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Chapter 2

It Gets Even Better

Date: November 9, 2777

Location: Traveling, 1 light year from

Time: 0100 (Military Time)

The Captain made his way through the hall, stepping over metal plating's and debris. Wires dangled from the ceiling. The hall was filled with light smoke and sparks flew from damaged panels on the walls. Crew Personnel were scrambling to assess the damage done to the deck and help the crew members that needed it. God fucking damn it! The Captain thought. He was both angry and worried. Angry at the fact that the most advanced ship ever designed by both Humanity and the Pelzigens was outmaneuvered and outgunned by a Lothian ship. Worried for Akutenshi and his squad. All the possibilities of what could have happened to them rushed through his head. He picked up his pace. The ship shuttered from the stress to the already badly damaged hull. The jump wasn't doing the technicians any favors either. The minute that got one thing fixed, whether it was activating the shielding at the hull breaches that failed to activate to fixing one of five gravity generators onboard the ship, something new would prop up. A new hull breach, a part of the hull would tear off due to the stress that the worm hole would cause, and the FTL Drives where beginning to overheat meaning that they would have to exit the worm hole soon enough. It didn't fucking help that the planets in the Epsilon Eridani System where so far apart from each other. He came upon a single door that lead into the Med Lab. Sparks flew from it as the mechanisms worked on opening the door. It slid open and he walked in and attempted to shut and got stuck, sparking even more. One of the Med Lab Technicians typing on a pad looked up at the Captain and saw the door. He rushed over and grunted as he gave it a heavy kick and the door closed all the way. "Where are they?" The Captain said watching the Technician. "Down the hall to the left." He responded. The Captain gave him a nod and proceeded down the dimly light hall to a door on the left side of the hall, looked up at it and took a deep breath. Hold it together, they're fine! He thought. The door opened to a sober scene. Kijani was on a medical table with a bandaged leg, looking over at the Captain with a bit of a smile, Miranda stared up at him with a few scraped and bruises and gave him a gentle smile. Jack, a male human that had went with the group looked over at him from the corner of the room with a patch over his right eye and nodded. He smiled back at all them and scanned the room to find Cale and Akutenshi. Where were they? He looked over at Miranda and she nodded to the right of the room to a curtain. The Captains smile faded as he walked towards the curtain and opened it slightly and saw Cale sitting in a chair with a bandage around his left arm and chest. He was fine, thank god. He looked to the left of Cale and his eyes widened. Akutenshi laid in a bed with a bandage over his left eye, one around his right paw, around his chest and waist, and he saw several stitches showing from where the bandage didn't cover on his chest. His fur was caked in some blood still and a respirator was placed to help him breath. The machine monitoring his pulse gave off stable beeps showing his condition. So far, he was stable. Cale looked back at the Captain with lowered ears.

"What happened?" He said in a hushed tone staring at Ishimura. "Well..." Said Cale "Captain, after we landed in the Hangar....or more of well crashed into the hanger, Ishimura had regained consciousness and had apparently stood up went up to the cockpit and pulled me out and threw me into the cargo hold, then threw up a shield....He threw himself in harm's way to protect us." The Captain gave a quiet sigh and looked at Ishimura. Damn kid, always had to throw himself in harm's way. The Captain looked over at Cale and nodded. "Sir." Jack said. "We did find the Flight Recorder and were able to recover it, it's partially damaged so it'll take time to repair it and find out what happened, but we also found a survivor, he goes by the name Josh Lupin, Lance Corporal, assigned to the Valkyrie when she launched. We were able to pull up his background and details after we were checked out. He's currently unconscious still." The Captain gave a nod and looked over at Kijani. "Sir, There are people in worse condition than Akutenshi." He said looking at him. "I know. We've set course for Leben, our ETA is approximately 30 minutes, once there we're getting the wounded to a hospital where they'll undergo Nanite therapy and start the recovery process. While there, HQ wants a debrief and we'll receive orders once that's done." They all nodded, Cale looked over at Ishimura with concern and took a deep breath. The Captain saluted the squad and walked towards the door. "I'll....be on the bridge if anyone needs me." And with that, he walked out the room and back to the bridge.

Location: Orbiting Leben. UGSM Serenity nearing Docking Station Omega

Time: 0130 Military Time onboard Serenity. 1430 Military Time on Leben.

"Serenity to docking station Omega, requesting permission to initiate docking procedure and undergo repairs and unloading of critical personnel." The Ensign looked at his console, the coordinates slowly changing as the Serenity aligned itself with the station. "This is docking station Omega, request is approved Serenity, begin docking procedure, heading zero-zero-nine point three-five-four. Copy?" "Affirmative, heading zero-zero-nine point three-five-four. Thank you Omega. Lian, begin Docking Procedure Alpha please." "Already on it Ensign Nielsen." He rolled his eyes. Their AI had only been active for a few days, and already it was getting a personality, he kind of liked it. The ships viewport angled to reveal a massive cross shaped station with three large circles revolving around it attach to it by several long tubes. The bottom portion contained rib like cages with ships entering and exiting them, all of which were large ships from Carriers to Capital Ships. The middle ring contained smaller vessels, Frigates and Cruisers came and went. The top portion allowed smaller vessels such as yachts, transportation shuttles, convoy escorts, and small fighters to dock to the station. Each had several of the rib cages which were used to do repair on ships that needed them. The large station grew bigger and bigger the closer they got and the ship began angling itself into a trajectory that would allow it to dock into the biggest rib cage. "ETA to Repair Station Zero One, two minutes and thirty seconds. Slowing to Impulse speed!" Nielson said to the captain. A loud shuddering was heard throughout the bridge as the hull stressed. Hold it together baby. He thought punching in several other commands into the console. "Two minutes, slowing to quarter impulse." He relayed back to the captain. The console in front of him flashed several warnings at him regarding the hull integrity as well as several other issues that were beginning to occur due to the stress on the ship's hull from the deceleration. "One minute and thirty seconds. Cutting engines and beginning docking procedure....activating forward thrusters to slow us down." He worked furiously as he continued to maintain control of their approach to the cage. "Beginning to drift, thirty seconds until we've reached the repair station." The Viewport was filled with the stars and parts of the repair station as it entered it. Several lights flickered within the station and smaller repair vessels began to ignite their thrusters and begin their trajectory to the Serenity. "Thirty seconds, almost dead in the water sir." The ship gave a loud protest to the stop as it floated into the station where several tractor beams locked onto her and stopped her all the way. "Docking procedure complete Captain, getting word from the repair station that they will start assessing the damage and begin repairs immediately." He looked up at the old man and saw him nod at him.

