FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"So, you told him then?"

"Yea," Dawn glanced down the table to where Jae sat, conversing animatedly with Matt. "The 'night' after the mining facility. He seemed really happy, to say the least."

"I'm so surprised." Jeanne replied, rolling her eyes. "Most people would be overjoyed to be homeless; he's such a strange person."

"Hey, I'm just saying." Laughed Dawn. She looked again at the human and remarked quietly. "I'm glad though, he looks a lot healthier recently. Remember how sick he looked when he first woke up?"

Jeanne also glanced sidelong at him. Jae's eyes were no longer sunken and shadowed, and his cheeks looked less gaunt, though it was still noticeable.

"I still shudder to think what kind of things he must have gone through when he was 'modified'. I feel terrible saying it, but maybe it's a good thing he can't remember much. Living through something like that can break a person." She shook her head. "Regardless, I think he'll definitely be an asset to the crew."

"I'll agree with that." Dawn said. "With his powers, we'll be able to salvage more dangerous finds."

"Just don't get carried away." Cautioned Jeanne. "He may be strong, but he's not invincible, I'm sure."

"Of course, you know me, the paragon of caution." Dawn chuckled. She looked down the table again. "Actually, looks like we'll find out about how strong he is."

She gestured down the table, where Jae and Matt were getting ready to arm wrestle.

"Ready...go!" Samantha called, acting as the referee.

The human and tiger immediately starting tugging against each other. Jae's arm tensed up as he put his strength into the contest. He was able to keep Matt's arm at the neutral position for a few seconds, but he was no match for the tiger's massive arm and shoulder muscle. With just a small grunt of exertion, Matt slowly and steadily pushed the human's hand down to the table.

"Winner: Matt!" Samantha proclaimed, jokingly holding Matt's paw in the air.

Dawn and Jeanne got up and walked down to that side of the table, where Jae was smiling ruefully.

"You're strong. Not too surprised though, considering you're quite a bit bigger than I am."

"And you're really strong for you size." Matt returned. "I had the leverage advantage, and even then, you weren't a pushover."

"But...how?" Dawn asked, surprised. "You destroyed those machines back at the mining station with kicks and punches when we could barely scratch them with weapons."

"I was using my powers there." Jae replied, cocking his head slightly. "When I have my arms and legs wrapped in 'force' as I call it, I can use it as a sort of...propulsion? I'm sure how to explain it really accurately. Basically, I can blast force away from my fist or foot, speeding it up, and adding to the strength of the hit."

"So when you aren't actively using your powers, you just rely on your normal muscles, I see." Jeanne reasoned. "And while your implants enhance them, they aren't quite super human on their own."

"Something like that." Jae shrugged. "I'm still not entirely sure of it myself."

"Either way, you're pretty strong for your size." Matt said, smiling. "And I definitely wouldn't want to try you when you're using your powers."

"Well, that would be an unfair advantage." Jae replied, starting to look uncomfortable with all the attention.

"Ok guys, we still have a bit of work to be done before we reach the hub-station." Dawn said, motioning her crew towards the door. "Let's get cracking on it, the inventory on our cargo still needs to be finished."

As everyone started towards the door, Dawn caught Jae by the shoulder and held him back, waiting until the others had left the room before asking:

"Are you ok? You were looking a bit uncomfortable there."

"Yea, it just felt...a bit strange." Jae replied thoughtfully. "It didn't feel right honestly, since it's something I can't help. It would be like someone praising you for having brown hair." He gestured at her ponytail.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense. I never would have thought about that."

"I've been trying not to think much of anything lately." He said, scratching at the back of his head. "I'm still trying to come to terms with my past, at least what I can remember of it. If I think about it too hard, I just start feeling depressed."

He said this lightly, but Dawn could hear a hint of masked sadness in voice. Carefully checking a sigh, she put on her best fake smile and tried her hardest to keep the pity out of her voice.

"Well, if anything keeps you from thinking, it's repetitive, mindless manual labor, so let's go do some inventory."

A small grin broke through onto Jae's face, and he chuckled.

"Aye aye, Captain."

* * *

"There it is, hub-station Jericho."

The station towered in the ship's front viewport. The crew nodded appreciatively, at the sight, happy to finally be at a hub-station again, looking forward to shore leave. Jae watched the station rotate slowly, his eyes wide.

"That's right, you've never seen a hub-station before, huh Jae?" Samantha looked back from the ship's controls at the human. She continued after he shook his head: "_Jericho_isn't the biggest hub-station in the sector, but it's one of the nicer ones to look at."

The station was shaped roughly like an upside-down tear drop, locked in orbit around a medium sized gas giant. The top of the station was a large clear dome, which the city was visible through. The neon lights and signs were visible even from as far away as the ship was. The bottom of the station was a network of thin tubes and passageways, giving it the impression of having roots that extended into space. Ships were constantly docking and leaving from the network of docks; disgorging crew and cargo into the station in exchange for fuel and passengers. Even more ships were orbiting the station; small shuttles could be seen speeding back and forth between them and the station itself.

"Why are all those ships orbiting it?" Jae asked curiously. "The docks don't look full."

"Those are orbiters." Dawn replied. "They orbit the station, so they aren't technically in_Jericho's_ territory. Usually they do it so they don't have to pay taxes when trading with other ships, but sometimes smugglers will do it to avoid getting searched by the station's customs. I think the Federation is trying to pass a law about it, but they've been trying for almost ten years now, and it doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon."

"So is the station owned by the Federation?"

"Not technically." Ken answered, looking over at Jae. "While they are in Federation territory, they're more like little independent cities. They have to obey certain overarching laws of the Federation, but they get to make their own laws within reason."

The Comm line lit up, and Samantha tapped a few times on the screen, while Dawn motioned for everyone to quiet down.

"Please state your business and ship ID for verification." Said a cool female voice over the speakers.

"Dust Strider, Federation ship number 03485RT, seeking docking space for five cycles." Samantha responded.

"Please wait a moment." The voice paused for several seconds. "_Dust Strider_acknowledged. Welcome back, Captain Dawn. Do you have any illnesses or cargo that needs to be declared?"

"Not at this time ma'am."

"Understood. Please proceed to dock 87-D. Coordinates have been sent to your navigational computers. Welcome to Jericho."

"Coordinates received, Dust Strider moving to dock 87-D. Over and out."

Samantha's paws flew across the controls and the Dust Strider dipped down, heading towards the network of docks. Jeanne sat down at another navigation station as they drew closer to the docks, and a repeated soft pinging filled the cabin.

"What is she doing?" Jae asked softly, not wanting to distract anyone.

"Pinging other ships." Matt leaned over and replied. "When ships move through crowded areas like this, each craft sends out pings to all the other ships in the area containing current route, size, and speed. This lets the navigation systems plot and adjust courses to avoid collision. Each ping you hear is another sent and received set of data. The more crowded it gets, the faster the pings come."

Samantha gradually eased the ship into the docks, finally coming to a rest next to one of the arms of the station. A few small pushes from the side thrusters of the ship, and the Dust Strider locked into the cradle of the dock. Samantha and Jeanne moved around the consoles, inputting commands, and Jae could hear the humming of the engines cut out.

"Ok...we're docked, locked, and shut down. Running on station power now." Samantha stood up and stretched. "Time for some sweet, sweet, shore leave."

"Not quite yet guys." Corrected Dawn, typing away on a different console. "I already have buyers for some of the salvage we've got, and the rest is going on consignment. A transfer crew is coming, and I want you guys to help them getting the stuff out of here."

A chorus of groans sounded around the room, and some grumbling as the crew started to move towards the cargo bay.

"Oh come on, it could be worse." Giggled Dawn. "I could have picked the manual transfer option, then we'd be here all cycle."

The grumbling abated a little, and the crew started to started to unload the cargo with a bit of good-natured ribbing back and forth. A couple hours later, they had packed the last of the salvage into the transport carts, and watched as the stuff was carted away. The crew moved back into the ship and into their respective rooms to shower. Back in the conference room, they met up again.

