The Exiles
Chapter 3: The Exiles
"Mmmm, yeah there love..."
Mahz let out a passionate moan trailing into a warm giggle as her partner's tongue rasped around her labia, sending a smooth waves of pleasure rippling up her spine. A kiss to her clit made her arch up and wrap her tail around his midsection, a breathless "Ahh!" escaping her mouth. Her hands involuntarily gripped bunches of sheets as the pleasure flooded her mind and overtook her senses. While she felt bad leaving the foreplay one-sided, her boyfriend insisted upon it, wanting to show her how much he loved her, and love her he did. Another stroke of his tongue loosed another giggly-moan from her as she basked in the foreplay, letting him have his way with her.
Forcing one of her hands to release the sheets, she brought it up to fondle her breast. Just as she did that, her boyfriend's focus shifted entirely to her clit. Soon, what little control Mahz was able to summon was obliterated by the sudden onslaught of pleasure. Blinding white spots appeared in her vision and she shut her eyes tightly as the assault continued.
"Oh goddddeeesss! Godgodgodgodesssssss, yessss love!"
As much as she tried to hold herself back, it was like stopping an avalanche with only herself. She screamed, twitching all over, her tail tightening around her lover. Hips thrusting upwards, a hand went to her treasure, rubbing away to lengthen her orgasm. As she rode out her high, her tail slipped off her lover and coiled in on itself, nearly tying itself into a knot. Eventually the pleasure began to wane and Mahz was left panting and whimpering, basking in the warmth of her afterglow and grinning happily from ear to ear.
Looking down her bed, she gradually opened her eyes. "Mmm, I don't suppose I could return the favor lo..."
Her voice stopped as she found only the sheets on her body around her hips. Blinking a couple of times, she soon started trying to sift out what was reality and what was part of her dream. It was easier said than done though. Part of her didn't want to forget how loved she felt during the dream. The other part wanted nothing but to forget how lonely it made her feel.
"Having fun?"
Mahz looked to her door, barely cracked open, to see the glint of Sunset's eye in the moonlight.
"I heard you moaning a lot, so I figured I'd check on you."
The snake rolled over in her bed. "Until I woke up."
Sensing something was wrong, Sunset opened the door a bit more. "Wanna talk?"
"Tomorrow."
"You sure?"
"Yeah... Sorry."
"Okay." Sunset closed the door. "Good night."
Grunting quietly in response, Mahz laid awake for some time trying to piece together her dream. Unfortunately, like most dreams, the major fragments had been wiped away by the simple act of waking up. All that remained were the feelings of being loved by someone, and yet she could not remember anything about who it was. As good as the feelings were, however, an all too familiar loneliness began to creep into her, reminding her of how much she wanted someone. Eventually, with loneliness soon taking over, she drew the covers over her head, desperately trying to banish the feelings from her mind.
***
Blankets rustled as Mahz pulled them over her head. After pulling a near all-nighter with her paper, plus her little fantasy dream, there was nothing she wanted more than to sleep in. Unfortunately, the light shining through her window wouldn't allow that. She bunched her coils up under her quilt and fleece blanket, not caring about the time, wishing the sun would leave her alone. A groan and a roll to the side was meant to solve the problem, but was not to be. With a loud thud, all 300 pounds of Mahz's serpentine body fell off the bed, her teeth snapping together painfully as her head hit with just as much force. To add insult to injury, the shock from her landing jolted her math textbook off her nightstand to a firm impact upon her head.Moaning pitifully, she picked herself up, head still covered in blankets.
"Ffffucking...."
A soft click alerted he as the door opened and someone stepped in. While her eyes were covered, the pits on the tip of her muzzle told her exactly who was there. The pits, little sensory organs, allowed her to sense infrared radiation coming from living beings. It was difficult to explain how she felt them to anyone who wasn't a fellow snake; it was simply hardwired into her. She groaned a bit more and pulled the blankets off her head "I'm okay Shiv, thanks anyways."
