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My New Life

Part 7: Recovery, Rebuilding, and Celebration

It took another four days before the damaged parts of the city were deemed habitable, thankfully the fighting had been isolated to several areas with little or no damage to the rest of the city, deciding not to use my Veritech, I drew a Cyclone from the Marines and used it to get to Serah's family estate, its speed and all terrain features allowing me to get there within a hour.

Of course, someone forgot to open the gateway so I opted to use the Cyclone's jump jets, pulling up into a wheelie and firing the jets at full power, leaping over the wall with meters to spare and landing on both wheels easily.

Grinning behind my helmet, I throttle up to the mansion, stopping at the foot of the entrance way; a quick check on my bio-scanner told me where my mates were sleeping, deciding not to bother them, I took one of the nearby couches (Rakshani couches are roughly the length of a human queen-sized bed), doffed off my helmet, disengaged my combat armor and boots, leaving them in a pile on the floor and instantly fell asleep, still in my uniform...

I dreamlessly slept that night until the morning came...

Lick!

I twitch slightly as something wet touched my nose but paid it no mind as I fell back to sleep...

Lick!

Lick! Lick! Lick!

I splutter awake as a wet rough tongue began licking me all over my face, becoming aware of laughter all round me.

Looking around, I realize that most of Serah's family had taken the rest of the nearby seats and couches, with my mates snuggling next to me laughing with the rest, and looking down on my lap I realized who had licked me awake, Chesara, Serah's youngest sibling, the little cub somehow gotten on my lap without waking me up and decided to wake me up by licking me awake.

Grinning broadly, I gave her a gentle hug, which she reciprocated by wrapping her little arms around me as much as she can, purring as she did so, then someone quips, "Don't I get a hug too?" in the mock-hurt voice kids of any species seemed to have perfected.

I answered the challenge without thinking about it, "Why not? The more the merrier!"

Boy, did I put my foot in my mouth!

As a deluge of cubs came all over me, much to the amusement of the adults, I realized that all the cubs wanted was to give me a massive group hug, one which would leave me helpless in their paws, then I came face-to-muzzle with my daughter, the look in hir eyes told that shi's the ringleader of the whole bunch, and the size of hir grin told me that shi knew that I knew that shi's behind this.

I tried squirming out but all that did was to incite a tickle attack, which soon had me weak from laughter as the cubs released their hold on me and simply piled on top of me, leaving me stuck in a furry pile of cubs, most of the adults having to leave and tend to their responsibilities except for Serah, her father Natora, her mother Fellwind, her grandmother StarFlame, and Whitestar.

Natora went straight to the point, regardless that I'm still stuck under the furry pile of cubs with Chesara topping the whole pile by claiming the top of my head first, "Well, Nathan, Serah's told me that you've claimed her virginity two nights ago and told her that you wish to be her mate, not to mention becoming the 15th's second-in-command and your XO..."

"Yes, sir, but you see..." I began but never got to finish as he holds up a paw.

"I'm not done yet. Now, normally a male would have to go through a series of challenges, in this family anyway, to show his worthiness but we can skip most of them as you've shown your prowess in combat and the ability to defend your family if necessary; the last test...well, you just past it..."

I look at him, utterly perplexed while also taking care not to shift or tilt my head in any way so as not to dislodge little Chesara from the top of my head.

He grins broadly, "As you know, us Rakshani care more about the next generation than we do for our lives, well...the last test is whether or not you're sensitive to the needs of a cub...and from what I've seen, not only are you sensitive, you have a big soft spot for children don't you?"

I grin back, "You got me there, I never could resist youngsters and their abilities of persuasion and I never could ignore a child in need of a good hug and some tender words, especially an orphan like what my daughter Darkcloud used to be, I should know...I've lost my parents too..."

Natora nods in agreement, "I know, I just had to make sure though but your past, painful as it is, has molded you for this, to be a warrior and a leader of warriors, to be a loving father and an equally loving mate, raised in a family of warrior-leaders yet also raised with kindness and love. Yet I sense in you, a hardness...have you ever been bothered by nightmares of the ones you have personally killed?"

"No." I state quietly.

"Never?"

"Never."

"Why?"

"I guess after twenty or so years of constant front-line duty, my heart developed a form of emotional armor to keep me from feeling too much but I have no armor at all when it involves youngsters, just so you understand but if anyone threatens the kids under my care, I will personally hunt them down and execute them like the dogs they are..." That last part was cold as liquid nitrogen.

"With your family?" He probed.

I answer quietly, "No. Alone. A hunt like that is something for me to be done alone; I don't want to severely affect anyone I love."

"How would you do it?"

I close my eyes in contemplation, "I would infiltrate through a false identity, then make my way up their hierarchy, and when the time is ripe, gut them from the inside, systematically exterminating their leaders, interrogating them as I do so until I reach the source of the rot and eliminate it with extreme prejudice. No mercy, no warning."

"I see the darkness within you yet it is kept in check by your honor and by the love you have for your family. You are indeed worthy to claim Serah as your mate, Nathan."

Now that I wasn't expecting, to be honest I was expecting at a day or two of argument and counter-argument, not a fast personal evaluation by my potential father-in-law but I have to admit that this is a whole lot faster.

I grin slightly, then Fellwind took the wind (no pun intended) of my sails, "Nathan, there is one thing I need to have you do first before I give my approval..."

I arch an eyebrow at her, "And that would be what?"

"Well, I want my daughter to look her best so I'm wondering if you could..."

"Find her a necklace or something like that?" I finish the question for her.

"How did you know that?" she looks at me, surprised.

I grin broadly, "You could say I anticipated something like this and prepared accordingly. My grandfather taught me one other skill that he felt I might find useful, that skill being handmade jewelry."

"Handmade jewelry?!" She blurts out.

