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Lance lay in bed as everything Arnold said rolled around in his head.

"You need to understand that this is a dangerous business," the stallion had said, "Every time we go out on a mission, there is a very real possibility that we won't come back. Getting emotionally attached will only hamper your ability to perform. We have no use for a pilot who is unable to perform due to grief."

What am I supposed to do, Lance thought, just stop caring?

Finally, unable to sleep, the black wolf sat up from his bed and rubbed his eyes. A small clock sitting on the desk read 1:07AM. Grabbing and pulling on a pair of shorts, Lance decided to take a walk in order to clear his head.

The Great Fox seemed almost dead. Most of the crew, including the other pilots, were asleep in their quarters leaving the corridors and halls deserted. As he aimlessly wandered the deck, Lance felt almost out of place, as though his very life force was a forbidden presence on the barren, lifeless ship. There were no sounds except those the wolf made himself, which often made him jump at the sudden break in the silence. When he came to the lounge, Lance glanced around and couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness.

"Can I handle that?" the wolf asked himself softly. "Could I cope? Just ignore the death of someone I know?"

As these thoughts ran through his mind, something else caught Lance's attention.

Whap. Whap. Whap-whap.

It was faint, but distinct. The noise was that of a person smacking something made of fabric but it was erratic and had no discernible pattern. Was someone else awake? What were they doing? Could they be hurt? Or maybe someone was trying to attack them while they slept. Lance shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the ridiculous thoughts his imagination was conjuring up.

"There isn't even anyone out here," the wolf muttered to himself.

Reason chased away the paranoia and Lance started down the corridor, following the curious sound. It wasn't long before he found the source, and when he did, the wolf was stunned.

The gym wasn't huge, but it was big enough that echoes easily formed in the emptiness before rolling down the empty hallways of the deck. Along one side was a cascade of seats and a few small tables in front of them. There was nothing else to be seen inside the well lit room, except for the naked, black rabbit beating away on a boxing bag.

Lance couldn't help but stare at Bell as she kicked the side of the heavy looking training equipment, causing the whapping sound he'd followed. Her long ears reached all the way down her back and past her round rear. Her legs were long and her thighs were thick and round, forming into wide, boldly curved hips that in turn became a smaller, fit waist. The lapin's whole body was lightly toned, showing that she regularly worked out just enough to keep fit but not lose her desirable curvy figure. Higher up, Lance noticed Bell's perky breasts as they jiggled lightly with each movement she made.

"If you're going to stare, at least come and hold this for me," Bell called out without turning around.

Lance almost fell over himself in surprise. How long had he been staring? When did she notice he was there? Confused and aroused, the wolf simply obeyed and walked over to where Bell had the large boxing bag hanging on a chain in the middle of the hall.

"Take those off," Bell said simply, nodding to the wolf's shorts.

Lance glanced down for a moment and hesitated. Was she planning on punishing him in some weird way for watching? A little reluctantly, the wolf slowly pushed his shorts to the floor and immediately became self-conscious about the bright pink, pointy bit of flesh beginning to emerge from his sheath. Feeling a little embarrassed and unsure what to expect next, Lance just stood there for a moment, trying to avoid looking at Bell's body.

"Well? Hold the bag," Bell instructed, a slight hint of impatience in her voice.

"Uh, right," Lance replied.

Nervously, Lance stood on the opposite side of the bag and grasped it sheepishly. When Bell gave it a swift kick, the wolf almost fell backwards and was forced to steady himself, and the bag, when Bell didn't wait for him to recover and kicked again. It soon seemed to Lance that Bell was unconcerned with being seen naked or the wolf's rather obvious arousal. She continued to punch and kick the bag without any regard for modesty and as the minutes passed the wolf's eyes gradually began to wander.

