FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

So after that announcement I couldn`t leave you guys with nothing. This is just a teaser and is not indicative of a full chapter. Some events may happen differently in the final version, but this can be taken as a pretty good indication of the overall pacing and structure, the overall feel of the work.

Comments are appreciated, very muchly. Without further ado I give you the teaser to my =GRITTY SCI-FI REBOOT= of Sirius.

Enjoy, or don`t.

Running water dripping down his form and the hum of the light-drive. Wet fur and the smell of cleanser. The occasional tremble of a slipspace shift. The wolf, Jasyn Emitt, was surrounded by familiar scents and sounds as he passed a brush through his fur, drawing any deep particles out and helping rinse the soap from his body. Standing under the spray of three heads, the wolf lifted his face and spoke.

"System, query."

Query open. Came the artificial reply.

"Mission Status Update"

SRS Falchion, en route to confirmed inhabited planet for peaceful first contact. Fourteen rounds estimated till arrival. Travelling at 98.6 percent Light Speed. Mission time index 80 cycles, thirty-three days, eleven rounds, and twelve Lines.

"Thank you, system."

You are welcome, Lieutenant.

A bump of the hand stopped the spray of water as the wolf shook his mane out, the lighter fur glistening in the faux-natural glow. Stepping from the stall, he was assailed by a heated blast of air, only briefly enough to remove excess water before the dryer head was pulled away. Tugging a cloth from the wall-rack, the wolf set about patting his fur dry as he walked, nude, toward the lockers in the shower hall.

A clock on the wall read 09.32.17, barely late enough to be qualified as morning yet, but then Jasyn always woke early. There was something soothing about having the shower hall to himself before the rush of bodies getting ready for or being relieved of their shifts. Tossing the damp towel into the chute, the wolf braced with an overhead handhold as the ship began to rattle again. The inevitable bump of a matter pocket in slipspace shook the ship, enough that were it not for his bracing he may well have lost balance. It was only a second of turbulence before the ship settled and the wolf continued to his locker.

A press of his hand cracked the seal, and he pulled open the compartment. A fresh uniform had been deposited last night after he had given the ship his dirtied one, and he reached in to pull this new one on. Grey material with blue across the shoulders, and adorning the flaps on the many pockets. His name was printed on the collar, along with his rank insignia-a pair of crossed lines, or xx. His eyes lingered happily on an image taped snugly to the inner door of his locker. He and a white fox-his friend Axis-on his eighteenth birthday last year.

In the photo the Fox's features were clearly visible. Shoulder length silvery hair tied back into a traditional tail, striking violet eyes expressive enough to grin as he fought for the present. Axis' brother had taken it as Jasyn had his arms wrapped around him, wrestling over the present the fox was adamantly refusing to give him. 'No' he had said 'C'mon Jay, after what everyone else got you it's stupid.'

Reaching into the locker, he grabbed the woven bracelet, made from bits of wire the fox had secreted away. He smiled fondly as he slipped it over his wrist before he reached in and grabbed his jacket, matching the colours of his uniform. Pulling it over his jumpsuit, he grabbed his boots as well before closing the locker quickly.

It was no secret that Jasyn fraternized with the fox, they were often seen joking around in the corridors or sitting in the ship's commissary enjoying a meal. But when Jasyn's other friends came around, the fox would excuse himself politely. He wasn't welcome by the others, and knew better than to argue, and Jasyn hurt every single time.

But it was life, he reflected, as he pulled his boots on and began the walk through the cramped corridors.

The Falchion was a frontline vessel, military but only just. She had been dispatched-voluntarily by the whole of the crew-many, many years ago to rendezvous with another species that had sent a signal directed towards them. Her guns were fully loaded, and her crew were combat trained, but there were no volunteers here anymore. Trained by their parents and groomed into their roles, three generations had passed, and now the children of that first group were beginning to disappear from age.

Jasyn wasn't bitter. He was excited, and nervous. Tomorrow they would reach the end of their long journey. They would finally meet these people, and if all went well, they would broker a settlement, and a peace.

--

Stepping onto the ship's main hangar deck, the wolf saw a corp of engineers and a full flight's worth of pilots checking and re-checking their handiwork. Modifications made over the years as the on-board scientists thought of ways to improve their craft. They were bringing the ship's fighter squadrons online for the first time in eighty years, and while these ships were practically antique, they were still precision craft. Sharp, angular features around the central cockpit, and a symmetry of variable wings to flank it.

Jasyn wove through the aisles of fighter craft and transports before stopping before his own. Perched on the nose, bent over into the electronics, Jasyn could see just the ass-end of that fox from before, tail swaying excitedly. He coughed and snickered. Shouting over the din of the hangar, Jasyn mocked, "Making some adjustments, are we?"

