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Epilogue

Click. Click.

My claws clacked against the cold, gray tile floor as I marched forward. It felt freeing, in some ways, removing my boots once in awhile and loosening my claws. I could surely walk more silently, but why should I? Today was a day to loosen up and celebrate. My job was done. Mission accomplished.

I stopped in front of my destination: a steel door covered in peeling, white paint. Hesitating, I leaned forward and took in two deep breaths, letting the sharp scent of anise and sugar fill my nostrils. It was just about enough to give me a headache, it smelled very similar to those rope-shaped pieces of candy that humans made. I was not a fan.

I knew who was inside the room before I opened it. Despite our profession demanding such strong scents so as to cover up our emotions, I felt partially inclined to give the black Vulpeculan an ultimatum to change it or be dismissed.

Of course, I've received complaints about my own choice of scent-guard, so I let it slide.

The Vulpeculan was surprised to see me, leaping out of his seat in front of the flickering monitors lining the wall and snapping off a salute. I stopped him before he could continue.

“No formalities, please." I ordered. “I'm here to relieve you of your post. I will finish off the last of the paperwork."

“Yes sir!"

“Anything of note?"

“Subject-041...Cam-41a had gone down. But 41b and Mol-041 are active." He said, bushy tail twitching in irritation. “Our plant has been compromised. I think they're going to kill him."

“A shame." I said, frowning. I never liked this part of the job, when people got hurt. But I had a duty to salvage as much as I could, even if it meant taking advantage of his last moments. “Arrange some money for his family. Dismissed."

“Yes sir!"

He brushed some dust off of his equally black uniform and stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Growling lowly, I planted my six pack of beer on the metal desk and sat down in the high-backed chair, letting my tail droop over the seat and onto the floor. Lazily, I swiped at the keyboard and set it to play both Cam-041 and Mol-41's output.

As the monitor flicked on, I was greeted by something wet and pink covering up the entire screen. The audio kicked in, which caused screams of pain to shriek through the small, observance room. Flattening my ears with my paw and arm, I dialed down the volume. Between the screams, there was heavy panting, and soon the pink tongue retracted, revealing a toothy, smiling Lupiad muzzle lined with gray fur.

“I can have you as long as I want. The Captain will let me." The Lupiad growled, peeling back his lips to reveal gnarled, slightly yellow teeth. “She already bent over for us once already, don't you know?"

“Please. Stop. I didn't..."

“You're a traitor." The Lupiad growled, thrusting his torso towards the camera. “You're less than a slave. You're less than shit."

A voice, human, female; shouted out from behind the Lupiad. “Get off of him!"

The Lupiad chuckled. “Why should I?"

“I'm giving you an ord..."

The gray mass leaped away from the camera, grabbing a human woman with short, blonde hair and throwing her against a wall, shoving his broad, gray muzzle into her face and baring his teeth.

“I'm in charge now, bitch." He growled. The woman stared back at him, showing no fear nor any other expression. It spoke to her courage, being from a species that wears their emotions on their faces. “I invoke the right of trial by might and you have already lost..."

Her head swung forward, catching him right on the tip of his large, black nose and sending him reeling back with a yelp. While he was stunned, she launched a kick at the joint of his right hind-leg, and he was quickly on the ground, still clutching at his nose. The Captain fell on top of him, wrestling his arms down and grappling her arm around his neck, pulling his head up in a choke-hold.

“Let me make one thing clear, wolf." She growled, tightening her grip as the Lupiad began to snap his jaws wildly, forcing his mouth shut. “This is a human resistance and if you're going to be a part of it, you will follow human rules. If you strike a commanding officer like that again, you will be executed.

And just in case you decide to revert back to your Lupiad ways and think you can take me by surprise, rest assured, I can show you that I'm the alpha wolf anytime and if you do it again, it will be the last time." She paused, yanking back his neck for emphasis. “Now, are you going to play by our rules, or the Lupiad rules?"

Choking on his words, the Lupiad managed to utter his surrender. “Human rules..."

She released her grip and the Lupiad's face fell onto the ground. The Captain stood up and looked at the camera.

“Don't harm the traitor. We'll handle him." She paused, squinting. “Is that a bug on his chest?"

Gasping, the Lupiad struggled to respond. “I think so. I tore one off of his forehead...crushed it."

“There's no need. They only record, they don't broadcast."

Is that so? I thought as I flicked the feed off. I bet she thinks we can't get video either. She must have managed to get a hold of a MK1 model, just like the one I saw on Nate's cheek.

