FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Arun Gave a soft sigh, the only sound besides the tinkling of water in her quarters. She was on a spaceship, *her* spaceship, and normally such luxeries as a shower would, to put it mildly, have been upsetting given they only had so much water to go around. But she'd been saving up her water rations for months, and after her last mission, she needed it. Leaning back agains the tile of the Zero-G suction shower, hot water droplets flowing from it's top to it's bottom, she pondered why it was always the simple missions that were the most likely to go FUBAR. At nearly 9 feet tall including her horns, the herm dragoness was far from a little figure when it came to combat. Her belly was white, a sharp contrast to the purple scales on the rest of her form and her crimson hair, her yellow, slitted eyes hidden beneath her eyelids as she attempted to let the water wash away her stress. Scars ran across her form, each one a memory, a trophy, her body sporting glowing purple runes here and there as well, shining in the dim light. The mission had seemed quick and easy; Find a facility where they were doing illegal bio-weapons research, shut it down, and bug out before they figured out where she was. She hadn't counted on them having a division of genetically tailored natives turned wolverine-taurs with noses like bloodhounds and heavy weapons mounted on back harnesses. Not only had she only partially damaged the facility before the defense forces had shown up, but in the process of getting out of dodge she'd lost her personal rifle, and then a pair of vehicle class Laser cannons mounted on one of their backs had hit her powered armor, gutting the power supply and almost shearing off her bosom. It had only been a combination of luck, using oppurtunities, and her skills which had gotten her to her ship in time to leave a present for the pursuing forces; a truck full of plastique and hot sauce which had turned the soldiers sensetive noses against them, letting them leave without taking any AAA on the way, thank the gods. And now here she was, enroute to do one of the things she most hated doing, calling in a favor.

The impact of her scaled fist against the alloy wall of the shower left a dented impression in the mental, and the resulting throbbing of her hand helped clear her head; She could get through this. She had a good crew, a ship, and she was a merc, a damned good one. She'd find a way. Turning off the flow of water, she let herself watch as the bubble of mist she'd been showering in was sucked into tiny pores in the walls of the sealed chamber, the seal on the door not opening until all of it had been recycled into the ships feeder tank for the plants they used for food and oxygen production. It meant the water only left a bit of residue in her hair, and the rest of her body was dry when the seal broke, removing the need for her to towel off. Breaking the seal to her quarters, the smell of her room filled her nose, a mingled mixture of sweat, metal, food, and a tiny hint of sex from her other stress relief methods, the unique bouquet letting her find comfort in being in a place she knew was safe. Putting on a loose tanktop and a pair of easy-flex jeans she'd found comfortable to wear casually over the years, she stepped out of the 'coffin' shower as her ships engineer, a cranky badger by the name of Ignacious everyone called 'grouchy', liked to call it, and sat down, taking a moment to get a brush and de-tangle the long red hair she did her best to keep well groomed. Not all dragons had manes, but she was glad for hers, despite the constant helmet-head she got post mission. She'd only half finished her hair when a knock on her cabin door made her look up, her lips pulling back in a nearly audible snarl for a moment before she calmed herself; she was most definetely not in the mood for company, but it wasn't her crew-mates fault. "Come on in..."

The helmet that glanced in made her jump a moment, then calm down as she recognized the ships resident mage and sensor operator, an Akasha she usually referred to as "blue" affectionately. The Akasha were beings literally made of living Mana, energy beings borne of the stuff of the cosmos. Of course, that didn't stop him from being a shy, introspective, but playful smart aleck who enjoyed acting like a martial arts sensei, Guru, and soothsayer all the time. His race usually wore full body suits, both because their natural form tended to blind a lot of species and it helped them focus their natural gifts without outside 'interference'. Glancing up and down her, the helmet then tilted as a soft, high pitched, almost fae-like yet masculine voice echoed from it "You wear defeat pretty well... or do you count any mission you can walk away from a success?" He managed to catch the flung hairbrush and then waved it back and forth "Aw, c'mon... Tell ol' blue what happened eh? might help?" Growling, she calmed herself and let her head hang low a moment, knowing he was only concerned for her welfare; he was as close to ships counciler as they had. "What Didn't happen? No rifle, no power armor, a bunch of angry wolverine-rhino-taur things, and now I have to hope this contact with CTI will give me a fluff contract so I can start rebuilding... and I was going to get a vacation, a day off! First time since..." "Since Ragadon?" Glancing up, she hurmed "how do you know about that?" Chuckling, he handed her back the brush after walking the short distance to her, his armor's boots clanking on the metal floor. "You don't need a telepathy spell to know you had a good time down there... After all, you *were* asking me for resources on dragon pregnanciesfor a good week afterward, weren't you?"

Before she could respond, the ship's fabric shuddered a little. Not enough to cause alarm, but enough to let them know something had occurred "What was that?" Glancing back and forth a moment, face unreadable beneath the helmet he wore, 'blue' looked back at her and paused a moment "That... is a problem... Something is coming, it's big, it's upset, and I don't think it wants to play nice..." She was cut off a second time as the ship's PA came on; at only 100 meters long, she had wondered why the little patrol boat her and her crew had claimed needed one when they'd got it, but it came in handy. "People, we have company with a capital C incoming... Arun, how high rank IS this guy you wanted us to meet?" Standing up, she tied her hair back into a quick ponytail and grunted "Just great..." and glanced down at the smaller 6 foot figure in armor "Why is it murphy has it out for me this week?" She was already heading out of her quarters, her clawed toes making hurried, soft clicks on the hallway plating, as the answer followed her "When does he *not* have it out for you?"

The Hub, as it was referred to, was where most of the ships crew gathered; they were 6 of them including her, though she was the moneymaker of the family, usually. At the moment, the circular room was abandoned, the curved couches along the edge of the room unoccupied, the table in the middle only having it's space occupied by the usual clutter of drinking cups, magazines(dirty and clean), and some readouts on the security situations on various parts of the galaxy, a few hard copies of potential missions to come. A few quick taps of her clawed hands on a keypad brought up a holographic image of the captains view, a high definition camera mounted in front of the viewport giving him and her the same view of the blue and green world they were approaching. Letters appeared above it, identifying it as "Druidia 4" and giving a basic outline of it's climate and known affiliations. Squinting, she noticed something only a few pixels wide that seemed to be growing larger, the planet a background for a greyish-white blob. A couple more button presses magnified it, and she forced herself to swallow as it was identified: A ship. Not just a ship, a *big* ship. At this distance out from the main solar system, something had to be pretty chunky to be visible, and it was growing at a rather rapid pace. Blue's voice behind her seconded the opinion; "Either someone's got a really tiny dick or means business..." was his response to a diagram showing the incoming space-battleship as almost 6 kilometers long and 300 meters wide, It's shape both artistic and effecient, resembling a pair of dinner platters placed together to form a semi-oval, with four huge engines shaped like elongated eggs forming a cross on it when you viewed it head on. Of more intimidating interest were a trio of heavy cannons both above and below the ships vertical axis, each turret almost as large as her ship on it's own. Adding to that were several panels for launching missiles, and what looked like fighter launch bays along it's horizontal axis; there was no mistaking it as anything but a War-Wagon of high order.

Licking her lips, she punched in the bridge and turned on the breakroom microphone "Cap, have we got ID on that thing yet?" There was a short pause, followed by the Captains soft, deep tenor responding "No ship ID yet, but it's definetely CTI... Those Dolphins always like their ships to look like they're swimming..." Their captain was a human named Jastillus, a former naval officer who'd gotten tired of the bueracratic BS in the human navy, gone freelance, and wound up with her. If he suspected something, she'd take it to the bank. Her response was a simple hmphh of acknowledgement, her gaze turning to Blue "Shouldn't you be on the Bridge?" Shaking his head, the smaller being shrugged "I can assense here as well as I can there... and I can tell you while they're not angry at us in particular, something has them really pissed... And something isn't right. On their ship a little, on the planet a lot... but I've never felt anything like it before... Like one of our children playing, but in a pattern. " Nodding, she harrumphed: The United Sentient Species was a well-known and respected peacekeeping force, mostly funded and sponsored by CTI but also by a number of other systems, meant to keep down piracy and other such mayhem for good commerce, as well as protecting citizens of planets from invasion or their own governments persecution. And this was on the periphary of their territory. Unable to shake a sense of foreboding, She sighed and nodded "They should be here in 5 minutes or so... let me toss on some fatigues, you get to the bridge and try to keep Cap from pissing himself. Giving a sloppy salute and a "Yes, Ma'am!" he ran off to the bridge as she sighed, heading back to her quarters and quickly changing into something a bit more modest, her breasts concealed under combat fatigues as the shorts were doffed for military pants, her feet left bare as her only remaining weapon, her 12.7mm pistol, was strapped to her waist in a holster, her spare mags slipped into mag holders before she returned to the hub. Slipping on some fingerless gloves, she glanced at her handclaws and hurmphed; She hated using them, but in close combat claws could be useful weapons, even in a space-faring era.

It took a good 6 minutes more before the shipwide PA announced the arrival of the other ship nearby, the display at the front of the ship having long since been filled by the shiny, silvery bulk of the space-battleship. "This is the USS Defender: Identify yourself and your purpose" While the Captain did introductions, Arun pondered: Her contact was a mid level technician, a spinner dolphin, working on some kind of project CTI needed kept safe, and said he'd hire her as security if she needed money, after he'd seen her sparring at a gym. Why would a CTI Battlecruiser be at the system he asked her to go to, unless this was a much bigger project then he'd let on? There were a lot of questions she wanted answers to, and she doubted they'd be coming anytime soon. A few seconds later, a response none of the crew, herself included, wanted to hear came over the PA: "Heave to and prepare to be boarded for inspection so we can allow passage. Nothing Personal, but we have to play it safe. " She barely had time to kill the microphone before the less then polite response she had came out of her mouth, followed by several more words she doubted would have been used in polite company, as her answer. There was no way for them to say 'no'... their ship was security grade, not military, and the behemoth now within a few hundred kilometers of them could vaporize them before their FTL engines had finished their warm-up cycle. And with her power armor and rifle gone, so was most of their more 'questionable' gear, so they didn't have anything to hide. But she didn't have to like it either.

