{"sf1_id":884037,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Change","author":"Drake_The_Traveller","words":3403,"posted_at":"2015-07-08T07:12:00.000Z","tags":["Anthro","Character Development","Crossover","Drama","Human","Romance","Sci-Fi","Story Progression","Story Series","dead space"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/884037-change","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/884037","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=884037\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Starfox: Liberation\nChapter 7: Change\nA change in behavior begins with a change in the\nheart...\n-Anonymous\n \nAlaric at the captain's chair, idly reading from the\nconsole in front of him. The Serpent's\nLair was slowly turning into a decent ship. He had cleared up most of the\njunk and placed it in the hold to space it when he had the time and most of the\ninterior was now squared away, including the elevator, which he got operable\nless than an hour ago. The only real trouble left was going to be buying parts\nfor the systems that didn't work. For example, while the hull was in great\ncondition after being worked on back on Fortuna, the shields remained offline.\nHe checked the generator and saw that it needed several parts replaced, and\nthat would neither be easy or cheap. Then there was the weapons system, or\nrather lack of it. The ship didn't so much as have a single railgun. All it had\nwas a small turret on the top for clearing asteroids, and that wouldn't do much\nagainst a military grade ship or pirates for that matter. \nHe also needed furnishing for his cabin and the\nother five cabins down on the crew deck. Then there was the whole thing with\nthe food situation, which he didn't want to even think about. \n\"MRE's...pff.\" Alaric muttered darkly to himself. \nHe just hoped that once he had done what he was\nasked of, that the UEG would hold up to its promise. Otherwise he would be\npretty pissed to have done all this grueling work for nothing. \nAlaric checked the screen in front of him for an\nupdate on the ship's flight status and saw that they were a half an hour from\ntheir destination. Now that he was so close to his objective he started to\nthink of a plan for finding the ship. His best bet would be to try and pinpoint\nits last exact location, and compute how far it could have gone. He had been\ntold that it was last known to be in the Katininan gravity well, which placed\nit with a few light-years of the planet and its surrounding space. So with luck\nhe would find The Undying in an hour or maybe two at most after exiting\nshockspace.\nNow, when he found it he had another problem to\ncontend with. Krystal was aboard his ship and she was bound to be curious and\nask questions. And if he had to go aboard The\nUndying he felt uncomfortable with leaving her all alone on-board his ship.\nNot as much as for her safety, but more so that she couldn't do anything to it.\nYet he was more worried of what would happen if he brought her with him. The Undying was a clandestine human spy\nship, so the crew would not be happy to see a cornerian on their little\ninfiltrator vessel. And if he knew intelligence agencies, which he did, they\nwould go to great lengths to silence her before she could talk about it. And\nthat would place Alaric in an awkward position; he would have to save her. For\nsome reason the vixen was starting to grow on him, even her childish views on\nthe universe and her soft hearted ways. And so saving her would probably result\nin killing the crew. And that was kind of against the purpose of what he was\nsupposed to be doing. Then he would be hunted down like an animal and put down\nby the UEG's attack dogs. All in all, that plan didn't sound all that great. \nHis brow was furrowed as he tried to decide what to\ndo before it was too late.\n\"What's with the frowny face?\" Krystal requested\nfrom her seat next to him. The vixen had been quietly sitting while he worked\nand chose that moment to speak her mind.\n\"I'm trying to come up with a plan.\" He replied\nstiffly, not happy to have his thoughts interrupted.\nShe silently nodded a little hurt by his rough\nresponse. Alaric was becoming more and more testy the closer they got to their\ndestination, and she didn't know why. What she did know, was that it had\nsomething to do with the ship. She could sense that much from him and Krystal\nwas curious to know more, and there was a way she could find out. But would it\nbe the right thing to do? She could use her powers to slip into his mind and\nsee his thoughts, but there would be no coming back from that. The vixen\nthought to herself and decided that she could at the most try to get a more in\ndepth surface reading. With that she would learn a little more, without digging\nto deep. \nKrystal closed her eyes and exhaled quietly, opening\nher mind completely to her surroundings. She did not often do this, preferring\nto not be flooded by other people's emotions and thoughts, but she would make\nan exception this one time.