"Ok, everyone ready to head in?" Ken asked, looking around excitedly.

"Oh hell yes." Samantha said happily. "Time for some drinks, a bit of dancing, and a lot of relaxing."

"Before we go, I think there is something we need to take care of..." Jeanne said, looking at Jae pointedly.

"That's right, you've never been to a station before Jae, I keep forgetting." Dawn added.

"Is it a problem?" Asked Jae, looking a bit worried.

"No, not at all." She assured him. "It's just that we need to be careful, since you don't know how things go in a city."

Jae still looked a little intimidated, and Matt stood up.

"I'll stick with him. I can show him around, and get him some new clothes. He might not stand out much wearing a ship suit, but it really won't help him fit in."

"You're sure? I mean as captain, it's my responsibility..." Dawn said worriedly.

"No problem, Dawn." Matt shook his head gently. "I know you all were looking forward to going to a club. I was looking for a bit of a quieter evening. Also, I have some stuff I need to buy as well. Who knows? We might even stop by whatever club you guys end up at later."

"Thank you Matt. Just be careful." She turned to Jae. "I know I don't need to tell you, but make sure not to use your powers in public, and obviously don't tell anyone about your past."

"Will do, Captain." Jae replied.

"Ok then, let's head out Jae."

The tiger and human got up and walked out of the room, Matt talking amicably to his companion.

"Well, that takes care of that." Jeanne said matter-of-factually. "Now, shall we all get ready to go out?"

The rest of the crew separated again, heading back to their rooms to change.

When they met up again, the furs and human had gotten dressed up in anticipation of the club. Dawn had put on a deep blue dress that left her right shoulder bare, with an intricate design down the left side. Samantha favored a short red dress that showed off a good amount of cleavage. Jeanne had donned a sophisticated gray dress, while Ken was wearing a black blazer with some relatively tight jeans. Vivian chose an emerald dress that was slit up the side, and left her back bare. Once they had all gathered up again in the conference room, Dawn addressed her crew.

"Remember guys, be safe and keep track of each other, ok?" Getting a chorus of nods, she continued: "Good, have fun out there!"

They moved out the ship, securing the entrance, then started into the station.

* * *

As Jae and Matt moved through the docks, it grew more and more crowded. When they reached the elevators at the center of the docking network, they were surrounded by furs and the occasional human, moving to and from ships and the elevators. As they made their way through the crowd, Matt kept his eye on Jae.

"You still doing ok?" He asked, leaning in to make himself heard over the crowd.

"I...I think so." Jae replied, looking around him. "It's just a bit overwhelming."

"Don't worry; it'll be a lot less crowded once we get into the city." Matt told him, patting him shoulder reassuringly.

Luckily, Matt's size made it relatively easy to move through the crowd. As the two moved, the human following in the tiger's wake, Jae noticed he was getting some weird stares. Making a mental note to ask Matt about it, Jae pushed into the elevator along with his friend. As they started to ascend, Jae turned to Matt.

"So this will take us to where we're going?"

"Yes. The actual residential and commercial parts of the station are in the city up top, covered by the dome. That's where pretty much everyone is going. The elevator will take us straight up the middle. All the stuff in between the docks and the city are all facilities that keep the station running. Life support, hydroponics, gravity, and the like. It's not an uncommon setup for a hub-station, although the shape is a bit unique.

The elevator continued for a few minutes until it slowed and came to a stop. The doors opened, and a computerized voice said over the speakers:

"Welcome to Jericho city. Please enjoy your stay and obey all rules and regulations. Thank you."

Matt and Jae stepped out onto the city streets, as the crowd of the elevator pushed past them.

"Oh wow..." Jae murmured, looking up at the buildings around him.

Jericho city was a major tourist attraction for the sector. On the edge of a major shipping lane on one side, and the last stop of a large transit route, the city had a huge amount of people passing through it frequently. As such, the city had a large amount of money pumped into it to make it an attractive place. It was clean and well lit, with bright signs that could be seen from the space around the station. The dome itself was also a major attraction. While extremely expensive to manufacture and maintain, it added to the allure of the city. The lit skyscrapers and starry backdrop were often overwhelming even to furs and humans who had seen other cities. For Jae, it was almost too much to take.

"Pretty amazing view, isn't it?" Asked Matt, chuckling.

"This is incredible...I was thinking that ships and the abandoned stations we've been on was the standard for the galaxy, but this...this is amazing."

"I wouldn't call this the standard of living for the galaxy, but it's also not the fanciest station you'll ever see. Come on, I'll show you some of the shops."

As they walked down the streets, Jae's head was constantly on a swivel, trying to take in everything at once. Matt was fairly impressed by Jae's restraint. He didn't "ohhh" or "ahhh" about any of the sights, and kept mindful of where he was, avoiding bumping into people or objects in the streets. He chuckled to himself, remembering the first time he saw Jericho. Even though he had seen other cities and hub-stations before, he had been so absorbed in looking at the lights and the dome; he had walked headlong into a bear morph with a really nasty temper. He came very close to a street brawl that day, only avoiding it because Dawn, Ken, and Samantha were nearby and saw what was happening. As Matt looked back to Jae, he stopped. The smile had vanished from the human's face, and he was looking around, concerned.

"What's wrong, Jae? Something happen?" He asked.

"Why is everyone giving me weird looks?" Jae turned to the tiger. "Is it because I'm wearing a ship suit still?"

Matt sighed, looking around at the furs passing by.

"That's not it. Unfortunately, they are giving you those looks because you're a human."

Jae turned to Matt, confusion plain on his face.

"Because I'm a human? I don't get it."

"Let's keep walking." Matt said, starting to move once more. "Generally, furs aren't overly fond of humans, pretty much everywhere in the galaxy."

"But why?"

"I'm not the best one to explain this, but I'll try my best." The tiger took a deep breath before continuing. "It has a lot to do with racism and arrogance. Humans are arrogant because they think they're better than furs, and furs hate them because they're arrogant. And because furs hate them, humans become arrogant. It's a vicious cycle, that feeds on itself."

"Humans think they're better?" Asked Jae curiously.

"Oh jeeze, you're making me think back to history classes." Laughed Matt, playfully shoving Jae. "Well, it has to do with what people think is the origin of the spread of life in the universe. Since you don't know any of it without your memories, I'll try and give you a quick run through. Basically, the way that life is spread throughout the galaxy is one species of fur, one planet. Besides generally insects, birds, and fish, there is only like, say, wolf morphs on one planet, and fox morphs on a different planet. Sometimes these planets can even be in the same solar system, but overall, they're spread over the entire galaxy. Humans also have their own planet, Terra, in a similar manner to the way the furs do."

"So aren't we all the same then?" Questioned Jae.

"It would seem, and according to history, there was a brief time when many species made first contact in space that this was the case." Matt continued. "However, once they discovered Eden, everything changed. Eden was a garden world, considered by many as the pinnacle of ideal, lush garden worlds. The species on Eden are what is so important. Living in relative harmony on that world are the 'non-anthro' versions of each species. Like four-legged tigers, wolves, and dogs. It led many furs to hailing it as the 'Ark' of the galaxy, from which all life sprang. There is even vague evidence that an unknown race might have launched spacecraft from that planet, so it might literally be the origin of life for furs of the galaxy, especially since our DNA is such a close match to our 'animal ancestors'. The only problem is that there is no equivalent for humans on Eden. So that leads someone to one of two conclusions. Human's came to be from some other form of creation, or that ancient humans, or some sort of related species might be the creators of Eden. And that, Jae, is why humans think they are better. When these facts came out to the public, humans embraced them like nothing else. Suddenly, humans had something that made them special. Within a year, humans had found a new religion, Genecism, which claims their different creation makes them superior. Within three years, 90% of humanity had embraced Genecism. From what I understand, one of the tenets of Genecism is that humans are superior to furs. That led to arrogance, which led to the cycle of racism I told you about before."

