FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The Dark Nebula

Volume Delta: Confrontations

Initiating Transmission...

Yui Ganra (Male, Lion, Envoy of the United Galaxies)

Ul'yen Ticer (Male, Ferret, Energy Scientist expert for the United Galaxies)

Ferra Frowerey (Female, Wolf, Captain of the Celestial Song)

Vel Tolbard (Male, Fox, Communicator and Navigator of the Celestial Song)

Xendar Kylok (Male, Tiger, Mechanical Engineer of the Celestial Song)

Ju'lia Nifta (Female, Skunk, Deck Officer of the Celestial Song)

Belia Voste (Female, Space Porpoise, EVA Specialist of the Celestial Song)

Lief Gamble (Male, Horse, Marine Expedition Commander of the Celestial Song)

Bale Krinos (Male, Wolf, Marine aboard the Celestial Song)

Roge Vinta (Male, Wolf, Marine aboard the Celestial Song)

Silvi Kenton (Female, Mouse, Electronic Counter Measures officer of the Celestial Song)

Eva Nime (Female, Rabbit, Medical Officer of the Celestial Song)

Rhykaun (Male, Hyena, Space Pirate and Captain of the Black Sun.)

Vera (Female, Hyena, Space Pirate ship-slave and courier)

Thine (Male, Hyena, Salvager)

Renee (Female, Hyena, Salvager)

The misshaped sphere called Xin floated in the silence of space as the cloaked form of the Celestial Song approached. The ships bay opened for a moment as the shuttle Charlie-Foxtrot launched with Ferra, Belia, Yui, and a platoon of Marines aboard. All of them were nervous not knowing what to expect as they neared the steel grey mirco-planetoid.

"As soon as we land Alpha team is to take up point, team Bravo and Charlie will work center security and Delta will be rear security, keep a nice tight formation." Ferra said watching the acknowledgement from her team leaders. They were in luck the docking bay seemed to be functional as Belia exited out of the shuttle through one of airlocks and propelled herself slow and careful towards the access panel.

Belia stopped a few inches from the access panel and dug into her pouch belt pulling out a system bypass and a power cell. It took five tense minutes but soon the docking bay lights switched on and the large doors opened into the vacuum of space. The shuttle gently glided into the hanger Belia following behind then she propelled herself over to the inner access panel. The great yawning gate of the docking bay slid closed slowly.

"Captain all sensors indicate atmosphere but there is only mirco-gravity here enough that it will keep you on the ground but I would advise against jumping." Said the pilot; setting the ship down clumsily on the docking bay floor. Belia seemed to float down from the air as she landed and gave a squawk as she confirmed that she was alright.

"Belia you and the ship dust off as soon as we clear into the inner hatches. Yui stay behind Alpha and direct them which way to go." Ferra said, then without looking back they entered the inner chamber of the facility. As Ferra commanded when the inner hatch sealed Belia boarded the Charlie-Foxtrot and they took off back to the Celestial Song.

Rhykaun gave a hiss of satisfaction as he felt his climax nearing. Under him Vera only whimpered as tears streamed down her cheeks. The male above her shuddered and then she felt the hot splash of his semen as it violated her. She only wanted him to be done with her and leave her alone. Fortunately for her that wish was granted as Rhykaun pulled out and licked his lips with a sated grin. Vera then sorrowfully picked up her clothes and crept away.

As she staggered out of Rhykaun's private chambers she swore to herself that if there was ever a time that she could make the pirates pay she would act upon it. For now though all she could do was wait until that opportunity arose.

Rhykaun walked onto the bridge and immediately the deck officer reported to him; they had to location of the Celestial Song it was holding orbit around the second moon of the planet. Rhykaun knew that it would be the perfect time to strike soon and with his cunning he ordered his fleet to position themselves to the far side of the planet so they could sneak up on the unwary ship.

"Prepare a shuttle; there must be something about the second moon that is of interest to them." Rhykaun said scratching his mangy chin. The crew of the Black Sun jumped at the order as they not only prepared for a fight but prepared for the shuttle craft that would launch their Captain and his away team to whatever destination he had planned.

The crew of the Celestial Song were still on high alert as they orbited, the moon, Xin. Ju'lia looked to Vel's station as he gave her the report.

"The pirates seem to be pulling their forces back as if retreating." The fox said as he looked over his scanners. Ju'lia could only hope that the pirates had given up. It was true that the Celestial Song was well equipped, but would be strained if forced into combat.