\nImmediately after she opened herself up, she almost\ngasped. There was an immense void of swirling rage, grief, and isolation. And\nit was all coming from Alaric. Krystal shot open her emerald eyes and stared at\nthe scarred human in amazement. His uncaring outside surface bellied a\nhurricane of tumultuous emotions. How could he look so calm with such dark thoughts\nchurning unbridled in his mind? It was almost enough to overcome the vixen's\nown, but with an extreme force of will she managed to keep herself from\nbecoming consumed. \nYet she still had more to learn so she steeled\nherself and tried to delve deeper into his chaotic mind. \n \nAlaric was unaware of her intrusion into his mind,\nalthough he did feel exposed for some reason. But he shrugged it off as a\nrandom sensation and returned his thoughts once more to how he was going to\nhandle his furry problem.\n \nKrystal shuffled through Alaric's surface thoughts,\nwhich mostly were errant considerations about his ship and how he was going to\nget it running. But a few others grabbed her attention in particular because\nthey were in regards to her. And she couldn't help but take a deeper peak; she\nwas curious to know what he truly felt about her, without his heavy layers of\nprotective sarcasm and anger.\nShe was surprised to find out that while he did\nthink she was rather annoying, that he genuinely enjoyed her company, probably\nmore than he would admit to himself. She began to feel a warm sensation that\nbuilt upon itself the more she discovered. He also thought she was pretty! The\nvixen couldn't help but giggle happily at the thought, which happened to grab\nthe human's attention.\n \nAlaric heard Krystal giggle quietly and turned his\nfocus away from the console and his brooding to stare at her curiously. \"What's\nso funny?\" He demanded with a questioning grumble.\nKrystal twitched, as if she had been shaken awake,\nand looked to him with an innocent smile. \"Nothing...nothing at all.\" She replied\nlightly as her tail started to bounce happily behind her.\nHe eyed her closely, but after a few seconds he\nshrugged with a scoff and went back to his brooding, muttering about 'crazy\nwomen'. \nKrystal smiled and stroked her tail as she watched\nhim work. For some reason knowing that he liked her, albeit grudgingly, filled\nher with such glee that she felt as if she was laying on a bed of clouds.\n \nAlaric heard the faint beeping of the ship's\nnavigations system and a few moments later it shuddered softly and the blue\nhaze of shockspace faded slowly to reveal a curtain of stars with a brownish\nworld floating in the background. \"We're here.\" He notified the blue vixen, and\nfrowned at the stupidly pleased grin that was plastered on her muzzle. \"Hey are\nyou in there? Ground control to Krystal.\" Alaric muttered and snapped his\nfingers in front of her muzzle.\nKrystal shook her muzzle quickly and blushed as she\nresponded. \"Yeah I was just thinking...again.\"\nAlaric rolled his eyes and focused back on the\nship's controls. \"Didn't look much like thinking to me.\" \n\"So we're here you said?\" Krystal asked quickly,\nchanging the subject.\n\"Yeah, just got to pinpoint where the ship is,\nthen...\" The human trailed off. Then he had no idea what he was going to do. He\nsupposed that he would just take her with him. It was not like his life could\nget any worse. \"Then we see why the ship went missing.\" He finished.\n\"Alright.\" She nodded in agreement.\nAlaric maneuvered the controls and set The Serpent's Lair out from the\nShockPoint beacon. The bridge of the freighter was silent as Alaric followed\nafter the navigation trail of The Undying. Somewhere along this specified path\nway, the ship went missing, and perhaps they could find some clues as to why. \n \n \nKrystal was growing increasingly bored. She was never\ngood at keeping still for very long. In an effort to keep herself occupied she\nstarted to groom her fur, running a clawed paw through it and picking out the\ndust and anything else that got stuck in her soft cerulean coat. But that only\nkept her busy for a few minutes at best, and when she was done she became\nrestless. Humming a tune to herself, she rocked in her chair and looked around\nthe bridge for something else to do. \nBut the only source of entertainment was the grumpy\nhuman piloting the ship...who she decided to bother.\n\"So...\" She said, turning her chair to face him with a\ngrin. \"Do you like flying?\" \nAlaric sighed and lowered his head, answering\nreluctantly. \"Yes.\"\n\"Why?\"\nInstead of saying something rude, as he usually did.\nAlaric decided to try being nice for once. \"I like the sense of freedom.\" He\nchuckled ironically at that. \"You can go anywhere. The whole galaxy is open to\nyou.