"Oh. I see...I think." Jae furrowed his brow.

"Now, I think I got everything right, at least the best I can remember. If you want all the little details, you'd have to ask Jeanne." Matt patted him consolingly. "Some furs realize that not every human is arrogant, but when the vast majority of humans are racist, there's a bit of a stigma. Just try to be calm and humble, and you shouldn't have too many problems."

Jae sighed, then managed a small smile.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to overcome my reputation on two counts then; as a human and as a soldier."

"Hah, that's the spirit! Now, let's go get you something to wear that isn't a ratty ship suit."

* * *

The club was loud and hot. Dawn smiled. Although she couldn't take this every day, it was nice to be in the middle of a crowd once in a while. A welcome change from being in an abandoned facility or alone at the helm of her ship. She had been dancing for about an hour, and was finally feeling relaxed. Sitting in a booth at the side of dance floor, she sipped her drink, talking quietly with Samantha while they watched the dancers in the crowd. Vivian was off on the other side of the floor, dancing with a very attentive husky morph, while Jeanne and Ken danced a little off to the side, oblivious to everything but each other. Dawn heaved a small sigh of envy. The human and wolf were so deeply in love, even after two years of being together. She was happy for them, as they were both very good friends of hers, but she'd be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she was a bit jealous. Turning back to Samantha, she continued the conversation they had been having.

"So the emergency thrusters aren't overly damaged?"

"Nah, the damage was mostly superficial." The squirrel replied in between sips of her drink. "It was mostly a calibration issue. I fixed them as well as I could while we were out there, so it just needs a new coat of paint and maybe 20 more minutes of maintenance while we're on station."

"Well, if Sam's the one fixing them, I expect you'll be lucky to limp back to _Jericho_in one piece." Came a laughing voice from the side of the booth.

"Kyle!" Samantha turned around, jumped up and hugged a tan colored mouse morph wearing a button down shirt and some slacks.

"Good to see you again Kyle. Is the rest of the crew here, or did they decide to boot you out the airlock on the way past?" Joked Dawn, smiling.

"Ha ha Dawn, they're here, I'm surprised you haven't seen Selene yet." He said, sitting down next to Samantha.

"Well, we only got to the club about an hour ago. Didn't even realize the _Nightingale_was docked here."

"Yep, been here for a couple days after a good haul."

"Good to hear." Dawn replied, turning to scan the crowd. Kyle was the mechanic for another salvage ship, the Nightingale, that they'd met before. The captain of the ship, an older panther morph named Selene, was a friend of Dawn's. Though salvaging could be a competitive industry, the two ships had worked together in the past on big hauls, and they maintained a friendly relationship. Probably the closest of the two crews were Samantha and Kyle, the respective mechanics of the ships. Dawn would describe their relationship as "friendly rival fuck buddies", something that Samantha didn't deny in the slightest. When Dawn had asked her about it, the squirrel had claimed that while she wouldn't want to live with the mouse, "he sure was a great lay".

The mouse and squirrel were chatting away rapidly about ship repairs, becoming an impenetrable wall of jargon that the otter wouldn't even know where to start with. Before too long, Samantha was dragging Kyle out onto the dance floor, cheerfully waving to Dawn. She returned the wave, making sure to smile back. Once they had vanished into the crowd, Dawn sighed again, turning back to the crowd. Fortunately she saw Matt, towering head and shoulders above most of the crowd. She stood up and waved, the tiger waving back when he saw her. He waded through the crowd to her table, with a dazed looking Jae in his wake. Dawn signaled them to sit down in the booth, something for which Jae looked grateful for.

"Hey guys, how'd it go?"

"Good, I'd say, got to the clothes store, and got him some, as well as some basic necessities. Take a look."

Dawn turned and examined Jae. He was looking around at the crowd and the lights, and seemed a bit overwhelmed. He had changed out of the ship suit he had been wearing, and into a fairly attractive combination of light jacket, tee-shirt, and jeans. It was a little plain, but suited him, she thought.

"They look good, nice job Matt."

"I can't take credit for it." The tiger laughed. "There was a very excellent sales clerk in the store who knew what they were doing."

"Works either way." She smiled and turned to Jae. "What do you think of the club?"

"It's...loud." Jae said, watching some of the dancers, before turning to face Dawn. "This is common place for people to come?"

"You could say that, it's called 'night-life'."

Before she could say anymore, Jeanne and Ken came out of the crowd and scooted into the booth on either side.

"Hey Matt, hey Jae, how are you liking Jericho?" Ken asked.

"It's amazing. It feels like there's always something to look at. I don't know how someone could live here without going crazy." Jae said with wide eyes, causing the rest of them to laugh at his naivety.

"I suppose that's one way to put it." Replied Jeanne, smiling.

"I'm going to go do some dancing; I'll be back in a little bit." Dawn said, nodding to her crew, then slipping by Jeanne, and vanishing into the crowd.

Jae watched her go, thoughtful, then turned to the others.

"Is there a reason she seems...sad? Or is it disappointed?"

The three other crew members exchanged pointed glances.

"That's pretty astute of you to notice Jae." Said Matt slowly. "But it's not my place to tell you, I'd think."

"Oh, sorry, I didn't know." Jae said quickly.

"No problem." Matt returned, holding up his hands to forestall any further apology. "I know you're new at this." He glanced over his shoulder at the bar. "I think I'm going to go get us some drinks."

"I'll come help." Said Ken, standing up too.

After the wolf and tiger vanished into the crowd, Jeanne turned to Jae.

"I'm guessing you can keep a secret, so I'm going to tell you why, Jae. Knowledge is power, and in this case, it might save either you or Dawn's life one day." Jeanne said, leaning closer to Jae so he could hear her over the music. "The reason Dawn looks so unhappy whenever she comes to a club is because she is lonely. She wants to find a partner, for a relationship and eventually for life. The problem with this is that the otter species has a bit of a 'reputation'. Probably 99% of otter morphs you will meet are playful, carefree, jokers, who just basically cruise through life without a single worry. This often translates into girls and guys that only look for one night stands and sex without attachments. Since this is so common, the only furs that end up approaching or interested in the Captain are those looking for no strings attached sex, which is the opposite of what she wants. Another problem is that clubs like this are not a great place in general to find the kind of relationship that the Captain wants."

"Why does she look in these places then?"

"Because she has very little time to look elsewhere. Being a captain of a salvage ship eats up a lot of time, especially on shore leave. This is one of the few places where you can go and try to find a connection in a couple hours, regardless of how unlikely it may be."

"I see." Jae frowned, deep in thought. "And may I ask why you're telling me all this?"

"Because, as I said, you seem like you can keep a secret." She said, looking him straight in the eyes. "And because you could save her life one day. I'm not sure anyone else realizes it, but I believe that this crew is going to come to depend greatly on you in the future, and your strength."

Jae said nothing, just looked down at the table, troubled. He barely felt like he could take care of himself, and he was supposed to protect an entire crew? He felt even more overwhelmed than before. Before he could say anything, Ken and Matt returned with the drinks.

"Here you go, honey." Ken said, sliding a drink in front of Jeanne, who gave him a grateful nod.

"And this is for you Jae. Non-alcoholic, I figure you've got enough on your plate at the moment without adding impairment into the mix." Matt added, placing another glass in front of Jae.

Jae picked up the glass and peered at the fluid inside. It was an opaque dark blue. Taking a sip, he found it tasted sweet with a subtle tangy flavor. It wasn't bad. Taking another sip, he turned to look out over the dance floor once more, as the others engaged in conversation.

* * *

Samantha was having a great time. Although Kyle definitely wasn't marriage material, at least in her eyes, he was fun company, both between the sheets and out. She knew he felt the same way about her. Dancing through the crowd, they had to keep close to keep trading verbal jabs, which gave way to conversations about their respective ships, maintenance, and repair advice, which inevitably gave way to teasing again.