"Keep me posted Lieutenant, have the crew stay on alert and have the techs run scanners over the ship. If they managed to sneak a beacon aboard then we are as good as de-cloaked." Ju'lia gritted her teeth; the suspense was obviously grinding on her normally steely nerves.

Just then Vel yelped as his tactical display howled at him in warning.

"The pirate forces are turning towards us! They are plotting an intercept course and surrounding us!" Vel yelled in alarm.

"It's a trap!" Ju'lia hissed "All hands to battle stations! Red alert!"

The crew scrambled as got all defensive systems on-line. Proton cannons charged up, missile bays opened up, ion gun banks lit up as the crew prepared for the incoming fight.

"Deflector shields up!" Ju'lia commanded as they watched in incoming wave of jerry-rigged pirate ships approaching. The ships seemed to slow down a bit and then the communications board beeped.

"M-Ma'am! The pirates want our immediate surrender. They want our response or they will open fire!" Vel said gritting his teeth.

"Tell them to give us one hour to prepare our answer... we have to give the Captain more time..." Ju'lia said hoping that they could stall the pirates long enough for Ferra to get back to the ship.

"In the mean time keep all stations at the ready." Ju'lia said licking her lips nervously.

"I knew it!" Rhykaun said as they approached the far side of the moon and the airlock of the moons mining facility came into view.

"There was something here. Now we'll just have to make sure that the she-bitch, and her crew, never leave this place." Rhykaun looked to his personal squad of commandos each of them trained and brandishing energy weapons in eager anticipation. With a single command the pirate shuttle launched a salvo of missile that instantly turned the outer docking bay doors to shreds. Each of the pirates including Rhykaun donned environmental suits in preparation to enter the facility.

The ground shook and the Marines, Yui, and Ferra fell over clumsily from the miniscule amount of gravity that was offered. The sound of an explosion echoed down the now pressurized sealed corridor.

"What the hell was that?!" one of the Marines asked as he got to his feet. But there was no need to answer for all of them knew what was happening. They had company. Ferra quickly had the Marines form a defensive perimeter as she and Yui headed towards the main digging area. Then suddenly the hatch at the halls end was opened and a stream of energy fire came through the door.

Ferra tackled Yui to the ground as the Marines turned on their shield and returned fire. Ferra hastily turned on her shield belt and using her own body as cover for Yui ushered him to the next hatchway. Yui scrambled to unlock it and when they were through he activated the security gate.

"That should hold them." Yui said and then crumpled to the ground on one knee. Ferra switched off her shields and looked Yui over. An energy bolt had gone through one part of his left leg. Yui turned over and slumped against the wall.

"Yui!" Ferra said in concern.

"Don't worry I'll be fine. You go ahead I'll only slow you down. Find the Dark Nebula and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands." Yui said with a weary smile. Ferra quickly pulled one of her plasma pistols and handed it to Yui.

"Just point and pull the trigger." Ferra said and with that she stood up and ran off down into the darkness ahead knowing now that it was imperative that she succeed.

It was the perfect opportunity. Everyone was paying attention to the battle that was about to begin and Vera quietly slinked off. She had carefully made her way down to the engineering section of the ship and now stood in front of the main power core. Its archaic design showed that it was much older than she or any of the crew was. Its tubes and wires sticking out showed how outdated it was.

Vera looked around to make sure she was alone then grabbed a handful of wires that connected to the core and tugged as hard as she could. Sparks flew as the wires came loose but nothing seemed to happen. Then the gauge marked coolant began to move showing where power to the pumps had been interrupted.

Vera retreated knowing she would have to be quick if she was to gather the rest of the women and children and make an escape from the Black Sun and its doomed passengers. She only hoped that no one would notice what was happening until it was too late. Then alarms went off, the pirates were starting their attack.

Ferra made her way down into the darkness letting her vision adjust. She was at a junction now and she was at wits end to go left or right. She was just about to walk to the left when she felt, no heard a voice, coming from the right. It sounded like... singing?

Ferra strained her ears to listen and she followed the sound, it was a familiar tune, it actually sounded like a lullaby that her mother use to sing to her. She cautiously made her way down the hall as she pulled out her plasma pistol, just in case.

The hallway came to an abrupt airlock style door. Ferra cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. It was a cavernous room, and at the far end there seemed to be something that was pulsing with a faint bit light. Ferra opened the door all the way and walked in keeping her pistol trained on the object and as she approached closer she could make out a sphere floating in a clear containment canister.