Before her knelt Shiv Jolanar, a tiger shark and Lacyus' best friend. Like most sharks, his skin appeared matte, due to the unique scaling sharks possessed. Two fins sat on his elbows, a trait shared by his feral cousins, but his dorsal fin wasn't as similar. Due to an oddity in the athromorphic genetics, the single dorsal fin of feral sharks came out to be two smaller fins on the sides of his head that poked out of his short brown hair, often mistaken for ears. His body was toned and shaped from the swimming he did while spearfishing on the beaches. Light brown scales with darker streaks covered his back while his chin and belly were snow white. On the tip of his nose were the two black dots of his pits, enabling him to sense movement of prey in the water. His iridescent grey eyes flashed as he gave a worried look. "You sure? That sounded like one hell of a fall back there."
Mahz nodded. "I'm sure. It only sounded rough because I'm so big."
"Well if you say so. Sunset's making waffles and were wondering if you wanted any."
Yawning and stretching, cracks sounded down the length of her coils, she reared up to her normal "standing" height. "Oh yeah, waffles? Sure, why wouldn't I want any?"
***
The night had gone quicker than expected for Mayatei. While she did spend it in a cell in an immigration center, the guards were kind enough to give her the opportunity to shower, along with a change of clothes, a bed and a warm meal. When the morning came however, her time of respite ended, being rushed off to be IDed in the citizen database. Of course, they wouldn't find her there, or anywhere in the Royal Guard database for that matter, but that was part of her plan. With luck, they would be unable to identify her and release her, allowing Mayatei to continue on to the Palace.
"Ummm, yeah... There's no record on facial recognition, no DNA match, no ID on her, she doesn't speak English or any language our translators understand, what else can we go by?" An immigration officer, a female zebra sat behind her computer, tapped her forehead with the tip of her pen as she thought.
Her colleague, a lioness peeked out from behind the computer, squinting at Mayatei as if she could make out some missed detail in that moment. "Well... It is a long shot, but we could take a look at her tail patterns. Could at least give us an idea of clan or something."
The zebra laughed. "You hear about Jeffrey? He ended up mixing up 3 dragons in a row. Some clans may have common tail patterns and the search programs aren't accurate enough to tell them apart yet."
A rap on the cubicle's edge brought the three's attention to the newcomer. A female dragon, covered in light brown scales with sky blue markings all over her body stood in the opening. She was an older dragoness, standing about 7'2" with an air of authority only senior officers could hold. The uniform that she wore bore the symbol of not only the Royal Guard, but also of the Martial Lords. Her slender, athletic build made it clear to Mayatei that she was a spellcaster and most likely a powerful one judging by the spear strapped to her back. Numerous ribbons adorned the upper right breast pocket, more than Mayatei could count on two hands.
"Well Corporals, I'm about to take that problem off of your hands." She waved a set of papers. "Orders from Intel Operations wants us to handle her from here."
The zebra gave an annoyed huff. "Really? Just like that?"
The dragoness nodded, sighing apologetically. "Yeah, just like that, but there is a good reason."
"That may be, but command has no regard for immigration law again." The zebra shook her head, her hands waving above. "Might as well just pass us right over and send her straight to you to save us the time."
"You mean you haven't heard?" A quizzical tilt of the dragonesses head followed the question. "Not one bit?"
"No, what's with her?"
"Couple of gunmen opened fire on her-"
"Oh yeah, heard about that!" The lioness chimed in, eyes wide and ears pricked up. "Guys were taken down by Attacama's squad weren't they?"
"Yeah, but that's not the point. Apparently what Intel ops thought to be just simple gangbanger gunmen are actually an Exile hit squad."
Matatei's hopes sunk as the revelation dawned on the two immigration officers. The simple term "Exile" made the two recoil slightly in fear, now now regarding her with uneasy eyes.
Nodding slowly, the zebra glanced up at the dragoness before returning to watching Mayatei. "Right then. Just.... Take her. I don't want to deal with her if she's wrapped up with the Exiles."
"My pleasure Corporals." The dragoness tapped Mayatei on the shoulder. "Let's go. You've got some explaining to do."
