FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

What will happen to the mighty ship-boarders? The world may never know!

The craft shook around them, some of the men looking sick from the thick smell of the dead bodies. Erik could feel the blood from the wall slick on his back, warm ad it dripped down his back. He shivered violently, apologizing to the soldier he'd jostled.

"Don't apologize to me," He said, "I owe you my life, sir," Erik was taken aback, squeezing through the tiny craft to directly in front of the door.

"Get ready. I'm going to be the first off, and the last back on. Stick close, we're going to do this by the book,"

"Sir, we have somebody on the horn for you," Said a soldier, extending a black telephone like object towards Erik.

"You moron. Why would you go up to a frigging capital ship? That's almost twelve miles you're going to have to clear, conquistador," Came the voice, unmistakably Shelley's.

"Uh. You're breaking up," Erik said, handing the phone back and rolling his eyes to the nervous laughter of the soldiers. The ship came to a stop suddenly, the door springing open. Erik sprung from the craft, weapon squeezed tightly to his shoulder as he checked every corner of the bland, white hangar they were in.

"Clear, spread out!" He whispered back, the ten or so men fanning out to cover the entire surface of the deserted hangar. There was a lonely, narrow door set into the wall with green light spilling from its edges. The men advanced silently upon it, five men on each side of the door with Erik directly next to it on the right side. "One, two, now," He counted to himself, hitting the green button on the panel and sticking his gun around the corner to sweep the corridor. Nothing. "Move up," The men stuck to either side of the corridor, flush with the walls. The men were breathing nervously, the air from the vents washing over them.

"Stay calm, keep your cool. Control your breathing and keep your senses sharp," Said the M60 gunner, arms strained with the great weight of the weapon. Erik stopped at the end of the hallway, looking around the corner into a wider room with a computer system erected in its center. There was a lone, golden armored dragon standing before it, tapping the touch screen leisurely. Erik drew his bayonet, breezed around the corner like a wisp of smoke before bringing the long knife down upon the beast's neck with extreme force. It dropped with a gurgle, blood oozing through the grates onto the metal pipes below. Erik attached the bayonet to his rifle, waving the rest of the men up to him as he dragged the corpse into a corner. The men shuffled down the hall, Erik catching up with them as they entered another large hangar full of drop ships.

"Does anybody have any composition 4 charges?" Asked the same M60 gunner, the men laying down on their top-floor balcony to avoid being seen.

"No, we need to keep those craft to escape for ourselves. I need all the machine-gunners on this level spread out to give the ground boys cover, after we get all the way across we'll move on. The rest of you, come with me!" Erik turned back, taking the second door, rushing down the stairs to the main floor of the hangar which was teeming with dragons. "Check ammunition!" He heard the magazines and charging levers clicking, a tap on his shoulder indicating that they should move. Just as Erik was about to charge out, the door opened and a dragon walked in on them. His heart skipped a beat, but he ran forward the three feet between him and the dragon, pinning it to the wall before a slice from his bayonet ended its cries. "CHARGE!" The men surged forth, standing in a thin line as they scooted underneath the doorway and out into the fray. Dragon mechanics looked up before getting chopped down by the automatic weapons fire, bodies flailing all around. The machine gunners opened up then, lead splintering armor and bone alike in a glorious death gasm. "Cease fire!" He called, slashing his arm in the air as both he and his men ran for the door at the end of the large room. The machine gunners met up with them, chains of ammunition swinging in the air.

"That was great!" One called.

"Hell yeah!" Another replied, their high-five resounding throughout the entire room.

"Let's go," Erik said, sweat staining the armpits of the humans, Christina looking at him with a sinister smile on her face.

"Erik, I think this might have been a freaking great idea!" She said, Erik laughing before running into the next long hallway. There was nothing for the next three straight minutes, just the world's longest corridor leading them further into the belly of the streamlined vessel. "The ship is pretty much nothing but a straight line until either end where there's a few corners and then it's the other side in a straight line. Perfect for us to fuck everything they have up in no more than a few hours!" Erik nodded, looking through the now open doorway into an even larger hangar. As soon as the entire team exited the safety of the corridor, they were hit by a barrage of laser fire. It scored the walls all around them, the soldiers diving for the floor.