The lapin's breasts had to be at least a DD, Lance thought, possibly even an F. They were round and cushiony, set together and the small, pale pink nipples stood out well against Bell's jet black fur. Every time she punched the bag her breasts jiggled and rubbed together. When Bell kicked, Lance was able to see the thick, round lips nestled between her thighs. After a while, it even seemed that the rabbit was kicking higher and more often.

"Uh, not that I am complaining," Lance eventually said, "But... why are you training naked?"

"No reason," Bell casually replied, continuing her workout without missing a beat.

Lance couldn't help but feel just a little more aroused by that response and was reminded that he too was bare. His erection now stood proudly, fully emerged from its sheath, tip to knot. Swallowing consciously, Lance's hardened member twitched visibly in response to the male's lewd thoughts. But Bell made no visible show of even noticing let alone being bothered by it.

"So... why am I naked?" Lance continued after several more minutes.

"Why should I be the only one naked?" Bell countered in the same casual manner as before. A high kick to the boxing bag promptly followed the lapin's words, giving the wolf a clear view of her womanhood.

"Fair enough," Lance conceded.

After some time Bell halted her assault on the bag and arched her back, stretching her arms at the same time. Lance, still holding the bag, just watched, hypnotised by the rabbit's delicious looking form. When she was done stretching, Bell turned her back to the canine and approached her gym bag which was resting on the floor at the foot of the seating section. Lance watched the motion of Bell's rear, her cheeks shifting up and down rhythmically with each step. When she stopped, the rabbit bent over, keeping her legs straight and together, deliberately giving the wolf a perfect view of her plump lips sandwiched between her upper thighs. Instantly, a vision filled the wolf's mind. Hands grasping Bell's round rear while a thick, pulsing shaft, his shaft, pushed between the rabbit's succulent folds and penetrated into her depths. But the vision lasted for only a brief moment, interrupted by Bell standing upright once more.

"12:30 tomorrow," Bell said as she slung her bag over one shoulder and started walking towards the door. She was still naked and made no show of even glancing in Lance's direction. Still stunned by her casual attitude about the whole affair, Lance didn't even realise what Bell had said until after she was gone. Was she inviting him to another training session the next night?

"Now how the fuck am I supposed to forget that?" the wolf muttered to himself. With a disgruntled jab, Lance drove his fist into the punching bag and immediately regretted it. Gritting his teeth, the wolf suppressed the urge to shout in frustration as his fingers and knuckles pulsed with pain. After collecting his shorts, the wolf returned to his room to relieve his raging arousal and get some sleep.

*****

"This is your PAD," Jess explained as she handed Lance a small, thin device, "keep it with you at all times. The Personnel Announcement Device is what you'll receive your assignments on and any other important information, such as if the Great Fox is leaving dock and how much time you have to get back before getting left behind."

Lance looked at the object with curiosity. It was about as long as his index finger, one and a half centimetres wide and barely three millimetres thick. Grey with a black circle on one side and a clear tip, it looked more like an odd piece of chewing gum than an important piece of gear. Pressing against the circle made a small holographic image project from the tip of the device which displayed a list of all the pilots in Krystal's employ. Lance's name was at the top.

"What is this, some kind of leader board? Why am I at the top?" Lance asked.

"It's a roster," Ruby stated, "all it does it tell us who is likely to be assigned a job next. Because we are paid per job, and different jobs reward different payments, this roster was introduced to keep things fair, so that no one pilot gets more or less pay than another. Of course, because some of us are better at different things, sometimes a name from lower down the list will be selected if a job requires that pilot's specific skills."

Jess, Ruby, Arnold and Lance sat in the mess hall. It was shortly after mid day and though Lance had slept well after his training session with Bell, he still felt a bit uneasy about what Arnold had said to him the day before. As Jess and Ruby explained things to him, the wolf tried to put the stallion's words out of his mind.