\" And after seven years of confinement, that level of liberty was particularly\nenjoyable for him. But he left that part out for obvious reasons.\nKrystal wagged her bushy tail at his explanation, but\nmore so because he had responded without his usual indifference. \"That's nice.\"\nShe said sweetly.\nAlaric looked back at her smiling muzzle and\nchuckled, smiling himself. \"I suppose it is.\" \nThe human and the vixen stared at one another\nsilently, neither able to look away. \nAlaric found himself absorbed into her bright\nemerald eyes, which were so vibrant and full of life, so unlike his own. She\nwas carefree and happy, untroubled by life and its inherent miseries. Nor had\nshe been deterred by his bleak outlook, rather instead feeling the desire to\nmake him see and experience what joys life could bring. Alaric was starting to\nfeel that she may be right about life, and that all he needed was fun. He\ndecided there and then, he would try and be a normal person, if nothing more\nthan to spite those who reveled in his misery. The only one who would suffer if\nhe chose to live despondently was himself. The problem, he thought sadly, was\nthat if she discovered what he had done and been all those years ago, she would\nthink him a monster. So, he vowed to do whatever it took to keep his past a secret,\nshe was the only friend he ever had, as pathetic as that sounded. And he would\ndo almost anything to keep her. \nKrystal looked into his dark ruby red eyes, and saw\na slowly mending soul. Whatever his life had been up to this point had scarred\nhim deeply. His anger and grief were his guiding emotions. She would have to\nreplace those with happiness. Krystal chose to dedicate herself to seeing that\nhe would have a better outlook on life. \nAlaric noticed that they had been staring for too\nlong and so he cleared his throat roughly and scratched at the color of his\nshirt. \"Yes well, I suppose we should focus on finding that ship.\" He suggested\nstiffly, trying to recover his hardened aura. The human wasn't ready to\ncompletely throw off his protective attitude. \n\"Yes you're right.\" Krystal agreed with a warm smile,\nglad that she had made a brief breakthrough.\nAlaric scanned the stars and checked the screens.\nFrom what he had been told, The Undying\nhad last reported in somewhere near the edge of the Katininan gravity well.\nThis should place its location within a few hours flight of the planet itself.\nSo banking his hypothesis off that, Alaric had The Serpent's Lair focus its\nefforts in that area. And he was surprised when he almost immediately got\nresults.\nThe ship's computer announced that it had a lock on\ntwo ships of different sizes and classes, one of which was The Undying. Alaric was dumbfounded that he had discovered it so\nsoon. And he was also concerned over the presence of another ship. He had been\ntold nothing about any other vessel. The computer said that they were five\nminutes away at full engine burn and he could see the faint outlines of two\nships. One was small, and the other was massive, dwarfing both his freighter\nand what had to be The Undying. \n\"Is that it?\" Krystal asked from beside him, and the\nhuman nodded. \n\"Yes, but I don't know what the other ship is.\" \n\"It looks like a Starliner.\" Krystal said in\nsurprise.\nAlaric decided to run a database inquires on both\nships, and got results in moments.\nAs he suspected, the smaller ship was The Undying, a frigate-class science\nvessel. From what he was reading it had a crew of a little more than a fifty.\nIt was small, even for a frigate. But the ship currently attached to it was\nanother story entirely,\nKrystal was right; the other ship was a Starliner, The Magenta. It belonged to Lylat Cruises,\na well-known subsidiary of Phoenix Enterprise. From what the database told him.\nThey used to be a weapons manufacture that went philanthropic. At that moment\nthough, he couldn't give a shit. He was more concerned with the fact that it\nwas docked with a human infiltration vessel. Of course they probably didn't\nknow that, but that was beside the point. If there was no emergency, then why\ndid The Undying go off the grid? If he wanted answers to his questions, he\nwould have to get closer. \n\"Let's take a closer look.\" Alaric suggested and\nbrought The Serpent's Lair closer.\nOnce he got close enough, he began to realize why it had not reported in. The\naft section of human vessel had been shorn off in what looked like an explosion\nof some kind. And he could see debris floating in space around it. That would\nexplain why it had failed to report in, and why the cornerians would have\ndocked. They probably wanted to rescue any of the ship's survivors. Still, they\nshould have been hailed by The Magenta before they even got this close. The\nship's silence put him on edge.\nAlaric rose from his seat and looked to Krystal.