"They noticed us!" One soldier yelled, priming a grenade before lobbing it over the lip of the deck. The sheer volume of fire was stunning before Erik managed a peek down onto what was causing all the mayhem. There was an anti-aircraft gun sitting on the deck below them, all four lasers spraying death at them.

"We need to take out that fucking AA gun before we can hit back. Anybody have an M203?"

"No sir, I do have a LAW, though!"

"Well come on up, you just got elected. I'll draw their fire, you go straight for it. Everybody who can do it, covering fire," Erik said, standing suddenly and sprinting towards the other side of the overhanging maintenance balcony. The lasers tracked him as planned, the men springing up and hosing the deck down with fire as the soldier took aim with the LAW. There was a hiss, and a boom with the turret erupting in a huge roll of smoke and flame. "Move up!" Erik yelled, jumping the twenty feet to the deck, rolling to disperse the impact over his spine. He stood, putting down targets as they fled from their positions towards the door. A few of the dragons actually managed to pack themselves into the door until stuck, and a quick burst of bullets found them sprawled on the ground. By the time the men got there, Erik's weapon barrel was cherry red, and every dragon capable of movement was plastered all over the walls and ships. Erik dropped his rifle, ammunition spent. He drew his Colt M1911 .45, cocked it, and looked out over his men. "How we doing on ammunition?"

"Not so good, man. We need something or else we might get straight into a bunch of shit," Christina said, sweat dripping from her matted fur.

"What about enemy weapons?" Somebody asked out.

"They're only usable by the person they're assigned to. Some kind of security procedure, probably just so we don't get their guns in a situation like this. Anyway, let's move on," Erik continued to lead the way, the next hangar they entered stunning all the men frozen. Erik couldn't believe how large this area was, he couldn't even see the next wall. The floor was lined with everything you could imagine, trucks were lined up in perfect rows, cars of all shapes and sized on another side. Guns were laid out on the floor, crates of ammunition piled one on top of each other. As the men descended the stairs and broke out into the room, Erik's handgun fell limp on his side. "Some of these vehicles are older than I am!" He said, looking upon the cars of his dreams. Chrysler 300s from the sixties, Dodge Power wagons sitting with their confident grilles puffed out like strong chests. He knelt at the guns, every weapon imaginable was there next to paper forms listing their ammunition size and type. He grabbed a Stoner 63 and several clips, emptying his bandolier of dry M16 magazines, cracking open a box of the right ammunition.

"Let's load up and remove this ship from operation!" Yelled Christina, holding her gun above her head and smiling.

"Hoorah!" The men cheered, grabbing guns and ammunition boxes before loading all of the magazines. Erik slung his weapon, popping the door of one of the old eighties Power Wagons. The keys dangled from the ignition, begging for him to turn them.

"Load as much ammunition as we can onto this thing then get in. We're gonna go for a drive by!" Erik turned the key, foot on the clutch. The engine whined before raging into life. He gave the gas pedal a healthy press, the engine racing as it warmed up. He heard boxes of ammunition being stowed in the bed, but the stiff suspension refused to lower even an inch.

"Sir, we're all good," Christina said as she sat down, Erik taking notice of her well-endowed chest. He shook his head, shifting into first and setting off between the lines of various cars. The men in the back were all kneeling on the wooden boxes, guns held tight as the truck accelerated to it's fifty-five MPH top speed.

"Talk about geared low," He said, hovering the RPM needle right above the red line. Christina flicked the radio on, the yells of men pouring out of the speakers over gunfire. There were the garbled transmissions of the artillery team shouting, 'round out,' Every few seconds following a loud boom.

"Commander, they're coming from all sides! We need to-" The voice was cut off by a loud roar, the man's dying screams the last noise to come from the radio.

"Erik! I think that was..."

"I know what it was. Let's do our job and they'll do theirs," Erik said, face solid, eyes intense.

