wolf AI appeared, pacing restlessly. It's voice came through the speakers, low and clear. "It's nothing major, I assure you. You can have the local AI shadow my work if you like. I'm simply making some extremely small adjustments to Canith's profile based on my realtime scans. Crossreferencing with genetic templates to ensure viability of the changes, and correcting coding errors as I go along."

Cloud started sputtering in a combination of suprise and outrage, while Snow simply leaned back a bit and asked, "What kinds of changes?"

Aura spoke up at once. "Based on combat data from his shift today, and from the shifting lessons you provided, I have a good baseline for genetic level changes required to reduce energy expenditure when shifting. In addition, as the combat Codename:Feral form exibited today was outside of mental control currently, I am also adjusting the Kaiser protocol to account for this, as it was an unexpected side effect. Said protocol was only intended to increase mental calulation threshold by a magnitude of 10, not induce a shift. More data will be needed to determine root cause of the deviation in this case."

Cloud colapsed into Mist's chair, and Snow just started chuckling quietly to himself. He slowly got himself under control, then turned to Cloud. "Follow all that?"

Cloud sighed. "I gather that his AI is extremely good, and pretty pervasive. But this codename stuff and that protocol? Beyond me. It's the first I have heard of it."

Snow nodded. "I wasn't down there for the whole of it, but from what Terry described there was a slight hesitation at one point, then he kind of lost it, he phased once, then the next second he was combat shifting like a pro, and rebounded off the wall hard enough to dent the plasteel pretty bad. After, he shredded a small squad of humans and literally passed out as soon as he was done." He sighed a bit, then finished the tail. "The rest is as I told you. I helped downshift back to Anthro, and he actually woke up enough to conjure his version of a kinetic blade as a staff to support him and walked into the lab, held a conversation, then walked out. The kid is tough. Crazy, but tough."

Cloud looked at him, like he had missed something obvious. "You know, with those fresh blocks in place it doesn't make sense him being able to shift or use kinetics to assist his phasing."

Snow got what she was implying immediately. "He must have had a ton of adrinaline surging at that moment, and it broke through the blocks. Over the course of his recovery they should also recover. Still doesn't change the fact though that it was a hell of a feat."

Cloud simply put her head down on the desk and mumbled up to him. "Yeah, maybe so. But we get the honor of putting him back together now."