"Yep," I smile back smugly, "handmade jewelry whether gold, silver, platinum or any other precious metals as well as diamonds, rubies, pearls, etc. Turns out that I have a talent for it too, so I quietly purchased 20lbs of raw white gold, smelted it and forged it into a Rakshani-sized necklace with a ferilium core with diamond, emerald and ruby inlays."

Freeing an arm from the cubs, I reach into a chest pocket and pull out a small jewelry case, passing it over to Serah who gasps when she opens it and holds out the necklace for all to see.

Fellwind walked over to Serah, looking at the necklace critically, she looks up amazed, "You really made this?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Because it looks like a master jeweler made it."

"I told you I had a talent for this...and to be honest, uh, that was meant for Tasha but since I lost her, well..."

Serah and her mother look down on the necklace and saw the love and effort I had put into it, then looking at each other, they understood that I would love her with the same passion as I had with Tasha, to do less would be an insult to her memory.

But when Natora closely looked at the central design of the necklace, an eight point starburst with crossed swords and a dragon curled around the center, he shared a strange look with his mother, one that oddly put me on guard then something told me to ignore it, whatever it is, its no danger to me; then Serah whispered something to Whitestar, who nods back at her and gathers our daughter and the cubs, leading them out, Serah then takes me by the arm and gently leads me to an alcove by the garden...

I lead Nathan into the secret alcove where the ancient sword of the Natorash'kar is kept; within that alcove is a large chunk of granite, sunk into which is an ancient sword buried half-way up the blade and a silver gauntlet loosely wrapped around the blade; Nathan cocks his head quizzically at them, his body language indicating confused familiarity, I sense my grandmother StarFlame drawing upon her Force powers, instantly Nathan's human personality recedes and his Natorash'kar persona steps to the fore, in half a heartbeat, the ancient sword, Dragon Fire, appears in his hands and the instant his fingers wrap themselves around the handle, the blade is sheathed with fiery energy and, just as quickly, blocks a lightsaber slash above his head, instantly riposting with back-sweeping horizontal slice but the shadow Sith blocks it, then it sweeps the blade to the right and slashes upward, Nathan counters and spins on his heel, slicing diagonally at the shadow Sith, this continues for the better part of an hour until Nathan locked blades with the shadow Sith and twisted in such a way that he slipped past its guard and decapitates it in one swipe of his family's blade. As soon as the head left the body, the shadow Sith dissipates; I noticed that Nathan's right forearm is now encased within the other gauntlet, its engraved symbol glowing subtly from within.

Nathan spins the sword and sheaths it behind his back, where a silver-blue sheath momentarily appears and slips in the sword which dematerializes as he releases the hilt.

He turns to face grandmother, surprisingly he grins broadly and hugs her as tightly as he could, grandmother reciprocates just as eagerly, he looks up and says, "You've got an excellent granddaughter here, Sevor'ishnar (a term of endearment used by the Natorash'kar, meaning strong and wise old one), you should be proud of her."

"Oh, I am," she answers back with a grin, "I am, Kir'vetor (another term of endearment, meaning wise little cub). I am very proud of her...for catching your heart."

Nathan laughs heartily, "You know us well enough, Sevor'ishnar."

She nods and gestures for me to come over, "Serah, come here, for it is time for me to give my blessing to both you and Nathan as well as my blessing for your life-long partnership."

I walk over quickly and wrap Nathan in a hug as we stood before her, she stretches out her arms and places a paw each on our heads and intones the ancestral blessing of long life, successful parentage and strength in battle, as she did so, I suddenly had the vision of a large family of diverse species yet deeply unified by love and friendship, and in that vision, I saw myself, older and more experienced, nursing two nearly identical cubs on my breasts...and by my side, sat the handsomest male I have ever seen and I knew that this is my future by Nathan's side, to be part of a legendary family and to help bring up the next generation of Natorash'kar cubs to full adulthood and take their place as the guardians of the galaxy.

I knew that my life-span won't be as long as my mate's or my future cubs' but I refused to let that daunt me for I knew the impact that I will make with my cubs will resound throughout the galaxy for all time.

I step out of the garden alcove with nary a flicker of memory yet strangely enough I felt more whole, more complete than I've ever felt before as if something missing was found and given back to me.

Raising my right arm to scratch my head, I see my forearm now encased within a gauntlet similar in styling, but having only one design at the center, to my left gauntlet but I couldn't shake the feeling of rightness about it, it felt like it belonged there.

Serah whispered a few things in my ear and walked off to prepare for our wedding, set for tomorrow evening on the estate grounds with her whole family, Whitestar and Darkcloud, and all of the 15th command officers and their XO plus some extra members from their crews; the food will be handled by the entire 15th kitchen staff, presided by Serah's mother and grandmother; the seating and table arrangements, surprisingly enough, is handled by Serah's older brother, Fellsword, who took up culinary arts right after finishing his mandatory military service and had set up his own restaurant chain, doing quite successfully too.

The invitations I left to the 15th's AI's to handle with the specs of the invitations varying subtly between each and every one to prevent party crashers; the Marines especially pulled out all the stops, decorating their Mechs and mecha specifically for the wedding, not to mention sprucing up their dress uniforms until they're as clean as they could ever be; I also gave the rest of the 15th two weeks leave with a rotating skeleton crew aboard every ship.

Whitestar agreed to assume command of the 15th whilst Serah and I went off for a two-week honeymoon at the secluded resort of "Silent Hunt", a Rakshani runned-and-operated resort that caters mostly to Rakshani but also to other races who are feeling nostalgic for more simpler times like hunting for your next meal, etc. located a single translight jump away in the nearby Endina system.

Natora had already made reservations for the two of us, since he helped in its initial fund raising and preliminary planning, the only technology we're allowed to bring are emergency communicators and a side arm to be used only in an emergency, Serah drew a Mk.12-series phaser gauntlet with self-recharging battery while I selected one of my favorite pistols, the Solar Flare 800-series plasma pistol with integral laser-sight and flash suppressor with a capacity of 15 shots per cell-clip and also packed along the holster and seven spare clips just in case, I also stashed my Hazard armor in the Leo we intend to use just in case as well, however my emergency communicator can also act as a homing transponder and remote control for the Leo just as long its not attached to anything.