Ferra's heart seemed stop as she realized that she was looking right at the item she sought. Then suddenly hot pain lanced through her side and she cried out and yelped falling as she clutched her left flank. Ferra's plasma pistol fell and bounced across the floor out of her reach. A small neat hole was burned right through her stomach. She glanced weakly back at the door and there stood Rhykaun and one of his pirate crew members.

"You should have taken her head off!" Rhykaun barked at his crewman when suddenly the crewman's chest exploded as hot plasma tore through him. Yui leveled the plasma gun at Rhykaun as the crewman fell dead to the floor. Rhykaun was quicker than he looked and spun out of the way his own photon pistol in hand and he shot the lion dead center in the chest.

Ferra watched as the light faded from Yui's eyes and the pacifist lion fell to the ground a corpse. She then only could helplessly watch and Rhykaun approached twirling his pistol on a finger idlely.

"Well, well Ferra Frowerey so nice to see you again. I think that I've won this round but lets not be hasty and finish this so quick." Rhykaun said with menace in his voice. Ferra activated her belt shield as Rhykaun shot at her, Rhykaun laughed maniacally as he shot again and again as Ferra's belt beeped showing that it was reaching its deflection limits.

Then her shield gave way and another photon bolt sizzled though her right shoulder. Ferra screamed and rolled out of the way as Rhykaun grinned shooting at her toyingly with his pistol. Then suddenly the attack stopped. Rhykaun had expended his energy clip, the pirate captain looked at his now useless weapon and for a moment contemplated on picking up one of the other dropped energy weapons. Instead he drew out his vibro-blade.

"Your time is at an end Frowerey and now you will die seeing my triumph!" Rhykaun leapt on her and Ferra gasped as the blade sunk into her stomach, blood began to flow and Rhykaun cackled in delight as he watched Ferra now gasping in torment.

"You'll bleed out slow and helpless, and maybe after I'll celebrate by defiling your still warm corpse, but first..." Rhykaun got up pulling the blade from Ferra he walked to the canister and with a slash from his still bloody vibro-blade shattered the container catching the sphere of pulsing power in his hands letting his blade clatter to the ground.

"It's mine... all mine..." Rhykaun said grinning greedily.

"You are not worthy..." came a voice that was both male and female at the same time. Rhykaun looked around for the vocalization, but the source was right in front of him. Rhykaun gazed at the Dark Nebula in his hands that now seemed to become cold.

"What?! What the?..." Rhykaun said looking closer at the orb he held.

"Begone contemptible being..." the voice said. Ferra could only close her eyes to shield them from the light. The pirate didn't even have time to scream as he was instantly vaporize the Dark Nebula falling to the ground and rolling silently towards Ferra stopping a few feet away.

"So you are Ferra Frowerey... we have been waiting a long time for you..." said the sphere to a startled but slowly dying Ferra.

"Guess they didn't like our response!" Vel said looking at his tactical readout. As more incoming fire battered against the ship.

Another barrage of ion bursts and proton beams fired in retaliation as the Celestial Song rocked under the attack from the pirate vessels. Ju'lia held onto the command chair as she watched another enemy vessel explode.

"That's it crew! Let em have it!" Ju'lia said in a snide yet satisfied voice.

"Ma'am! Our weapons are overheating and our missile bays are at are down to eighty percent depletion. Enemy forces are down to sixty percent, shield are down to ten percent, we won't last much longer!" Vel said sifting through the data.

"Boost the power I want to take as many down with us as possible!" Ju'lia knew it was hopeless, if there was any hope left it would soon be crushed when their shield dropped. The pirates only had low powered laser cannons, but when they focused their fire it took a devastating effect on their shields.

"What's going on?" came a sudden voice from behind.

Ju'lia turned to see a small gathering of the crew including Lief, Silvi, Xendar, Eva, Bale, Roge, and Belia.

"Missiles are empty, all cannons are at max heat and have stopped firing, shields are going down!" Vel cried out. The spacecraft rocked and everyone was nearly thrown to the port bulkhead. Some of the bridge crew held onto their consoles. Then everything was silent.

"Ma'am pirates have stopped firing we have a hull breach on deck eight we lost all crew in sector five-eight. Our starboard propulsion has been knocked out." Vel said looking over the computers report. "The pirates are giving us an ultimatum, out unconditional surrender and preparation to be boarded or to be destroyed..."