***
"When I came down the dawn poured into me
_ I shook 'em up, the walls came crumbling_
My fists kept trembling with these salty wounds
_ My stolen gold inside the emperor's tomb_"
Shiv smiled, eye closed as he listened through the closed door to Mahz singing in the shower. Being a seasnake, she lacked the vocal cords needed to make the stereotypical serpentine hissing, but she more than made up for it with her singing voice.
"Now painting rainbows on my ugly face _ I built this cardboard neighborhood's disgrace_ But I ascend and serve this feverish need _ Within the confines of such chemistry_"
He opened his eyes as the couch he laid upon rocked. Sunset had flopped down, closing the book in her hand and smiling at Shiv, her voice low so Mahz couldn't hear. "You know you should tell her."
"That she's got a beautiful voice?" A soft chuckle followed his statement. "I do whenever she sings, but it would be a lot more fun if she got embarrassed or something."
With an amused snort, Sunset shook her head. "No, you idiot. Tell her that you love her."
Shiv's regretful sigh met her comment. "Well you know her policy, no dating friends, so me dating her is out the window."
The two fell silent as Mahz stopped singing. A few minutes later, she emerged from the bathroom wrapped only in a towel, brushing her hair as she slithered along. Before she entered her room, she paused to glance over at Shiv. "Well, how'd I do?"
Scoffing sarcastically, he flashed a toothy smile. "Horrible, just horrible. Out of tune, off time, quit singing while you're ahead."
Giggling at his joke, Mahz disappeared into her room. As soon as her door closed, he turned to Sunset, speaking low again. "I'm fine with just being her friend. In fact, I'd count it as a blessing that she hasn't figured out yet."
"Have a little more faith in yourself Shiv." Reaching out to tap the tip of his nose with her book, a concerned frown accompanied her reply. "If you really feel that way about her then tell her! She's reasonable, I'm sure she'll listen."
"That girl again huh?"
Shiv swore and recoiled, nearly falling off the couch at the sound of Mahz's voice in his ear. The krait had somehow managed to sneak up on the two. "Fuck, how do you keep doing that!? And for that matter, how'd you get dressed so quickly?"
Mahz's face lit up with a triumphant smile as she reared up, displaying her entire upper body, wearing an aquamarine tank top. "Bra and shirt only! One of the perks of being a snake is have an excuse not to wear pants. And the sneaking's a snake trade secret, so you're getting nothing from me." She slid down and leaned on the back between Shiv and Sunset. "So, am I ever gonna get the name of this lucky girl?"
Sunset spoke as Shiv regained his positioning on the couch. "You're gonna get nothing out of him." She flicked Him between the eyes. "He hasn't even told Lacyus yet."
"Oh yeah? You're no fun." Mahz chuckled. "Well maybe one of these days I'll force it out of you."
"Not until you tell me how to sneak around like you do." Taking a deep breath before changing the subject, Shiv looked around. "Anyways, where's Lacyus? We were gonna hang out today."
"He got called in to work." A look of worry flashed across Sunset's face. "If they're calling in Martial Lords like Lacyus, there's got to be something going on, something serious."
***
Clad in his ceramic-kevlar armor, Lacyus stood silently as he examined the connection between his elbow and lower arm on his cybernetic limb, having removed the urban patterned ceramic plate. While the limb was in perfect working condition, he still scrutinized it with more prejudice than simple examination, intimidated by his current company. The room he stood in was much like a lecture hall, rows of seats with attached screens filling the large part of the room and a large projector screen and podium in front. The projector currently displayed the emblem of the Martial Lords, a spear, rifle and sword crossed over an ornately patterned red shield with the motto "Supremacy under any condition" on a banner underneath.
Quiet chatter filled the room as various soldiers and support personnel flowed in and sat down at their respective sections, easily around 200 people. While Lacyus was no stranger to being around soldiers, these were no ordinary soldiers. Each one of the individuals in the room had been selected not only because of their exemplary service record, but also because of their abilities and skills they had displayed. The organization that they had formed, the Martial Lords, was 50% special forces, 50% special investigations, and they had the personnel to excel in both those fields. The best marksmen, bladesmen, spellcasters, technicians, detectives, code breakers and others were packed into the room, all with more experience than Lacyus. Being around so many veterans made him feel like a green recruit again.