"Captain, High Command is wanting you planet side. They want a debriefing in two hours." "Understood Nicole, tell them I'll be on my way once the Umbilical cords are attached and I have a shuttle ready." "Yes sir." A young female began to relay the message through a console next to him, her golden hair was rather eye catching. "Beginning to shut down all Engine reactors and FTL drives, Umbilical is attached to the docking port. Have fun Captain." Nielson said with which he got a reply from the Captain "Comical." As the Captain stood up and walked out the bridge. "Everyone that is not needed to help with repairs is granted shore leave. Get our injured to a medical station as soon as possible. That is all." "Yes sir." Nielson looked over at the console to double check everything was good to go before he stood up and stretched and made his way out the bridge.

Location: Leben Capital City, Wächter. Unified Systems Military HQ

Time: 1630

The Captain entered the dimly light war room with its holographic table in the center along with several other holographic emitters aligned on the walls and ceiling. There were no windows and the low blue lights were the only source of light within the room. The emitters began to move and bright blue figures appeared before him. To the left of him was an elderly woman, there was no color but from the winkles on her face it told him that she was older than him. Leader of the Army, General Powell. The one next to her was a younger man, Leader of the Airforce, General McCullin. Asshole of the UGSM. The man in the middle was the Leader of the Navy, Admiral Harper. About the same age as the Captain, and a reasonable man. Then an old hound appeared to the right, The Highest ranking among the Guardians, and a well-respected teacher at the Academy. Ardan. He gave the Captain a slow nod and a gentle smile. "Reporting as ordered." The Captain said. Powell looked over at him and took a deep breath, "Captain." McCullin stared at the Captain with a low scowl, they never got along, let alone see eye to eye. "Scheck." Said Harper and gave the captain a welcoming smile. "Tell us, what had happened and what did you do to our brand new ship?" "Not exactly a story we can laugh about..." Replied the Captain. Within a matter of a couple hours the Captain gave them the long winded version regarding how he had deployed Ishimura's team to the Valkyrie soon after receiving her distress beacon to how their sensors had gone off reading a fleet of Lothian vessels up to their encounter with the new hostile ship. It took a few minutes before anyone spoke after he was done. "We lost a lot of good people aboard the Valkyrie, we lost a good ship." The Captain said.

"Agreed, but we haven't lost the Valkyrie yet." Harper said looking over at the Captain. "According to some of the scans you took of her before being engaged and forced to flee, she looks like she can be repaired and ready again in a year or so. Granted it'll cost us a fortune to rebuild the parts of the ship that are missing." "Agreed." Replied Powell. "The only good news is that the Serenity made it out in one piece." "Which is where you come in Scheck" Said McCullin. "We have your next orders, once the Serenity is repaired we will send her as well as a fleet to recover the Valkyrie." The Captain glared at the man. He wasn't for recovering the Valkyrie, but he knew that there was something else going on in that man's mind. And they weren't the things he would more than likely not hear. "As well as hunt down the enemy ship and either scan it, give us a report on it. Or destroy it." "You can't be serious?!" Shouted the Captain. "That ship was something completely different General! If the Serenity is unable to handle it, then what makes you think that a fleet mixed with smaller, older ships along with tugs will be able to take it on?! You're sentencing them to die if they end up engaging that ship! The Scans that we were able to get from it reported weapons on it that we have never even thought where possible! The ships armor itself is made of an alloy that is stronger than the Serenity's!" "This is not up for debate Captain! You either accept the orders or we WILL find another Captain for the Serenity!" The Captain slammed his fists down on the table and shouted back "You are a god damn fool McCullin! To try and scan that ship would alert it to our presence and to engage it would mean certain death!" "Captain, you have your orders, accept them or hand the Serenity over to us and allow us to find another Captain for her. That is final." The Captain shuddered with anger as he glared up at the General. "Fine, we'll be ready to go in three weeks, hopefully she's still there." And with that, he turned his back to them and began to walk out. "This meeting is finished." Said McCullin with a low scowl as his hologram faded out of existence.

"Captain!" Shouted Powell. The Captain stopped and turned to face her. "We do have another task for you while you're out there." The Captain took several deep breaths and nodded. "Yes ma'am?" "Once the tugs enter Warp with the Valkyrie, you need to take the fleet with you to investigate the disappearance of fleets Three and Five. We lost contact with them approximately thirty hours ago." The Captain gave a slow nod. "And Captain..." Said Harper. "If you do find the enemy ship, do as you were instructed, scan it. But if it comes after you, I don't care what McCullin says, you will order a full withdrawal from the area and jump to a random set of coordinates and once it is certain the enemy ship did not pursue, make your way to the missing fleets location." The Captain gave a slow nod. "Understood." Harper nodded and faded out of existence as did Powell. Ardan looked at the Captain. "Please let Ishimura's team know that I will be stopping by to check up on them." He smiled and nodded at the old hound, he returned it as well and faded like the other three. The Captain walked out the War Room and proceeded down the hallway. It had elegant drapes tied to the end of the windowsills and a warm golden sunset poured into the hallway. He relaxed and felt happy as he proceeded down the marble hallway with its large arches. It seemed almost majestic with the way the sun was setting. He proceed down in a brisk pace. The ship's crew was not going to like what their orders were. He knew that for certain.