It was a good thing the Leo she selected was number CSR-7834T, nicknamed Iron Huntress, since anyone who uses her in combat always comes back successful and alive but not necessarily in one piece, not to mention that she's the most heavily armed and armored model of her class.

Our hunting gear consists four various bows of Rakshani make, my custom built Kilrathi-style longbow, two quivers of arrows for each of us, my Ser'vec'nar swords, eight hunting knives of various lengths and styles and two pairs of hunting cloaks. Our accommodations will be provided on site, and from what I've seen on the available brochures, it's simply a log cabin built similarly to human ones but much larger in scale to fit the Rakshani physique, each cabin has a fire place, kitchen, bedroom, living room and an outside well with the traditional winch and bucket; a clearing behind the cabin acts as a landing site for the shuttle that will take us there as well as doubling as an exercise yard; for biological needs, well, there's the outhouse near the woods, even I was surprised with that!

An outhouse...will wonders never cease; I thought to myself, this will be an interesting honeymoon...to say the least.

That evening, our wedding was utterly memorable, Kirha happily played best man while Darkcloud and Whitestar played the part of flower-girl and maid of honor, their dresses accenting their figures...especially Whitestar, shi opted to wear a corset that gave hir bust a major boost.

Boy, did that attract a lot of attention from the guys.

Serah came out of the mansion wearing a gorgeous silk dress that covered most of her body but allowing for tantalizing hints on what it sheathed, for my part I wore a more comfortable and personalized variant of the standard dress uniform, accented with a Kilrathi tabard and waist sash, the tabard holding all my campaign ribbons and medals, the Medal of Honor and Excaliber Star bracketing the lot of them, also in accordance to Kilrathi tradition, my Ser'vec'nar swords are sheathed to my sides, I also chose to wear the medallion Tasha gave me when we last met before she was lost over Kilrah, actually both Serah and Whitestar insisted that I wear on this occasion to show that I'm moving on and also honoring my promise to Tasha by remembering how to love again.

Thankfully, I was able to keep myself under control during most of the ceremony with some extras to make it truly memorable, all in all though, it was a complete success. Early the following morning, Serah and I launched from Bay 4 and quietly left for the Endina system.

I wake up later the same day Nathan and Serah left for their honeymoon on Silent Hunt, stretching in all directions and yawning broadly, I roll onto all four feet and pad into the bathroom for my usual morning shower.

I got out forty minutes later, I giggle to myself, Nathan would always complain about me hogging the bathroom longer than anyone else and I always shot back that it's the fur that takes the longest to take care of even with a fur dryer, everything else is done quick as a whistle; I pull on a camo patterned top and headed out for my daily 7 mile jog, my daughter Darkcloud meeting up with me by the stairs, hir body language and my emphatic sense telling me that shi's already missing hir father, they always went everywhere together, adopted father and adopted daughter, both painfully traumatized early in life yet both found a sense of love and family with each other, both showing a resilience rarely seen.

I give hir a reassuring hug and a smile, shi smiles and nods back, as hir adopted mother, I always seem to play second fiddle when Nathan's around but I'm not bothered by that, Darkcloud and Nathan had, at least, close to a year to bond closely before I met and fell in love with him and during times when trouble and danger rose its ugly head in the guise of the Humans First supremists, he is an unmovable column of safety and protection which could instantly become a whirlwind of death and destruction when threatened, if I didn't know better I'd say that Nathan has the chakat's protective instinct of a cub in danger and given his long combat experience, anyone who threatens a cub or child under his care will, literally, get blasted, sliced or blown away.

A very few got to tell the tale of actually fighting the commanding officer of the 15th Battle Group, due to his long experience and training, most opponents tend to end up in morgue in pieces or hardly recognizable.

Due to the fact that he always wears his Hazard armor over or underneath his uniform or civies (military parlance for civilian wear) and the fact that it can carry enough weapons for a small army as well as enough munitions to last a short war, more times than not Nathan always comes out on top when it comes to making credible threats and executing them when push comes to shove, however, the mere drawing of his Ser'vec'nar swords are usually more than enough to quail even the stoutest of hearts, their razor-keen serrated edges and bone-breaker points undeniably fearsome to see and in the hands of a master, quite lethal to any foe.

Normally I would disagree with Nathan's rather lethal and direct approach to danger but my own experiences have somewhat hardened my emotions towards humans, despite this I've made plenty of human friends but mostly those serving in Star Fleet and Star Corps as well those in civilian authority; my parents and some of my chakat friends are a bit worried about this but since being assigned as the home base to the 15th, Chakona has been very peaceful, several previously unknown Humans First cells had found themselves deported on Chakona and back to their worlds of origin aboard a military transport, kept in line with explosive neural collars, inhumane but effective.

Pirates also found the arrival of the 15th to be a major pain in the tail as they found it nearly impossible to waylay ships due to the dense network of cloaked and uncloaked sensor satellites and communications relays, all of which have overlapping zones of responsibility, allowing for major redundancy throughout the network, and for the fact that most 15th starfighters have sufficient endurance to patrol most of a solar system and that every 15th capital ship is mere minutes away to respond to any distress call, so it normally would have meant that it would be best to attack ships outside the Chakas'tra system, it would have happened that way except 15th's crews are very experienced when it comes to dealing with pirates and Nathan is no exception; at the outer edges of the system, including the nadir and zenith points, are twenty covertly constructed clusters of three ultra-long range sensor, one medium-range cloak projector, ten high-speed quad pulse phaser turret-stations, and eight Infernal-series micro-torpedo launcher turret-stations.

These clusters ensure secure shipping and travel lanes relatively free from piracy; Nathan, during a war games debriefing, suggested to the Rakshani government to allow the 15th to establish a rapid reaction and deployment base on and in Raksha's fourth moon's dark side, at the same time asking permission to construct the defense clusters at the outer edges of the system.