\n\"Try and contact the Starliner. I need to get ready...\"\nKrystal didn't bother questioning him on what he was\ngetting ready for and just nodded as she took his chair.\nAlaric ducked out of the room, as he heard Krystal\ntrying to get a hold of the Starliner. He headed towards him cabin and quickly\nslipped inside. Standing in the center, he paused and looked towards his armor,\nwhich stood dormant. The man walked to his bed and sat down, staring at the\nsuit of black plate. He was sorely tempted to let it rot in the ship, but he\nrather be safe than sorry. Alaric stepped towards it and grabbed the Hydra's\nFangs patch on the shoulder and tore it off, throwing it on the bed. He didn't\nwant Krystal asking questions he would rather leave unanswered. \nHe keyed in a code on his bracer and the back of the\nsuit hissed open, armored plates peeling back to expose the inside. Alaric\nclimbed into the armor and felt it close around his body. He refrained once\nmore from activating the helmet, and after grabbing his pulse rifle and\nslinging it on his shoulder he buckled his sword hilt to his waist.\nWith his equipment ready he left the room and walked\nback to the bridge.\nKrystal was sitting in his chair and turned to face\nhim. Her usually smiling muzzle was dipped into a frown. \"The ship isn't\nresponding...and what is all that for?\" She inquired, gesturing to his armor and\nweapons with a delicate paw.\n\"I don't like this. Something's wrong, and I'll be\ndamned if I walk into a strange situation without protection.\" He answered\nsimply as he motioned for her to vacate his seat, which he regained. \nKrystal stood next to him, eyeing the intimidating\narmor and weapons carefully. He was certainly serious about being prepared she\nobserved as she looked to the sleek black rifle he had on his back.\nAlaric decided that since they were not responding,\nthey wouldn't mind if he docked with the ship. The one of the only remaining\ndocking apparatuses was on the other side of the huge vessel and so he twisted\nThe Serpent's lair around and flew it to the other side. He maneuvered his ship\nso that the docking tube on the side was level with the Starliner's own. Using\nthe maneuvering jets, he managed to get tube to connect with the port and\nlocked it down. Seconds after he and Krystal heard the dull clanking as the\nStarliner's automated system connected its clamps. \nWith that done, Alaric and Krystal left the bridge\nand made way towards the tube. It was down on the maintenance deck of the\nfreighter and so after a short ride in the lift they walked towards the\ncircular bulkhead. Alaric activated the airlock doors and stepped inside,\nhelping Krystal in with him. The vixen was beginning to feel a deep seated\ndread but could not figure out why. All she knew was that the closer she got to\nthe Starliner, the worse the feeling became. \nAs they waited for it to pressurize and open the\nnext partition into the walkway, Alaric saw the blue female fox nervously rubbing\nher paws together. Concerned, he asked her a question. \n\"Are you alright?\" \nKrystal smiled weakly at the concern the usually\ndour human displayed and nodded. \nHe looked unconvinced but let it slide when the\ndoors opened, admitting them into the brief walkway that would take them into\nthe Starliner. They crossed the threshold and passed the short rubber-like tube\nto the Starliner, stepping out of it and onto the cool deck of the massive\nvessel. \nKrystal looked around and felt her unease spike\nexponentially. The open deck around them was deserted, and the lights were\ndimmed with a few shut off all together. Luggage was spread out haphazardly as\nif the owners had been in some great rush to abandon them and the air was\nunnaturally frigid and clammy. She felt herself unconsciously moving to\nAlaric's side and grabbing his gloved hand for reassurance.\nAlaric was a little stunned at her act and looked to\nthe vixen, ready to drop one of his sarcastic comments about personal space.\nBut when he saw the women's fear etched muzzle, he found himself doing\nsomething entirely different. Instead, he squeezed her paw comfortingly and\nsmiled down at her. \"Don't worry, I'll keep you safe.\" He of course meant it,\nbut didn't expect that he would need to. At most he expected to deal with a few\ndisgruntled tourists and maybe an armed guard or two.\nBut to Krystal, the promise was much more than mere\nwords. It meant that he cared for her, deeply. At least that's how she\nperceived it. And she enjoyed and preferred it that way.\nAfter a few moments, he let go of her paw and\nbrought his rifle up. Just because he didn't think he would need it didn't mean\nthat he would not be prepared. \"Come on, let's go find out what's going on\nhere. Our best bet is to head towards the bridge...wherever that is.\" He\nsuggested as he led her out of the abandoned room and into a long corridor. "}