There was a lot that we could do with that video, in case her group became more organized. If we simply cut out the part where she put the Lupiad in his place, it would make a very convincing display that she's still under control of Lupiad-Sirian rebels. It's all a lie, of course, but it would work.

I wrapped my paw around a can of beer and yanked it free from the pack. Pulling back the tab with a claw, it cracked open and I took a swig of it, letting the sweet, malty flavor rush over my tongue.

Humans make good beer. I'll have to bring back a few cases if I'm recalled back to Regulus. I really hope I get to stay. I could drink this stuff all day.

I typed on the keyboard once more, loading up Subject-018. The screen immediately said, “No video," as he had found the camera some time ago and removed it. He had the wrong idea about who installed it, of course.

It was a moot point though, because he seemed to have completely forgotten that he had Mol-018 on his cheek. The audio kicked in and began broadcasting live.

“You are mine now, slave." A familiar male voice commanded with a slight, faked nasally tone.

“Please, let me go." Another familiar voice quivered, female and had the high-pitched tone of a Vulpeculan.

“You belong to me."

“Who are you?"

There was a sharp rustle of chains. “Call me master."

“M-master, who are you?"

“I am Prince Yartho and you are my slave, Rit. You are mine to do with as I please."

“Please...ah..."

“Your pussy is so wet...you enjoy this, don't you?"

“Peanut."

“Shit!" The male voice exclaimed before there was a pause, filled with heavy gasps. “Sorry, did I go too far?"

“No, you were fine, Nate. Just the wrist shackles are chafing hard."

“Oh." There was rustling of linens. “Is that better?"

“Yes, thank you." She whispered. “And don't call me Rit during it. You've got to give me a slave name, okay?"

I turned off the feed. There was really nothing pertinent on his broadcasts anymore and I hated eavesdropping. Yes, ironic I know, considering my job, but I still considered him a friend. I was to get drinks with him in two weekends.

Still, I was curious to see how he was doing at home and couldn't help myself.

I opened up the Subject Notes doc and perused it. Next to Subject-051 was a fresh note that said, “Might be trouble in the future."

Sounded like a good place to look. I switched it on and was immediately greeted by a naked Sirian girl with a coat of brown fur, except for her black jowls. She was laying on a beach chair with the sun beaming down on her and wore a pair of sunglasses with thick, pink rims.

A meek voice spoke out from behind the camera. “Señora Larga, your drink."

A fancy, brightly colored drink hovered in front of the camera and was handed to Larga, who gently took it and sipped from it.

“Thank you, Luis."

“Larga, dear!" A distant, small voice cried out. The camera panned to the source, a small, tan Sirian wearing sunglasses and running desperately towards the camera, nearly tripping over empty beach chairs. It was their private vacation home in Andalusia, but it was still a disgraceful display. “I got a report that you..."

“Negotiated with the workers at your drilling operation in the Arctic?" She said waving her hand in the air. “Successfully I might add."

“B-but dear, you promised them a wage increase and reduced hours and..."

“Ragoon, shush." She pressed a finger to the little Sirian's muzzle. “When we married and merged your company with my father's, I kept my stock and the right to make decisions, especially for our new resource extraction ventures..."

“B-but, I uh..." He paused, muzzle quivering as he fought to speak. “I, uh, I thought you'd be more..."

“Vapid? Oh, dear husband, I am. I love living the good life, I love eating good food and drink, and I love having lovers at my beck and call..." Ragoon's eyes flickered nervously towards the camera, which quickly shifted back towards Larga. “...But I know that the key to living a decadent life-style is to keep the people supplying it happy and the worker's demands were meager in the grand scheme. I also gave Luis a raise, he's earned it."

“Thank you, Señora Larga."

“B-but now the workers are going to make more..."

I turned off the feed. Larga was way sharper than I ever imagined, but it seemed her ambitions were more limited to her self-serving needs. We'll keep monitoring her and perhaps take further action if she starts reading Lupiad-Sirian nationalist literature.

It was time. I flicked off the camera program and typed in a few commands. Taking a sip of beer, I waited for it to load up. Code flashed by on the screen and I made sure to watch for key bits, namely that the encryption was successful. Last thing I needed was this broadcast to be intercepted.

Live video was not good quality over the Extranet, at least over this distance, so when the call came in, I was not surprised to see it was audio only.

A deep, throaty voice growled suddenly. “No formalities, please. Let's get straight to business."