"Yessir," Came the response as they emerged into a huge sea of green military vehicles. Jeeps, tanks, HMMVs, wreckers, everything you could possibly need to fight a war was right in front of them.

"Why do they have all of this shit?" Said one soldier in the back, yelling to be heard.

"I bet they research it so they can try and find out weak spots. Fat chance," He said, patting his gun. "I have no weak spot," As soon as he finished speaking, there was the sound of a laser in the air, the round punching into his chest throwing him onto his back in a spray of red vapor.

"Man down!" Somebody yelled, spraying haphazardly into the distance with the rest chiming in. There was a paste-like red substance baked onto the window, the intense heat cooking the blood onto the glass. Erik kept up his speed, veering in and out of the rows of vehicles. The enemy incoming fire was increasing, lasers melting metal as they penetrated the aging steel. The other side of the expansive hangar was approaching them, but something far worse was awaiting them at the far end.

"What's that?" Christina said, leaning forward and squinting her eyes. Erik's heart dropped as he saw what it was, a tank hovering off the ground with it's huge cannon barrel tracking them as they dodged in and out of other vehicles.

"Everybody, ditch the truck! Now!" He roared back, kicking the door open and jumping from the hurtling blue truck. He timed it wrong, and he clocked against the side of an Abrams tank with a sickening 'pong' on the metal. He felt several crunches deep inside his chest as he dropped like a stone to the ground, the taste of blood thick in his mouth. He heard the truck smash up against something, but was concentrating too hard on his own predicament. His weapon had survived the impact, as his back had cushioned its impact. Struggling to his feet, Erik limped towards the tank, making sure to keep below its line of sight. His entire body throbbed, but he continued onward towards where the rest of his soldiers would have bailed. He saw them, huddled behind a tank, bruised and battered. "Any casualties?" He yelled to them, lasers glancing off the ship's hull all around them.

"No sir! All present and combat-effective!" Said one soldier, shaking violently. Erik peered over the edge of the tank nearest him, the enemy machine crawling to them at a steady pace.

"When I say so, you all fire at the back of the truck, you hear me?"

"Yes sir!" His men yelled back from across the opening between cars. Erik slowly poked his Stoner above the side of the Abrams, sights trained on the crashed power wagon. The tank began to push it out of the way,

"NOW!" Erik screamed, loosing an automatic barrage of gunfire on the truck.

"Why are we shooting at the-" One of his men began, the ammunition in the back suddenly lighting up in an earth-shattering explosion. The dragon's tank was rent nearly in half, pieces of metal and other objects ricocheting around the ship's interior. Erik shrank behind his cover, the flame scorching the metal on the very top of the gigantic hangar.

"Move! Move! Move!" He yelled, sprinting painfully towards the door at the very end. The men soon overtook him, running as fast as they could away from the dragons swarming them from behind with lasers aflame. "Get that door open!" He shouted upon reaching it, whirling around to fire upon their pursuers. The bullets smashed through their armor, Erik reloading faster than he had every done before in order to loose more fiery death to the last of the dragons. The door slid open, the earth soldiers filing in with Erik taking up the rear. The door slid closed, a bullet shattering the control panel abruptly. The once proud squad was looking much more ragged from their one not-so-close call. "Alright. We lost a man, but we need to adapt and move on. Get used to it. Let's get to the bridge," Erik said, limping his way to the door at the other end of the oddly calm hallway. It was a wonder they'd made it through this entire day without being attacked in one of these hallways. Christina placed a hand on his shoulder, Erik wincing inside.

"Go," She said, Erik moving stiffly out into an elevator.

"Whoa," He said, all of the soldiers behind him crashing into him on their way to rush what was supposed to be a hangar. "Somebody hit whichever button looks like the bridge," There was a click and the door slid shut with a quiet hiss. Erik tapped his foot absentmindedly, blood steadily trickling over his chin and down his neck, something sharp poking him from the inside out. That wasn't important though. What was important was getting back to Earth and digging the army out of their current predicament. Oh, and there was also not getting shot or crashing into the earth. Just then, the doors sprung open upon a scene of utter surprise. Erik opened up on the bridge crew, most of the white-uniformed officers in the front were unable to get their sidearms out before getting blown away. "Keep the captain alive!" Erik growled back, shooting down the last officer before whipping out his .45 and shooting the captain in both legs. "HOW DO I LAND THIS SHIP?" He yelled, the large beast moaning in a puddle of purple blood. "TELL ME NOW!"