"Chin up son and stop fidgeting, or you're gonna make your arm fall off."
Jumping a little, Lacyus glanced up to see Brigadier General Kalnat Azuru, the CO of the Martial Lords. The older, grey haired tiger gave him a reassuring smile and a pat on the shoulder. Standing 5'5", he was shorter than what most would expect a soldier to be, but his many ribbons and medals that dotted his uniform and his stalwart demeanor demanded respect from anyone who crossed paths with him.
"Just relax. You've made it past your acceptance and you're one of us now. Knighting is just a formality for the public."
Lacyus returned the smile. "Thank you sir, but I don't even have a team or a title yet. What am I supposed to do?"
General Azuru turned to walk to the front. "Don't worry too much about that, I'll be fixing that in a moment."
As soon as the general took his position at the podium at the front, the room quieted down, everyone paying attention to the front. The general leaned forwards as he began to speak. "As some of you may have heard, Civil Defense has raised their alert level to Yellow as of 0700 hours this morning. As per regulations, all Martial Lords in the city will be placed on passive standby and be briefed on the current threat landscape and situational readiness. That means all of us." He paused, nodding towards Lacyus. "So we need a title and team assigned to our newest member. Sergeant Eryx, please step forwards."
Leaving his place on the wall, Lacyus walked down the aisles, unable to stop grinning. As he walked, other Martial Lords, some of which help train him, cheered quietly for him and shot thumbs up to him. As he got to the front, the general held out a felt covered box, which Lacyus took and opened. Inside were two insignias to be set in his armor, one of the crest of the Martial Lords, and the other of a hawk anthro diving out of the sky holding a sword in each hand. "Congratulations Lord Sergeant Lacyus Eryx. You are now the 72nd lord to bear the title of Bladetrail."
Closing the box and placing it in a pocket, he shook the general's hand. "Thank you sir." The general tapped a few buttons on the touch screen embedded in the podium. On the projector screen, a roster of all the Martial Lords appeared, with Lacyus' name sitting alone out to the side. A few more taps highlighted two other names and placed them under his, with the word Echo appearing above them.
"Sergeant Eryx will be part of the newly reactivated Echo team along with Warrant Officer Natka Inuvik and Major Ekat Laratis. Your teammates are right over there." He gestured to a row of seats on the left side of the room with a dragoness and a male polar bear sitting in two of the seats. Moving to the seats, Lacyus felt both anticipation and hesitation as he approached his new teammates. He was confident in his ability to keep up with them, he had no idea as to how they would accept him.
When he reached the row the male polar bear was the first to greet him. His large, claw-tipped hands dwarfed Lacyus' as he rose to offer his hand to Lacyus. "Congratulations Sergeant. I'm Warrant Inuvik, but you can call me Natka."
Lacyus couldn't help but pause for a moment. Being a dragon, he was usually the tallest one in any room, save for other dragons. Natka, however stood eye to eye with him. The middle-aged bear was rippling with muscle, reflected in his firm grip. Coarse eggshell white fur covered him from head to toe, highlighting his dark eyes and black mouth and nose. His armor was much more extensive than Lacyus', the urban-patterned ceramic plating covering much of his body, leaving very little fabric visible. On the collar of his armor was the emblem of his title, a grizzly bear brandishing its claws and roaring to the sky.
Returning a nervous but hopeful smile, he took the bear's hand. "Thanks Natka. It's nice to finally be in."
Natka looked over to his companion, the dragoness who was busying herself with a file she was reading. "Ekat, aren't you going to..." He stopped as she held up a finger to silence him.