Walking to the airlock in the side of the ship, it took almost 10 minutes for their smaller ship to link up with the larger bulk of the USS vessel, the triple-paned viewport in the middle of the door letting her see various windows, ports, and other features of the craft go past. Something didn't feel right, and she was going to get to the bottom of it. The hatch was only about 7 feet tall; like the rest of the ship, it was made to human scale, not dragons, so she got to duck going in and out of the compartments most of the time. Just getting a bed big enough for her to sleep on had been a challenge. After what felt like entirely too long but was likely only a few seconds, an airwalk became visible and moments later linked up to the one on her ship, a dull roar sounding as the transparent accordian made of smart-fiber filled with air, and then several loud clunks as what sounded like armored figures walked down it, their forms hard to discern through the porthole, as fog had condensed on it from air on the outside hitting the space-cooled glass. A soft knock came as a surprise to her; she expected boarders to come in and act like they owned the place. One hand on her pistol, she walked to the heavy alloy hullplate that formed the inner door to the airlock and opened it, then walked to the outer door and tried to glance through the fog as it sealed behind her. A second knock, a bit less patient, was enough to make her reluctantly push the button opening the outer door... and stare point blank into the face of an orca, mouth open and teeth exposed, the same height as her.

She started, but didn't pull out her pistol; a wise choice, as behind the cetacean were four figures clad in full powered armor, rifles up and tracking her, four identical green laser dots glaring on her shirt. Slowly, she pulled her hand away from her holster, and the rifles dropped, their owners watching her invisibly through polarized visor glass. The smell from the other ship, saltwater, musk, metal, and something she couldn't identify, flowed past her into the airlock behind her. Coughing into his hand, an interesting gesture considering she knew cetaceans didn't breath through their mouths, the orca got her to glance back at him. "Sorry about this... It's not your fault, but there's been an... incident... on the planet, and every ship entering or leaving the system has to be checked. " She found herself surprised that the voice was feminine, a quick glance revealing no breasts visible on the cetacean. Noticing her glance, then Laughing and getting a blush from Arun, the large dolphin gestured "No, my planet we're more like our ancestors, they're by my crotch.." and then looked her up and down "You're the security on this vessel?" Pausing a moment, she nodded, and then crossed her arms "I guess you could say that." Gesturing behind her in a beckoning motion, the female motioned forward an average height wolf technician, his body clad in a mechanics outfit and his hands filled with what looked like a sensor device resembling a laptop computer. "This is Loop, he'll do a sensor scan of your ship; would you like to escort him?" The wolf looked up at her, and visibly restrained himself from stepping back as she towered over him, his muzzle working a moment before he spoke softly "Just a standard scan Ma'am... want to make sure you don't have any... contraband."

Growling softly, she looked him over, smelling his nervousness, then glanced at the orca "really?" Shrugging, she made a face as best she could with the limited facial muscles orcas had "This is the least intrusive way to do it... you want, the guys behind me can personally inspect your ship, but we don't want to make this more of a pain in the ass then it is already." She had to at least appreciate the orcas honesty; Nodding, she motioned an 'after you' to the wolf, then eyed the other 5 occupants of the airbridge "We'll be right back. " To his credit, the wolf was effecient and systematic, scanning along all the corridors and politely asking her to open hatchways or bulkheads that were in his way, doing his best to bother the rest of the crew as little as possible, though their shark pilot, Lyra, gave him a rather predatory grin on the bridge. He paused when he got to the hub, scanning the table and doing his best not to ogle some of the dirty magazines on the table, as well as ignoring the blush when Arun realized some of them were hers. Glancing up at her, he hurmed "Is your name... Arun?" She'd learned a long time ago not to give out information for free, but she had to admit her curiousity was piqued at his question. "Who wants to know?" Setting down the scanner, the wolf humphed a moment "Well.. I owe a purple and white dragoness named Arun a Drink... for something she did a while ago." Keeping her hand close to but not resting on her holster, she hmmmed "Oh, what did she do?" Pulling his hand up to his face, she heard a faint ripping sound, and a moment later the wolf turned to eye her, his eyes now revealed to be synthetic, half of his face made of some kind of a black, metallic carbon substance. Hand going to her Holster, she backed up as he looked at her "She Saved my family... and my life. "

Caught in shock, her mind scrabbled, attempted to remember the wolf from somewhere, anywhere, but kept drawing a blank; cybernetics weren't unknown, they were common actually once you got above a certain tech level, but his implants looked like half his face had been burnt off or torn away, and replaced with something combining chrome, carbon fiber, and black vinyl. "Shreeka 7... 8 years ago. There was a terrorist bombing, and Arun was one of the merc's they'd called in to stop it. They didn't stop it in time, and most of them ran. But she stayed to help; pulled my wife, our pups from a building before it collapsed. She was going to save me, but I told her to help them, and she did. " Finally her memories clicked, and she remembered him; he'd been trapped under some burning beams, face slashed open by glass to the bone, and had begged her to leave him, go save his family in the next building over. She'd had to knock-out his wife, toss her over her shoulder, and carry the kids under her arms. Tilting her head, she looked at his face again; Yes, it was him. The flesh was gone, replaced by cybernetics. "That's a hell of a story... is your family ok?" Nodding slowly, the wolf lifted up the fur-covered patch he'd removed, and put it back on his face, faux eyes covering the cybercamaras where his real eyes had once been, fake muscles reactivating to let him smile "Yeah... Kids are grown up now, mostly. My son wants to be a paramedic, daughter joined CTI's diplomacy wing... Wife still likes me enough to kiss me, even if half my muzzle can't feel it anymore. " Feeling a bit flushed, she blurted out "but, how did you survive?" At that, the wolf smiled "My gainful employer came in to do disaster relief... a bunch of them found me under the rubble, rebuilt my face and most of my body, Pro bono too... They're good people. You see Arun... you tell her I'll buy her a drink anytime she wants, and my wife will have her over for dinner any night she wants... just skip monday, she might regret saving her if she tastes my wife's meatloaf!" Faking a chuckle and replying "I will..." Arun tried to reconnect her mind with what had just been told to her; here was someone who's family she'd saved as a young merc, before she'd even gone proffessional. And he was working, happily, for the same company as her contact. She continued silently watching him as he finished his scan, then escorted him back to the airlock, giving her a three finger salute, something she remembered the wolf pup giving her after she'd dropped him off at the hospital, a local outdoorsman club of some kind.

With the scan completed and uploaded, the orca handed her a paper, and then hurmed as she tapped a finger to her earhole, activating some kind of comm device, and looked back up at Arun. "It seems you're wanted by one of the higher ups... If we give you co-ord's on the planet, can you land there? We'll have someone meeting you. " Nodding, she accepted the paper and then gave the coordinates to the captain, her mind made up for the moment; if she was going to get screwed, there wasn't anything she could do about it. And she had just gotten a face-slap of reality as well; she had done good things, and if a wolf missing half his face could make it work, so could she.

Enroute to the planet, she sat and talked with the rest of the crew; they weren't just her crew, they were her family, and she valued their thoughts. Jastillus had worked with CTI before, and he said they had ahighly developed honor system to even get a job, let alone by a high level employee. Vexi, resembling the result if a bluebird and a bat fell in love and conceived, and who was the diplomat, communicator and translater, reassured her they could bug out if needed, as did the ships primary helmswoman, a certain blond haired shark and former mech pilot who had rather enjoyed making the wolf squirm. "grouchy" simply said so long as she didn't do something stupid and get *his* ship shot up they'd be fine, and Haelin, "Blue", told her that he wasn't sensing any backstabbing intentions, but he was getting a strange kind of interference magic-wise, like the sound of babies crying on the etheric level. The agreement was mutual for her to go planetside and see what was going on; they didn't have anything to lose, and if they got a mission, it would only be a step up. She found herself re-checking her pistol for the 3rd time as they made planetfall; she had 5 mags, 35 bullets total, 2 of the mags with Piercer rounds. It was an onestibly friendly planet, but she wasn't about to take chanches.

Planetfall turned out to be mostly routine, the worst part of it being a small thunderstorm they passed through that ionized the hull; it didn't hurt the ship any, but it made them light up like a firework for anyone with a radar set nearby. Their chosen landing field turned out to be a large, grassy meadow, with rolling hills to the west and south and forest a couple klics to the north and east; it was actually rather similar to the fields she'd only recently lost her PA on. As they landed, they saw what looked like a large cargo cruiser approaching, the entire thing hulled in some kind of grey metallic alloy and looking almost 8 meters long. It wasn't until it got within a few hundred meters that the distortion along the top of it and behind it became visible, and by then it was too late to do anything but stare in horror as the hoverapc uncloaked it's main armanent, some kind of energy weapon bearing two barrels and glowing green atop it showing it was charged, the distortion behind it turning out to be 4 more hovertanks, all similarly cloaked in sensor and chamelon camoflouge. Their alarm quickly turned to curiousity as the tanks went around them in formation, the frontmost one landing next to their entry ramp as the others took up a square formation around their ship, establishing a defensive perimeter, with the guns pointed outward; she wasn't sure to be grateful or insulted that they didn't consider her ship a threat.

Affixing a radio Transciever headband to the side of her head, Arun checked to insure it was working, then tapped into the ships PA system "Anybody get anything about why we rank a greeting like this?" Getting all negatives, she asked the captain if they'd been pinged, and the reply was that they'd hadn't stopped getting pinged since about 10 minutes before landing. "At this point, they probably know everything down to the last time Lyra had her heat" was followed by a slap and an "Ow!" before she killed the incoming feed from the bridge. Glancing out the window; she pondered her chances. They could say screw it, liftoff and just leave, but they had barely enough fuel to make a starport, and not enough credits to buy more. Without a mission, they were effectively homeless, with no way to pay for food, ship upkeep, or other things they needed to live. And if CTI wanted her dead, they could have done so a dozen times without breaking a sweat. It was time to take a calculated risk.