The fox jumped, startled, and looked back at him with a shake of his head and half a smirk. "Jerk." he said, under his breath but loud enough for the wolf to hear. Hopping down, he began unthreading his fingers from the grounding gloves and smiling wide. "Just examining the wiring again. I know I've seen the electronics before but there's just something... I-I-I don't know, magical about the way these things are wired."

Laughing, Jasyn shook his head and ruffled between the fox's ears. "So you've said. Well, do you think she's up to snuff?"

"Oh absolutely." the fox, Levi, nodded enthused. "I've already done the standard modifications, and I tweaked the drive a little bit. It should kick out about 3% more thrust at top throttle now. Just because I could."

"You do know I've never flown one of these before... right? Only in sim. Any extra throttle and I'm afraid I might black out." Jasyn warned.

"Well, mission says we're supposed to drop out of slipspace in twenty rounds so that we can plot through the system's inner asteroid belt" his companion informed him as he started to climb back up onto the nose. "Deckmaster says he's sending the whole flight out so you can 'stretch your wings'"

"Sounds like fun, dodging asteroids."

"It's pretty empty anyway" the fox corrected. "most of the asteroids are tiny and we could easily slip through." His foot slipped from the narrow ledge he was using for a step-up, but Jasyn quickly stepped in and caught him on his shoulder.

"Careful."

"Thanks." the fox said, leaning forward as he got more stable footing. "Anyway, from there we'll have a few rounds while we make sure a jump won't break the ship, and then it'll be another short jump before we drop out in lunar orbit."

"When do you figure they'll intercept us?" the wolf asked, leaning on the nose of the craft as he watched the fox close up the panels on the fighter.

"I bet they've got patrols around the asteroid belt, honestly. If not patrols, then they have some sort of mining operations going." the fox said between grunts as he re-bolted the panels. "Gotta be there."

"I don't know... I think they'll keep their distance until we've passed their moon. Waiting to see what we do." the wolf replied skeptically.

"I hope you're not putting your tail in your mouth there. Care to make it interesting?" a sly smirk crossed the fox's face.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Loser wears the bitch jacket for a day." the fox snickered.

"Alright, see you in twenty rounds, Levi," the wolf squeezed the fox's thigh, causing him to yelp and clutch the canopy of the fighter to keep from falling. "We'll see then, Emitt!" the fox called after him as the wolf turned to leave, and the fox turned back to work.

--

The red- and blue-shifted filaments of slipstream space twisted beyond the portholes, only barely visible due to the speed at which the ship was moving. Each high-energy filament seemed insignificant, but they could each dwarf the ship many times over as they arced and swayed. Jasyn always found them mesmerizing, but that wasn't why he was watching them.

Thirty points to deceleration was broadcast over the ship.

Jasyn was eager to fly, he had been trained to be a pilot since he was very young and his father's station as second-in-command meant he was guaranteed a position in one of the squadrons. Nobody on the ship had any practical experience, but they had drilled simulation after simulation. Still though, this was different.

Ten points to Deceleration

He was already changed, dressed in a standard flight suit. The silver metal bracket around his neck, meant to seal the helmet in his hand, sat heavily. The suit was form-fitting, with hardened plates of the same metal the outer hull was made of to armour the pilot from shrapnel. Black with a blue pattern similar to the one on his normal jumpsuit. His tail was clad in rings of the material, hardened but flexible, simply to allow full motion.

All hands brace

The blue and red filaments became a sudden encompassing white for seconds on end, and then inky black with points of light, and a single large space-borne rock crossed the viewport. Jasyn turned and looked at a mounted screen on the inner wall, linked to the forward visual display and saw the same rock roll past the nose as the Captain's voice came across the speakers.

"All systems are green, Congratulations all hands, we have arrived."

Jasyn grinned wide, clapping his hand to the front of the helmet and began a short sprint toward the hangar bay with a few other stragglers.

As he entered, the Deckmaster was addressing the pilots and engineers. "-our course will take us at maximum one Lunar Distance from the ship, we will split into two wings and perform a mock dogfight in the space around a nearby asteroid using the same rules as our simulated flights. Our weapons -are- fully functional, so be cautious not to actually shoot down your flightmates."

Jogging up beside that same white fox, the wolf leaned in and said under the flightmaster's voice, "Told you." to which he received a grunt.

"We just know I'm wrong, you still have to be right." the fox replied as the Deckmaster concluded.

"All pilots should board their craft now, we launch in three Lines." he ordered, and then began walking toward his own craft, painted with red lines. Jasyn and the other pilots quickly strapped into their fighters, as each engineer helped their group of pilots with final checklists.

As Levi tugged on Jasyn's belt restraint, the wolf rattled off his startup. "Green across the board. Thanks to you of course."

"Yeah yeah." the fox shook his head. "You be careful out there Jayse..."

"Axis. I'll be fine. I'll be back before you miss me." he said, chuckling.

