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The walk to the medical bay was perhaps one of the longest walks Trip had ever made in his life. He couldn't think of any situation that he or Zynnis had been in that was this bad. Regardless of the fact that he was fine, and the ship was fine, his closest friend was probably laying in a bed dying. The wolf couldn't help but continue to think about the worst possible outcome, the ramifications for not only himself, but the entire Alcrose Royal Marine Corps as a whole were more than severe.

Trip sighed as he walked through the door and into the medical bay. He blinked as the bright lights of the medical bay hurt his eyes. The amount of casualties from the last incident had been low, but the medical crew were bustling and running around crazily trying to keep on top of the many minor injuries that had been sustained by a lot of support crew members and civilians that had sustained minor scrapes and bumps from the surprising jolt of the ship.

He had found himself standing idly by Zynnis' bed, the hybrid truly looked pathetic at that point. They had stripped him down to his pants. Wires were running all across his body, monitoring various vitals and pain levels. The commander was unconscious still, his fur matted from the sweat and blood that plastered his body. Trip shook his head with a sigh and ran a paw over the furred head of his close friend.

"You are one stupid motherfucker you know that?" The wolf let out a loud sigh and shook his head again, trying to ignore the beeps coming from the monitor that was watching the hybrids heart beat, "You shouldn't have been there and you know it. How you survived that blast is crazy enough as it is, and it looks like I'm running shit now. Without you. We made an agreement Kitty, and you're not holding up your end of it, but when do you ever?"

Trip knew his words were falling on deaf ears, but he didn't care. It made him feel better. His best friend was laying on a table in front of him, barely holding on to life. A life that they both knew Zynnis was in no hurry to end. Trip looked around and caught the eye of the doctor who was keeping the Hybrid alive, nodding him over impatiently, trying to hold back his emotions.

The dragon in front of him was tall and muscular, and Trip knew him well, "He's holding on strong Director, he's a fighter and has been since he was young." The doctor had been Zynnis' primary physician since the Hybrid had been a child, and knew his patient quite well.

Trip let out another large sigh, trying to hold back his emotions again. This wasn't something he was used to doing. Zynnis was the one who did the rounds to the medical bay. Zynnis was good at it, Trip wasn't, "I know doc, but that doesn't change the fact he's a stubborn jackass. What's the next step?"

"I'm not really sure yet honestly. It's quite hard to say at this point," The doctor pulled a chart from the end of the padded table Zynnis was laying on, "He's been in a coma since we got him here, he slipped in right before I could administer any sort of help. At this point, it's just a waiting game."

Trip growled low, baring his teeth, but stopped as he felt a gentle paw on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. The wolf turned and saw the large bull that Zynnis so often used as rock in hard times still in his combat armor. The wolf knew Kelres well, but resisted the urge to bury his face in the bull's chest, "I know, but I still cant help it Kelres, part of me wants to beat the rest of the life from him, and the other wants to do anything and everything that could make him better."

The bull nodded, "You'll be alright. We've been prepared for this for quite a long time. Only thing is he's not quite dead yet. He's a strong little fucker, he'll pull through. He always does." The bull forced himself to smile and gave the Wolf's arm a tight squeeze.

Trip only nodded, then turned back to Zynnis, another long sigh escaping him, "So what do we do now?"

The bull was about to answer when Styrr arrived, barreling through the staff that had been walking past him and rushing to Trip, "How is he?"

Trip resisted the urge to turn and put his large fist deep into the Dragon's gut, "He's comatose. We were discussing our plan of action just now, as you interrupted, so I suggest that for once in your life, you sit quietly and allow us to do our jobs."

The dragon immediately shut his mouth, the fact of the matter was that it was his fault entirely that the commander had been injured. The rest didn't know that, and it was probably within his best interest to keep it that way. He had no room to talk, his place was to quietly sit and be an observer. There was nothing else he could do, and he knew it. He moved to a chair that was sitting next to the table, and quietly sat.

"Doc, what's the next step?" The bull wanted to get on with business, his focus was simply making sure things went down the way they needed to from here on out, nothing needed to step in the way of his boss getting better, "We need to get him back up to working status as soon as possible, at least awake. He's not doing himself a lick of good being in this state."

The doctor nodded, his paw running down the chart in front of him. They all knew that regardless of how much pain Zynnis' would be in, he would be better off toughing it out awake, "I suggest some Zero-G time. There isn't anything I can give him that wont kill him. All out medications are just going to make things worse for him, and as we all know, he can't handle anything we have here. Right now it's about getting him out of this coma and managing his pain the best we can."

The entire group nodded as the doctor turned and walked away, there was nothing else for him to say. He knew well enough that they would do what was in the best interest for the commander. His closest friends were there for him, and that was good enough for the doc.

Trip turned to the bull, "So it's settled then?"

The bull nodded silently, trying to piece together the right words, "Do I prep his ship then? We haven't used it in a while, and it needs to be properly checked and refitted." The bull thought about what all they would need, and wasn't sure what team he was going to take with him, "We using the new pilot, or are you wanting to take on that responsibility?"