Before anyone could protest, she opened the airlock door and stepped outside, taking a moment to shade her eyes from the glaring yellow star above them in the planets mid-afternoon, the grass feeling healthy and springy under her combat boots. A cool breeze wafted across her body, bringing with it the smell of grass and trees, life and sunlight; clad in camo pants and tanktop, for just a moment, the beauty of the planet was enough to make her almost forget the situation, her frustration, the entire scenario. Inhaling, she let herself enjoy the different smells of a world she'd never been on a before, the nature around her captivating in it's untouched splendor. The hiss of an airlock opening on the hovertank before her brought her attention fully back to the present, as a large hatch opened on the hovertank before her, the vehicle almost 10 meters long now that she was seeing it up close. Her eyes, through practice, had long ago learned how to discern things even through glare, and she snorted as a dolphin, looking a bit over 6 feet and clad in a fully body wetsuit and a grey overcoat, stepped out of the tank, followed by a muscular Tiger and a Wolf wearing environmental armor. The hatch was designed to handle someone much larger then the cetacean, and he looked almost child-like hopping out of it onto the grass. Seemingly without fear or concern of her intimidating height, the dolphin walked over to her, his fluked tail swaying behind him as he chittered softly, then stopped a few feet from her, his guards keeping pace a few feet behind him to either side, at military attention. "Arun? It's nice to meet you... I think you and I have some things to discuss..." Looking down at him, she raised an eyeridge "And you are?" Almost smirking, the dolphin grinned "Calafin, John Calafin. CEO of CTI Enterprises..." It took her mind a full second to process that "You *own* CTI?" Laughing and shaking his head, he motioned to the waiting hovertank "My wife the CFO owns it, I just run it... you mind if we go inside? I burn real easy." She hadn't even realized she'd had her hand on her holster until one of the bodyguards motioned for her gun, her obvious dislike of disarming making the dolphin shrug in apolegy "Look, they're just doing their job... you'll get it back post interview, promise. "

After surrendering her gun, she followed the trio into the tank, finding the interior actually comfortable, but not CEO decked out; it was obviously just comfortable from the factory, which in a tank was something she'd never encountered before. It even smelled nicely, more of clean metal and well maintained machinery then sweaty bodies or energy discharges. She was also surprised to find the interior sized for someone as big as her, her head easily clearing the hatch. As the Door air-sealed behind them with a low hiss and the tank lifted then began moving, the dolphin grinned at her and chuckled "I imagine you've got lots of questions for me... including where your contact, Shadow is..." With a bodyguard to either side of her, their guns not pointed at her but not out of their hands either, she was not in a very conversational mood, and hmphed at him "it's a good start.." Nodding and then letting out a soft sigh, the grey form of the male leaned back in the conforming couch of the troop transport compartment, his body slumping a bit as his hand rubbed his melon as though he had a headache "I hate to tell you, but like almost everyone else at this installion, he's dead... a group of mercs arrived here yesterday, and they weren't very polite. " Her response of growling while digging her claws into the couch beneath her made the guards tense, but he waved them down "We're doing... research here. You'll see it shortly. Long story short, they got hired to get the computer core from here with all the research data. When Our tech's refused, they took their family's hostage as bargaining chips; after they got what they needed to retrieve the core, they killed all the witnesses... men, women, children, everyone. "

A growl in her throat made him look up "Why didn't you have better defenses?" Looking up at her, her eyes met his, and she felt her body instinctively pull back; the eyes looking at her weren't those of a cheerful, innocent dolphin, the stereotype the newsnets played up. These eyes were pained, weary, the eyes of a warrior who'd seen too many battles, of a father who'd lost too many children. She'd seen those eyes on mercs in bars toasting dead friends, on the faces of people who'd lost loved ones to disasters, always screaming "Why?". The facade was gone, and she found herself looking into a face she hoped would never come to be hers. The transformation was startling, like a mask had been dropped for just a moment, revealing a very old, tired, hurt soul. "I did have good defenses... this place only got mapped a year ago, and claimed by a 4 times removed subsidiary; everything goes through three security checkpoints, and we had a defense force of 50 trained soldiers on site. We didn't expect them to use families as meatshields or to torture people for trivial info, and that's how they got us. I've got 200 dead souls on my hands, and no matter where the breakdown was, it's my responsibility in the end; my job was to protect them, and I failed."

Nodding slowly, she tried to get her mind back on focus; she hadn't been afraid, or felt pity, in a very long time, but somehow, this dolphin two thirds her height had managed it. "Do you know who did it?" Nodding slowly, she accepted a datapad he handed her, glancing at it and seeing information on the troops that had done the assault, their company logo and make-up. "Yes... It was the irredeemables... they were on contract for Omega Armanents, Inc. " Putting a finger under her chin, she forced her mind in a tactical mindset, putting aside the face of the old soldier in the dolphin across from her. "Aren't they known for being reformed criminals? usually infantry?" The dolphin across from her smiled, tilting his head, his mask restored and again the smiling, playful being of the public newsfeeds. "Ah, you do know your lore... Yes, they're all former criminals, usually ones deemed high-functioning psychopaths, that are given drug and cyber-implant therapy. "How do you know it was Omega Armanents?" Tilting his head, he hurmed at her "Two reasons; first is gut instinct, you know how much that counts for. Second is the method; OA is losing market share after they saturated the market with cheap plasma and laser weapons, and they're getting desperate for more profit. Too much is never enough for greed, ya know." In spite of herself, she found herself liking the dolphin across from her; He spoke in terms that let her know he'd seen combat, he didn't bother with unimportant bullshit, but was polite enough to not be rude or insulting. She'd sat at bars, sharing a beer, with beings like him. He reminded her of a good commanding officer, with enough of a sense of humor to try and overcome being in a shitty situation. As they talked about OA and the mercs, She realized he was treating her as an equal, not an employee or weapon; if he set the standard for the company, she could see why the wolven technician liked working for them.

About 30 minutes later, she felt the APC slowing down and stopping, then settling to the ground. One of his bodyguards, the wolf, got up and palmed the hatch, revealing a view of a small compound, she'd guess maybe a square a couple kilometers on a side, the ground made of packed earth. Standing, the dolphin smiled at her "Welcome to Never-Never-land... Where at least half of what you see isn't real." She held her tongue as they disembarked and she got a look around, the sound of two more pairs of feet hitting the ground behind her reminding her she was in unknown territory, with company she didn't know very well. In different places in the compound, she swore she saw kick-ups of dust, like people fighting, but no sound and as if they were invisible. Overall, the area felt surreal, like a place of ghosts, only a few concrete buildings visible at the center of the fenced in compoud. Her instincts had her looking for wraiths, feeling like someone was behind them, watching, but seeing and for that matter smelling nothing but the sun-dried dust and concrete of the compound. And for some reason, her Runes tingled, like someone nearby was using magic. Glancing at her, the tiger put his hand to his ear and growled softly "Defiance, Do we have clear skies?" Hmphing, she glanced at Calafin "Wait, isn't your ship the Defender?" Looking back and softly grinning, he chuckled "That's the one we let you see... we have 4 in orbit, 3 of them Cloaked..." Growling, she turned to face him "And you were going to tell me..." "When no-one can hear it... we have to assume our comms are tapped and that they left a residual force on planet to keep track of us... if *you* had three guys behind you cloaked, would you tell everyone they were there?" Not liking his answer but unable to argue with it, she nodded slowly. "How much cloaking do you guys use?" Glancing at her for a moment, he let his beak open slightly, a gesture she figured meant amusement "I'd say enough to keep people who wish us harm on their toes... Our cloaks are different from most on the market, less detectable... And this went from friendly competition to war as soon as they started killing civilians" She didn't reply, as she heard the tiger receiving a transmission "Cal, the Akasha say we're clear, and sensors have negative on presence. We should be in the clear. " Nodding, the dolphin smiled and tapped a series of numbers on a gauntlet he was wearing under his greatcoat, then spoke into his arm "Allright people, Olly Olly Oxenfree..."

Whatever her response was going to be at him using a childrens call died in her throat as suddenly somewhere between a dozen and twenty figures appeared in the compound, all of them wearing Powered Armor almost as tall as her, made of some kind of shiny black material that absorbed rather then reflected light, heavy weapons mounted on forearms and over shoulders, the armor's made to resemble anthro dragons, complete with wings, tails, and glowing red eyes. A glance behind her confirmed two more had been hiding in plain sight about 30 yards behind them, their weapons powering down now that the facade had been dropped. Her hand flew to her empty holster, then simply gripped it as the figures stopped their motions and turned to look at them; she had the uncanny feeling of looking at a gathering of wraiths from mythology, the spirits of dead dragon warriors given form again and turned into modern machines of war. A two-toned whistle from the dolphin beside her shocked her out of her revery as they all moved quickly, in her mind, way *too* quickly, to stand in two ranks before them. Sweeping his arm, the Cetacean male smiled at her, a circus barker announcing a show. "Arun, this is part of what they wanted... These are all prototypes for our defense forces. They can cloak, run faster and jump higher then any current PA on the galactic market, are orbit capable, and equipped with some of the best weapons we can make; they're also DNA linked to their pilots, so no-one we don't want to can pilot one. They're part of the reason this place got raided; we keep a lot of our best tech for ourselves, and I'm not about to let random thugs have access to my technology. " Looking at him, she hurmed "Wait, you said 'Your' Technology..., as in you developed them?" Unable to restrain a satisfied smile, he nodded "Yes, a bit proud to say that I developed more then half the tech in them, a lot of it from scratch..." and then bowed back to them "Thank you, good Ladies and Fellows... please go back to sparring and patrol, I appreciate it. "