Location: Outer Colonies of the Epsilon Eridani System

Date: November 9, 2777

Lothian Immortal Class Capital Ship Unjust

Time: 1230 (Military Time)

He paced the bridge looking down at the row of consoles in front of them, each with their operators hard at work. Everything seemed to be going ok. The scaly humanoids worked at an average pace sending out communications, receiving both Lothian and UGSM communications and relaying the ones that needed to be relayed. Several smaller frigates drifted into view. Their blood red hulls shimmered as a ray of light hit their hull. The Frigates reminded him of a pencil sharpener in a funny way. Their engines where fitted into the engineering at the back end of the ship which was shaped into an odd square shape and the rest of the hull went outwards in a spiral with a few pockets poking out and their command centers a small square at the center of their ship. Their ARC's were barely visible. Each frigate, like most other ships in all Lothian fleets had an Accelerated Rail Cannon attached to each ship. The cannons where meant to tear through a ships shielding and destroy it with one shot. The issue was that the ARC couldn't be continuously fired. Despite the advances in technology on the Lothian side their ARC's lacked the quick fire ability the UGSM's ships had. But what they lacked in quick fire, they made up for with damage. One round was able to split a UGSM War Frigate in two and the other to completely demolish the remaining parts of the ship. His grey fur bristled a little as he felt an uneasy presence approaching. Shit. He turned to face the door to the bridge and watched as a dark shrouded figure wearing a cloak came in. He made no audible sound and the vibrations he gave off made his fur stand on end in fear. He simply went by the name Immortal. No one on board truly knew the reason why, but rumors suggested, as what his name meant, he was truly immortal. Time had no effect on him and neither did conventional weapons. "Kie.....enjoying the view?" Immortal said as he drifted towards the grey wolf. "I suppose I am." He replied staring at the dark figure. A dark shroud of mist enveloped most of his body. Kie's black marking began to glow a little. "It seems you've been startled." No shit, seeing someone like him makes you want to just scream in terror and run away. "No, I'm fine." "Good." He drifted over to one of the Lothians and stared at the console and gave a low chuckle. "There hasn't been much to do Immortal. We're awaiting the transmission to intercept the Prowler." "Yes, I know. But sadly our friend hasn't been able to launch the tugs yet." Immortals voice sounded a little horse, demonic in a strange sense as he cackled a little and walked around the bridge. "We are currently positioning some of the fleets to get ready for our grand entrance." Kie stared at Immortal for a few more minutes and nodded. "Your fleet and this ship are to jump to the Valkyrie and wait for our guests to come back. During which you know what to do." "I do." He replied. "I'll be returning to the Judgement. Return to where the bulk of the fleet is and wait for your word when your mission is done." Kie nodded. "Anything else?" "Don't fail me.....the last one that failed me ended up being my next meal....His life was rather enjoyable to say the least." He made his way to the door. Kie's fur began to relax a little. He looked down and saw he was clenching his paws without even knowing it. "Once Immortal is off the ship, set coordinates for the Valkyrie, notify all ships within the fleet that we are moving out." He stared outside and saw as the ship began to tilt a little more and angled itself to be ready for a jump. "Prepare FTL drives." He looked off to the left and saw a small shuttle head towards the only ship heading in the opposite direction and took a deep breath. "Activate Wormhole generator. Deploy the rings." There was a loud thud as a set of small triangular objects floated on ahead of the ship and moved into position and a bright flash of light as a wormhole generated. Several seconds later another set of the objects flew in. They waited for a few minutes until the wormhole flashed again and one of the Lothians gave a thumbs up. "Enter." The ship began to move itself forward into the wormhole and soon the viewports where surrounded by a dark black color with glowing green and blue streaks of light surrounding them. Within a matter of minutes they exited out the other side and the stars returned. There was a flash of light as a pair of the objects came back through and went into the ship. Another flash and the other pair went back behind the first pair. "Warp two, get us a good distance from the Valkyrie and wait."

Time: 1530 (military time)

Cale stared at the tank watching his wolf float in it. He looked peaceful in this state. He had woken up a little before they had placed him in the tank and was in intense pain. They had used heavy medication to sedate him. Right now, Cale hoped, he was having good dreams. The door behind him opened and closed and he turned to see who had walked in. Kijani. "How's he doing?" He said. "The doctors say it'll take a few days for all the nerve damage, muscle damage, and tissue damage to heal. Not to mention the damage done to his limbs. They were contemplating giving him robotics. But luckily his body was able to accept the Nanites and they were able to get him in the tank so the bugs could do their thing." Cale responded as he turned towards Kijani. Kijani gave Cale a worried look. "You need to get some sleep man. You've been up fifty hours watching him. He will be fine." "I know." He says as he places his paw on the tank and looks up at Ishimura worried. "Don't know why, but I just can't sleep....He's hurt and I can feel him." Kijani raised his eyes at Cale and gave a small smirk. Cale smiled a little. "Go to hell you oversized feline. Not in that way." He joked with Kijani. The white Liger gave a small chuckle. "I know. There's something about a deep love that allows the two partners to, in a sense, feel what each other feel. It's even stronger with a Guardian. When a Guardian choses a mate, their life force ends up being connected to their partners and the stronger their feelings for each other, the stronger the connection. Takes years of training just to understand how to block those signals from our mate's and not allow it to control us. Very sophisticated and harder to control than you think." Cale nodded understanding.