"but if you want that, you'll have to pay for it with your own credits," Jess said. Lance blinked at her as he realised he'd zoned out for a moment and entirely missed what the panther had been saying. Before Lance could ask her to repeat it, Bell walked into the hall and made the wolf shift in his seat a little uncomfortably. Images of earlier that morning instantly flooded Lance's mind, causing arousal to stir once again and what Bell wore now didn't help. The rabbit had on a large T-shirt with a neckline large enough to hang off one shoulder. It clung to her curvy figure, showing off her perky, unsupported breasts beneath and sensually hugging her wide, sultry hips. Cutting off at the top of her thighs, every inch of the rabbit's long legs was visible.

Bell said nothing as she entered the large room; she simply made her way over to the display case and selected something to eat. When her back was turned while making her choice, Lance forced himself to turn away. The shirt, which only barely concealed the rabbit's front, was draped over Bell's fluffy black tail, leaving her rear fully visible... as well as her lack of underwear. Ruby noticed Lance's averted gaze and smiled mischievously as he pointed in Bell's direction, as if to say "check that out". Jess only chuckled at the two canines before stealing a quick peek of her own. Only Arnold ignored the rabbit's bare rump.

Lance wasn't quite sure how to act. Should he say something about earlier? Should he keep quiet? Was it a secret and not to be shared or was he allowed to brag? Was there even anything to brag about? For all Lance knew Bell could have done that with every new recruit. The wolf decided to just keep quiet.

"I'll be in the docking bay," Ruby finally said as Bell came to sit down, "meet me there when you're ready and Jeeves will get you settled into your new ship."

That made Lance's spirits rise. The thought of finally getting his own fighter excited the wolf almost as much as the thoughts Bell stirred in his mind. It wouldn't be long now.

*****

Despite being virtually deserted, the docking bay seemed to have a presence of its own, as if the collection of Arwings that lined its walls were living creatures themselves. After entering the enormous interior, Lance couldn't help but stare in admiration at the larger, more powerful Arwings of the other mercenary pilots. He walked between them, around them, and even under them, marvelling at their size and unique paintjobs. But it wasn't long before Lance's child-like awe and wonder were brought back to reality yet again.

"You'll have one of your own soon enough," Ruby commented as he came to stand beside the black wolf.

"I just can't get over how big they are," Lance absently stated.

"Come on, this way," the Collie said, ignoring Lance's words.

Lance obediently followed the black and white canine to a small door near the very front of the docking bay. Beyond it, stairs led down to another docking bay below the first. But this bay had had its exterior doors entirely sealed shut. Scattered around the large interior was an assortment of containers of varying sizes and two Arwings that were smaller than the ones in the bay above but still larger than the original Arwing design.

"Those are Mk2's," Ruby informed his follower as he pointed at the patiently waiting aircraft. "From now on, you'll be piloting one of them."

Although Lance was excited to finally get his own craft, he couldn't help but feel just a little underwhelmed by the sight of it. Compared to the Mk3's he'd just been ogling, the Mk2 Arwings seemed almost boring. But they were Arwings and one of them would be his own to pilot and fly as he desired.

"Ah, good, you're here," Jeeves said as he appeared from behind one of the craft, "I've taken the liberty of adjusting the controls of this Arwing to accommodate your efset performance. Once you take her out for a test flight you can let me know if there are any further calibrations you'd like me to make and-"

"Wait, wait," Lance interrupted the fast talking rodent, "efset? What's an efset?"

"Flight and Combat Evaluation Test," Ruby explained, "F.C.E.T, efset."

"Ah," Lance nodded.

"Now, how would you like your primary canons to discharge? Due to the heat restrictions of the internal component materials and the increased output of..." Jeeves began as he turned away from Lance and Ruby. The black wolf just blinked dumbly as his mind seemed to completely shut down. Though he could hear Jeeves' voice clearly, the words the mechanic spoke were like rain drumming on the roof of a house.

"He wants to know if you'd like your canons to fire simultaneously or alternate," Ruby explained to Lance in a low voice while Jeeves continued to ramble about the Arwing's technical specifications.