She watched as the shadow-forms milita turned and began walking away, each one disappearing in turn, the last one giving a wave, until again all that was left was barely discernable distortions in the air and the occassional soft whump or whine carried on the wind, the PA troopers resuming their practice as she looked at him "You've got a lot of secrets, you know that?" Tilting his head, he eyed her as he pushed another series of buttons on his gauntlet "I wish I didn't have to... but then, sometimes I get to have fun with them too..." Pressing a final button on his gauntlet, the dolphin, the guards, and she herself braced as the ground beneath her shook and began going down; a quick look confirmed they were atop a hidden lift, descending into the ground. The tiger walked over to him, growling something, and she heard "Full tour..." followed by "Risky" and "We've watched her long enough" before the large feline walked back to where he'd been, keeping an eye on her. The wolf for his part, hadn't moved much, seemingly alert for anything, and Calafin was anxious or excited, judging by his tailflukes flexing a bit. It took a couple minutes for the left to finish descending, and she found herself looking at a vehicle bay which, if her gauging was right, was a good kilometer long by half a klic wide, the entire thing made of dull silvery metal, and filled with hovertanks, APC's, what looked like combat bikes, and suits of powered armor, ranging from the dark models she'd seen outside to something that resembled a small mech. Everything looked well maintained, clean, used but cared for; this was a functional facility, not an R & D lab, and it smelled like more then a few well loved mechanics shops she'd been in. She'd learned from experience smells can tell a lot about a place, and this smelled like somewhere grumpy would have been right at home.

As the lift settled, a pair of doors sealed above them, shutting out the outside world. The dolphin turned to her and smiled "We should be able to speak freely here... There's enough armor and insulation in here to handle an artillary strike. " Turning, she growled at him "Ok, Seriously... what are you? A spymaster, a Technician, a CEO? And why are you building all *this* on a planet in bumfuck nowhere?" Steepling his fingers, he smiled, eyeing her "Good question.. I'll give you the short anwer. " Motioning her off the lift, he hurmed "I'm all and none of those...you'll have to take that for answer one. Answer two is that I believe all beings deserve a choice in life, the freedom to choose their destiny. A lot of the other corps don't like that, as well as quite a few governments; they want to keep people in nice little slots, be it repairguy, prisoner, employee, whatever. And they don't like people trying to be themselves... You're a herm, you've run into prejudice, I take it?" She didn't reply, nor did she need to, her arms crossing her bosom as she looked at him. Being dual gender on some planets made you a pariah, or a sextoy; there were whole sections of the galaxy where being dual-gendered meant you were a sex-slave or put to death as a demon. Returning her glance, he nodded "Thought so... My wife's a herm, you know. I don't think gender, race, belief's... any of it should make someone unable to live their dream. I use advocacy, offering asylum, political maneuvering, whatever tools I have, to help make sure people don't have to suffer for things they want to do, so long as people don't get hurt in the process. The problem is a lot of powers that be don't like that, so they attempt to stop me. That's why I need defenses. "

While she stayed still, her mind was pondering what he was talking about: A CEO of a major interstellar company, on what sounded like a crusade for equality and oppurtunity, and developing weapons to defend himself that were better then milspec? It sounded like something from a cheap holo-novella. And he meant it; she'd picked up enough of his body language from watching him to know he wasn't lying. Noting her posture, he smiled "Ask your captain if you don't believe me... when has CTI ever conquered, or engaged in planetary pollution, or exploited native populations? I'm no Paladin... but I have something I want to accomplish, and I refuse to hurt people doing it. " Rolling her tongue in her mouth a moment, she hurmphed "Allright, assuming I don't think you're lying to me... what do I have to do with this?" The dolphins face seemed to light up as he grinned "Oh, quite a few things... You're here for a couple reasons. We've been watching you for a while now as a potential contractor... the reason you are standing where you are, is Because I think I can trust you, and offer you a contract you'll very much like. " Letting her arms relax to her side, she tilted her hips and put a hand on them, a habit she'd picked up a while ago to use during negotiations "Allright, try me..." Motioning, the male started walking down the garage, with her following and his bodyguards behind "Okay... first, I want your help in hunting down the Sons of a Bitch, pardon my language, who hit this facility and killed those people... Alive if possible, so we can chat with them. I promise I won't do anything to them you woudn't, and I want the survivors to not have to keep living in fear. "

Following, she hurmphed; She was both surprised and impressed at his priorities. He wanted first and foremost to have his employees welfare cared for, and judging by his motions, not just have vengeance, but something more constructive. "Allright... I think I can help with that, payment up front?" Glancing back at her, he smiled "Payment on receipt... although right now my people are fueling up your ship and repairing the hull damage to it from your last adventure, under the supervision of your crew... consider it an act of faith on my part. " Stopping, she reached a hand up to her ear, and with a nod from the dolphin she was piped through to her ship "Cap? Everything ok?" There was a burst of static, followed by Jastillus's voice "Arun? Yeah, I don't know if you gave that dolphin a blowjob or what but right now they're topping off fuel and everything else in the ship with Grumpy supervising, repairing the hull... hell I think they're gonna bring us in party favors and all you can eat chinese at this rate. Whatever you're doing, keep it up!" Cutting the broadcast, she hurmed at him "It seems I owe you a thank you..." Shaking his head and motioning for them to continue, he chuckled "What good is wealth unless you share it? I've got more credits then I'll ever use, and I'm glad to help in what ways I can. Your ship and crew are worth a lot more then a few thousand credits to me. " This managed to stun her a moment; everytime she'd worked for a corp, it had been through an intermediary, someone that treated her as a disposable asset. But This was a new game; she'd never worked for CTI before, and here was the guy in charge literally giving her things for free, saying he had more money then he ever needed? She was beginning to wonder if they were pumping hallucinogens in with the air.

Resuming their walk, she glanced at his bodyguards and then back at him "Ok, so is that the contract?" Shaking his head again, he smiled that engimatic cetacean grin again "Only part of it... second is I need your help recovering that Data core... It's encrypted, but I don't want the risk out there. And there is one final thing, but you can do it right here before you have to go. " As they neared the end of the room, she hurmed "Ok, what's payment for the data core?" Glancing behind him, he churred "My, You are mercenary, but in a good way... Your ship, from what my engineers tell me, is good, but a bit out of date. How would you like a full upgrade? I can give you topline shields and armor, better engines, upgrade your weapon systems, even a real shower... Doesn't it get annoying hitting your head on the roof all the time?" That made her swish her hand, cutting him off "Wait... for this Data core... that's hundreds of thouands of credits you're talking about. It's that valuable, it's going to have a lot of defenses. The ship being upgraded is all fine and dandy, but you expect me to try and exfiltrate this thing as I am now?" Turning to look her up and down, he laughed "Well... I know you would look intimidating to most, but you have a point... and that leads to number 3 on the list. " Eyes narrowing, she crossed her arms again "Go on..." Turning, he tapped a button on a hatch and opened a door to a medical bay, tubes full of fluid big enough to hold her next to trauma equipment, several beings in medical coats and frocks looking up "I need a full body scan of you, a complete medical workup and DNA sampling, as well as you telling me everything you know about those runes on your skin, and magic in general. "

Taking a step back, she glared down at him "You really expect me to let you get my DNA? What if you clone me, or implant me with some kind of kill switch?" Nodding, he sighed and chittered "I understand your misgivings... but you've also seen what we're doing here. A clone of you is a child without your memories, and I'm not going to breed baby dragons to try and train; that would go against all I want to do. I think you have enough honor a cranial bomb would never be needed; you wouldn't be here if I didn't trust you. And you can say no... I'm not OA, I don't force people. " Glaring at him, she looked in the medbay, and to her surprise, several people waved to her in greeting; they were acting like everything was normal, acting content, and without the stilted movements or glossy eyes that would indicate holograms, drugs, work drones burned out due to loss of morals, or mind control devices. Looking back at him and into his eyes, she hurmphed "What kind of payout are we talking..." Grinning, he handed her a pad, and when she turned it on, her breath caught in her throat: It was one of the suits from upstairs, a tech readout, but she could tell it was more than that. It was made to fit a being of her height, with wings and thrusters that made it flight-capable. The inbuilt weapons were easily 10 times better then anything she'd had before, and the sensors on it looked like they belonged on a space fighter rather then a suit of armor. It had inbuilt strength amplifiers, some kind of an intuitive melee combat link, even a low-grade claoking device. She found it amusing a bar on the side listed 50 possible color schemes for her to pick from, that even that small a detail was included. She had to force her mind to stop thinking of what she could do with an armor that capable, especially as underneath the tech readout was a list of weapons included with it that even if she just wore her zero suit would let her be better armed then half the merc groups within 20 parsecs. Looking down at the dolphin, she hefted the pad in one hand "That's... quite an offer..."

Winking like a weapons dealer making a sale, he chuckled "Why do you think we need your DNA? That's how we link it to you. Your medical exam is so it's fitted properly; honestly, all of that is in exchange for the info on your runes and magic. I believe technology and magic can be made to work together, and I want knowledge towards that. Imagine if we could make guns that heal people, teleporters to save people from natural disasters... I want to make that happen. And you're one of the few beings with an instinctive knowledge of magic I can talk to... we're also offering your crewmember Haelin some goodies in exchange for him helping us as well. " A miniature war was being fought in Arun's mind: On the one hand, she hated spies and duplicity. On the other hand, she still felt... if not at ease, then trusting of this rather enigmatic dolphin who was suddenly seemingly offering her a cream contract but also one that would test her skills, and the hardware he was offering would let her be competitive again, be independent again. And unless they had one of the best impersonators in the galaxy on tap, He'd already essentialy given them tens of thousands of credits of fuel and repairs without asking for recompense.