The fox laughed and pat Jasyn's chest, a sign of affection for their kind, before hopping down from the cockpit. "Alright Jay. You're good to go." he called up, and the wolf nodded and pulled his helmet over his head. Pressing the nose-piece toward his face, the wolf heard a click as it engaged the lock on the collar. Closing the locks along the 'cheeks' of the helmet, he made sure it was secure before he closed the solid canopy, projection screens coming to life over his head.

The HUD listed several proximity alerts, and Jasyn checked the nearby fighters positions in the bay to make sure they were in alignment as the engineers began to evacuate the bay.

Bay is evacuated. Depressurizing hangar. Came that artificial voice again.

Jasyn knew there was a roar outside his cockpit, but he couldn't hear any of it. Sealed in, he could only hear the beating of his heart until the in-helmet comm came on. "Deckmaster Var here, all fighters report."

One by one, the other pilots signed off in order. As Jasyn's turn came up, he called out "J.E. on standby." and listened for his wing to report.

The ship's hangar was vacuum now, and the outer doors on both sides began to open like blinds, before being drawn down into the hull. "Alright pilots, just like we rehearsed." came the Deckmaster again, before one by one the fighter wings lifted from their perches and kicked their engines into activity.

--

The weightlessness of spaceflight was phenomenal to Jasyn, he had felt it when they had done their zero-g training, but to actually be in control of something while weightless was glorious. Looking to either side, he could see two of his four squadmates following in a standard Sirian diamond pattern, and beyond them the rest of the wing. Above him, the 'enemy' wing was taking a higher speed, headed toward the far side of their target rock.

Jasyn could see, in his left monitor, the diffused light from the system's star. This far out it was the size of his smallest finger, but was still a sight to behold. So caught up he was, that he almost missed the deckmaster's command to begin the war game.

Switching to the alternate frequency that his wing had been assigned, Jasyn heard his wing commander issue an order to split evenly and circle the sides of the asteroid at a wide berth, instead of letting it pass overhead as was the original plan.

Jasyn pulled his craft into a quick bank, and started to round the big rock, watching both the sky and his instruments for sign of the enemy. Then he saw them, the opposing wing's red-painted fighters were only barely visible, but they were headed away toward the 'bottom' of the rock.

Speaking over comm, he called his squad into attack readiness, streaking towards the unprepared fighters. Pulling up the laser designator, the wolf painted across the hull of the back-most craft and held there until his system got a lock. As was procedure, the target-locked pilot announced over the opposing team's channel "R.D. down." and began to pull away from the group.

He'd only be out for a few Lines, and then he'd be 'reinforcements' to Jasyn's wing. Two more announcements over chatter were heard before the enemy wing scattered from this unexpected angle of attack, countering the first volley with one of their own. From across the field, Jasyn saw two of another squad's pilots peel off, and their transponders dim from his radar.

As this fight continued, Jasyn pinged another three pilots himself, his wingmates netting an additional two before the four of them were taken out as well. Quick thinking and Axis' engine modifications managed to save him from being tagged, but as the clock ticked over, Jasyn realized he had put his back towards the enemy line. Seven enemy dots came on simultaneously directly aft of the wolf, and he grit his teeth as he prepared to fight to get out of that blunder.

Weaving and side-slipping, the wolf moved his ship in as erratic a way as possible, hoping to throw off the enemy locks-and for a moment it looked like he was going to make it. The flank was decisive though, the enemy's wing-leader came up from below with a sudden volley and as focused as Jasyn was on his pursuers he didn't see it until the last moment. His HUD warned him of a missile lock and he groaned, switching to the opposing comm dejectedly. "J.E. Down." he called, limping off the field with a sigh.

Twice more Jasyn was shot down, but by the end he had tagged seventeen enemy craft. He was outshone by only the Deckmaster's count of twenty to one before the games were called to a halt.

Streaking back towards the Falchion, Jasyn was awed once more. For the first time, he could see the outside of his birthship-excluding the simulations that couldn't do the sight justice. The bow was broadly pointed, sharp angles breaking upward into a shape reminiscent of a bird of prey. Cutting backward, the ship's plated, matte blue hull was marked with three silver lines on either side of the three dartlike fins around the aft of the centre mass, each one pointed forward. The main engines, located between the 'lower' two fins, were dark at present. Shut down to conserve power as the vessel drifted through the asteroid belt. Fine particles of dust caught the light of the star, drawing flat beams separated solely by the shadow of the craft.

Jasyn could just see the lettering along one of the fins, written in a blocky script of Sirian. 'SRS Falchion.' and the ship's crest of a shield and broad-blade dagger over the three-moon emblem.

"Blessed Domir but that is a sight," spoke R.D over the comm, to unanimous approval.

"Kinda makes you glad our grand-sires volunteered, no?" Jasyn ventured.

"We'll have plenty of time to chew the scenery later, pilots. Standard docking procedures." the Deckmaster cut in, and they set about to land.