The Rakshani recognized combat experience when they see it and the 15th brought it with them in spades, the mixed human and Kilrathi crews eager to share their long, hard-earned combat experience to the relatively inexperienced Star Fleet and Star Corps crews.

The 15th also showed immense adoptability to new situations; when they were introduced to the Stariionae children, they were quite surprised about them, having never encountered living spacecraft before but when they discovered the natural abilities of the children, Nathan tested them with a fast-changing and random-factor test that would tax even a chakat but for the children never even complained once, apparently Nathan seemed to understand that they operated by very different rules and we should not impose ours over theirs, a lot of Star Home's resident specialists argued against this but Star put it all to rest by making it known that of every one at Star Home except their family, Nathan had the perceptiveness to see things from their point of view from just one meeting.

I've been told that if you've been in battle long enough, you tend to develop all your senses and perceptiveness to paranormal level just to survive, Nathan and his crews sure proved that theory correct.

I snap out of my reverie just as my ears pick up some odd noises coming from the garden as I pass it by, reaching out with my emphatic sense, I suddenly realize that those were the sounds of a pair of mating Rakshani!

I grin broadly as I concentrated on enjoying the emotions coming from the pair when two long thick tails trailed over my lower back and down between my hindquarters, mewling in surprise, I turn and came muzzle-to-muzzle with Serah's younger twin siblings, Blazingwind and Snowstorm, a rare twin birthing by Rakshani standards and the horniest pair of twins I've ever met and have been eager, to say the least, to meet a chakat due to our dual genders, something told however that there's more to it than that.

My guess is that they've been waiting to pounce me ever since we've (me and Nathan) arrived but held back out of politeness and respect for Nathan, they've seen how solidly Nathan kicked Blazingwind's tail (more like felt in his case) during a sparing contest a few days ago but now that he's gone with their older sister in their two week honeymoon, it's now open season to whoever intends to claim a night or three with me in bed but I have every intension to play hard-to-get...and besides it's never too early to get some morning "exercise" with two very willing partners...heh, heh!

An hour later...

I stretch languidly as I rapidly recover from my three-way loving making, my two Rakshani lovers barely able to move from our exertions but purring contentedly, I smile and hug them, they hug back as they slowly begin to appear at least somewhat presentable.

I pull my top back on and adjust it so that a good deal of cleavage is visible, Nathan always said that sooner or later, I'd give him a heart attack just by showing off my breasts, I giggle softly at the thought.

Then my nose picks up the distinctive scents of two chakats, I went off on a fast trot and turned the corner of the garden hedge, only to end up in a tangle of limbs as I crash into someone; I find myself underneath a gorgeous red, orange and golden-yellow chakat who's coat resembled and reminded me of the plumage of the mythical phoenix, nearby stood another chakat who's black, white, and silver-gray coat resembled that of a thunderhead, snickering heartily.

I couldn't help snuggle against this one though, hir fur is unusually soft and huggable, I tighten my hug and rub my muzzle into hir fur, then I discover that this chakat is rather ticklish and couldn't keep my paws off of hir, pretty soon I have hir weak and helpless on the ground when hir mate tackled me the right and pinned me on the ground and began to tickle me, allowing hir mate to recover and giving hir the chance for retribution, we end up laughing heartily, trying to tickle each other into submission when we were interrupted by my wrist communicator, "This is Whitestar, heh heh, go, ack, no, not there, ahead!"

"Am I interrupting something, Boss Lady?" Lex said, sounding both amused and a bit sarcastic.

I roll away from my tormentors and, after catching my breath, clearly ask, "What is it, Lex?"

"Darkcloud and a new friend, a Chakat Blue Lightning, are asking if they can have a quick look around on the flight and hanger deck of the Tiger's Claw II."

"Darkcloud should know better than that, no civilians aboard a Confed warship unless specifically invited by a member of the 15th."

"Don't forget that as the boss' daughter, shi does have an honorary membership."

"Oh, yeah, forgot about that particular detail. Alright, give them 20 minutes and whether finished or not, beam them both here to my coordinates."

"Aye, ma'am. TCS Lexington out."

I turn back to my new friends, initiating the traditional Chakat greeting, "I'm Chakat Whitestar, child of Chakat Sunset and Chakat Wintersky."

"I'm Chakat Phoenix Feather, child of Chakat Inferno and Cassandra Firepaw, Life mate to Chakat Thunder."

"I'm Chakat Thunder, child of Chakat Nightrain and Chakat Ghostwalker." The other chakat finishes, completing the circle of greeting as we hug each other.

I lead them to the patio facing the garden where we settle down on the cushions for use by taurs, it seemed like taurs are regular visitors here, they both look at me curiously, then broke the ice by asking, "So, what brings you two to these parts of Federation space?"

Thunder answers me, "We're both Star Fleet officers on shore leave, our ship's the FSS Sky Guard, a Logan-class destroyer. You're the only other chakat we've seen on the estate, what brings you here then?"

"Oh, I'm staying with my co-mate's family until her and my mate both come back from their honeymoon on 'Silent Hunt'."

Then Phoenix Feather asks, "From what ship are you from?"

I giggle, "I think the proper question is: From what group do I belong? But my answer's the same anyway...I'm from the TCS Lexington, bridge tactical officer...and life mate to Commodore Nathan Lao."

"You're from the 15th Battle Group?" both exclaim simultaneously.

I grin at their stunned expressions and pull out my identification card, the distinctive emblem of the 15th embossed on the back and a holographic overlay on the front, a unique blend of the Confed Star with the starfield background of the Stellar Federation, two crossed swords, and a dragon emblem topping the whole thing; Thunder took the card and gulp audibly, the rank symbol on the card showing my rank of Commander and my assigned post of bridge tactical officer, then Thunder looked up and asks, "Why did you allow your daughter and ours to see the hanger deck of a fleet escort carrier?"