Letting a soft sigh escape her, she nodded, her shoulder relaxing as her body responded before the words left her mouth. "Allright... I'll do all three contracts. Where do I sign?" Smiling as though he'd almost expected her to say no, Calafin chuckled "We'll have my Tax and contract specialist onsite sign the paperwork... for the moment, how about we get the exam and such overwith, and then we can finish up in my office?" Bowing to the ineveitable, she rolled her shoulders as the chittering grey dolphin politely dismissed his bodyguards and brought her into the medbay, then headed to his office after giving her directions. The medical staff were friendly and proffessional, letting her get undressed in private and then easing her into a full body medical scanner, the green beam of the holo-scanner tracing her form a half dozen times to build a full body avatar of her in the computer. The DNA was extracted via a single hair, a drop of blood from her fingertip, and a swab from inside her cheek, the procedures as non-invasive as possible and designed for minimum discomfort. She was pleasently surprised at the medstaff as well; they joked with her, were friendly, and in all ways treated her as one of their own.

Putting her clothes back on, she was surprised again as one of the nurses, a female dolphin, had slipped a card into her pocket, with a stellar-com number and her name, inviting her for a 'private exam' whenever she might like. Glancing around, she saw the femphin glance back at her and wink before exiting the medbay, a blush forming on her cheekscales. This was definetely not what she would have thought of when "Corporate Hospital" came to mind. Following the directions given her, she soon found herself at a large door with a holographic display next to it "John Calafin, CEO" and a keypad. Tapping in the number she'd been given, she stepped into a foyer, then through into a living room. She'd expected an office, not personal quarters; hearing a whisper of Fabric, she stepped through a doorway, and immediately had to grab the doorframe as the sight inside confronted her.

"Rithnok?!?" There was no mistaking the dragoness lying in the huge bed before her, especially given a few short months ago she'd been moaning her name in her quarters on a backwater planet. Her scales were mostly black, save for a white stripe that ran from below her chin along her belly to the tip of her tail; a brilliant white mane erupted behind her horns, and her wings looked like they held a starry sky within them, a sign of her star dragoness pure blood beritage. Midnight blue eyes looked up in surprise as she sat up in the bed, white sheets falling from the herms well formed bosom as her mouth fell open "Arun? What are you doing here?" A soft delphic chuckle made them both turn to look at Calafin, standing dripping wet and naked in the door entering from what appeared to be a bathroom "Well, Glad to see you two do know one another... Arun, Rithnok is my taxation and contract expert in this part of the galaxy... Rith, Arun has some contracts she needs you to sign off on and get authorized. " "Good to see you again, Rithy..." was all she could think to reply; the sight of the other herm dragoness barely concealed was making her remember all the things they'd done on Ragadon. Hell, it was hard thinking of what they *hadn't* done in the star dragoness's quarters on that planet, it was only by the grace of Draco they didn't have eggs at this point. The same thoughts were apparently happening to the other dragoness, as she blushed and attempted to cover a lump in the covers that had grown.

A delphic laugh made her look at the naked dolphin, who had his arms crossed as he smirked "Oh, don't stop on my account... Rithnok and I are already well acquainted... we started sparring, it turned to strip-sparring, and next thing you know she was sharing my quarters with me for the last day or so...If you two want to get reacquainted please do so, though I may ask to watch or join in, and I have something for you both if you want to..." "Wait... How do you know we..." Shaking his head, the male chuckled "Arun, C'mon... A police report for a barfight? A claim on Rith's credit for a pool table you damaged? Not to mention a file I acquired from a certain feline of your acquaintince... he made more then two copies, you know..." Rithnok had already began to curse when the dolphin held up his hand in a friendly gesture, stopping her with a smile "Don't worry, I got the only other copy... And you two put on quite a show..." The blush on her cheeks was matched by the black and white dragoness as she realized that she was indeed tenting her pants at the sight of the other herm, the dolphin whistling softly to himself as he went into the bathroom cabinet and brought out some pills he took, along with 2 small vials with corks. "here take these... I'm sure you guys have heard of all the 'all nighter' drink CTI makes? This is a prototype, the herm version... I can promise you minimal side effects, a less then hundredth of a percent chance of anyone getting pregnant, and a doubling of your usual stamina, if you decide to partake. " Glancing at rithnok, she smiled "He... beat you? In a spar?" The other dragoness smirked and sat up more, letting the covers fall down to her waist, this time not hiding the bulge in them "I forgot how agile dolphins can be... the first time was right there on the gym mat..." She then smiled at the dolphin and mmm'ed "Besides, you'd be surprised how interesting phins are in bed..." and with a look of amusement, uncapped the bottle and took a swig, then finished it with a look of distaste on her face "I know it works, but seriously, cherry?" Deciding to follow suit, Arun uncapped the bottle and emptied it into her mouth, finding it tasted like cherry cough drops as it slid down. Making a face she normally reserved for bad food, she eyed the dolphin as his belly took on a faint pink hue "Seriously... if you're going to market with that, make a better flavour..." His nod of acceptance was soon replaced by a chuckle as she felt her body tingle and her crotch bulge more, the pressure only released when she undid her zipper and slid her pants and panties down, then tossed her top to one side.

Unsnapping her only remaining clothing, her sports bra, she mmm'ed as her maleness reached full staff, her unclad body moving to the bed and climbing atop it, finding Rithnok's mouth awaiting hers as she kissed her, then rubbed against her, their breasts and twin arousals rubbing one another as she murred, twining her tongue with her partner. Even without the sex drugs in their system, the combination of mutual attraction and a fellow dragoness didn't do much for her inhibitions, even with a dolphin voyuer in the room. Carressing her, she felt a warm familiarity come over her; she knew this dragoness, her scent, the places she liked being carressed most, her breathing rhythem. A long, slow lick of her tongue from her chin down her breasts to her belly drew a long moan from her, followed by a second one as her hands carressed the membranes of her wings gently, something Arun lacked but didn't mind not having. She enjoyed the mutual carresses and bathed in their shared moans, their bodies stroking; her first warning was a soft chitter behind her.

Try as she might, she couldn't stop her back from arching as something cool, vibrating, and organic carressed the underside of her tail and slid down to where her and rithnok's petals were wetly carressing, their lips sheened in moisture. Her moan was genuine, as was the other dragoness's, as whatever it was slipped between their bodies and buzzed like a vibrator, tingling both their forms. A glance back confirmed the CEO had snuck up behind him, and that buzzing was his bottlenosed beak, his sonar making him into a living vibrator. Rithnok was the first respond to the newcomer, giving a soft groan "You Little... that's... playing dirty!" and then gripping the sheets as the male opened his beak and slid his tongue out, carressing both their femsexes as he murred "Why let you two have all the fun?" and began stroking his bone-hard beak between them, rubbing against their clitorises and folds as she began rubbing her shaft against rithnok's again, giving a low murrr. To her surprise, the horny dolphin didn't attempt to mount them, seeming satisfied to let them set the pace. She certainly didn't mind the feeling of that tongue and vibrating beak carressing her sex, or his hands kneading and rubbing their legs and tail, massaging the muscles in them and working the scales. Both Her and Rithnok's crotches were slick with nectar and pre before they stopped and murred, still carressing each other.

Glancing down their bodies at the kneeling dolphin, his beak covered in nectar, she blinked and glanced again, then looked at the other dragoness "Fuck, you weren't kidding..." as he churred, his maleness the size she would have thought a feral dolphin would have, the length flexing like a finger, a dribble of pre at it's tip. A sideways smirk was the other dragoness's response "He doesn't mind recieving either... That orca of his knows how to train them..." Nodding, she smiled "well, lets see how this goes..." and motioned her new emplyer to join them, the dolphin snuggling in between them and happily nuzzling them both, his hands carressing them as he churred, then gave a soft gasp as her hand found his maleness and squeezed, a dribble of pre leaking from the tip. "So this has been going in Rithy, hmmm?" His slow, playful nod made her smile, then show her teeth playfully "I think this will be fun..." as she leaned her head down and softly ran her tongue along his maleness, finding it salty with a faint musk, and definete traces of her fellow herms taste on it. With only a moments hesitation, she slid her mouth down him to his root, finding him pressing at the back of her throat, then slid back up, letting his tip softly frenchkiss her tongue as it parted her lips. His moan was everything she wanted. Motioning, she had Rithnok indulge as well, then whispered in her ear as the dolphin was entranced by her skills. A naughty, playful grin appeared on the other dragoness's snout as she nodded slowly, eyes full of impish enjoyment. Maneuvering atop the massive bed, The black and white dragoness was soon lying between his legs, suckling on him, then letting her take a turn, the dolphin groaning and thanking them for pleasuring him so, his eyes closed as they teased him to near his edge.

Just as he was nearing his edge, they both pounced; Her arms grabbed his and pinned them down to the bed, while the star dragoness grabbed his legs and lifted them, bringing the tip of her maleness to his puckered tailring, his grunt of surprise turning into a chitter as he looked up, finding a throbbing purple dragon shaft pointed at his beak "What were you saying about who playing dirty?" A soft lick of her snout made the other dragoness giggle "You should know better then let someone else dictate the terms of a contract..." She was surprised, despite Rithnok's words, as the other herm thrust into the dolphins backside and he responded not with a yelp but with a moan, his mouth sliding over her own shaft and suckling on it, her back arching as he turned out to have a mouth as good as the other dragoness, gulping her to the root and sucking as she begins thrusting her hips into his face. She soon discovered her hands were un-needed, the male cetacean readily falling into a submissive role for the two herms as they spitroasted him, lusty grunts mixing with warm chitters as they bounced atop the bed. Without really thinking about it, she found herself kissing the other dragoness again, their hands finding the backs of the others head as they hotly frenched, the squeaks of the dolphin under them only adding to the lusty atmosphere.