After a good hour or so of dancing, she just couldn't take it anymore. Leaning in to whisper in Kyle's ear, she said:

"Knowing you, I'm guessing you have a room somewhere nearby? You always did tend to plan ahead on things like this."

Kyle's smile could have taken in his ears, which would have been impressive for a mouse.

"Oh? Are you trying to say that you want me to take you home with me? What gives you the idea that I want that?"

"You know, just a guess." Samantha giggled, reaching a paw down and grabbing his erection through his clothes. "And I'm guessing this is just a torque calibrator that happened to find its way into your pants, right?"

"You could be right on one of those counts, but I don't think I'll tell you which." He teased.

Samantha kissed him quickly on the mouth, then dragged him through the crowd until she saw Dawn. Waving to her captain, she motioned at Kyle and shrugged, smiling sheepishly. The otter laughed, then motioned her to go, returning the smile.

Dragging Kyle once again by the paw, Samantha pulled him out of the crowd and out onto the street. Once they were out of the club, Kyle took the lead guiding her to a nearby hotel. Their progress was significantly slowed by the fact that they couldn't keep their hands off each other. Finally making it to Kyle's room, he quickly locked the door, and they moved to the bed, losing 90% of their clothes on the way.

Pushing the mouse back onto the bed, Samantha wasted no time in ripping his underwear off, and starting to blow him. Leaning back, Kyle couldn't contain his moans.

"Damn Sam, I forgot how good you were at this."

"Don't think this is a hand out." She said, taking him out of her mouth briefly. "I'm going to need some 'repayment'."

Smiling devilishly, she flipped around, turning her body so her crotch was over his head, while keeping her mouth on his erection. Needing no additional encouragement, he pulled her soaked panties down her legs and nuzzled his way between her legs. She moaned into his cock, involuntarily thrusting her crotch down further onto his face, her bushy tail whipping around in the air, unable to contain her happiness. They continued to 69 for a few minutes, until, with a gasp, he came into her mouth. She swallowed as much of it as she could, with a little bit splashing down onto the bed spread.

"You've been saving up a bit, huh?" She asked, giggling.

"Yea, you could say that, I guess." He panted, trying to catch his breath.

"Well, you better not be all done already." Samantha returned, crawling off of him, then stopping. "I'm just getting warmed up."

She stopped on the other side of the bed on all fours, waving her rump at the mouse, inviting him to come and get her. It did the trick, and Kyle was standing back at attention in moments. Moving over to her, he grabbed her hips roughly, then eased himself into her.

"Ohhhhh, that's nice." She purred, her tail waving around in pleasure.

"Mmmmhmmmm." He responded, grabbing her tail with a free paw and starting to stroke it.

Starting to rock back and forth, Kyle thrust himself into her pussy over and over again, driving deeper each time. Samantha started moaning herself at his ministrations, causing him to bend over her and grab one of her breasts. Finding her nipple with his paw, he started tugging and twisting it lightly, causing the squirrel to gasp in delight whenever he did a sudden twist or pinch. Moving faster to match the rhythm of her moans, Kyle let go of her tail, which started whipping around as soon as he let it go, and reached down in between her legs, rubbing her clit. Immediately, she started rocking back and forth even faster, lost in the sensations of his caresses. Before long her legs were shuddering and she gasped out:

"Ah! I'm...I'm almost there...ahhh!"

"Me...too Sam! So...close!"

He dragged his paw one last time roughly over her clit, pushing her over the edge. Her legs buckled and her pussy clamped down on his erection, the strong grip causing him to come as well. He was able to hold them both upright for a few more staggered thrusts, before then both collapsed onto the bed.

They lay there panting for a few minutes, just drinking in the sensations. After she stopped breathing heavily, Samantha rolled over to face the mouse. Smiling as she saw that he was erect again, she leaned close in to him.

"Hope you aren't planning on using that for the next couple days. I'm going to leave you so sore you'll barely be able to take a piss."

Laughing hopelessly, Kyle just laid back as she pounced on him again.

* * *

Dawn was having a fairly good time. Even though she hadn't talked or danced with anyone for more than a short time, she was glad just to let loose a bit and release her tension. She occasionally swung by the table, making sure that her crew was ok. They seemed to be doing well, even Jae was doing his best to enjoy himself. It made her smile about how hard he was trying, but it did worry her how hard he was pushing himself, even as it was impressive. She waved goodbye to Samantha, and was glad, happy about her friend having a good time. Even Vivian left with the husky she had been dancing with. Dawn wished the vixen would have told her, but she wasn't too worried. Vivian was quite adept at taking care of herself.

As she kept dancing, she became aware that a cat morph was watching her from the opposite side of the dance floor. She sized him up as she danced. He had a slender build, and was shorter than her even, but well dressed. He seemed to nod to himself, then approached her as she passed close to the side of the dance floor he was on.

"Hey. My name is Tom. You're Dawn right?" He had to raise his voice to be heard over the music.

She drew back slightly when he found out he already knew her name. He quickly put his hands up to signal he meant no harm.

"Don't worry, I'm not a stalker or anything." He chuckled. "We have a mutual friend, the associate of the mouse you were talking to earlier."

Dawn relaxed slightly, Selene had sent her messengers before, usually if she was busy.

"What does she want?" She asked, stepping off the dance floor to move out of the way of the other dancers.

"I don't know, just that she wanted to talk to you." He said casually, looking over her shoulder at the dancers behind her.

"She said that she'd be waiting outside the club. I think it was something about business." He waved a casual paw at the door behind him, a side entrance to the club.

"Ah, ok. Thank you for the message." She said, starting to make her way over to the door, then stopping when she noticed he was following her. "Can I help you with anything else?"

"Oh no," He laughed. "I was just told that it'd be worth my while, and I never turn down good will." He finished, flashing her a smile.

Dawn hesitated, looking at the cat. He was short, didn't seem to have any weapons, and had no visible muscle on him. Chalking it up to being paranoid, she just shrugged, and walked to the door, the cat trotting behind her. She opened the exit, and stepped out into the cool air.

* * *

The crew was having a good time, enhanced by the drinks, and was laughing and bantering back and forth. The only one who didn't seem to be having a great time was Jae. While he was enjoying the company of the crew, he just still felt too overwhelmed to relax. Matt had turned to Jae and was trying to explain a joke when he saw the human stiffen.

"Huh? What's wrong Jae?" He asked, slightly concerned.

"The Captain, she just left the club with a cat morph." Jae said, peering into the crowd.

"Hah, is that it? About time she had a good lay!" Ken slurred, Jeanne having to support him.

"Is that a problem Jae? Did you see something?" Jeanne asked him, giving him a sharp look.

"Something just feels wrong about the whole thing. I can't put my finger on it." He said, glancing back at her.

"You're just being paranoid, mannnnn" Ken said, peering into his empty glass.

"I can't get rid of this feeling, I'm going to check it out." Jae said shortly, bound past Matt, then darting into the crowd, dodging around the dancers.

* * *

As soon as Dawn stepped out into the alley, two paws hands descended and grabbed her arms from behind.

"Hey! What the-?" She said loudly, trying to turn and see who was behind her.

"So, this is the girl?"

"Yea, she confirmed her name was Dawn." Tom said, carefully closing the door behind him.

The owner of the second voice stalked around in front of Dawn, who was still being held by the unseen third party. He was a massive bear morph, glaring at the otter.

"The Boss says you owe him some money." The bear said, nearly growling.

Dawn looked down at the paws were still holding her. Judging by the look of them the fur behind her was some sort of lizard morph, perhaps a crocodile or alligator. She struggled a bit against the grip, but finding no purchase there, she looked up at the bear.

"I don't even know your boss, who the hell are you guys?"