He remembered the feeling he got when his eyes locked onto Akutenshi's red eyes that day at the bar. He had gone out with a few friends after graduating to celebrate. This strong muscular black and red fur colored wolf was staring at him with interest. And there was an instant click, an instant want to be near him. It was weird. The first time they had met. It was awkward having a guy ask you out when you're a guy yourself and you're not even sure what to say. After only ten months of going out with each other, Akutenshi had invited Cale over to his place and there he had popped the question. Of course he had said yes and with a loud giggle from Akutenshi had they finished up their dinner and went to the bedroom to have themselves some fun. After that day, Cale felt amazing, and then he started realizing that he was feeling emotions he knew weren't his, thoughts that weren't his. He had remembered Akutenshi telling him that the connection between both of them were getting stronger. It was their love that had made it stronger. And with them engaged and almost mated, the connection grew stronger. When one felt pain, the other did, when one felt lonely, they both did. It took time to get used to it, to be able to push the foreign thought from each other out and focus on keeping it together. Drove Cale nuts for a while but he grew use to it. The love for Akutenshi had made it bearable. He knew that Akutenshi would go through hell and back just for him and he'd do the same. Within time he was able to keep himself under control and not allow Akutenshi's feelings and thoughts intrude on his own and learned how to control his own as did Akutenshi. But at times when they were asleep, their thoughts and emotions intertwined.

He remembered a time when Akutenshi had been knocked out cold and remembered a flood of emotions; fear, anger, and the thoughts of pain came flooding in. Cale nearly lost it in the sea of emotions that mixed with his own but had remembered the things Akutenshi had taught him if things where to ever get out of control. Take deep breaths and focus on grabbing hold of his thoughts and safe guard them and put barriers around his mind. Within a few minutes he had control of what came into his thoughts. He allowed the connection to stay open despite the pain it caused. Of course, there was no real way to cut the connection. But there were ways to control it. At times when he was sick, or Akutenshi was sick, they allowed the connection to let their emotions flow through them and their thoughts so they knew they weren't alone even when they weren't. It always helped him get through anything that had happened to him, whether it was a broken bone or fever, feeling Akutenshi's reassuring thoughts always made the recovery easier. Now, it was Cale's turn. He did the best he could to keep his worried thoughts under control and only let the ones he knew would let Akutenshi know he was there and that he cared. Akutenshi gave a small smile and his thoughts seemed to relax a little. Kijani looked over at Cale and put a paw on his shoulder. "Come on Wusky, you need some sleep." Cale shook him off and smiled, a tear rolling down his cheek. "Thanks but no thanks. I'll stay here." "Come on now, don't think I won't go and find some aesthetics to knock you out with, maybe some nice Trazodone. Always knocked Ishimura out at the academy when he was stressed out." "I'm fine." He said giving a low growl. "Cale..." Kijani said. "Come on, you need some rest or you'll get sick or something, you think he wants to feel you getting sick or hurt?" Cale nodded in agreement. "I just worry about him." He responded. "Trust me, Ishimura is a tough son-of-a-bitch. Trust me, saw him take on two guys at once while we were out drinking. Got cut a few times but managed to take them out. Of course they were able to get a knife rammed right into his stomach. He didn't exactly pass out. Just stumbled up against a wall and kept the knife in telling me to help him to a hospital. Within a few days he was up and about somehow. He'll be fine. Trust me. Stubborn bastard."

Cale nodded, he remembered a few times where he had been threatened and Akutenshi came in and saved him. Cale had almost always required Akutenshi's help. This time, it was his turn to help Akutenshi. But Kijani was right. He couldn't help Akutenshi if he got sick. He nodded "Alright, let's go....." Kijani's tail flickered a little and he nodded. "Alright, let's get something to drink, know a good little bar that is a few minutes away from here." Cale nodded happily and followed the Liger out the door. Kijani was right. The bar was fairly nice with its festive decor. It had several small tables and a circular one with a hole in the middle where the bar tender made the drinks. They had spent a good amount of time drinking and talking about the things that had come to mind. Eventually the sun had set and Cale made his way back to the ship yard and got on board a standard military transport and was taken to the Serenity where he returned to his cabin. He took a few minutes to look at the items on the desk. Standard issue computer laid at the center with a computer chair that was bolted to the ground. A little light above the desk lit it up. He took a moment and looked to the left and saw that the picture of him and Akutenshi was flat on the desk. He reached over and picked it up and stared at the picture. The frame was cracked and the some of the glass had fallen out. He lowered his ears and frowned touching the picture. It was taken some time prior to them departing for the Serenity. They were standing outside a bar, a few beers in their paws with Akutenshi wrapping one paw around Cale and smiling big and white. Cale smiled and felt a tear roll down. He looked down at his other paw and stared at the ring and took a deep breath and released it in a deep sigh. He knew Akutenshi was going to be ok, but he still worried. Whatever had attacked them was still out there, it was still a threat. He shook his head and stood up stretching and walked towards the bed where he collapsed on top of it and closed his eyes. Sleep immediately overtook him and he passed out.

The Captain made his way towards the bridge where he saw Nielson working with a repair team on the Nav station. He nodded towards the Ensign and made his way around the bridge. Wires were draped from the ceiling and technicians where hard at work repairing the bridge. A few of them looked tired but continued to take panels off of the consoles and work on the wiring. He took a few minutes to watch everything before he finally went and sat down in the Captain's Chair. He knew they wouldn't like what they were about to hear. Returning to where the Valkyrie was, it was not something he knew that some of the crew wanted to do, especially after what had happened. Nielson looked over his shoulder at the Captain and made his way to him. "Repairs on the bridge are almost done. Thanks to the engineers and technicians we'll have her ready to go in about a week or two tops. Faster than we thought we'd get her going again." The Captain gave a slow nod. "Is something bothering you sir?" Nielson said to the Captain. "We have a mission to do after she's repaired, I'll be telling you guys the day before we're ready to head out." "Is that all?" The Captain took a few minutes to think on that and nodded. He was worried about Akutenshi and what would happen when they get there. If the ship was still there that had attacked them, he had no clue how they'd fight it. The scans they had gotten off of the ship before retreating were worrisome. The shielding on it was ancient yet superior, its weapons systems where far superior to any he had seen on any Lothian ship. He tried to think of what else they were able to grab prior to the Jump. "Ensign." He said, Nielson turned towards him "I want a status report on the repairs on the rest of the ship, please bring them to me in my ready room." He said as he stood up and began walking to the left around the debris of parts on the floor towards a single door on the far side of the bridge. Nielsen nodded and responded but the Captain didn't hear it and just nodded in return. He entered the ready room and walked around his desk and sat down in the chair and took several deep breaths. He looked to the left and saw a picture of a young man with a small wolf cub and smiled a little as he picked it up. He saw himself twenty years younger and the cub looked especially happy sitting on top of the Captains shoulders. It was a picture from when he had taken the cub to a fair. Made the little guys eyes sparkle as he saw the coasters fly by, a few clowns dancing around and a few tents with games and cubs and kids playing them with their parents. He put it back down and sighed. He sat there in silence and stared at the picture for a few minutes when there was a chime. He put the picture down and said "Enter." Nielson walked in with a PDA and made his way to the desk where he put it before the Captain. He picked it up and looked through the reports. Engines where doing better, the anti-matter chamber's leaks had been patched up. Weapons where currently in the yellow, half where unusable at the moment and the reports on the hull breaches looked promising.