"You're forgetting one important detail, Darkcloud has spent considerable time aboard a military warship, since hir adopted father is the CO of the 15th, shi's had to quickly learn the rules and regulations that keep the ship running smoothly, Nathan was quite strict about hir learning those rules early and following them; not only that he was also strict about hir self-defense abilities thus personally trained hir in all the hand-to-hand fighting techniques he's acquired and learned during his 20 plus years of active duty during the Human-Kilrathi War as well as training hir in sword, staff and knife fighting styles with small arms being part of that personal curriculum."

"So Darkcloud is proficient with both close quarter and ranged weapons?"

"Shi's a natural, in fact. Shi's currently quite capable of taking on up to three opponents unarmed, four with close quarter weapons and six with ranged weapons, at least against holographic opponents anyway...according to hir doctor, all this exercise will strongly affect hir growth once shi hits hir growth spurt, possibly an increase both in height and muscle mass as well as increased flexibility, dexterity and physical endurance."

Both chakats look at each other in surprise, then looked at me and ask, "Will it affect hir emotional development?"

"Emotionally, shi's quite stable but if forced to relive the death of hir biological parents, it could trigger a strong, possibly powerful reaction within hir, chances are it could put hir in a state of anger or rage that only hir father could understand and counter."

"And coupled with hir training, shi could be quite dangerous." Phoenix Feather states matter-of-factly.

"But what makes you so sure Commodore Nathan is the only one capable of bringing hir emotions down to normal?" asks Thunder.

"Nathan is equally traumatized as Darkcloud but had at least 20 or so years to deal with the pain and is one of the reasons why they're so closely bonded to each other."

"So Nathan's..."

"Equally damaged, yes, but he's had the time to heal those wounds and has been the pillar of support Darkcloud has leaned on ever since."

"One battle-tested and very experienced pillar." Phoenix Feather laughs out.

I grin at the double connotations, and then I ask them, "So what are you two here for?"

Thunder answers, "Oh, we're just visiting a good friend of our, Serah ap Natora na Benga'lash."

All I could say is, "Oh, boy..."

They both look at me curiously, "Why? What's wrong with that?"

I grin broadly, "That's because she's my new co-mate!"

Only then did dawn on them to whom I was referring to when I said that I'm staying with my co-mate's family, their jaws dropping in both shock and surprise, "Nathan...and...Serah?"

"You could say that it was love at first sight but neither were being obvious about but when Nathan took the plunge, everything went downhill from there."

"Wow." Both said together.

"And now, both are off in their honeymoon in 'Silent Hunt', father's orders really."

Then my wrist comm's chronometer countdown ran out and ended with a beep, at the same time, two shimmering bars of energy appear in front of us...

I look up again to the brightening sky for the seventh time, somewhat pinning for my father, to snuggle with him, to hold him close; don't get me wrong, I'm happy that dad's found another mate but it's the two-week absence that bothers me, I've bonded rather strongly with dad, we understood each other so well; we were both orphaned at an early age but he had time to get over his loss, I still had to deal with it from time to time, thankfully dad was always there to comfort me.

For such a hardened veteran, he's got such a big tender heart for youngsters of all species, taking me in when I was at my lowest and giving me a sense of purpose and a desire to remember my parents in the best possible way but now that Dad's left with Serah on their honeymoon, I realize just how deeply Dad and I had bonded over the past months, this partially empty feeling at the back of my head, whenever he's around I always feel safe and secure, now that he's gone to his honeymoon with aunt Serah, I sigh lightly in a subdued manner, then my nose picked up a distinctive scent, the scent of another chakat!

Following the scent trail at a fast trot, I turn a corner and suddenly, in a tangle of limbs, found myself underneath a cute white tiger pattern chakat roughly my age with a distinctive blue lightning bolt marking on hir chest, just between hir budding breasts.

Looking up, I first thing I saw are hir startling silver-blue eyes, something you don't see everyday with a chakat, we usually only have golden-green but looking into this pair made me feel like I just want to melt in front of hir both in utter embarrassment and adoration.

Shi gave me a slight shake, knocking me back into reality, "Hey, are you all right?" hir voice is just purrfect, a balance of both masculine and feminine ranges but with a hint of a melodic tone. "I'm Chakat Blue Lightning, child of Chakat Phoenix Feather and Chakat Thunder."

Shi hugs me in the traditional chakat greeting, I also reciprocate in the same way, Dad always was a stickler for detail when it comes to my species' customs, "I'm Chakat Darkcloud, daughter of Chakat Luna and Chakat Desert, adopted daughter of Chakat Whitestar and Nathaniel Lao."

Shi perks up in surprise to my mentioning of father, "You're the Darkcloud, the same chakat cub whom he rescued during the TX785 mission?"

I nod, my heart in pain at the memories, shi hugs me gently, "Sorry, about that but I've been fascinated by the 15th and its ships, my parents are here visiting their Rakshani friends, and I picked up your scent but lost it by the garden when you came charging into me..." Shi grins at me mischievously, "Not that I mind, I never realized just how cute you are."

I blush slightly at the praise but mutter a quiet 'thank you' back at hir, then a thought hit me, mom might go ballistic though, so I better make it quick, "You wanna take a quick peek inside the Lexington?"

Blue Lightning practically jumped on top of me, "Can you?" Hir lashing tail showing just how excited shi was just to even see the cavernous hanger deck of the Lady Lex.

"Yeah, but you have to be quiet though, I don't have permission from my mom although dad said I could go back to the Lex when I need to...but I don't think he meant this..."

"Please," shi pleaded earnestly, "I really what to see what it's like on the inside...just this once...please..."

"Alright, but just this once if I get caught, mom's gonna ground me big time..." I sigh as I tap my wrist communicator, "Darkcloud to Lex, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"What is it, Darkcloud?" came Lex's synthesized feminine voice through my ear-bead.

"Can you beam me and a friend to the hanger deck for a quick look around, then you can beam us back down here without mom or dad knowing a thing." I hope...