"What's the difference?" Lance returned, his tone matching Ruby's so as not to interrupt the rambling rodent.

"Because of the power behind each discharge, the canons can overheat very quickly. Obviously this is a very bad thing so they need to cool down again before firing," Ruby started explaining in a much more comprehensible manner, "Jeeves can configure the canons to fire up to three consecutive blasts in quick succession for maximum damage. But after that the onboard computer will lock out the firing controls for about a couple of seconds to allow the canons to cool sufficiently. Or, you can have the canons discharge in an alternating pattern, one after the other. You won't deal as much damage as quickly, but you'll be able to fire continuously because the alternating pattern allows each cannon to cool a little before it fires again. But that doesn't mean you can keep pummelling your target with canon blasts indefinitely."

"That makes sense," Lance said.

"There's also a third option. Dual blasts locked at a steady pace," Ruby added as an afterthought, "You can do slightly more damage with each shot, but you won't be able to fire quite as rapidly as with the alternating pattern. However, your firing controls won't get locked out as soon as the other two options."

Lance thought for a moment before making a choice. "I think I'll go with the alternating pattern," the wolf said.

Ruby nodded and walked over to Jeeves, who was now half buried in the underbelly of one of the fighter craft and still prattling on, unaware that he'd left the subject of engineering and was now recalling combat stories of a previous mercenary called Astra. With a light tap on the jerboa's shoulder, the border collie seemed to pull Jeeves back from the past as he stopped talking and withdraw from the insides of the craft he'd absently started working on.

"Lance wants alternating laser fire," Ruby stated simply to the rodent who was now looking at the two canines with an eager expression.

"Wonderful!" Jeeves exclaimed. Lance's eyes widened with surprise at the engineer's unexpected excitement. Without hesitating, Jeeves made off to the other craft and began making the calibrations to its weapon systems.

"He loves what he does," Ruby said with a smile as he returned to Lance's side.

"I... noticed," the black wolf replied, watching with interest as the jerboa worked.

Lance spent the next couple of hours listening to Jeeves explain -and Ruby translate- much of the Mk2's systems and how they differed from more conventional fighter craft, including the original Arwing's design. Unlike the original Arwings, which were piloted by a team, the Mk2s had been designed with the intentional purpose of being piloted in combat solo. Thus, their entire design was built around a much more powerful drive system, resulting in a much larger craft, that allowed for extensive independence during combat situations. Shields, upgraded lasers, and even a heavily detailed HUD were just some of the features the new Arwing design was given, and Lance needed to be brought up to speed with all of them before being sent out to fight.

Given his previous piloting experience, most of what Lance had to 'learn' was easy enough for him to understand. He was familiar with the basic concepts and systems all fighter craft were built around, so it was really more a matter of "what buttons did what", and it was only when Jeeves started explaining the more technical details, that Lance didn't actually_need_ to know, that the wolf's comprehension started to falter. Fortunately, Ruby was there to keep the jerboa on track.

At around lunch time, Lance made his way to the mess hall, but no one else was there. The hall was quite large and almost always had someone in there, but for the first time that Lance had seen it, it was completely deserted, giving it a strangely lonesome feeling. An assortment of rectangular and round tables filled the hall, and each table had at least four padded stools bolted to the floor around them. The floor itself was lined with a smooth, pale blue lino with light pink and purple shapes scattered across it, forming a pleasantly simplistic but unique pattern design. At one side of the hall sat a long display case in which various food stuffs were placed after being cooked, from bread rolls to pasta and sauces, and even soups and stews. They weren't anything particularly fancy, but there was usually enough variety and quality in the selection of food prepared that no one really complained. At both ends of the display case, Lance could see doors which occasionally produced a cook coming from the kitchen on the other side to place freshly made food in the display case.

After taking a sniff at the air, the black wolf walked over to the display case to see what tasty smelling foods had been made for lunch today. There was mashed potatoes, gravy, a selection of vegetables and three different kinds of carved meat, all of which Lance looked over with hungry eyes before picking a plate off the nearby stack and helping himself to lunch.