In total the ship was about thirty-eight percent repaired. He nodded and said "Thank you Ensign." And handed it back. "I'll be at the hospital if you need me. Going to go check on the wolf." He said standing up staring at the Ensign. Nielson nodded and went out the door to continue repairs and he followed him out and then went towards the hangar. There he boarded a small escort shuttle to the planet's surface where he took a cab to the hospital. The building was one of the taller ones in the city. It was several hundred stories high with a part of the top looking like it had been cut off with a big balcony where the cut had been made. He sighed and continued into the hospital and made his way to Akutenshi's room where he saw Cale standing in front of the tank with a paw on it. He went forward and placed his hand on the kids shoulder. Cale's ears perked up and he turned his head to see The Captain. "S-Sir." He said. "Drop the formalities Cale, I'm here as a family member, not the Captain." Cale nodded and returned to staring at the tank. The Captain gave Cale's shoulder a strong squeeze and went to the other side of the room where there were a few chairs and grabbed one. He pulled it next to Cale and motioned for him to sit. He did so. The Captain returned to get a chair as well and sat next to Cale. "Damn kid.....always was reckless." Cale gave a small nod not taking his eyes off the tank. "James." Cale said. The Captain looked over at Cale. "Hm?" Cale turned his head to look at the Captain, his ears folded back. "I know he'll be ok, but, I can't help but worry." "I know, same here." He sat there and stared at the kid, his kid, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "He'll be ready to leave in a few more days." Cale said. "And we'll be leaving two weeks top." He responded to Cale. They continued to stare at the tank for a while until they had to return to the ship to help with repairs. The rest of the day was hard on both of them.

Date: November 22, 2777

Time: 1350 (Military Time)

Location: Docking Station Omega

Akutenshi winced a little as he made his way through the halls of the station. The nanites had done their job at patching his body up, but he could still feel residual pain. Cale moved up next to him and put his arm over his shoulder and helped him walk. His legs where still weak. Floating inside a tank for a few days typically did that. Cale gave him a small nod as his ears perked up a little and flushed. Akutenshi loved seeing Cale's ears flush red and found it rather cute when his Wusky did that. They continued down the hall way to the Tube that connected the Serenity to the station and made their way down the cramped space. Once on board they turned left and went down to their room where Cale had put Akutenshi down on the bed. He sat there for a minute catching his breath then let himself fall back onto the bed. Cale sat next to him and put a paw on his thigh and smiled. "Doing ok Hun?" Cale asked, Akutenshi nodded. "Can't believe they got the repairs done so fast." He responded. The time that they had together after he got out of the hospital where nice. A few nice dinners with Cale and the group and a few nights in bed with him where really all he needed to start feeling better. He frowned and stared up at the ceiling. "Hey Hun." Cale turned to Akutenshi and tilted his head a little bit. "What?" He replied. Akutenshi took a deep breath and sighed. "Please keep the sexual feelings at bay for a little, our fun nights where nice, but we're back on board. We need to keep our minds in the game and prepare for the briefing by the Captain." Cale nodded and frowned. Akutenshi sat up and put his paw on Cale's face gently and caressed it then kissed him. "Don't worry, we'll have time to have fun here Hun." Cale's ears flushed again and smiled. "Alright Hun." Almost as if on cue, the Speakers went off and a whistle could be heard. Their ears perked up as they listened in. The old man's voice came through the speakers.

"Attention all hands, prepare for mission briefing." Akutenshi looked at Cale and put a paw on his lap and gave a gentle squeeze. "Once we leave the station we will begin the Jump sequence. We will enter Warp in approximately two minutes and then enter the wormhole and head back to the Valkyrie's location with fleet's one and two along with the Prowler and several tugs. Our task is to watch over the tugs as they attach their tractor beams to the Valkyrie and begin tugging her towards the gate that we will set up for them to use. After we have secured the remains of the Valkyrie we will then depart with the first fleet towards Aegis where we will investigate a few whispers and see if it is a Lothian fleet's way of communication." Akutenshi felt a sudden anger take control and he clenched his paws accidently digging his claws into Cale's leg. He gave a yelp and grabbed his paw and held it. "Calm down Hun...." He said staring at Akutenshi's red eyes and he took a deep breath and relaxed. "Sorry Hun." He responded. He felt the ship lurch and knew they were on their way out of the station and towards their mission. "Listen, I know a lot of you don't want to return to the Valkyrie's position, but someone needs to retrieve her. Keep your heads in the game and we'll make it back in one piece. Captain Scheck out." And the speakers turned off. There were a few murmurs outside their room from other crew members as the ship lurched again, harder than last time as they entered Warp. The speakers turned back on and his voice came through, "All hands, prepare for Jump." And with that, he felt the ship enter the wormhole. Fear soon took over the anger and enveloped him. He hoped things would go well.