"I think you do know our boss: Franco. At least if you're smart you do."

Dawn froze. Franco was a ruthless lion morph who was, for lack of a better term, a loan shark. Franco had claimed that previous Captain of the Dust Strider owed him a large sum of money, a ridiculous amount. Of course the Captain said this was bullshit, an extortion racket under the guise of business. However, that didn't stop Franco from sending his goons after them. She had been able to stay one step ahead of them so far, but now she was in deep trouble.

"I don't have the amount of money he wants, nor do I even owe it." She said bravely, staring the bear in the eye.

"Well, then I gotta say, this is a bad day for you." He grinned maliciously. "Hey Tom, what do we do with her if she doesn't have it?"

Tom didn't even look up from examining his nails.

"Do you really need to ask that Louie?"

Louie's grin got even wider.

"No, I guess not."

He reached down towards the top of her dress. Dawn shut her eyes tight and steeled herself, but she couldn't shut out the sound of his heavy breathing, or the fear that was seeping through her. She couldn't help but jump when she heard the door bang open. Opening her eyes, she saw Jae standing in the door, as Louie and Tom stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Who the hell are you?" Louie asked, surprised.

"Just one of her crew." Tom said flatly, looking back down at his paw. "Get rid of it."

"Heheheh, sorry, puny human, you picked the wrong time to get some fresh air." Louie reached out swiftly to grab Jae by the neck.

"That's not why I'm here."

Dawn started again at the tone of his voice. It was the exact same tone he had when he was back at the mining facility.

"Jae, no!"

Tom glanced up at Dawn's cry. "Too late, he's already done."

The cat couldn't know how wrong he was.

Jae waited until the bear's right paw was within an inch of his neck. He moved in a blur to the left, outside of the bear's grip. Louie blinked dumbly, as it seemed like Jae just wasn't there anymore. The hesitation cost him dearly. Jae snapped his right hand up onto the bear's wrist, clamping it into what felt like a grip of iron to Louie. Before the bear could even try to break the grip, Jae slammed his left hand into his enemy's elbow. Dawn winced as the bear's elbow bent at a 90 degree angle...the wrong way. Louie's eyes widened, as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Before he could react, Jae slid back in front of him, and without hesitating, slammed his palm into the bear's snout. Dawn could hear the bones break.

As Louie slowly sank to the ground, the crocodile who was holding Dawn yelled "What the fuck?" and threw her against the wall, banging her head and dazing her. As she sunk to the ground, she watched the crocodile face off against Jae, whipping a knife out of his boot. The crocodile was a huge individual, muscular and used to street brawls. He had survived all his life in the slums of his home planet, before being picked up by a gang, then by Franco to be his muscle and enforcer. He had won fights and lost fights before, and had become a cagey fighter.

He had never been more outmatched before in his life.

The crocodile made measured swipes with his knife, trying to catch Jae on an arm or a leg. The human dodged carefully, remembering what the crew had told him about using his powers in public. If he has been able to use his powers openly, he would have just caught the knife in one of his hands and broken it. Instead, he looked for the crocodile to leave himself open. It didn't take long. The croc, unused to exchanging blows with such a small opponent, over balanced on a lunging stab. Before he could recover, Jae slid in sideways, slamming his left elbow into the croc's solar plexus. As he doubled over, Jae grabbed his shoulder and drove his knee into the side of the crocodile's head. The human watched as the croc's eyes crossed, then glazed over, as he fell into a heap on the ground.

As Jae turned to his captain, Dawn got a good look at his face for the first time. He was almost unrecognizable. Though he looked the same outwardly, there was no hint of a smile on his face, no look of wan contentment that he usually wore. His eyes seemed empty, cold and lifeless, the pupils very contracted as he looked down at the otter. She was suddenly reminded forcefully of the first time she had seen him fight, at the mining station. A cold, enveloping feeling of fear seemed to flow from him. Dawn's breath came in short gasps, and she could feel her paws shake slightly as she glanced down, away from his intense gaze.

"Are you alright, Captain?"

Dawn started. Though his voice was rough again, there was clear concern in it, and it was recognizable as Jae's voice still. She looked up, and mentally breathed a sigh of relief. Although he still wasn't smiling, there was worry in Jae's eyes, and they seemed alive once again. The oppressive fear had vanished.

"Yes, I'm fine Jae. Just a little bruised and shook up."

He offered her a hand, and she accepted it, pulling her to her feet. They both spun around at a frightened cry behind them. Tom was backing slowly away from Jae and Dawn, as if they were demons. Tripping over his own paws, he started to run for the door to the club. Jae tensed, about to spring after the cat, but Dawn laid a paw on his arm, shaking her head as he turned to look at her. He relaxed, and nodded to her, sighing. As Tom skidded up to the door, he scrambled to open it. After missing the handle a couple times, he whipped the door open and shot inside. Right into Matt's waiting paw. As the tiger hauled the cat out by his shirt collar, Jeanne and Ken followed him out the door, the wolf leaning on the human, still intoxicated.

"Everything ok out here, Dawn?" Matt growled, staring down Tom, who was thrashing around in the tiger's grip.

"I'm fine Matt." Dawn said gratefully. "I got jumped by these two goons here, but Jae got here in time to take them out. He," She gestured to Tom, still wriggling around, "lured me out here, claiming to be working for Selene."

"Oh really?" The tiger replied, turning to the cat and snarling into his face. "So, you think you're some kind of gangster, huh?"

Tom barely managed a whimper, his ears flattening and trying to twist to face away from the angry tiger.

"Who is he actually working for?" Jeanne asked, looking down at the two bruisers lying on the ground. "Obviously someone with more than a bit of influence."

"It's Franco." The otter said, fighting the urge to spit on the ground. "I don't know how, but he's tracked us down again."

The crew looked grim, except for Jae, and they turned back to the terrified cat.

"Well, I'm sure my new friend," Matt twisted the word viciously, "here will be happy to enlighten us."

"No way, don't ask me." Tom managed to whimper.

"I think it would be in your best interest to tell us." Jeanne said, glaring at the cat.

"He'll kill me! My life would be worth less than nothing if I say anything. You don't know what he'll do to me!" The cat was thrashing around again, terrified.

"We're not going to get anything from him." Dawn sighed, making a quick cutting motion to Matt.

The tiger turned and growled one more time into the cat's face.

"If I see you again, I'll kill you. Or maybe I'll have my friend here do it." Matt threatened, motioning to Jae. He then turned and tossed the cat against the wall, knocking him out.

Nodding gratefully at Matt, Dawn turned to Jae.

"You can't just go around beating the shit out of people like that!" She berated, scowling at the human. "If you killed them, you'd end up in prison! Hell, you might still end up there for how badly you've hurt them!"

"But Captain-"

"There's no excuse!" Dawn interrupted him. "'With how strong you are, you didn't need to injure them that much. You probably didn't need to hurt them at all! I know you were trying to help, but if you're not careful, you're going to get thrown in jail to rot. Remember, humans aren't well liked around here, or many places at all. Furs are going to fear you, and likely hate you, just because of what you are."

"I...yes, Captain." Jae stiffened, his face a blank mask. "I understand."

Matt shuffled uncomfortably, then spoke up.

"So Franco is looking to collect again?"

"It seems that way." Dawn sighed, turning to the tiger. "It also seems like he's running out of patience. We'll need to be careful. I doubt, however, that he'll have that much influence in Jericho city. It's quite far from his base of operations." She looked down at the two goons lying on the street, and the cat crumpled in a heap against the wall. "We should get back to the ship for tonight. I think we've done enough partying."

The crew nodded their assent and started down the alleyway towards the elevator station in the city. Matt took the still staggering Ken from Jeanne and helped him walk, lending the wolf his shoulder. Jeanne lagged behind with Dawn, checking the unconscious furs briefly. Finding them all alive still, she turned to Dawn, walking slowly next to her.

"You didn't have to be so hard on him, you know."