The wolf sighed and nodded, knowing that Kelres was right. It would take a while, but that would give him enough time to get things taken care of on Haven so that he could take a leave of absence and everything still run smoothly, "Aye, get that ready. I want to be out of here in twelve hours. All support staff that isn't handling clean up is to be prepping The Arctic for an extended mission. Get the new pilot briefed and make sure he knows this is an extended flight. He's a fickle thing and I want him to know what he's going in to before hand so I don't have to deal with complaints after the fact, "The wolf then immediately thought about the food stores, "Make sure they put real food on it too, I can't stand all of that ration bullshit."

The bull chuckled at the Wolf's last statement, then nodded and stepped away to speak into his comm unit privately, sending out the orders quietly and efficiently, and putting together the team that would provide the commander the best security possible. This left Styrr the time to finally get a few words in.

"I would like to be a part of that Trip, if you don't mind." The dragon's voice was quiet, almost apologetic.

Trip almost punched the Dragon again, but instead walked over to the sitting dragon and loomed over him, "I don't think you do actually. I think you need to finally just get out of our hair for a bit." The wolf wanted to be chastising, but really couldn't pull it off right now, "I think you're going to stay here, and enjoy the rest of your vacation. We are more than capable of taking care of our own, without your help thanks."

The dragon opened his mouth to respond, but shut it quickly as the wolf glowered at him. He chose his next words carefully, "I think my experiences would be quite useful in this situation Director."

The wolf growled low again, "You're dismissed Mr. Kinster, and I swear that if I hear another word, Kelres will make sure you are taken back to your quarters, and I would suspect that the way he does it would not be comfortable."

The dragons eyes grew wide. He had already been laid out by the large bull, and was in no mood to have it happen again. He stood quietly and excused himself, padding off quietly, thinking to himself. By that point, the large bull had returned and was standing beside Trip, watching the Dragon walk off.

"Is everything taken care of?"

The bull nodded, "It is, we will be set to go in a few hours tops. Is that enough time for you?" The bull smiled, "What was that all about?"

Trip rolled his eyes, "He wants to come. I'm tired of having him around. He was amusing when it annoyed the hell out of Zynnis, but now he's just becoming a thorn in my side."

The bull let out a hearty laugh, "Regardless of what the situation is, I think that both you and Zynnis drive each other crazy. I suppose that right now, the fact that you're looming over his bed here in the med bay is driving him nuts."

Trip ignored the bulls joke, he wasn't in the mood to laugh right now, "Everything is ready to go, and there isn't a 'we' to this mission. You're being promoted. Congratulations." Trip turned to the bull and patted him on the shoulder, "The General was doing an inspection in the cargo bay when the hull was blown, you've turned down every promotion given to you in the last four years, it's time to step up and take charge. I can't do it, Zyn can't do it, but you can."

The bull furrowed his brow and held back the urge to yell, now wasn't the time to be having it out in the medical bay, "You know I'm not leaving the commanders side. I never will. Promote me all you want, but I wont be staying here." The bull stared hard at Trip, he never backed down to the anyone, and he wasn't going to start with the Director.

"What do you mean you wont? You're contracted to the ARMC, you'll do as you are told. You always have. Name three others that I could promote instead of you?" The wolf stared back, he didn't put up with crap from Zynnis, he sure wasn't about to put up with it from the large bull.

"Johnson."

"Dead."

"Polski."

"On permanent shore leave."

"Dean."

"He's an idiot."

The bull tried for a few more, just to try to get the chore pawned off on somebody else, "Leo"

"You know damn well he's been assigned the entire Triad quadrant, he isn't leaving either."

"Dammit Trip, Franklin."

Trip growled, "I said three. Franklin is barely able to keep his division in working order and is about to lose his position as it is. You're doing it."

The bull sighed, it seemed that he wasn't going to get out of this one, and he knew it, "Fine, but I'm still going with you. I'll get shit started here so when we are ready, my plan of action will start to be put in place."

The wolf chuckled, "I can live with that, but it's your job now, after this little adventure out into space, you're off of Zynnis' team, and you'll be on this ship doing your new job. Everyone else on the team will be receiving their own promotions as well. So don't think for a second that I'm singling you out."

The bull could only roll his eyes, he about faced and walked away, knowing his life just became a desk job from here on out. Every single being in his way quickly moved to the side, not wanting to be trampled by the fuming bull. He slammed the door shut behind him on his way out, muttering to himself.

Trip sighed as he turned back to Zynnis, irritated with the events unfolding before him. He heard his PDA beep and quickly pulled it out of his pocket and opened the message. It seemed he was needed back into his office. He sighed and motioned the doctor over again, "We're set up to be out of here by the end of the day. Can you have the Commander ready to go by then?"

The dragon in front of him nodded, pulling a pen out from one of his coat pockets and writing on the commanders chart, "Yes, I can have him ready to go whenever you need it. I suggest taking his medic with him. Though she's annoying as hell, she should have left combat years ago and been doing her own practice."