"Sorry, kiddo, flight ops on the Lex hasn't stood down yet so no go there but Romy has informed me that she's on stand down for the time being and is willing to accommodate you and your friend for the next fifteen minutes or so before the next shift takes over, how about that instead?"

"Any other options?"

"Well, Chief Gunderson has informed me that the Tiger's Claw II is also free to today so you'll have all the time you need to look around its hanger deck...and that's your only and other option, all the rest of the 15th are undergoing overdue maintenance and repairs; I'm having my drives and reactors checked out and my catapults recalibrated, they're starting to develop some unwanted wear and tear."

"Great, I guess we'll take the Tiger then..."

"All right, prep for transport to the Tiger's Claw...oh, by the way, your mom and have given you both only 20 minutes to look around."

"How did...?"

"You didn't know about the parental programming in your wrist communicator, did you?" Her voice pitched with amusement.

My ears flatten in annoyance at this sudden development, "When did this programming came into effect?"

"Oh, roughly three weeks after your father gave the communicator when one of the chakat trainees to flight ops noticed you at the hanger deck, asking for a ride on one of the fighters and when its pilot did take you on that ride, shi was quick to inform your dad about this and your dad, in turn, had me cook up a parental programming downloaded into your wrist comm during one of its regular check-ups and updating, it was also updated to include your mom when they became mates."

"Great," I said sarcastically, "who needs babysitters when you have a whole fleet of warships keeping a sensor tuned on you."

"Heh, heh. Sorry kiddo but until you come of age, this fleet will be keeping a sensor tuned on you, whether you like it or not."

I growl slightly as I gave the command, "Tiger, two to beam to your hanger deck, please."

I reflexively close my eyes as the familiar tingle of a transporter in action envelops me and Blue Lightning...

Five seconds later, we simultaneously rematerialize on the cavernous hanger bay of the Tiger's Claw II, Confed transporters being designed for both subtly and power as well as robustness, though it wasn't the Lexington, as a substitute, it was good enough for Blue Lightning as shi positively, and literally, charged all over the bay and looked into every nook and cranny, including, to my shock, the ordnance bay where the heavy ship-busting antimatter torpedoes and standard air-to-air missiles are stored.

I was quick to pull hir away from the area that was the only area of a ship that scared the living daylights out of me at any given time. The mere thought of all those missiles and torpedoes detonating by accident or design give me the chills.

For the next fifteen minutes, I identify and explain the different parts and the different functions of both the hanger deck and flight deck when two human pilots who wore the distinctive livery of the Tiger's Claw's "Alpha" squadron came out of the corridor which leads into the interior of the ship, smelling, even from here, of freshly out of the showers.

I whistle and gesture for them to come over; holding their helmets to their sides as they jog over to us, did I recognize who they are, husband and wife combat pilots, Majors Wedge "Jaguar" Celchu and Christine "Panthress" Celchu, both command the 160th Fighter squadron, the Night Stalkers, a very experienced squadron with a 300-500 year old history tied to a covert ops helicopter squadron from Earth's past when it was divided into nation-states.

Blue Lightning and I greet them in the usual chakat manner which they also reciprocate, I explain why we were aboard the Tiger, they offered to take the two of us for a ride on two of the Thunderbolts when our twenty minutes ran out and Tiger warned us of eminent transporter activity, they back away with grins on their faces and wave good-bye as we dematerialize.

We rematerialize seconds later in front of mom and Blue Lightning's parents, I stood my ground like dad taught me as Blue Lightning bellied down behind me with apprehension radiating from hir, I simple grin cheekily and said, "Hi, mom!"

I arch an eyebrow at my daughter at the way shi stood protectively in front of hir new friend, then a glance back towards my guests shows me that they're just as surprised as I am at Darkcloud's protectiveness of hir new friend.

I smile slightly, as I recall Nathan teaching Darkcloud when it was the best time to stand your ground and when it was the best time for a strategic withdrawal, and this situation meant, for hir anyway, standing hir ground while defecting anything directed at hir friend but it seemed that hir friend's parents aren't going to do anything beyond a good firm scolding.

I sigh lightly as I recall Nathan gently but firmly scolding Darkcloud for falling off the right wing of his Thunder Wolf fighter because shi got careless where shi was walking, lucky for hir, shi landed on the barrel of one of the chakat tech trainees, who, in turn, leapt a clean foot of the deck in surprise, interrupting hir trainer's lecture, who instantly recognized Darkcloud, then belatedly remembered that Nathan was doing his personal maintenance of his Thunder Wolf and called out to Nathan, who promptly popped his head under the wing and into view of the trainees. Of course, the second they saw his rank bars, they went to attention and saluted, he returns it casually, then looks at his daughter, who was looking rather embarrassed at hir mistake; he reaches down and Darkcloud stretches up to take hir father's hand and pulls hir up, they hug for few minutes and went back to work.

By now, the Confed personnel and some of the more experienced Star Fleet crew members are used to sight of parent and adopted child showing a lot of affection with each other but the plebs, as fresh graduates from the Academies are called, a term used by many of the Confed personnel as a part-degrading and part-welcoming word to the Darwinian world of combat operations, were not and were quite shocked that the civilian daughter of a high-ranking officer would be allowed on the hanger deck of a military warship but the Confed troops worked by different rules and styles, besides the little chakat had a surprisingly tough personality underneath hir cute furry exterior, and impressed even the burly Kilrathi crew members as well, thus was made an honorary member of the 15th Battle Group, despite hir father misgivings which proved to be baseless, merely just the worries of a protective father.