"Please, stop," Erik fired a shell into his thigh.

"I don't want to kill you, but I will!"

"Erik! Stop! You're over the line!" Christina said, placing a hand on his arm.

"Yeah, sir, drop your weapon," Said one of the men, shifting his weight from foot awkwardly. Erik looked at himself, and at the quivering dragon beneath him.

"We're not so different from you," He said, looking up at Erik from the floor. "We don't want to fight this war any more,"

"Why do you fight, then?" Erik asked holstering his weapon and digging bandaged from his pack.

"Orders. Our emperor says what to do and those who don't do it get enslaved," Erik began to treat the wounds, the captain looking up at him. "Why are you helping me now?"

"If you'll have it, you and whatever men are still alive on your ship can fight with us. In return, we will help you in whatever way we can,"

"If you'll have it. Now please, turn me over to my medical officers," He said, teeth grinding in pain. Erik looked at his team then back at the captain.

"We need to land the ship first. My men are in trouble and we need to help them,"

"This ship wasn't intended to be under gravity. It was built in space, but I will try my hardest," He said, kneeling up to fiddle with the glowing controls. There was a strong force, almost throwing Erik to the ceiling. "We've lost power," He said, laying flat to the floor. Erik and the rest of his team followed suit, the impact mere moments in the future rattling their teeth in their mouths. The world went black for Erik, metal screeching all around him. His guns were torn from him, flames lighting up the once bright bridge. The motion stopped, the roof of the bridge no more than a foot off the floor, which was heating up from some unknown source. Erik started to crawl his way from the wreckage, Christina right behind him.

"Go!" She choked, voice hoarse from the acrid black smoke puffing out from below. "The others didn't make it. The elevator crushed them," Erik nodded as best he could, his shoulder catching on a jagged outcropping of metal. No time to stop, he used his left arm to rip himself free from it and up towards the thick glass above. The ship shifted precariously, metal creaking. Erik punched at the window, over and over. Thin spiderweb cracks spread across its surface before it shattered, showering him and Christina with shards of glass.

"This way!" He called, clambering out and reaching a hand down towards her. Upon pulling her out, the two rolled over and took huge gulps of fresh air. Erik felt something stinging his shoulder, and sure enough when he looked back he saw that he'd shredded scales from his body and blood was rushing out from the gaping tear. Oil from the ship was dripping down into the wound, causing it to throb.

"Damn, Erik!"

"I know," He replied, his once proud chest nearly caved in, naked chest soaked with blood. "Come on, we can't stop now. Can you walk?"

"Yeah, I think so," Erik lumbered to his feet, stars dancing before his eyes. Before he knew it, he'd passed out and fell from the steep sides of the ship towards the ground below. As he fell, his limp body clanged against metal sides on the way down, and he belly flopped into the water with a sickening slap. Thankfully, the ship had landed in a lake so when he hit, he didn't get crushed to a pulp. Christina dove to the water, searching for him frantically among the bubbles rushing up. Her aching hands wrapped around his arm, and she kicked for the surface. She dragged him ashore, picking him up and carrying him to the wooded area beyond. Erik awoke later that night, bandages wrapped around his shoulder and his chest was swollen and his scales littered the ground around him.

"Erik, we need to get moving. There's no option, the dragons are getting closer every moment we wait here and we're unarmed," Erik tried to sit up, his body unresponsive.

"I-I can't move," He groaned, blood glossing over his teeth.

"I apologize in advance for this, sir," She said before lifting him onto her back. She strained under the immense weight of the much larger being, pushed onward ever faster by the war drums playing behind her. Erik could visibly see a long thin line of deep purple blood draining from his mouth onto the ground below, and his world was fading.

"Chri-Chris-" He started, mouth numb with the thick blood.

"Erik, you okay?" She said, panic deep in her voice.