The wolf nodded and turned, he needed to head back to his office and didn't really have much left to say to anyone. He stretched out slowly, growling low in his throat as he walked through the medical bay's door and started the short trek back to his office. He had several business reports to file, and a few other things he needed to have started before they left. Unfortunately he and Zynnis had never thought to have anyone trained as an assistant director, they had never needed one, but Trip vowed to himself that someone was going to get that job as soon as he got back.

He walked into his office and immediately went to the fridge, he didn't drink often, but he felt that if he were going to start, he might as well do it at a time like this. He pulled one of Zynnis' flasks and quickly took a sip from it, sighing as he walked over to his desk. He wasn't quite prepared to get along with his day, but he turned on his computer anyways, sitting down and running his paws through his head fur.

As soon as his screen loaded he saw hundreds of emails fly across his screen. He didn't bother with them, but instead forwarded them to his PDA. His main interest was the list that Styrr had given him. He quickly browsed through it and found three planets that interested him. The main objective of this trip would be to scout the planets that had been flagged as high priority. He knew Kelres had selected the best of the commandos to go with them, and they might as well do something productive while they were out.

He chuckled as he looked around the office. He was going to miss it surprisingly. It had been years since he had taken a large chunk of time off ship. He didn't like being away from his comfort zone, and this was going to be quite a change for him. He sighed as he glanced at his screen again and realized that Styrr had been right. It was probably in his best interest to bring the troublesome dragon along.

He muttered to himself as he hit a button on his desk, the intercom hearing it respond with a loud beep, "Styrr Kinster's comm please." His automated assistant quickly forwarded the call along to the proper channels, and he sighed as he heard the connection tone.

"What can I do for you Director? I can say that it is quite a surprise to hear from you." Trip could imagine the smug Dragon on the other side of the line and scowled.

"If you could meet me in my office as soon as possible, I would greatly appreciate it." The wolf quickly ended the call, not caring to let the dragon make any comments.

Trip looked back at his screen, and slowly started to make his preparations to leave.. He wasn't looking forward to leaving most of his duties to others while he was gone. Most of the time it ended in him having to fix half of it when he got back, but he knew that there was nothing he could do about it other than not go, and that was out of the question.

Trip took another long swig from the flask he had placed on the desk as the Dragon walked in. Styrr had changed out of the combat armor and was wearing a nice, black suit with a silver shirt. Trip winced as his eyes caught the monstrosity that the Dragon wore as a tie. The bright green was annoying, and almost made the wolf want to rip it from around the dragons neck. He shook his head, took another drink, and decided to ignore the tie, and move on with business.

"I've reconsidered." The wolf wanted to see and hear the dragon's reaction, so he left his statement as simple as that.

If Trip was looking for more than a shrug, he wasn't getting it. The dragon didn't have anything to say about it. He had known that the Director would change his mind. It would be outright stupid to leave him behind, especially on a trip like this, "So you decided to turn it into a scouting mission?" The Dragon smirked, "I'm glad to see you didn't slip into self pity and decide to make this a constructive mission."

"You know if Zynnis were in my place, and I in his, he would have shot you for that statement. I don't lash out like the commander does Kinster, but believe me, I have my own ways of getting even. So you just remember that." The wolf took another long swig from the flash and glared at the Dragon, "Needless to say, I've had a change of heart. I think you can help us tremendously while we're out, and I expect you to pull your own weight."

The dragon shrugged again, "I wouldn't expect you to feel any other way."

"I know what happened down near the cargo bay."

The Dragon felt his stomach tie itself into a knot, he wasn't expecting anyone to know, "I uh, what do you mean?"

"I saw the burns, there is only one reason burns like that appear, and if he had been actually facing that door before it blew out, he wouldn't have taken it face first." Trip had a paw up on his chin, his elbow resting against the desk, "I imagine you don't want that slipping out to anyone, so here is the deal," He paused to let his words sink in, "No more games, you obviously know a lot more about us than you are letting on. How, I don't know, but I intend to find that out."

The Dragon shifted in his chair uncomfortably, not really knowing how he wanted to approach this situation, "Tell me what you want."

The wolf smirked, "I want to know who you really are, and what you're really fucking doing on my ship."

Styrr sighed and nodded, "It's hard to explain."

"Well you better get started."

"Easiest way would be to take me to the Elder."

The wolf eyed the dragon carefully, "The who?"

Styrr nodded, "Don't play coy with me. You already told me you know there is more to me than meets the eye. If you want your answers, you'll take me to see Krysnar."

The wolf looked at Styrr blankly, "Who?"

The Dragon sighed and stood, "Again, don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about it. If you want your answers, then you better step to it."

The wolf sighed, he didn't know whether he wanted to back himself further into the corner or just give in to the Dragon. It was hard to deny that someone didn't exist when they were asked for by name, but the fact that the Dragon knew about their Elder was not only surprising, but worrying at the same time. He didn't like being put into awkward corners, and that was right where he was. He looked the Dragon in the eyes, "If I don't get the answers that I want by the end of this little act you're putting on, I'll have my interrogators take care of my questions. I promise that."

The Dragon answered with a laugh and stood.

"I'm deathly serious."

Styrr could only chuckle again as he motioned to the door, "You'll have your answers. After you good sir."