"I know." Dawn looked uncomfortable. "I didn't mean it to come out that harshly, but I did mean what I said. You of all people should know how bad the racism can get. The last thing I need is a run in with the city authorities, or even possibly to be banned from the hub-station."

"I do know racism, and I'm not arguing that he needed to hear it, but he's trying his best. I just don't think taking him down like that is a great idea."

Dawn was silent for a few minutes, deep in thought.

"You haven't seen him in person during or after a fight." She said slowly. "I won't lie, he scares me. He's extremely strong, even more than I first thought. And he's merciless. He didn't hesitate to take down both of those bruisers and seriously injure them. He's like a completely different person when he's fighting."

"I figured as much." Jeanne replied, looking her captain in the eye. "But remember, that's what he was trained, and even likely what he was designed to do. He's a super soldier, there's no getting around that. However, just the fact that he's trying to help is a big deal. I'm guessing he didn't get much social experience, if any at all."

"You're right, as usual." Dawn sighed, giving Jeanne a playful glare. "I guess part of it is...well, I'm just not really sure how to act around him at times."

"That's perfectly understandable." The human nodded. "I'm just warning you, Jae will likely take what you say more seriously than the rest of us." Dawn cocked her head quizzically at Jeanne, who continued; "You are the first one he really had contact with, as well as the only real figure of authority he's known so far. I wouldn't be surprised if he's already formed quite the attachment to you."

"I see..." Dawn said, looking down at the floor.

They caught up to the rest of the group at the elevator station, and they all moved into one of the elevators. Dawn sighed, looking out at the city lights before the doors slid closed in front of her.

* * *

The majority of the next wake cycle was spent working on the ship, after Samantha and Vivian returned to the docks. As they did the needed maintenance, Dawn kept her eyes on the external cameras, keeping a look out for the _Jericho_authorities. After no one had come into the deserted docking section they were in for most of the cycle, Dawn relaxed a little. She had been banking on Franco's men being too frightened or too stupid to go to the authorities about the fight. Not that they were innocent either, so they could even be wanted furs. By the time the sleep cycle came around, Dawn was barely worried at all. Though, she had noticed that Jae had been quiet and avoiding her slightly. She wasn't surprised, as the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with Jeanne, she had been a bit too harsh. The otter resolved to apologize the next cycle, and to thank him more sincerely.

The wake and sleep cycles went by quickly, and the crew was finishing up all the restocking and repairs, along with loading up spare parts, the next "morning". While updating the ship's registration and star charts, Dawn finally ran into Jae, alone. Before he could leave the room, she walked up in front of him and looked him in the eyes.

"Jae, I want to apologize about the night outside the club." Dawn said, standing square in front of him. "I was concerned and tired at the time, and I was overly harsh in my reprimand. Though I still think you need to be careful, especially in predominantly fur areas, like this station." She paused. "I didn't mean to yell at you, ok?"

"I understand Captain, and thank you." He said, his posture relaxing a bit. "To be truthful, I'm still finding it hard to figure out what to do in a lot of situations. I'm guided by vague instincts and pieces of memories."

"I know, I just forgot in the heat of the moment." She said, reaching up to pat his shoulder. "I also want to thank you again. Because you stayed alert and acted swiftly, you saved me, in more ways than one."

Jae seemed to struggle for words, then just nodded instead. "You're welcome, ma'am."

A small series of beeps caught Dawn's attention, and she turned back to the control console she had been working at and started typing away. Jae turned to leave the room, then paused and turned back.

"Captain, would it be possible for me to have the next few hours off?"

Dawn looked up from the screen and raised an eyebrow.

"What for, Jae?"

"Well, um...I was hoping to take another look at Jericho city before we left. I was able to see some of it the other night, but I would like to see some more if possible." He said sheepishly.

"Of course." Dawn chuckled. "Take a couple hours. We'll be heading out before too long, so take the chance while you can. Just make sure to bring a communicator with you."

"Yes, Captain, thank you."

Jae left the room, looking significantly happier than he entered. Dawn went back to work with the hint of a smile on her face.

* * *

Ken stifled a yawn, putting down the datapad he had been typing on and stretching. He never could focus very well on repetitive menial work. One of the reasons he liked being a salvager so much. Feeling his eyes glaze over just from looking at the datapad lying on the counter, he decided to take a break instead. Wandering through the ship, he found Matt, Dawn, and Samantha in the dining room of the ship, apparently also taking a break.

"Hey guys. You all also slacking?" He asked, smiling.

"Excuse me, I never slack off." Replied Dawn, in a mock imperative tone. "I just take...executive pauses. Yea."

"Right, and I'm the emperor of space." Matt muttered, causing them all to break out in laughter.

"Where is everyone else?" Ken asked when they had all recovered.

"Let's see..." Samantha said, thinking. "Jeanne is down in her lab, and Vivian is taking a nap, I believe. Jae went up to take in a bit more of the city."

"By himself?" Ken asked, surprised. "Will he be ok?"

"I think so." Dawn replied. "I made him take a communicator, and he's pretty competent. I also told him to just run away if he gets in any trouble."

"Oh yea, I don't see how that could possibly go wrong." Samantha said sarcastically.

"Have a little faith in him." Matt returned. "I doubt someone would be able to catch him when he doesn't want to be caught."

"That's true." Ken said thoughtfully. "I bet he'll be ok."

Dawn looked about to say something, then a soft ding distracted her. She looked down at the small datapad she was carrying.

"Huh." She looked up at her crew. "Someone is approaching the ship."

"Is it Jae?"

"No, but it's just a single person." She tapped a few times on the datapad. "I'm guessing it's someone from docking authorities. I'll go meet them."

She briskly walked to the main hatch, leaving her crew chatting in the dining hall. Reaching the door, she tapped the button to open it, revealing the person on the other side. Dawn was taken aback. The figure was completely covered by a long dark blue...cloak, for a lack of a better word. The figure also had the hood drawn low over its face.

"Uhhh...can I help you?" Dawn asked, not sure what to make of the figure.

The hooded figure's head moved, as if considering Dawn.

"Is this...the Dust Strider?" it asked, in a rough, but decidedly feminine voice.

"Yes, ma'am, I'm the captain, if you need anything."

"Excellent."

Dawn had no time to react. The figure's hand shot out and clenched her throat in a blur. Before she even knew what happened, the figure was lifting her off the floor by her neck. Grabbing at the figure's arm, she kicked out with her feet, catching the figure in its midsection as she went for one of her blades with her free hand. The figure flinched as Dawn's feet hit it, but its grip remained firm. Before Dawn could bring her blade up to slice at the arm holding her, the figure's other hand flew forward and pinched one of the nerves in her neck, hard. The blade clattered to the deck as it fell from Dawn's suddenly numb hand. The figure lowered the otter to the deck, releasing her. Dawn tried to stay on her feet, but her entire body felt numbed and heavy. She sank down the wall, barely able to remain sitting without falling.

The figure pulled back its hood. It was a young human woman, with close cropped gray hair, and tattoos covering her face. She smiled venomously at the otter on the floor before her.

"Where is he?"

Dawn's mouth felt full of cotton but she tried to answer anyways.

"Who?"

"You know who I mean. The one who-"

"DAWN!"

Ken and Matt came charging down the hallway, already drawing their weapons.

"Get away from her!" Shouted Ken, brandishing his sword.

The woman briskly stepped over Dawn to face the two furs, subtly drawing two daggers and falling into a fighting stance. Ken and Matt immediately attacked, slashing and thrusting at the woman. The hope that Dawn had felt at the appearance of her crew vanished almost instantly. Ken and Matt had been fighting alongside each other for a long time, ever since they both joined the crew. They knew each other's fighting style well, and each complimented the other skillfully. Their initial charge would have overwhelmed many opponents, but this woman was not one of them. Dancing away from Matt's thrusts, she casually deflected Ken's slashes with one of her daggers. The other dagger constantly poked at Matt's defenses, forcing him to stop thrusting and focus on keeping the blade away from his body. The woman kept moving forward and back, forcing the two furs to go into a flurry of attacks to push her back each time.