"No, leave me behind. Get to the general, tell him we got the ship. Save yourself, you'll never escape from-" He said, struggling to keep his eyes open.

"No! Just hold on, you're going to make it!"

"I'm not, I'm fu-fu-fu-fuckkk," Erik said, coughing violently and spraying more yet of his life blood into the wilderness. The spasms knocked him from Christina's back, the impact jarring him back awake. He was shaking, wiping his face off with his right hand. His breath was ragged and shallow, punctuated only by loud gulps.

"Come on!" Christina yelled, desperation forcing her to try to grab a hold of the grimly wounded fighter. Hands slick with blood, she squeezed his arms and tried to lift to no avail. The dragons' searchlights were washing through the trees, their voices getting louder. Christina wrapped her arms around him, hefting hip up with her back and over her right shoulder. She took off, making for the other side of the trees as fast as she could with Erik dazedly moaning and grunting through his nose. Christina felt his lungs swell and his abs tighten suddenly, a violent sneeze almost unsettling him from her back.

"Awe, duh blood cabe out by dose!" Erik said, nose burning. Christina nearly laughed were it not for the gunfire interrupting her movement. It was close. She hurried on, muscles straining in protest. The dragons weren't far behind now, and gaining on the two. Erik's body was locked in a forceful spasm, he was shaking so hard that he was getting dizzy.

"Hold in there, we've almost-" Her voice stopped as they crested a slight hill and there it sat. The FPLA hydroelectric plant was just sitting there like the light at the end of the tunnel. She rushed onward, little flashes of light peeking out through the trees and shining off the shimmering water. "Hold fire, friendlies!" She yelled as they neared, soldiers nervously shouldering their weapons at them. "Hold fire!" She said again, putting Erik down on the other side of the sandbags before clambering over himself. "Medic!" She yelled, kneeling next to Erik, finally seeing the extent of his wounds in the light of the electric lighting. "Somebody get a medic over here! Man down!" She screamed again, her voice hoarse and ragged. Erik clawed at the dusty gravel, both his and Christina's bodies nearly drenched in his blood. Only thing was, Erik was still spilling out copious amounts of the thick, blue fluid into the growing pool spreading beneath him. Nobody paid any attention to her, as the dragons pursuing them crested the hill. The gunfire was so loud that it hurt Erik's ears, every imaginable kind of weapon launching death at the dragons as they streamed down the hill towards the man-made lake. Christina ducked below the incoming fire, roadie-running into the main building where the general was running a hand through his hair nervously.

"Sir! Erik is going to die in a matter of minutes without medical care! We need somebody to get to him ASAP!" She said, breathing frantically.

"Where is he?" The general asked, waving to one of the red-cross wearing surgeons.

"Just out the west side! He'd in pretty deep shit!" The corpsman followed Christina out to where Erik lay, and they found him feebly holding a handgun from one of the soldiers, firing at dragons as they neared the barricades. The medic snapped open a stretcher, one of the soldiers handing Christina his weapon and rushing to help carry the green cot back inside the safety of the powerhouse. The exhausted Christina checked the magazine, and began to fire at the enemy as they charged blindly into the kill-zone. Her shoulder ached from the recoil, hands coating the weapon in a thick layer of Erik's life blood. Fumbling for a magazine, she looked up and saw a gold-armored behemoth lumber over the horizon. It hammered its chest before charging down the hill at the battle-hardened defenders. Bullets ricocheted off its mighty scales, men shouting to take cover as the thing hurtled towards them. There was a sudden screeching sound from the horizon, a shining fighter jet tearing through the heavens toward them. There was a quiet click sound, and an instant later a red-tipped missile exploded over the beast's torso. Another jet came from the other side, chain guns buzzing. The bullets ripped through the charging enemies, the shell casings falling down on the hydro plant like flaming metal rain.

"Who the hell is that?" Somebody asked, shooting at the dragons as they retreated.

"I don't even care," Christina said, slumping down and letting the steel helmet atop her head fall down over her head. "What a day," Her eyes slowly slid shut, deep snores rumbling from her body soon thereafter.