Darkcloud proved hirself a born warrior, even from a peace-loving race like the chakats, shi proved to be an anomaly, the reason becoming clear when Nathan discovers the genome markers that distinguishes the regular chakat from the chakamils or military variant chakats, chakats with enhanced levels of aggression, strength and power, all of whom were supposedly destroyed just after the Three Firms incident but it seemed that several had manage to go to ground amongst the regular chakat population, resulting in aggressive hybrids and Darkcloud is one of those hybrid, however, hir adopted father provided hir with the necessary discipline, focus and drive that allowed hir to channel those aggressive tendencies in a positive direction, hir biological parents apparently weren't too sure how to curb hir aggression, and despite being only 1/8 chakamil, shi's still quite aggressive, however, hir father, hardened by his exposure to the Kilrathi culture and war, is quite well suited to handle hir and martial arts are the best way to curb hir aggressions.

Hir training proven to hir advantage during the attempted hijacking of the Andromeda Ascendant when several commando squads of HF terrorists boarded her through her docking hatches, the security teams caught in the middle of their rotation but Darkcloud, who was on board the Andromeda, working on hir research regarding 20th century history, shi had just exited the library when shi saw several humans approaching hir, shi instantly recognized them as not belong to the Andromeda's crew and leapt back, sealing the door in front of hir.

Shi was quick to enter the hidden access tunnel and made hir way up to the auxiliary security station, upon contacting what security forces were still active, shi realized that shi could lock down the whole ship before the critical areas are captured, so consequently from hir control station, shi was able to secure the bridge, hanger decks, engineering, armory and the heavy vehicles deck before shi was blocked off; unfortunately for the HF terrorists, they weren't expecting a fully sentient AI system which fought their computer override attempt every step of the way and defeat the override program by overwhelming it with attack nanites plus it fought back with extremely powerful anti-intrusion programs that made mince-meat of their program.

Darkcloud left the safety of the auxiliary security station, equipped in hir combat armor, two force lances and five grenades each of the EMP and HE type plus two combat knives, remembering hir lessons from hir father about attacking a superior force, shi hit-and-run hard, hir quadruped form allowing for greater speed, prioritizing the bridge, armory and heavy vehicles areas, hir attacks allowed reinforcements to arrive undetected until it was too late, shi led the squad that secured the armory where the Nova bombs are stored, shi knew enough about the weapons that shi would not dare lose them to the enemy even at the cost of hir own life, during the after-action debriefing, with Marine Captain Robert Sinclair as presiding officer, through the Andromeda's security cams and sensors, the entire crew bore witness to Darkcloud tenacity, courage and determination thus earning hir nickname: Thunderhead, for hir unpredictable strikes and unyielding strength in battle, hir father agreed with that assessment after seeing the footage.

I had seen the footage myself shortly after becoming mates with Nathan, the way the human and Kilrathi crew members often calling hir Thunderhead got me curious enough to ask why, leading me to the security footage from Andromeda, surprising me that such a young chakat had already killed at the impressionable age of 12 but its seemed that hir chakamil heritage has served hir well in that situation but I wondered how shi would interact with regular chakats, Nathan apparently had impressed upon hir the need for discipline and self-control so it was never obvious that shi was naturally aggressive, shi vents hir aggression in the holodeck and with the psy-screens at their highest settings, ensuring that no one but hir father and trusted friends and family would know of hir condition.

I look at the two and couldn't help but wonder just how cute they looked as a couple, then I imagine those becoming mates and having cubs, odds were that the cubs won't be as aggressive as their mother/sire but they still will be a pawful to control and the most likely scenario is that Darkcloud will want to live near or with hir father to help hir with the cubs...and since he's quite good with handling feisty and aggressive cubs, he'll probably have them straightened out in no time at all plus the fact that he's such a master of the barbeque and the kitchen means that the cubs will have no lack of tasty treats, I lick my lips in memory as I recall one of Nathan's dinner surprises when me and my cousins Goldfur, Forestwalker and Quickpaw, along with the rest of the family, from a shopping trip, instantly came to a stop when a very delicious aroma stops us in our tracks, I recognized the smell as lamb on a barbeque grill, and its coming from the backyard!

We charge around the house and into the backyard, then the next thing we knew, we end up in a jumble of limbs, tails, heads and bodies, with some parts rubbing against others in the most erotic way, I look down and realized that we were in a net trap, a classic trap technique, then Nathan's amused voice came from somewhere to our collective right, "The hungry horde right on time, and in a jam I see."

I growl out, "All right, Nathan, what's this all about?" "I'm just keeping you all from bothering me while I ready dinner in the backyard."

"Dinner?" Everyone asked together.

"Yeah. How does a lamb kabob, made with fresh Aussie lamb, peppers and onions sound to you?" He said teasingly.

Our hungry tummies answered for us. "I'll take that as a definite 'yes', plus fresh Greek and potato salad, mash potatoes and gravy, buttered veggies, French bread and salmon steaks, creamy mushroom soup, and vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream for dessert, all in chakat quantities and not replicated, prepared and cooked by yours truly except for the ice cream."

Eudora and Blaze, who came in last and consequently on top of the pile, ask together, "So when do we eat?"

Nathan looks at his watch and says, "The last of the kabobs should be done in 3...2...1!"

He runs off while at the same time hits the release button for the net, dumping the whole lot of us onto an air mattress, breaking our fall.

We help each other up then race into the backyard where Nathan is sitting in a deck chair by the table, fully loaded with all the food he described plus a few others he didn't mention, nibbling on a barbeque stick, he looks over to us and calls out, "Well? You lot hungry or not, all this food isn't going to eat itself, you know!"

We feasted well that evening as Nathan surprised us, and me, of his hidden skills with the kitchen and the grill, in fact, the cubs 'volunteered' him to make breakfast tomorrow, and boy, was it good! He had made a mountain of bacon eggwiches, a large pot of oatmeal, two platefuls of the classic Western omellette, plenty of bacon and eggs, cereal, toast, butter, coffee, juice, water and milk.

Nathan and Boyce often competed against each other in kitchen whenever the entire clan got together, there was one time when Nathan accidentally hit Boyce with an ice cream cake when he slipped on a slippery patch of tile and Boyce promptly retaliated with a creamy cheesecake, triggering a massive food fight in the kitchen.