Before long Ken was panting heavily, and he noticed Matt was too. The woman however, seemed to be barely breathing hard. As they fought he was sure at first they had the upper hand with a two versus one, but as the fight went on, a feeling of dread gradually grew in his stomach. Puzzled, he kept pressing the attack while he tried to figure it out. Though the woman seemed to have better stamina, he and Matt kept her on the defensive, and she hadn't been able to get many attacks off at all. As another slice from his sword cut through the air, Ken realized where his dread was coming from: the woman was dodging similar to the way Jae did. They needed to retreat and regroup. Just as he was about to shout to Matt to fallback, when Ken's thrust found nothing but air. Surprised, he looked around, but the figure was nowhere to be found. The first hint he had of where she went was the loud thump, as the hilt of her dagger hit the side of Matt's head. The tiger fell heavily, and Ken saw that she had dodged around Matt, using the tiger's body as a visual block to hide from Ken.

"Damn you!" Ken growled, redoubling his attack, not even caring about the difference in skill levels.

She seemed to be tauntingly out of reach to the wolf. She moved with the least necessary movements to avoid Ken's attacks, her flat eyes keeping track of his every move. He realized she was watching for weaknesses. He also knew he needed to end it fast. Trying a desperate move, he slashed downwards at her, waiting for her to dodge backwards. As she did, he tucked his sword behind him, and jumped forward in a shoulder tackle, trying to knock her down. As he reached her, she seemed to float to the side, effortlessly gliding out of the way of his shoulder. He felt pain explode on the side of his knee as she kicked it, and fell heavily down on one knee. Ken looked up, just in time to see her lock her hands together, and bring them down on the top of his head. The darkness rushed up to meet him.

* * *

Jae wandered the clean streets of Jericho with his eyes constantly wandering. He stopped at every store and vendor that remotely sparked his interest, but they only occupied half of his attention. More importantly to Jae was watching the other people in the streets. He observed the furs and especially the occasional other human he saw. As he watched them, he paid attention to their behavior, trying to spark his memories of how to act.

Although he felt like he vaguely knew how he should act and react to situations, it was fuzzy at best. He wanted to make sure he didn't cause any more problems to his Captain and her crew. It was such a strong compulsion to him, that Jae took some time while wandering around to ponder it. He couldn't nail it down, but he felt that he just needed to be, well...needed. It troubled him. As he tried to look deeper inside himself, he almost ran headlong into a rabbit morph and a horse morph.

"Oops, my apologies, ladies." Jae said quickly, moving out of the way.

"Ohhhh, isn't he nice?" The rabbit giggled.

"Yea, and so handsome...hey sexy, looking for a good time?" The horse asked.

"A 'good time'? What do you mean?" Jae asked, looking around. He noticed he had wandered into a fairly wide alleyway, which was covered in suggestive themes and storefronts.

The rabbit and horse lapsed into a new chorus of giggles.

"Ohhh, what an innocent little cutie." The rabbit said, looking over Jae with a renewed interest. "And he's pretty good looking, for a human."

"He won't be innocent for long, if I have my way." The horse added, running a hand over one of her breasts, while making a thrusting motion with her hips.

Jae finally caught on to the meaning of the girls' comments. He muttered something unintelligible, flushing and turning away. He walked swiftly out of the red light district to renewed giggles from the two furs.

Glancing back into the alleyway, Jae sighed. He felt like he had been thrown into a strange world, where the rules kept changing. The most frustrating part was that he didn't even know where he had been thrown in from, so he had nothing to compare anything to. Picking himself up straight again, he decided to go back to the ship, as he had been sightseeing for over an hour now, and he was getting tired of the dirty looks he was getting from more than half the furs who saw him.

Getting on the elevator again, he got a car to himself, which he was grateful for, and hit the button to take him to the docks. As the elevator started to move, another flashback shot through his head. It was fuzzy, but he got the impression that he had been on an elevator, deep underground. There had been another human in a uniform with him, someone important it seemed. As soon as they opened their mouth to speak, the flashback vanished again, leaving only an echo in his mind. Frustrated, Jae slammed his fist into the side of the car. He reveled in the pain that shot up his arm, a feeling that wouldn't vanish immediately. As the elevator reached the bottom, Jae took a deep breath and composed himself, before stepping out into the busy hub. It took him a few minutes to find the correct route back to the ship, after back-tracking a few times. Still lost in his thoughts, Jae was almost within 10 feet before he noticed that the door of the Dust Strider was wide open.

Immediately on guard, Jae cautiously moved into the ship. The lights were on, but no one was in sight. Listening intently, Jae couldn't hear any talking or footsteps either. Moving stealthily, he started deeper into the ship. Checking the cockpit first, Jae started to have a worse and worse feeling about the situation. Finding both the cockpit and the dining hall empty, he slowly made his way towards the conference room, his feeling of dread growing with every step. Peering around the corner of the doorway into the room, his eyes widened as he saw the entire crew. They were lined up against wall, each of them with a binding around their waist and arms bound behind their back. He continued to move silently around the door, the crew not having seen him yet. Someone had moved the table that was usually in the middle of the room to one of sides, leaving a large amount of empty floor space. Standing in the middle of the room was a figure with its back to the door. A cloak was on the floor near the figure's feet. Jae could tell it was a human, likely a female from the body shape. She had close cut gray hair, and was wearing a tight fitting suit of what looked like some type of gray leather armor.

"It is about time you arrived."

Jae froze as the woman spoke without turning around. The crew all looked up and saw Jae. He could see the hope enter their eyes. He could also see the swelling and bruising on Matt and Ken's heads, and the swelling on the base of Dawn's neck. Jae straightened up and walked forward into the room, all thoughts of stealth gone.

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice harsh.

"My name is of little importance. What is more important is that I am a Sister of the Gray. I have orders to kill you, and take this ship to my employer."

"Sister of the Gray?" Jae repeated, glancing at the tied up crew. All of them shook their heads, except Jeanne, whose eyes widened, staring at the woman. Jae thought he heard her whisper "Oh no", but he couldn't be sure.

"We are an order of mercenaries, bounty hunters, assassins, whatever you wish to call us. We are the best." There was no boasting in her voice, just simple fact.

"And why have you been ordered to kill me?" Jae asked, taking in every detail of her, trying to get a measure of his opponent.

"My employer wishes you to die, for what you have done to his associates. His name may be familiar to you, I believe it was...Frankie? Franklin? Franco? Something similar to that. Regardless, he has paid for the service of the Sisterhood, so you are dead." She turned around, drawing her daggers in one motion.

"We'll see." Jae said simply, wrapping his arms and legs with his powers, and falling into a fighting stance.

The two warriors stared at each other for a few moments, then they both exploded into motion. The woman dashed forward, straight at Jae, daggers flashing towards his face. Jae immediately snapped an arm up, deflecting both strikes high. He thrust out with her other arm in a measured palm strike, aiming for her neck. She rolled around the attack, placing her feet in line with him, slashing downward. Jae shuffled backwards, trying to make distance, but the woman immediately moved with him, staying within feet of him, keeping her stance complimentary to his. He twisted his torso, moving to slam his elbow into her face. She swayed back, dodging the elbow, then snapping back to her upright position, jabbing both daggers down toward his thighs, forcing him to again sweep his arms into the blades, to deflect them. He tried to dodge around her, only to have her again jump in front of him and press the attack.

Watching from the sideline, Dawn leaned over to Ken, whispering so as not to distract Jae from the fight.

"He's keeping up with her, I think he can win." She whispered hopefully.

"No. He's losing." Ken responded flatly, grinding his teeth. "She knows exactly what she's doing, staying in his space like that."