Location: Wolf 348, Valkyrie's position

Time: 2041 (Military time)

The Captain stared out the view port as the stars returned. Off in the distance he could see the Valkyrie, debris drifting all around her and took a deep breath. "Scheck to the tugs, do your thing. Prowler, take your detachment and begin scouting ahead. Report in if you find anything." There were two affirmatives from both a male and female voice and he watched the small boxed Tugs move towards the Valkyrie and the moderate sized Prowler, she looked like an assault rifle with her clip ejected and saw a shimmer of light as she and the smaller rectangular ships fade out of existence and cloak. "All ships, defensive pattern Omega One." And watched hundreds of small ships spread out and take positions above, below, and to the sides of the Valkyrie and saw several blue balls of light as the ships launched their Mech's and Fighters out into space. He saw several of them take immediate formations and start circling the fleet. "All Mech's and Fighters launch." He said and saw hundreds of small lights depart from the Serenity and stared off at the stars. He was hoping they wouldn't run into the enemy ship, not now. "Raise shields Parker." He said to a young woman at a console to his left. "Shields raised Captain." She responded. "Begin active sweep of the area and deploy all Frigates." There were several thuds and five frigates sped off ahead of the Serenity. "All frigates, formation Alpha Nine." The frigates spread apart and begin to take position around the Serenity. He tapped the arm rest of his chair as he watched. "Raise condition to yellow." The lights flickered then turned yellow, an alarm sounded. The tugs had just made their way to the Valkyrie and were starting to attach their tractor beams to the Valkyrie when there was an audible ping. "Report LT!" The Captain yelled. "Tracking unknown ship approaching us approximately thirty kilometers to the East!" "Condition Red! All hands, battle stations! All ships prepare for combat!" He saw several hundred fighter squadrons take formation and begin to angle themselves towards where the enemy ship was just as the Serenity angled herself to face the enemy ship. His eyes widened as he saw the ship. A dark massive ship, the shape a vulture, come towards them. No doubt about it, it was the ship that had attacked them. "All squadrons, engage the ship!" The vulture continued moving then several beams of light fired at the fighters that were closing in on it and there were several bright flashes as dozens of fighters blew up. Suddenly he saw small shadows leave the enemy ship and then Parker hollered back. "Captain! A hundred frigates just detached from the enemy ship! They're moving in towards the tugs!" "Defend those tugs!" He yelled back. "Prowler report in!" "This is the Prowler, we are beginning our scans of the ship now!" A young male voice yelled through the comms. Suddenly the enemy ship disappeared and all that was left where the hundred frigates in bound to the tugs. "Damn it! Requiem, Gettysburg, autumn, Virginia, Redemption, and Sierra, form a cluster around the frigates! Escort them to the wormhole now!" The Captain yelled. The bigger ships of the fleet went in and got on all sides of the tugs and followed them as they started to tug the Valkyrie towards the wormhole. "Mayday mayday! This is the Prowler, the enemy ship has us in its tractor beam! We are unable to break free and they are launched boarding parties! Requesting immediate help!" The Captain slammed his fists on the arm's chair. "Get us over there! All frigates attack pattern Delta Nine. Requesting several other frigates to follow us and engage the enemy ship! Akutenshi get your squad ready, you'll be boarding with several other Guardian squads to assist in pushing the boarders back!" "Yes sir!" Akutenshi's voice came through the comms. "Good luck. All ships, Fire once we are in range of the enemy ship!" There were several more bright flashes as the dropships left the Serenity and went in the direction the Prowler was. God damn it! He thought clenching his fists.

......

It was complete chaos! Ships exploded all around their ship as the squadrons moved in to help assist the Prowler. Several frigates had already taken critical damage and their reactors were beginning to go critical when he saw one of them blow up. A few puffs of red escaped the ship then metal debris floated off into space. Akutenshi checked his pulse rifles and hand guns. "ETA thirty seconds! It's going to be a rough landing people!" Came a male voice through the shuttles comms. He felt the ship lurch from side to side and thought he felt it flip as the pilot, Williams, a middle aged Skunk, flew the ship and attempted to dodge the plasma fire from the enemy ships. The ship bucked a little and he heard the Skunks voice come in over the cons. "Deploy! Deploy!" He turned towards the exit hatch and watched it open while the shielding for the door came on. Gun fire splashed against it as several Lothians fired at the dropship. Akutenshi looked at the others and nodded running forward, his grey trench coat flapped a little as he leaped out, the red markings on his arm glowed and he aimed his paw forward and several glowing green shards came up from his paw and shot forward hitting some of the Lothians, either cutting them in half or squashing them completely. Their black blood splattered across the floor of the hanger. Kijani leaped out behind him and fired several shots at the attackers and killed them. Miranda came in from behind and landed on the ground then unsheathed a sword and sprinted forward cutting down several more of the attackers. Lupin dropped in from behind and fired several rounds into the remaining attackers and took them down quickly. They looked at the each other and then towards the small door on the other end of the room and sprinted towards it. "Lupin, watch our six! Kijani take point!" Akutenshi shouted. The Liger pulled up front and began walking down the dimly light hallway. Wires dangled from the ceiling and several panels laid on the floor. Smoke had filled the hallway. Several Human bodies laid on the ground. Dried blood ran along the walls. Akutenshi grimaced at what had happened to them. "Captain, we've made it onboard and are making our way to the bridge to help push the attackers back." "Understood Ishimura, do whatever is necessary to repel the attackers." "Affirmative Da-I mean Captain." Akutenshi growled a little at himself. They made their way down a few more corridors then up some ladders. Within a few minutes they had reached the deck the bridge was on. He motioned for Kijani to pull back and he took point. They moved cautiously through the hallway and saw several more of their allies' body lay across the floor and they carefully walked over them. Bastards, He thought. There was gunfire ahead of them and they raised their weapons up. Miranda had sheathed her blade and was holding an M1 Plasma Rifle. Kijani looked at him with his automatic plasma pistol up. Lupin had a standard issue pulse rifle and nodded for them to proceed. They soon turned a corner and saw several Lothians hiding behind a barricade the soldiers on the Prowler must have set up to give them cover as they defended the bridge. He aimed forward and took the bastards out with several shots then moved up and took cover when he saw the door to the bridge partway open. Down the hall he saw several Lothian Honor Soldiers moving up with charges and saw some gunfire from down the other hall. Several blue bolts shot through the bridges door. They were putting up one hell of a fight! He thought. "Everyone, take out the Honor Soldiers then take positions to take out the Lothians down the other hall!" They all took their positions and then opened fire at the Honor Soldiers and took most of them down. The survivors took cover and began firing back. Blood red bolts hit the wall they were using as cover as the Honor Soldiers tried to hit them. He crouched and poked his head out and fired several blue bolts at the enemies killing one of them. They continued exchanging fire for a few more seconds before they finally took the Honor Soldiers out. He motioned for the team to move up and they took cover and began opening fire down the other hall at the Lothians that had taken cover down the hall and fired at the bridge. They continued to exchange fire for a few minutes until Akutenshi got tired of it and shot a small ball of flame from his paw and saw it approach the Lothians hiding spot and then closed his paws and there was an explosion of fire and the Lothians stopped firing at them.