She let herself take her time, and it was several wonderful, pleasureful minutes before she felt her peak beginning to approach, a quick verbal confirmation informing her that the other herm was also drawing close. Rather then slow down, she sped up, closing her eyes and allowing herself a low growl of pleasure as she got to her peak and went over, filling the eager male's beak with her load, Rithnok also climaxing inside of him, drawing a jet of pre from inside of him and making it fire across his chest and belly. Catching her breath, she slid her maleness from his mouth with a soft *pop!* as it left his lips, his rump performing the same suckling to the end act on the other dragoness as she gasped and murred "I know CEO's are usually tight asses, but Damn..." Chuckling, the dolphin looked up at them and smiled "Well, thank you for the compliment... is it my turn now?"

The rest of the night went like that, with them changing positions, roles, and acts as whim suited them, from rithnok being sandwiched between her and the rather well endowed dolphin, to her being spitroasted between them, oral, anal, titfucking, spanking, anything they wished to try with each other they did. The dolphin happily pleasured them both, swapping between submissive and dominant, his only adornment a "Property of Naketa" collar around his neck. When asked, he confirmed his CFO was also his mistress, and that he had permission from her for all of their activities, as she was busy back at CTI HQ; a playful inquiry from Rithnok also confirmed they would both be welcome to visit her anytime they liked, so long as he could watch or join in.

When morning came, it found her knotted deeply in the male cetacean, his maleness buried hilt deep in Rithnok, and all 3 of them covered in various fluids. She was the first to awaken, and without thinking, she tried sitting up, resulting in a loud *yip!* as her knot pulled free with a wet, sticky squelch. This immediately awoke Calafin, who was a bit more gentle in waking the dragoness under him, softly nuzzling her and carressing her until she woke up. Looking up at Arun, she started to open her mouth, only to have him softly inturrupt "Remember, we all took the mix... no pregnancies, and we all got medical scanned, so we're clean, we should be fine..." A tailtip swatting his ass made him yelp, and he looked up at the star dragoness "What was that for?" Smirking, she rubbed his head "inturrupting a lady... but thanks for putting down that worry."

Standing, the dolphin grinned "I think a shower may be in order... you two even got it in your hair..." Swatting him on the rump, and feeling better then she had in months, Arun nodded and was surprised to find the shower ten feet tall, able to handle her without her crouching. The unlimited water's heat, steam, and two beings with her carressing her soon had her body feeling like it could melt, her soft groans not of sexual pleasure but physical enjoyment as they all cleaned each other with the gentle intimacy only lovers can have, their motions unhurried. As soon as they were clean, She sat down with the two of them and signed on the contracts, the full details worked out as well as stipulations she could take other contracts so long as they didn't damage any CTI properties or personelle, her status confirmed as an 'independent contractor'. She had to admit, getting to do paperwork naked made things go a lot smoother, and the fact she and Rithnok could actually discuss what had happened between them at Ragadon without any fears or concerns made her feel much better as well.

They had just finished, the local time heading towards noon, when the beep came in on the gauntlet Calafin had discarded on the table in their lustful coupling the previous night. His run to grab it brought her and the other dragoness immediately to attention; He wasn't acting as though the beep it gave in a strange tone was a casual occurance. Tapping several buttons in sequence, he brought on the Holo-wall facing the bed, the image it displayed was of several power armor troopers, their armor resembling tiger-porcupine hybrids, and behind them heavy tanks. In the upper right corner of the screen was a listing for distance from basein kilometers, and it was rapidly going down. Cussing, the dolphin slapped the gauntlet on his arm, a soft hiss coming from it as it sealed, and for a moment she thought she saw tiny butterfly needles emerge from it, sinking into his arm without any blood. Tapping a button, he chittered "Khan, give me an Update.." She and Rithnok both stood as a growling voice, sounding like a tiger, came from the gauntlet "I've got... 12 PA troopers, with 4 tanks as backup... they're Shell Hunters, their ship came in, orbital dropped them, and landed on the far side of the planet. And that's the first wave, likely more incoming. " Shaking his head, the dolphin chittered in what sounded like anger "How?" was met with "It's a commerce raider, came out of jump within lagrange at flank speed, did the deed, and crashed more then landed on the farside. We've already got it under bombardment. " It took only a moment for her brain to go into tactical mode; the "Shell Hunters" was a nickname for a high end merc company, specializing in assault and wetwork where collatoral damage wasn't a concern; the name came from their preference for using only armored units, usually assault powered armor and light mechs or tanks. The radio headset she'd brought with her crackled, and as she picked it up she heard Jas's voice come from it, worry heavy in his tone "Arun? What the hell is going on? The team doing the repairwork just split like their tails were on fire, and so did the tanks; hell, they almost left the hose hanging off the side of the ship!" Glancing at the other two inhabitants of the room, she clicked on the microphone "Another merc group is coming in, get ready for immediate dustoff once we arrive. "

While she'd been on the Comm, Calafin had walked to a hidden closet in the room's wall and opened it, revealing racks of clothing and armor, as well as a compartment holding several high-tech handguns and rifles she didn't recognize. "Ok, you two need to go... You both know how to fight, but I can't risk skilled people like you getting killed by these idiots... Is there room on your ship, Arun?" Rithnok looked ready to object, a growl at the back of her throat, but Arun nodded "He's not ordering us to be a dick, Rithy... we don't have the armor and weapons to handle them right now, unless you have a suit of power armor hidden you didn't tell him about. " Shaking her head in resignation, the other dragoness then moved to the closet and began putting on the omni-fit armor, a smaller version of what she was herself getting dressed in. To her surprise, the dolphin walked to a second compartment which required his retina and fingerprint, and got out a full body wetsuit he slipped into, non-conforming pieces in it confirming some type of ballistic armor was built in as he typed a few more buttons on his gauntlet, causing the suit to emit a soft hum for a moment. He then put on a HUD eyepiece and radio that went over the left side of his head. She only then noted the three arc shaped rake marks above his left eye, and recognized it as a military rank, a captain if she remembered the cetacean ranking system, having had other things on her mind the previous night.

Finishing getting dressed and with both of them nearly ready, he handed her a small ID card and an access pad "The pad will give you a map overlay and let you navigate as well as tap into our surveillance systems... the card will let you get to your new armor, the co-ords are on it in a file password protected to your voice. I'll give you all the cover I can, but get to that armor and get justice for my people... I don't want their good works perverted by those assholes. " Nodding, she noted Rithnok was now fully armored, a laser pulse pistol on each hip and some unusual kind of heavy plasma cannon slung over her shoulder. Reaching into the compartment, she pulled out a pair of heavy slugthrowers, along with her 12.7mm that had apparently been put in there while they were sleeping. What looked like a Hi frequency laser sniper went over her shoulder with a bandoleer of spare mags, and a quartet of anti-armor grenades went on her armors built in grenade belt. The dolphin smiled at her as she and rith double checked their weapons "Remember some of those are prototypes... the slugthrowers use SABER Rounds, they're Saboted with a AP tip and plasma explosive, should be good once their shields are down. On your rifle, make sure to hold the trigger halfway, then all the way back, or it won't work right. And rith, remember that some of these guys have magic detection, so you'll light up if you use some of your more.. unique talents. " Glancing at the other dragoness, she smiled as Rith gave him a finger, but not in a harsh way, and she got handed a vibro-sword, a pair of them on Rithnok's thighs. Looking up, she turned around, and then realized a small chamber that hadn't been there before was in the wall, looking like a small lift. Calafins voice in her earpiece confirmed her suspicions: "I have my own route, take Rithnok, get your ship, and get out of here, I've only got so long before we may have to blow the place!"

A simple nod to the other dragoness was enough to confirm their intentions; they couldn't hope to take on that many troops in powered armor without some equal firepower of their own, evac was the only hope they had of making it out in one piece. Handing her newly minted squadmate the Datapad, she nodded to the door "I've got the longrifle, I'll scout, you navigate." The other herm started to talk, then shook her head and nodded, readying the pulse pistol as the pad in her other hand beeped and indicated with an arrow which way to go. They barely had left the quarters they'd slept in, enroute to the medbay, when there was a muffled explosion and alarms began going off, followed a moment later by airflow blowing past them, and someone yelping on the base radio frequency over her headset "We have penetration, they've breached the walls in sector A-23!" Her counterpart had heard the same thing over the headset she'd slipped on, and humphed "Not good, that's two sectors over according to this thing..." dipping her chin in acknowledgement, they both stepped their pace up to a light trot, eyes and ears alert for the possibility of hostiles. A fire alarm going off added to the general chaos as they continued, approaching their first target objective, the medbay where she'd been given her exam. The lights going out, only to be replaced by red emergency lighting, only added to the chaotic atmosphere.

"Intruders! Intru...!" was yelled into her ear, and it took a moment to realize the voice was both in her ear on the radio and also in the hallway in front of her. A running silhouette that became that of a rabbit was running towards her, then suddenly was blown across the hallway, the shattered, bloody remains of what had been a person falling to the floor as something as tall as her, metallic, and too bulky to be alive ducked under a doorframe and stepped into the hallway, the light mech piloted by someone inside a clear, armored meta-glass lined cockpit in the middle of it's torso. She was still reaching for her laser rifle when a glowing green fireball hot enough to make her sweat from being a foot away blew past her shoulder and hit the air intake on one side of it, the plasma sphere getting sucked into the vent and then blowing out the sides of the mech, the internal power supply overheating and shutting it down as steam billowed from the heatpipes visible on its back. A glance confirmed Rithnok standing with the plasma cannon braced against her shoulder, a single hand up in an arcane gesture, the other dragoness's eyes cold, those of a sniper "That'll give us about 30 seconds, gimme a moment..." Watching warily, she did her best not to react as Rithnok walked up to the mech, Then formed a knife-hand and shoved it elbow-deep into a juncture along it's heat-sink array, several cracks of breaking ceramic coming from it before she pulled her hand out and grinned "That should keep it down for now, unless they built in a coolant backup. And unless it's got explosive bolts, the pilot's stuck inside. " Not bothering to argue, she re-shouldered her laser rifle in the ready position and began running double time down the hallway, her longer strides letting her get to the door they needed a few moments before her partner arrived behind her. A low humming filled the air behind them, and Rithnok cursed behind her as the light mech began to power back up, blue fluid dripping from the ruptured hull, lights on it turning back on as servos repowered themselves. "Why, Why do they always have to play it the hard way!"