"Who a-are you?" Ferra said lying still as possible knowing it was futile to try and fight the amount of blood she was loosing. The sphere glittered in the dim light but when it spoke it seemed to pulse with an inner light.

"We are what you call the Dark Nebula. We were once just an object, but now we are much more. We comprehend, we see, the future, the past, the present, other realms, and dimensions." The orb seemed to emit warmth from its core, not very hot but the warmth seemed to spread to Ferra's slowly chilling body.

"We have been waiting for you Ferra Frowerey for we have chosen you, even though we have monumental knowledge and energy we are unable to move on our own accord. Dr Ticer could not see what he created. But in you we sense a quality that we desire, you seek to protect those who are your friends, the ones who became your family away from your true blood." Ferra sighed, she was so cold and her vision blurred.

"It is not your time to die Ferra Frowerey. Gather your strength and become our vessel. Let us use your body, with our power you can save your friends." The Dark Nebula glittered there just out of reach, Ferra could feel her life starting to slip from her, but with a fanatical strength that she could not fathom she reached for the orb, her legs and hands feebly helping her to claw her way to the sphere which seemed to brighten as she got closer.

Ferra reached out with what she knew would be her last bit of strength and her fingers brushed the orb. A blinding light engulfed the room...

Ju'lia knew that they could not stall out any longer. The pirate vessels were now approaching closer. Then there was the most odd occurrence, a single shuttle launched from the Black Sun and then the flag ship of the pirate fleet seemed to expand and distend.

"Commander! The enemy flag ship seems to have overloaded their reactor core!" Vel said looking over his scanners. Then suddenly the ship exploded in a brilliant flash, but there was something else that was happening as well from Xin. It seemed as the moon was bathed in light, a seemingly gentle inner glow. The rest of the pirate ships were at a loss; confused over the destruction of their main flag ship.

Then Xin became dark once more and then a bright pinpoint of light appeared from the decimated docking bay. At first it moved slowly then it began to pick up speed. Suddenly it darted with incredible speed towards the escaping pirate shuttle.

Vera could only describe what she saw as an angel. It was a female form, of a canine nature but it seemed to be made of translucent light. It hovered outside the shuttle keeping pace with the craft as it looked inside at the occupants of the lifeboat. Then it zoomed off towards the pirate fleet.

The pirate ships opened fire on the angel' and yet it seemed any laser that hit the being were only absorbed into it making it glow brighter for a moment before it returned to its original luminescence. Then it held out it's right hand and a large beam of unidentified energy fifteen meters in diameter shot out and smashed through two pirate ships making them explode into vapor a second later.

Ferra had never felt so alive, she was never so aware. She knew that her friends were in danger and she was willing to keep them safe. She was not omnipotent, she knew that but she had a gathering of consciousness that she could describe as near to omnipotent as could be.

She emitted a smaller blast and disabled another ship only hitting the ships propulsion instead of its core body. The more the pirates fired on her the more she took that energy and added it to the endless reserve she already possessed. Even their missiles were useless as she absorbed the heat and kinetic energy from the explosion and just counter attacked.

Ju'lia had the Charlie-Foxtrot launch to pick up the pirate shuttle as she watched the dot of light decimate the pirate forces, not all of its shots were instant kill shots; most were disabling shots. Then as suddenly as it began the battle was over the pirate fleet drifted helplessly then the pin-prick of light began floating towards the Celestial Song.

Julia wanted to yell shields up' but their systems were currently still overheated and so the command would be useless. As the unidentified glowing object neared they could make out the shape of a female form and then Ju'lia had a spark of recognition.

"It's the Captain!" Ju'lia gasped nearly falling over. The rest of the crew murmured with awe as they watched Ferra float towards them and then, she floated right through the hull as intangible as a ghost and her feet touched the deck. Everyone gasped as the ship seemed to instantly light up.

"Main power back on-line! All systems at optimal condition!" Vel reported in astonishment. The glow surrounding Ferra began to diminish until it was a dull pulse and then there stood Ferra naked and seemingly unashamed.

Quickly Ju'lia brought a robe to Ferra and she accepted it with gratitude.

"Captain what happened to you?" Ju'lia said now wary of the sudden power that Ferra had.

"It's the Dark Nebula, we are one." Ferra said with a smile. "I know and feel so much. More than I could ever know I see realms beyond ours, even the man with the keyboard who is... well let's leave it as I can see many more things." Ferra said looking out in a seemingly random direction.