"Smells healthy."

Lance had just finished collecting the pieces of his meal when Jess walked into the mess hall.

"Isn't it always healthy?" the wolf replied.

"True," Jessica replied. As Lance sat down, the tan feline made her way over to the display case to inspect the selection of food. A couple of minutes later, she sat next to the wolf and began talking his ears off, as usual.

Only Curtis and a few other random crew members came into the mess hall while Lance was in there with Jess. During that time, the panther gave the new pilot a quick course in how to use his new PAD, explaining the most important details such as how to install a custom notification tone and where to find the best background images for the holographic display screen.

After lunch, Lance found himself back in the observation room once more, staring out into the vast, emptiness of space. The stallion's words were haunting him again and after his most recent, casual and surprisingly delightful chat with Jess, Lance once again found himself wondering if he truly was cut out for the Mercenary business.

"What's on your mind?" a gruff but soft voice asked.

Lance had heard Curtis' voice so little, he almost didn't recognise it.

"I... I'm not sure if I can do this," Lance confessed, turning to face the bear. Curtis didn't respond, but the look in his eyes told Lance he was waiting for more of an explanation, so the wolf continued, "Arnold said I shouldn't get attached to anyone, that my grief at losing them could interfere with my skills as a pilot. But how can I do that? Do I just stop caring? Is that what everyone else does?"

"There is nothing wrong with caring," Curtis interrupted, "We are all very capable pilots, and only extreme circumstances would see one of us fall. But reality must also be faced. Our job is dangerous and our demise is always a possibility. However, accepting this is different to cutting yourself off from what makes you you. Everyone dies. Know this as fact and embrace the time you have with those you care for in the here and now."

As Curtis' words sank in, Lance watched the bear calmly turn and leave the wolf to his thoughts.

"Prepare for the inevitable and enjoy today," Lance softly said to himself after a few moments, "I can do that." A small smile crossed the black wolf's face as he felt more at ease, now. Arnold had made things seem worse than they were, but Curtis was right; Krystal's mercenaries were the cream of the crop and it would take a great deal of effort to bring them down. And even if he had joined the military, Lance would've had to face that same fact, death comes for everyone, it's simply a matter of when; and in the military, he likely would've seen far more fellow soldiers die than with the Krystal Mercs.

*****

"You're early," Bell commented as she walked into the gym.

It was quarter past twelve and Lance was sitting near the top of the sloped seating section that lined one wall of the gym. Not entirely sure what to expect, he'd arrived half an hour prior, wearing baggy shorts and a T-shirt, and been nervously waiting ever since. Now, the black wolf watched as the tall, curvy rabbit casually waltzed into the hall wearing nothing more than a tight fitting, white tank top with spaghetti thin shoulder straps and a deep neckline. The fabric seemed stretched, almost as if the top was a size too small, and cut off just above Bell's trim waist. One shoulder strap hung loosely off the shoulder and her perky breasts bounced with each step she took.

Before, Lance had felt almost like a child who'd been promised nice things under suspicious circumstances. Go into the girl's locker room and you'll get some candy. Was there really candy waiting in there? Or only the humiliation of being played and made a fool of? But Bell's arrival seemed to act like confirmation that this was real and chased away the minor paranoia lurking in the back of the wolf's mind. Standing up, Lance pulled off his shirt and made his way down to the gym floor where Bell was setting down her gym bag. Without even the slightest hesitation or acknowledgement of Lance's presence, Bell took hold of the bottom of her top and lifted it up over her head before discarding it on top of her bag. She then turned and made her way over to a small stack of padded mats that were piled up by another wall and began dragging them further out onto the gym's floor. Lance paused at the bottom of the seating section to push down his shorts, unhooking the waistband when it got caught on his erection, and then proceeded to join Bell for their midnight exercising session.