Hearing her partner Tap a keycode into the door behind her, she heard cussing followed by a loud thump. "What is it?" More typing was followed by a second curse "Something fried the passcode panel... it's not opening!" Knowing it was futile but trying anyway, she brought up the strange looking laser rifle and took aim at the exposed hole in the manned robots back, hoping to disable it via the weakness, making it difficult for it to stand up. Pulling the trigger, a blue beam became visible linking the rifle to the mech, reflecting off of the dust in the air; Arun's curiousity was overcome by urgency at wondering why it fired at the halfway point, the trigger depressing fully as what sounded like a thunderclap went off barely a foot away from her, a stream of lightning traveling down the blue beam, striking the mech, and causing a small explosion that was contained inside the cooling vent, the entire robot getting covered in a spiderweb of coruscating electrical rays as it shivered and collapsed. Behind her, She could barely hear the other dragoness's voice through the ringing in her ears as she exclaimed "What in the name of the Gods was *that*?" Before she could respond, a loud thumping sounded from the hunched over remains of the mech, followed by a *clang!* as the cockpit window launched off it's front, the stink of explosive bolts having been fired filling the room as the pilot got out and turned to eye them, a hiss of threat sounding from the small form. Raising the rifle up, she was ready this time, remembering the dolphins instructions as the blue beam appeared again, revealing the form of a bobcat, it's body covered in either some kind of metallic pilots outfit or cyberware, she wasn't sure which. The point became moot as the lightning bolt struck out from the rifle again, hitting the pilot and blowing him back a dozen meters, the body spasming and smoking for several moments then lying still after impacting a far wall.

Glancing down at the rifle, She hmphed and wondered if the other weapons she'd grabbed had hidden surprises; prototype hell, this was a damn good weapon. Turning to try and help Rithnok with the door panel, she refocused on the present. After a few seconds, she growled, grabbed the seam, and the two of them torqued it open, revealing a room lit only by red emergency lighting, most of the equipment intact. A part of her mind wondered if the dolphn nurse was still here, hoping that she'd already escaped. From the edge of her vision, she noticed Rithnok making several practiced gestures while whispering under her breath, and a moment later a faint sheen appeared around her, like a transparent aura. "You know, if they *do* have someone who can sense magic, they can detect that and follow it right to us. " Priming her plasma cannon, the other dragoness grinned "let them try...Lets just stick to the plan, get to your ship and vaporize anything in the way to be sure." The smaller herm walked slowly, her footsteps practiced, those of a hunter, as they both worked towards the other end of the room. "So, were you helping them develop this mixed magical tech, or did you not tell him?" Glancing up at her, her partner hmphed like a school teacher "I watched to make sure the children don't burn down the schoolhouse, but I don't inturrupt them learning either... So long as the lessons aren't too dangerous" Re-gauging her opinion of the other dragoness, she wondered exactly how much magic she might know.

She was readying a response as the door in front of them swished open, revealing the outline of a feminine dolphin form "Quiet! There's three down the hall and you two could wake the dead!" was softly whispered, followed by the sound of retreating feet, all before she could react. Shrugging, she glanced at her partner, then took up position on their side of the door, glancing around the frame to see into the garage, her eyes spotting three more of the light mechs down a hallway closeby. A quick hand motion to Rithnok was cut off as she heard what sounded like an explosion followed by a strangled cry, then a pair of loud, metallic thuds. Popping her head back out, she blinked at the sight that greeted her: the dolphin nurse was atop one of the mechs, what looked like a dagger in one hand, the other holding on. Both of the other mechs were down on their fronts, faint bloodtrails oozing from their cockpits, smoke oozing from ruined cockpit interiors. A couple moments later, the dagger flashed down, sliced open the cockpit canopy of the third mech like it was made of soft cheese, and the femphin tossed a hand-grenade into the cockpit, backflipping off the mech as a muffled explosion echoed and it fell to the ground dead. The female turned to eye it, her form graceful, like that of a big cat on hunt. She was clad in a black body suit, her only other clothing a combat web harness and a collar around her neck. Pausing, the dolphin made an arcane gesture, then turned to look at her, smiling at her face frozen in a look of perplexed amazement; somehow this seemingly innocent nurse had taken down three military class mechs with only a knife, some grenades, and a serious attitude. The dolphin grinned and blew a kiss at her again, then ran at flank speed into the hallway the mechs had been in, disappearing into the shadows like she'd never existed.

A voice in her and the other herms radiosets made her jump, the voice a soft, feminine giggle "Ok, the lift is out, but if you follow the hallway down and turn right, there's stairs going up... And tell Cal I said hi, my brother tends to get carried away sometimes and forget I'm here for him too. " "Ok... what was that all about?" Shaking her head, she chuckled "Eh... apparently Cal's sister wants to date me... and she just took out three mechs in cqc by hand. " Rithnok's head immediately darted into the hallway, peered at the dead mechs, and she grinned "Eh... could that be a double date? I want to meet this girl" Not bothering to respond, she walked into the garage, noting the different vehicles and that most of them were in states of repair, not ready for activation. "We need to go down that hallway to the stairs, then up... it should let us get on the surface. " A terse "And then what?" was her companions reply, her only answer being "I guess we just run like hell."

Any further conversation got cut off as a large explosion came from where the lift was, debri and dust blowing down into the garage along with large fragments and panels of ruined hull metal; several figures came down through the hole, revealing themselves to be exosuit infantry as they turned on their suit light and began scanning. She and Rithnok were already under cover behind a shutdown hovertank as they heard the metallic footprints of their pursuers, a squad of four systematically sweeping the room. Glancing down at her partner, she looked at the hallway, then gestured with her head towards the approaching figures; the other dragoness pointed at the hallway and shook her head, noting they'd be prime targets, and instead pointed towards the other figures, making an 'after you' gesture. Their movements were inturrupted as the voices of the 4 figures echoed softly in the room "You're still getting that reading?" echoed a deep voice, any species characteristics muffled by the armor's helm; it took them a second to realize their headset radios had decrypted the armor coding and they were eavesdropping. "Yes, about 40 meters ahead, something, or someone, is using Magic.. probably a barrier spell, high level. Stay alert" A glance at Rithnok and a scowl brought the other herms shoulders up in a near universal "Who, me?" gesture, followed by a look of realization as shi visibly but not audibly cursed; the dolphin had been right. A quick glance confirmed one of the suits was decorated with hand painted runes, the shapes seeming to glow faintly at their contained energy in the otherwise dark room. Slipping her rifle back across her back, she enjoyed Rithnok's surprised look as shi slipped out the heavy pistols from her hip holsters and began approaching the squad stealthily, noting from their squad emblem they were indeed hostiles from the shell hunters, their symbol a turtle shell with crosshairs on it. She had gotten within about 15 meters when a green fireball flew over her head and impacted among them, sending the rune painted suit flying. Chunks of smoking armor fell from the dead rune-suit as the others all ducked behind various vehicles; she mentally noted all the PA's she'd seen previously were gone, as were most of the combat vehicles. Getting close enough to be accurate in the bad lighting conditions, she took aim, then was surprised as a small targeting laser emitted from the pistols, painting the helmet of the nearest exosuit trooper, a human with a cybereye. Cursing at having the surprise lost as he noticed the dots, she pulled the triggers back the rest of the way, then forced down a yelp as what looked like a tiny missile erupted from each of the pistols. With almost flawless precision, they flew towards the laser dots, following them as they discharged a blue flame behind them, then struck and penetrated the helmet of the exosuit, an orange and green fireball erupting inside of the suit's head and blowing it open like a party favor, spraying gore, metal, and electronics like a fountain of debri. Her surprise was doubled as a second exosuit turned to face her, this one piloted by a badly scarred fox, and a bolt of lightning struck it dead center, smoke and sparks erupting from the suit as the pilot inside spasmed and then went still, a loud metallic *clunk* echoing as it fell to the ground face-first, the breached interior reeking of cooked meat. The thunderclap of the bolt echoed in the garage, deafening her but not as badly as in the tight confines of the hallway. The final exosuit was bringing what looked to be a plasma shotgun up to it's shoulder as she aimed and fired again, the twin missiles hitting the hostile center of mass and taking only a moments pause before blowing it apart, the shocked face of the lion, still in it's helmet, landing with a heavy, metallic *thud* atop the truck next to her. Glancing at rithnok, she let herself inhale again and put the pistols back in her thigh holsters. Noting Rithnok looking a bit upset, she shook her head and slashed her hand, a gesture indicating not to worry about it. Taking a second inhale before speaking, "Let's go.." was all that came out, followed by the other dragoness's dark grin: this had been an easy battle, and they knew harder ones were to come.

It wasn't difficult to follow the directions, but the stairs leading up led to a door jammed shut from some kind of heavy impact, forcing them to try a secondary door leading to a gymnasium style room, a heated pool emitted steam, surrounded by practice mats dominating most of it's space. Entering the gym, they could hear weapons fire and explosions outside, smoke and soot diffusing what would otherwise have been bright sunlight streaming in through the windows and a large skylight. Cautious steps brought them across the mats, workout equipment and weights lying discarded on them as they approached the pool and a walkway which led across it to the other doors. A loud, distinctive shrieking made them both run for cover a few moments before the impact, One of the Shadow Dragon armors flying through the wall, concrete and rebar spraying as it went rolling and bouncing across the mats into the pool, making a splash as it hit the water and slowed. Behind it came an Infantry assault mech, a good 20 feet of dark green metal and anger, the Shock Cannon on it's arm still smoking from firing a moment earlier.