"We have much to do ahead. There can be peace in the universe and those beyond ours." Ferra continued and looked at her crew who were awestruck at the moment. "Let the healing begin..."

Vera was glad that the crew of the Celestial Song were hospitable to her and the escapees. She watched as the medical officers went over the children with scanners to make sure they were healthy. After that she was treated to a nice shower and drying. Some of the crew members had never seen female hyenas before and so they were a bit stunned at some of the more unusual' aspects of her anatomy.

"Is that a penis?" Eva asked in curiosity.

"No, its a natural thing for the females." Vera said with a smile. It seemed that it was quite a novelty.

"Well that's kind of hot..." Eva said with a little grin. But there would be time for examinations later. After the initial assessment of the damage to the Celestial Song they began the physical repairs. However, there were a few things that had changed.

"I'm leaving." Ferra said to Ju'lia as she sipped her capi, the glow from Ferra's body seemed to be ever continuous and she didn't seem to sleep. Ju'lia looked to Ferra with a hard stare.

"B-but what will we do without you Captain?" Ju'lia said tilting her head with concern.

"You will take command and make sure that the peace negotiations are still in place." Ferra set down her empty cup.

"Where will you go?" Ju'lia asked.

"To the edge of the universe and maybe after that I'll look around a bit." Ferra smiled and stood up starting to discard the robes that covered her body.

"Will we ever see you again?" Ju'lia looked up to Ferra who only glanced over her shoulder.

"Maybe." Ferra said and with that she floated up and intangibly vanished through the ceiling.

Fifty-four years later...

The door creaked as it slid open to what was once a pristine bridge; Thine shined his flashlight into the room. The beam of light played along the walls as he glanced around in the seemingly abandoned ship. They were now beginning to regret that they had chosen to do exploration for their high school project and the old abandoned ship the Celestial Song had been tricky to get aboard.

"Hey, bro anything?" Renee said.

"Quite! We don't know what still might be up in here." Thine hissed as he opened the door wider and stepped into the room. Renee followed him in suit and she glanced around at the row of cryo-tubes that lined the wall.

"Didn't grandma say that she was once on this ship?" Renee said as she began walking down the row of tubes.

"Yeah, didn't expect it to be so creepy though." Thine said starting at the other end of the cryo-tube row and then jumped back as one of the tubes beeped. He yelped and fell back as the tube hissed and then began to open. Renee was in wide eyed panic as the lights suddenly went on illuminating the entire bridge. A modulated voice spoke, but it was faded from the years that had passed.

"Cr-cryo-sta-stasis in-interupted."

The tube opened fully and from the tube a still somewhat young looking female skunk yawned and stretched shivering from the cold. The fog of the cryo-tube began to dissipate and Thine blinked as Renee ran over to help him up.

"W-who are you?" Thine asked as he got to his feet.

"Oh! Hello there." Ju'lia said still weary from her sleep, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she clumsily stepped from the tube and yelped as her feet touched the cold floor. Renee tilted her head looking to the other female who stepped out of the tube and yawned walking over to one of the computer panels and brought up a display.

"Wow! I've been out of it for that long?" Ju'lia groaned and then looked back at the two young hyenas standing there dumbfounded.

"I'm Commander Ju'lia Nifta, you two probably tripped the automatic defrost that I set up, and now I'll have to set it up again." Ju'lia turned to the access panel and keyed in a few buttons. Then suddenly Ju'lia heard the two youths gasp as a familiar voice sounded.

"You don't have to do that." came a more than melodious voice of Ferra Frowerey as she floated up from the floor in all her photonic glory. She looked to the two young hyenas and waved with a smile.

"G-gh-ghost!" Thine yelped as Renee just stood there agape in terror. Then both of them scrambled for the door, tripping and bumbling leaving Ferra and Ju'lia alone together.

"Well you sure do make an entrance." Julia said placing her hands on her hips.

"You would not believe the things I have seen!" Ferra said and with a wave of her hands created a luminescent screen of light showing magnificent galactic wonders. Far off planets, odd alien species, and beautiful clouds of newly forming solar systems; all was shown to Ju'lia from Ferra's eyes.

"Well it looks like you have been there and back again." Ju'lia said with a smile.

"Indeed I have and I've learned so much." Ferra said with a weary smile.

"So are you back to stay or just passing through?" Ju'lia asked holding out a robe to Ferra who graciously accepted it.

"Well, I'm actually just passing through. However, the floor is cold and I could sure go for a hot cup of capi..." Ferra said with a grin.

End Transmission three.