"Friendlies coming to the bridge, don't fire!" He yelled. The doors opened just enough for the group to squeeze through. There the bridge looked different from others he had seen. The bridge was more of a square shape. There was a dip in the middle of it where monitors were still working with two stares going down to them. The Captain's chair was at the front of the ship with Helms control and Communications. Other monitors lined up along the walls with several chairs in front of them. The bright lights in the bridge flickered a little. A young man, probably in his late twenties, approached them. He wore a grey uniform with two ribbons on it and the Captains insignia on the shoulder. "Nice to see you guys." He said. He had brown eyes, brown skin, and a scar on his nose. "Nice to see you guys are still alive." Akutenshi responded. "Any idea how they detected you?" "Somewhat, we think they may have scanners capable of detecting plasma emissions. Our ship may become invisible, but we still give off a small amount of plasma emissions." Akutenshi nodded. "I wonder why they haven't destroyed the ship yet." The Captain said. "You have something they need." Akutenshi replied and motioned for Kijani to shut the door to the bridge. The Prowler wasn't exactly big, but it was a moderate sized stealth ship with amazing cloaking. "Not much, just what's standard on board any other ship." The Captain said. "Riiiight." Akutenshi replied. He knew the Captain was lying. He could see it in his eyes. There was something in their data banks that the Lothian's wanted. He didn't know what he is, he did care what it was, but he wasn't going to let the Lothians have it. "Back up any and all information that is important, then begin a purge of the Data Banks. In case we need to jump ship." He said. The Captain nodded in agreement and ordered one of the Ensigns to get started on it. They all took positions at the door in case the Lothians decided to try again but thankfully they didn't. Just then, the ship shook violently and they were all knocked off of their feet. "What the hell was that?!" Akutenshi shouted.

"There was an explosion in engineering. Something must have happened down there but we are venting plasma and the engines core temps are rising! This ship just became a ticking time bomb!" Akutenshi cursed and got to his feet and helped several other up. "Ishimura to Serenity!" He said tapping his comm badge on his chest. "This is the Serenity, go ahead Ishimura." The Captains voice came through. "Something happened, the ships engines just took a hit from down in engineering. The Prowler is now a ticking nuclear time bomb!" "Damn it! Prepare for Evac at the Hangar!" "Understood! Everyone, let's move!" He shouted as everyone ran to the door. Kijani opened the door and they began to make their way through the ship towards the Hangar. "Scans show that within ten minutes the engines will detonate and take the ship with it." A cold female voice came in through the comms, Serenity's AI. "Understood, we're almost to the-" He stopped mid-sentence as they entered the Hangar. A lone grey wolf stood there kneeling by several dead Lothian bodies. "Knew you'd come here to Evac." Came a low raspy voice from the grey wolf. He was wearing a black leather trench cloak with a black shirt, black combat pants and boots. His eyes and hair were completely black. Akutenshi's fur raised and he felt an evil presence flow from the being before them. There was something weird, something he felt only with his team. "Who are you?" He said aiming his gun at the Wolf. Something wasn't right. "Nice to see you Captain Powell." Said the wolf to the Captain. "Kie." The Captain said back. "You know this guy?" Akutenshi said to him. "Of course I do, he's my employer." Akutenshi's eyes widened and he heard several gunshots and several of the bridge crews bodies fell to the floor. The Grey Wolf, Kie, as he's called, Shot at the remaining individuals and forced them into cover. The Captain ran towards the man and got by his side then aimed his gun at the group that had taken cover. "You mother fucker!" Akutenshi yelled. "You get the data Captain?" "Yup!" The Captain reached into his pocket and handed Kie a small data chip. "What the hell man!" Kijani yelled at the Captain. "Nothing personal really, just picking the side that'll be winning soon enough!" Powell said back. A Lothian dropship pulled into the hangar and landed behind the two. Powell looked over at Kie and Kie gave him a slow nod and he made his way onto the ship as Kie continued to fire at them. "God damn it!" Akutenshi shouted as he stood up and ran towards Kie using his powers to deflect the shots and keep him save. Kie gave a small smile as Akutenshi reached him and took a swing at Akutenshi. It connected hitting Akutenshi in the chest and sending him flying back against the hull. Kie smirked as he walked towards the wolf and gave a low murr. "Poor pup, is it hurting!" He said as he kicked Akutenshi's stomach. He gave a loud grunt as the blow connected. Kie reached down and held Akutenshi up. He struggled to get free and saw Kie raise a paw and make a fist. It was then that Akutenshi had put both of his feet to Kie's chest and kicked off sending Kie skidding a little ways away. He landed on his feet and took several deep breaths. Damn it! He held his paw out and a sword began to generate. When it was done he grabbed it and ran towards Kie. Within that time Kie had also generated a sword and soon both blades connected with a clang and sparks flew. "Don't even try!" Kie shouted as he broke the connection and began to swing at Akutenshi. He deflected the swings with ease and then grabbed Kie by the scruff of his hair and threw him against a wall. There was a solid thud as Kie hit it. "Come here you asshole!" Akutenshi shouted as he leaped forward to give the killing blow. Kie raised one of his paws and Akutenshi felt a great force hit him in the chest and he was sent flying against a wall. He screamed out in pain as he slammed against it. Kie got up and was about to make his way to Akutenshi when the hull shook violently. There was an explosion and one of the hangars support beams fell over in front of Akutenshi. The hangars shield flickered and he felt the oxygen leave the room for a minute. Kie stopped and smiled. "Time to go!" He said laughing as he started making his way to the dropship. A shot rang out and a blue bolt hit Kie in the shoulder. Akutenshi looked towards the group and saw Kijani had taken the shot. Kie stumbled up against the dropship then fired back at the group and got onboard.