"What? But isn't close range like that more of an advantage for Jae? I mean, he's using his fists and feet."

"Not like you'd think it would." Replied Ken, the most experienced fighter on the crew. "When she's that close, he can't wind-up any of his punches without leaving himself open. She, on the other hand, doesn't have the same disadvantage, as her blades don't need a wind up to pierce him. The same goes for his feet. She's keeping her legs in front of his like that so he can't kick at all without hitting her leg. He may be able to fight on a similar level as her, but he can't mount an offense with her close like that. It's just a matter of time before he makes a mistake or gets tired, then he's dead." He finished, anger burning in his eyes.

As they watched, thin lines of blood were appearing on Jae's face and upper arms as the mercenary got closer and closer with her strikes. Deciding that he needed to change the flow of the fight, Jae waited until she struck again, slapping the attack away with his right hand before tucking his shoulder down and dashing forward in a shoulder tackle, unknowingly mimicking Ken's strategy from earlier. Fortunately, Jae was quicker on his feet than the wolf, and was able to catch her in the side with his shoulder. She threw herself backwards with the blow, minimizing the impact and going into a backwards roll. Jae also jumped back, creating distance between them. As the mercenary stood up again, she settled into a light ready stance, just watching Jae. Making sure there was room between them, Jae reached up and quickly wiped blood away from a cut above his eye which had been threatening to drip into his eye.

Satisfied that it wouldn't interfere anymore, he settled into a fighting stance again, putting his arms up to protect his head. I have to keep her away from me, he thought, eying her seemingly casual stance. He slowly started to circle to her left, keeping his shoulders squared to her. As he made his fifth small step, the woman again dashed forward, obviously intending to close into Jae's space again. Prepared for her strategy this time, Jae immediately started a barrage of jabs, intending to contain her movement. Her movement slowed, as she started to weave and block the punches with her daggers. Her movements kept becoming more erratic and Jae was having a harder and harder time aiming for her with his punches, and she kept on moving slowly closer to him, even as he circled. Jae grit his teeth, dipping his right shoulder and moving to shoulder tackle her again. As she jumped to his left, he reversed his feint and threw himself to the right, opening a decent distance again. As soon as he landed, he rolled back to his feet, turning to face her as she charged in again. Seeing that she wasn't going to just let him make another gap between them, he immediately slammed each of his fists towards her once, one after the other, shooting a blast of solid force from each one.

For the first time in the fight, she looked uneasy for the split second it took them to reach her. She threw both her arms in a cross block. The blasts hit her arms, taking her off her feet and sending her flying into the opposite wall. She hit the wall hard, rocking her back and legs into taking the blow. She landed lightly on the ground, rolling, then sprung towards Jae, acting like nothing had happened. He fired four more blasts at her as she approached, but she was ducking and weaving so erratically that she didn't get clipped by a single one. On the fourth shot, Jae was slightly slow on retracting his arm, looking to see if he could get another shot off quick enough, and sprung like a cat slashing him hard and leaving a deep cut on his cheek as he tried to sway backwards. He staggered slightly, then by the time he straightened up, she was again in his space, her daggers flying at him as he desperately parried and dodged.

"She's unreal..." Dawn said in a hushed voice.

"They're both amazing." Ken said grimly. "She's just a bad match up for him. I doubt his training did much to prepare him for such close range fights. Likely the shortest range thing he's ever fought is another fist fighter."

"He's going to die, isn't he?" She asked sadly.

"If things keep going like this, them yea." He replied. "We have to do something!"

"But how? We're all tied up and..." The otter trailed off, realizing that Ken wasn't even listening anymore. He was tensing his entire body, and watching the fight intently, muttering to himself.

As the fight continued, the fighters moved by the wall where the crew was tied up. Dawn glanced at Ken, and was amazed to find him in midair. The wolf had launched himself with his still bound legs, throwing himself at the fighters. He landed behind the woman, biting down as hard as he could on her left calf. The mercenary had amazing discipline, not flinching or crying out as Ken's teeth pierced her flesh. She only looked back for a split second to see what had happened.

That split second was too long.

Realizing her mistake, she immediately whipped back around, just soon enough to sweep her daggers across, blocking Jae's punch heading towards her sternum. Unfortunately, that was just a diversionary attack. In the fraction of a second she had looked away, Jae had ratcheted his right leg back, switching his stance. With his leg far enough away, he was able to kick straight up. As the woman had swung her daggers across her body, she had blocked her own view of Jae's legs. His kick swept up, too quickly for the woman to react. It slammed into her chin, snapping her head backwards, instantly breaking her atlas vertebrae, destroying her nervous system.

Dawn watched, fascinated but horrified, as she saw the woman's head fly backwards. Even though the otter was sitting behind the mercenary, her head snapped back so far she could see the woman's eyes, and watched the light fade from them before the human just fell over like a rag doll.

Jae just stood there for a few moments, his chest heaving, staring down at the body of his foe. The crew could see the blood lust obvious on his face. Seeing their wide eyes, he turned away briefly, putting a hand over his face and forcing himself to calm down. Turning back, he just looked exhausted. Quickly moving over, he removed the bindings from the crew, just snapping them with his powers, one after another. Jeanne immediately moved over to Ken, helping him up and embracing him. Samantha grabbed Matt's arm, supporting the injured tiger, and holding him as he wavered, his head still throbbing from the blow he took to the side of the head. Dawn stood up and walked over to Jae, checking the cuts on his face and his shoulders. Grabbing a handkerchief out of her suit's pocket, she wiped away the blood from the cut in his cheek. As she did so, she looked him in the eyes, and whispered "thank you". Jae could see the unshed tears in her eyes. He felt so drained, as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He just looked back at her and nodded. After checking Ken and Matt's respective head wounds, Jeanne came over to the human and otter, and gently moving Dawn's paw away, took a look at the cut on his cheek. After "hmmm"ing for a moment, she clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good news, you don't need stitches." She said in a strained cheerful voice.

Jae nodded. "How are Matt and Ken?"

"Some nasty knocks, and maybe a light concussion for each, but nothing a couple good sleep cycles can't fix."

"I'll be fine." Came a gruff call from Matt, still leaning on Samantha. "I've had worse in practice."

"Same here." Said Ken, walking up. "I just feel stupid that I went down so quickly."

"I owe you." Jae said quietly.

"Ahhhhh, don't sweat it my friend. Least I could do to return the favor after you saved me last time." The wolf laughed, then winced, gingerly touching the top of his head. "Besides, not like I didn't get anything out of it."

"I'll take them to get some sleep." Jeanne said simply, helping Ken walk out of the room, with Samantha and Matt close behind.

Vivian poked the body of the woman with a claw.

"We should do something about the body."

"Can you take it to the jettison port? We'll blast it into space once we leave the hub-station."

"Will do, Captain." The vixen grabbed the dead mercenary under the arms and dragged her towards the back of the ship.

After Vivian had left, Dawn turned back to Jae, who was swaying slightly on his feet.

"This is the second time you saved us all." She said quietly.

"Just doing what I can."

"Well, it's quite a bit. Thank you." She hugged him, wrapping her arms around the human who had saved her life again.

Jae tiredly reached up and returned the embrace, patting the otter on the back. She held the embrace for a few more seconds, then stepped back and regained her composure.

"You look dead on your feet, Jae. You should head to your room and get some sleep." Dawn said, hitching her thumb over her shoulder. "Sam, Viv, and I will secure the ship and finish up business with the docking authorities. I want to be out of here soon, so we'll probably be in space again by the time you wake up."

"Aye, Captain." The human said wearily, and staggered to the door. Just as he was about to head down the hallway, he heard her call out to him again and turned.

"By the way, you can call me Dawn too, you know. You're not just my crew member, you're my friend too."

"Ok...Dawn." Jae nodded to her slowly, then set off down the hallway. Getting into his room and closing the door. Not bothering to even kick off his shoes, he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.