“Absolutely." I said, bowing my head, even though he couldn't see it. “Operation Columbia is over. We're concluding it today."

“I understand that Duchess Aleesh was behind Prince Litho's death?"

“We can't prove that. Her bodyguard has been arrested and executed." I said, flipping through the notes on my datapad. “She is clearly unstable though and I imagine she had something to do with it, but the emails don't clearly implicate her."

“Suggestion?"

“Continue monitoring and arrange a marriage with her to a loyal Lupiad or Sirian. Someone who can keep an eye on her. I have an agent making the preparations."

“Very good." The voice muttered. “How about the man who killed King Ralesh? Why has he not been made an example of yet?"

“It would not be ideal."

“Explain."

“In the martial law following his assassination, his daughter was killed. A young girl who ran a homeless shelter in Sarajevo. She was beloved and the city mourns her death, as does he."

“You're getting sentimental." He growled. “Your job was to get him...anyone to kill the King, wait and see who takes the chance to destabilize the planet, and then publicly execute the assassin."

“With all due respect, I know humans and you know this, and that is why you put me in charge of the operation. Killing him will create more issues than solve." I paused, taking a swig from the can. “Besides, you got your wish. You know who is loyal and who is willing to sell the planet out to the Lacertans at the first chance they get, and all it took was the murder of an innocent King."

Grumbles were all the response I initially got before he quickly changed the subject. “What about that human who got wrapped up in all this?"

I sent a picture of Nate over.

“He's cute." The voice said, chuckling. “I'm happy you finally found someone."

“He's my friend only."

“We need to get you married, or at the very least get you a lover." He paused. “He is cute though. I don't suppose…"

“If things fell apart, I would have sneaked him out and sent him your way. He wouldn't have liked it, but he would have been safe and comfortable, at least until you got around to him."

He laughed heartily.

“The last thing we needed was a human martyr and Aleesh's plans to pin it on him would have been disastrous." I paused, thinking back to the Mol I saw on his cheek back then. I never figured out where he hid it or disposed of it. The Vulpeculan agent gave him a thorough cavity check, but I had to assume that the rebels had gotten it one way or another and if they had it, a recording of what Litho did to Nate could have been made public. “Either way, Nate has nothing to do with this now. He has a Vulpeculan girlfriend now."

“Oh, that's a horrifying match right there." He grumbled. “Those Vulpeculans, they know how to manipulate you bad enough, but the humans, they're even worse! I finally got around to the humans, you know?"

“Really now?"

“The first one was a woman and as soon as I began, she started crying. I stopped and tried to comfort her but she kept on crying. I didn't..." He paused. “This is a secure line?"

“Yes."

“I didn't even have sex with her. I felt..." He paused. “...bad. I think these humans are even worse at controlling us than the Vulpeculans."

“They can be very expressive." I downed the last of my beer and threw it across the room with a rattle.

“Are you drinking?"

“Yes, it's a local beer, Iron Horse." I said, cracking open a new one with my claw. “I'll send a pack back home for you."

“Thank you." He said. “Last matter of business, I would like your opinion on the appointment of the new King of Earth. I had Colonel Hrolar in mind, what do you think?"

“A good choice." I nodded. “He broke up another Lacertan operation the other day. As far as the planet is concerned, he's a hero. His wife, the Princess, has also been conducting charity drives."

“He's a little soft on the humans, I think."

“With all due respect, we need to be a little soft now." I said. “In retrospect, if we had simply landed peacefully, offered the humans some technology and the chance to travel in space, we wouldn't have had so many issues."

“We were harsh on the Lupiads and..."

“And those were Lupiads and these are humans." I replied. “We made mistakes and now we need to gain their trust. All of these issues are our fault."

“You hate this, don't you?"

“Yes, I do." I sighed. “I hate war and I hate manipulating people like this. But at this point, if I don't edit the narrative, Earth will erupt into chaos and the Lacertans will swoop in and the loss of life will be catastrophic."

“I'll trust your judgment." He sighed. “I think the Colonel will need a good Intelligence Minister, don't you think?"

“He will. Horith had an excellent..."

“We can't get any member of his administration involved. I trust him, but he was engaged to a traitor's daughter and it would be political poison." He said, clearing his throat. “I was thinking about you. You seem to have your head on straight and you can help keep him on the right path. Your performance in this operation has exceeded my high expectations."

There was no thinking required. I wanted this and I wanted to stay on Earth. “I accept the offer."

“I'm glad to have such a good son, Shalth. Thank you."

“The honor is mine, father. My Emperor."