The dropships door closed before Kijani could get another shot off and it had lifted off the ground and went out the hangars shield. "Son-of-a bitch!" Akutenshi shouted feeling intense pain as he took a small breath. The group had left cover and Kijani ran over to Akutenshi and helped him up. "Serenity where is our pick up!?" Kijani shouted after clicking his comm badge. "ETA thirty seconds!" Came the skunk's voice. He could see a small rectangular ship approach the hangar and then turned the opposite way and shot its reverse thrusters to slow itself down as it entered the hangar. "All aboard!" Said the skunk over the comms. The hangar door opened up and they climbed inside. Just as the door began to close Akutenshi saw flames shooting through the halls. "Go! Go! Go!" He shouted and he felt the shuttle lurch forward and they left the hangar and entered space yet again. The shuttle shaked violently as shots narrowly missed their ship. "Serenity, I'm coming in hot!" the Skunk shouted over the comms. "Understood, get in here ASAP!" Akutenshi made his way into the cockpit grimacing in pain. When he got in he sat in a spare chair and watched as the ship flipped upside down and rotated to avoid more plasma fire. The Serenity's massive bulk came into view. She looked like a long rectangular tube with parts sticking out on the bottom and top of the ship. He could see the bridge at the front of the ship as a small circular part. The dropship approached the vessels nearest hangar and had turned around and activated its reverse thrusters and they soon entered the Serenity's hangar and landed. The Skunk stood up and pushed several buttons and then helped Akutenshi out of the ship and handed him over to Kijani. With that, Kijani took him to med bay.

.....

This was fucking nuts! Cale thought maneuvering through the battlefield in his mech. A long rifle was attached to his mech's arm and was raised as he started do target several enemy Colossus' and opened fire. Two more of the mechs aligned with his and opened fire as well. There was a distant explosion as their shots connected with the bastards. "Shiva, Winston, Riker, formation bravo!" Their indicators on the upper far left corner of the HUD flashed green as they acknowledged. The two mechs to his side moved away from him a little and then one took position above him and below him. "Engage hostiles at grid Kilo-Three-Five!" They angled their massive mechs in that direction and Cale punched it. The cockpit shuttered a little as the mech sped up. "Goliath's dead ahead Cale!" Came Shiva's voice. The young Vixen's mech had raised her rifle and began firing. Cale followed suit raising his gun and acquiring his targets and fired several shots. A small square box surrounded the first target then a little crosshair came up and the square turned read and he continued to fire. The first Goliath had dodged his shots and was now coming towards him. The massive humanoid approached his mech and Cale pulled to the side just narrowly avoiding it. The Colossus' and Goliath's where the Lothian's version of mechs. He turned his mech so he could see the enemy Goliath and opened fire. Hi left paw moved over to a panel and a keyboard popped up. He punched in several commands and the missiles on his mech came to life. He began targeting the Goliath then reached back to the stick in front of and pushed the button. Several rockets shot forward to the Goliath and it started to maneuver around them. The rockets continued to chase their targets and one hit its mark. There was an explosion at the back of the Goliath and he lurched forward losing its momentum and then the others hit. A spray of blood shot out and the Goliath's arm started drifting out of the explosion with a mist of blood trailing it. There was no massive explosion like you'd see in those action films, there was a big white orange and white cloud then nothing. It disappeared almost immediately. He turned to face the other Goliaths and saw the other mecha's combating them. He then turned towards the Prowler and saw several explosions occur within the vessel. The enemy ship had dropped its tractor beam and had pulled away just in time. The Prowler began to blow up and Cale's eyes widened. Oh god no! He thought as he turned to face where his squad was. They were mopping up the last Goliath and then turned to see what he had seen. Damn it! He thought. "All mech's, form up on me, return to the Serenity and defend her!" He shouted through the comms. Their indicators flashed green as they acknowledged. T

They made their way back to the Serenity taking out several other Colossus' along the way. "This is the Captain!" The Captains voice came through the comms. "Tugs have made it to the wormhole and have entered it. All ships, recover your fighters and mechs and begin to head back through the wormhole." Cale sent his acknowledgement. "This is to all my squads, continue fighting and holding them off until the fleet leaves, then return to the Serenity and prepare for jump!" Cale nodded. "You heard the Captain! Keep kicking these bastards' asses!" His squad's indicators flashed green and they returned to the Serenity and started providing protection the best they could. Within a few minutes Cale received the orders to fall back into the hangar and prepare for jump. Within a few more minutes they had docked and he felt the hangar shake as the Ship began to enter the wormhole. Within several seconds they were through the wormhole. He opened the cockpits door and jumped out of the mech and ran out the hangar. He sprinted down the hallway when he ran into Miranda. She screamed a little and stared at Cale. "Oh...hey..." He said. Relief moved throughout his whole body. "Where's Akutenshi?!" He said. "Med Bay, he got hurt a little but he'll be fine." Cale nodded and ran past her towards the Med Bay.