"Sorry, I need to make sure I've got everything. Later." Unlike every other Martial Lord in the room, she wore not armor, but instead a standard dress uniform. Like General Azuru, she too had ribbons and medals dotting her coat making him wonder how many years she had been a soldier. In the dim light of the briefing room, Lacyus could barely make up her brown and blue scales covering her slim, athletic profile, while an emblem on her collar of a naga with lightning bolts in each hand shone in the darkness. She looked up, showing bright blue eyes and tipped her head to the empty seat beside her. "Not meaning to rush, but this briefing is pretty important. Take a seat Sergeant." Following her directions, Lacyus took his seat, turning to face the General again as the briefing restarted.
"Alright, let's get going." The tiger clapped his hands together, then swept his hands across the screen, tossing the roster to the side and bringing up a black and white video from surveillance camera. Lacyus watched as a dragoness hid behind an energy shield as several gunmen opened fire on her. "We picked this up last night around 2330, 5 arrested on attempted murder, possession of unregistered firearms and a couple other offences. What got Intelligence interested was her." He drew a red circle around the cowering dragoness. "Intel initially tagged her as a probable a vagrant that ticked off some gangbangers, probably the Mist Spiders or other North-Fringe District organizations."
"Mist Spiders aren't that bold General, none of the northie gangs are." A male bat on the other side of the room tilted his head and leaned back in his chair. "They'd rather kill her in her sleep than open fire in the middle of a beach path."
"Correct." The general nodded in agreement, tapping and enlarging each one of the faces of the gunmen on the screen. "So when I got wind of this, I ran their faces through facial recognition, and there were very alarming: they matched individuals our spies photographed from the Exile clans." A ripple of murmurs spread through the room. What would conjure fear and doubt in normal soldiers only served to intrigue and grab the Martial Lords' attention. Lacyus spoke up. "Exiles, sir? You're positive?"
"I am indeed Sergeant. And this presents a great problem for us." He turned towards Lacyus and tilted his head slightly. "Perhaps you could provide a brief history and threat landscape to those who don't know just yet?"
"Hmm..." He thought for a moment. "Well, starting from the top... 35,000 years ago, during the Age of Tyranny, the kingdom was ruled by a trinity of dragon clans: The Warrior clan Triena, Scholar clan Jironos, and the Priest clan An'mansa. During those days, dragons were considered to be a divine race. Slavery to dragons, excessive discrimination and racism were just some of the prevalent trends in that age. The ruling trinity however were probably the only ones that found that acceptable. In the final year of the Age of Tyranny, several dragon clans rallied the other races and managed to overthrow the trinity and exile them to the Mortis Verge in the South Saihri Deserts. Unfortunately, the exile of those clans resulted in a power vacuum and ensuing civil war and Age of Disarray. To this day, the Exiles want to see their status restored and the Age of Tyranny restarted. Currently, they engage mostly in terrorism: hostage taking, extortion.... Bombings...." He paused at the last word, stopping himself from reflexively rubbing out the dull ache in his left shoulder.
A female bovine technician raised her hand, interrupting him. "No offence to you newbie, but that doesn't explain why we've got Exiles in our city, and how they were able to fly under our radar for so long."
The General sighed and nodded. "I agree, Civil Defense and Intel Ops will handle that investigation, but what we've been assigned to do is remove any and all hostile elements from our city. All teams assigned to active duty will remain on active duty for the time being, all inactive teams are now moved to reserve duty. Echo team, you will be heading up this search and destroy mission. Find out why they came here, how many and where are they, and most importantly, who this girl is." He pointed towards the dragoness on the screen. "Major Laratis, I you should have all the information you need to begin your search."
The Major nodded confidently, an eager smile spreading across his face. "Yes sir. They can't hide from us."
"Very well then." General Azuru pressed a final button on the podium he stood at and suddenly the room's lights flared to life, blinding Lacyus for a moment. "Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that concludes our emergency briefing. I'm sure all of you have a firm grasp upon the gravity of the situation we are faced with at this moment, and how urgent it is we expedite this operation. Until then, good luck to all of you."
Everyone in the room stood and saluted as the General left. Just as soon as he had passed, Ekat started eagerly pushing past Lacyus and Natka, holding the file in her hand. "Alright boys, this one has me interested," She declared intently. "So I don't care about you guys, but I'm getting started."