They both end up with clean up duty afterwards, both laughing over what had happened. I sigh, the two are such good friends but Nathan has been hardened by the experiences he faced on the front line, I guess he was right, after a fashion, that we had it easy so far and that there will be a time when we will be found wanting in the field of battle, I sincerely hope that that time never comes...

Six weeks later, aboard the Lexington, Nathan and Serah have returned from their honeymoon and have assumed their duties as CO and XO of the 15th, at the moment though; they are sparring in the gym blowing off some steam and frustration...

I duck as Serah threw a fast left hook, sweeping with left leg, she jumps over it and pounces but I roll out of the way and kick out with my left, she catches that in her arm pit and twists me on to my stomach, I went with the flow and used the momentum to roll back on my feet, her tail whips out, I swiftly jump out of range, allowing her to get on her feet, she charges at me, I let her get close and as she attempts to wrestle me into the floor where her superior size and strength had the advantage.

I grab the front of her tunic as I roll backwards, planting my foot on her stomach and catapult her about two feet away, knocking the breath out of her but before I could capitalize her momentary weakness, a large fur pounces on top of me, pinning my arms and legs to the floor.

Recognizing the appendages gripping my ankles as handpaws and the pressure on my chest as a pair of impressive breasts, I look up into the eyes of Whitestar who purrs with amusement.

I grin back as Serah snuggles next to us, none of us being finicky about the smell of exercise, then Whitestar speaks up, "Nathan, the Dragons just reported in, they've found the secret pirate base; it's in system Pirnex 758C, orbiting the fifth planet of the system. I've saved the best part for last, dear."

"What is it?"

"Get this...they've also detected a group of ships, slaver ships, orbiting near the station, all from the non-aligned worlds."

"Great...all right, we initiate jump ops in twenty minutes, all ships to alert level yellow-2."

Shi rolls off me and exits the gym, heading for the bridge; a minute later, the Lexington's 1MC channel blares out my orders, at the same time, the yellow alert siren begins to wail.

Serah and I look at each other, "Well, hon, I guess we better get ready."

She nods in agreement as she gets to her feet, "I'll see you on the bridge, dear."

"Serah, if you run into Darkcloud, tell hir to stay in hir class room this time..."

She grins at me as she heads for the female showers, swaying her hips as she walks away, "Sure, love, anything you say."

I sigh and got up as well, taking a quick shower and made a stopover at the hanger deck to check out how the plebs were doing but at a distance so as not to make them nervous; along the way, I ran into Chief Tech Gunderson, the head of all the tech crews in the hanger deck, on the way down.

"Hey, Chief, how are the plebs doing?"

He grins back broadly, "Pretty good, boss, but they still need to be tested..."

"Yeah," I nod back in agreement, "in the crucible of war. Anything else?"

He shakes his head ruefully, "Yeah, that chakat and foxtaur mated pair of techs on loan from the Star Corps."

I arch an eyebrow in surprise, "Goldfur and Garrek?"

"Yeah, that fox is real good at learning the basics of our systems but that chakat mate of his really compliments his skills with hir flexibility and reach."

I grin broadly at him, "That good, eh?"

He laughed heartily, "He could fix a watch with a Swiss Army knife and a 'Mech with a sledgehammer."

"Garreck was always good with tech." I agree with him heartily. "Anything else?"

"Aside from catching the two getting it on in one of the Longbows, no problem at all."

I laugh, "You didn't interrupt them, did you?"

"Hell no, I simply put up one of my infamous 'tinkering in progress, do not disturb or else!' signs in front of the bomber and everyone left it alone." He laughed back.

I got off at the deck just above the hanger deck, walking on to the balcony in front of Flight Ops; the techs there ignore me as I watch the hustle and bustle of a busy carrier.

I watch as tech crews work from fighter to fighter as they ready them for combat operations, the older veteran crews working with quiet efficiency and light communication, each member in tune with the others; the youngsters move about with vigor and boisterous chatting as they learn the ropes; pilots old and new assisting in the pre-flight checking of their birds, moving underneath them to double check the fittings of the safety pins and covers of the missiles, guns and other essential systems necessary for battle; ordnance techs move briskly with their deadly loads as they move missiles and torpedoes from their storage bays to their respective fighters; fuel handlers efficiently and quickly attach fueling lines to the fighters and bombers in need of fueling as well as detaching them from fully fueled ones; loader techs, with their traditional light wands, guide ready fighters on their launch cradles to the magnetic tracks that will move them to the launch deck proper, to a position just in front of the catapult and the 'shooter', the tech in charge of catapulting the fighters into space, sitting inside the low armored 'firing box' station located between the two main launch catapults.

I smile briefly as the old familiar urge to take to the skies kick in once again but ever since being promoted to Commodore and generally being in charge of the 15th and the overall security of the sector around Chakona, I had to curtail my flying except for tests to maintain my flight certification on all ship classes including runabouts and shuttles but with extra emphasis on starfighters which is where I belong anyway; I leave Flight Ops and make my way to Turbolift 6, which took me all the way up to the bridge, I encounter several old crewmates and updated each other on assignments, our personal lives, and whatnot.

I exit the turbolift and took my command seat, calling out, "All hands, prep for combat! All stations, red alert, ready all fighters for magnum launch!"

I nod to the wolftaur at the helm, who called out into the 1MC channel, "All hands, brace for slipstream in 10 seconds..."

Thus for the next two-and-a-half years, the 15th Battle Group maintained the peace and security of their home sector as well as quelling hotspots beyond it with both subtly of experience and strength of arms, they eventually became well-known throughout the Stellar Federation and beyond as a group capable of fiery strength and cool calculations, a selfless desire to rescue and aid those in need, and an iron-bound code of honor and conduct that many admired, they represent a shining example of what the Federation stands for...

It would be at the cusp of the third year when a very familiar foe to the 15th came to pay them a visit...at their very home system...

To be continued