Motioning for the other dragoness to stay down, she carefully maneuvered behind large chunks of Debri, watching as the dark form of the CTI armor stood up in the shallow end of the pool, it's cloak only partially functional, one of it's arms mangled from the energy of the projectile, stinking smoke wafting from the ruined limb. Defiant, it's pilot gave a battle cry and pulled some kind of weapon from a holster on it's back, the gun revealing itself as some kind of pulse weapon as it discharged orbs of blue energy into the assault mech's center torso, making it stagger with each shot but not stopping it. It's shields were simply too powerful, it's armor too dense, for the weapon to do much more then stun it for a few seconds. Hearing a burst of Static in her earpiece, She froze and then ducked, listening. A pained voice chittered softly, then grunted "I've got it's attention, Run you two... They're not after the tech, they're here to kill the CEO... someone paid them to kill us all, but he's the primary target, we decrypted their coms! Now go Dammit!"

Motioning to Rithnok, she waited and then bolted towards the opening in the wall, the sounds of hurried claws on mats behind her letting her know the star dragoness was right behind her. Running through the hole blasted in the wall, she was blinded by sunlight for a moment, not stopping her end-run until she saw they were not only on the surface, but near a series of CTI hovertanks, their engines in standby mode. Looking over her shoulder, she heard a scream as there was a loud explosion and the portion of the gym facing away from them blew out, spraying smoke, cement, and ruined exercise equipment over a blast radius dozens of meters long, announcing the death of the pilot who'd saved them. Glancing at her partner, she looked up at the tank "Can you hotwire this thing?"

Grinning, the smaller dragoness chuckled "It's been a while, but I can try.." and then jumped atop it, heaving open a hatch and folding her wings against her back, sliding partially into the cockpit before yelping and giving a growl "Son of a... I can reach the controls, but I'm stuck! Cover me!" Forcing herself not to facepalm, she jumped atop the tank, making it bow a moment under her weight, and then crouched across Rithnok's backside, keeping her rifle up as she warily glanced around "You know, under different circumstances, I'd likely smack your ass in this situation..." "Promises, Promises..." was the response, along with the sound of metal being stretched and fatigued, screws popping, and loud clinks of things being disconnected. Glancing back at the gym, a lump formed in her throat as she saw something large and shadowy moving in what remained of the building; apparently the sacrificial pilot hadn't completely finished the job.

"Would you please hurry it up? Company is coming and we're out of food and excuses..." In answer the other dragoness's tail flicked and stood up straight, pointing at her and then motioning a slap across her before resuming it's normal frantic motions of it's owner not paying attention. The first shot made her glance at the front of the tank as it richocheted off the frontal armor, the laser diffusing into the sky as a group of 5 or 6 of the Shell Hunters power armor became visible, approaching them from the 11 o'clock position. The second shot managed to ricochet off the hatch, then the magical armor Rithnok had erected, before it too dispersed. A loud yelp came from inside the tank at the strike, followed by a string of profanity "Did he just shoot me in the ass? I Will track that eggfucker down and not leave enough of him for DNA profiling to identify!" Ducking behind the hatch, she carefully aimed, and the blue targeting beam highlighted the head on one of the PA units. A trigger squeeze and lightning struck, the mech staggering as the electrical pulse shorted out it's systems and it fell face-first onto ground. Three more fell before Pulling the trigger resulted in an angry tone from the rifle, followed by a blinking red light. A quick check of her Bandoleer confirmed the additional mags were charged, and she quickly swapped out for a fresh pack, the sound of the rifle charging itself frustratingly slow. "I can't do this forever..." Glancing at Rithnok in the hatch, she could see the plasma cannon was jammed in the hatch, and without pulling her physically out there was no way to use it. Slinging the rifle over her shoulder in hopes of it being recharged soon, she pulled out the dual pistols and aimed, the targeting lasers sheening on the nearest PA, and fired, the twin missiles streaking... then exploding on the shields of the Armor, knocking it back but not doing more then peripheral damage to it "Leaving Would be a good idea right now..."

Behind them, the gym finally collapsed as the Assault mech finished restarting, the explosion having damaged it severely but not rendering it offline. Turning, it's pilot reacquired them, targeting lasers emitting from it's arm as it aimed the mass driver at them, a high pitched whine sounding as it began to charge. Closing her eyes a moment, she growled, and then began firing the Saber rounds at the assault mech's arm, hoping to somehow jam the mechanism with the explosions. Her first two bullets struck home but didn't damage it; when she pulled the trigger a third time, she was knocked back as *something* incredibly fast-moving struck the arm, torqued it, and literally ripped it out of it's mount, hydraulic fluids and loose wires spraying from it as the arm was flipped around and then swung like a bat, striking the mech's cockpit and bashing it in, embedding it into the torso with a horrific crunch of metal, followed by a snap of bone as it was driven into the cockpit like a piton into a mountainside. A moment later the sundered mech collapsed to it's knees, then fell backward with a screech of metal, a dull detonation inside of it's hull bulging it's outer armor. Sitting back up, she realized Rithnok had managed to pull herself out of the cockpit in time to see the mech die by it's own hand, the other dragoness glancing at her "If you did that, you have got to show me that trick. " Shaking her head, she looked to where the other PA's had been incoming, and saw what looked for a moment like one of the Shadow Dragon armors, but more sleek, with runes covering the armor plating on it, the entire thing slipping in and out of shadows like a wraith as it literally tore the other armors apart with what looked like a forearm mounted chainsaw, claws, and blade-edged wings. The tingling in her runes got more intense as it moved, seemingly like a dancer with blades on every limb. Pointing, she glanced at the other dragoness "What is..." and was answered by a startled yelp, followed by "Oh, you clever, Clever fish... I knew you were keeping secrets..." Glaring, she looked back to find the rune-etched armor hovering in front of them and landing, wings on it's back folding in as it looked at them, what little magical sense she had tingling in the back of her head.

Distantly, she recognized a familiar dolphins voice on her ear-radio, and realized it had been partially knocked loose as she repositioned it "What?" Pointing at Rithnok, it tilted it's head "You, I will chat with later concerning some things you didn't tell us about your abilities" and then turned to her , the armor glowing a bit brighter for a moment "And you, young lady, are behind schedule..." Growling, she humphed "Young La..." and glared as her muzzle got covered by the other dragoness "He's got a few centuries on you... let it go and lets just get out of here, ok?" It took a moment for her to comprehend the words: Centuries? Dolphins didn't live that long... Shaking off her companions paw, she nodded and glanced at her "is it good to go?" and recieved a nod, then returned her gaze to find an empty spot in the grass, not even footprints hinting a moment ago a full warsuit had been standing there.

The drive from the compound was unexpectedly free of contact, the radio chatter indicating a rapidly escalating situation at the base, her ship waiting for her right where she'd left it as they got out and she discovered a second card in her pocket, a credit chit. As she palmed it, Jas called out to her "Arun, you need to come see this!" Joining him in the hub, she watched as the ship was fed a Camera holo-feed of the compound as it had been when they arrived. In the upper corner, a shadowed face appeared, that of a dragon, it's facial features hidden beyond it being a mixture of blue and green, a deep voice speaking draconic. Glancing at her and Rithnok, the captain mouthed "What is he saying?" and she took a moment to think, then began listening, mentally translating words she hadn't heard in a long time. "This is your objective... No prisoners. No Survivors. Primary target is the CEO, a dolphin named Calafin. Secondary targets include his Sister, FInna, and anyone in the compond who is not among your forces, including any collaborators of our own species. Terminate with extreme prejudice. And any information you find on research is to be liquidated. " Relaying the words, she felt a shiver go up her spine; this was a lot bigger then she expected, if the draconic hegemony was involved. "Where was this?" Jes glanced at her and Rithnok " This was on that datapad you got, apparently intercepted this morning... Looks like we've got a war on our hands. " Tapping her fingers a moment, she brought up a feed from an orbital satellite of the compound as it was now, most of it wrecked and smoking, small explosions still happening from ongoing combat. Everyone in the room collectively inhaled as what had been the gym began opening up like a clamshell, armored doors folding back, and high-speed shuttles began launching out at full throttle, each one double the size of her ship and shaped like an elongated saucer, tapering to a wide engine nozzle in the back. In the compound, a second assault mech began to take aim at the departing shuttles, only to have a hole big enough for her to stand in get blown out of it's torso, the mangled machine managing a single step forward before it was literally split in half by a familiar black, blurred shape.

A low growl from beside her made her look at the one passenger in the ship who wasn't part of the crew "This is not going to end well... But if anyone is going to have that kind of power, at least it's someone who wants to refrain from using it. " Nodding, she noted that somehow the other dragoness had acquired a large leather bag that hung on her hip, and the weapons she had on her weren't the ones from the surface. "Are you going to join in?" Sighing, Rithnok shook her head "Not my place... I'm just a contractor. But I'm going to have to keep a careful eye out, so will you. " Flipping the ID card in one hand, she slid it into the reader atop the hub's central console, and a map appeared, showing a star system a few days travel away. A second slot recieved the Credit chit, revealing it to hold almost 100,000 credits, along with a thank you note from someone named "Finna" and the image of her and an orca thanking her for keeping an eye out on 'their phin'... as well as an invite for them both to have fun sometime once things calmed down. Sitting back in the couch and glancing around the room, Arun had to ponder; she had the money to go where she wished, her ship was fueled and repaired, and with no witnesses beyond Rithnok, she could run, just be a merc again, forget what had happened here. Smiling at the crew, her family, she took a moment, and then grinned as the captain asked where they were going. "Rithnok, we need a place to drop you off... I can't ask you to become part of my crew, though you're welcome to join. " Nodding, the dragoness smiled "I have a few places nearby, if you don't mind me bunking with you till we get there. " Haelin spoke up next "And after that?" Standing, she tapped a button on the console, showing the known hideouts and depots of the irredeemables, all the intel they had on them "Then... we have a promise to keep. "