FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

A/N: From now on, check my journal for Author's notes.

____________________________________

Chapter 6: The Freebird Phoenix

A few months after the liberation of Sirius-and the return of the Homecoming Fleet-former Prime Minister Susan Kaine used her political sway to goad the operators of the Terran Fleet to release two recently mothballed Corona Class ships for private use. The commissioning of a private ship usually undergoes a bit of bureaucracy before the ship reaches the commissioner; Sue made it all happen in weeks. With a good number of the Sirian Rebels simply gathering dust as they sat with nothing to do, the woman had the ships retrofitted for private use.

By the time they had been brought back up to operable capacity, they were completely different ships. They were renamed Alakandor and Phoenix, sister ships, and given to the family of a certain Siricanis Alopex. The Alakandor was given to Atlas Levi, on the condition that he work with the Earth government to seek out more threats to the welfare of the new alliance. The Phoenix was given to Jasyn Emitt, under the condition that he use it to facilitate trade services between the worlds.

After her maiden flight, Jasyn realized he could not bear the constant space travel. The strings brought him only visions of his lost one, and he was too distracted by these thoughts to be effective. He quickly signed the ship over to a woman who had resigned from the Earth Fleet in order to join his crew; an Engineer of high calibre who Jasyn knew would take care of her.

The Phoenix was Jasyn's lifeboat. When he handed it over, it had contained a clause that even if the ship was commanded by another it belonged finally to him. He was like an admiral of one, but he rarely used this loophole.

In fact, he only ever used it twice in his lifetime, and that was the first.

--

"Captain, message from Flight Reg." spoke a tan skinned woman with a red frizz on her head. The length of it was comparable to an eye's width. Tied around her forehead was a band bearing the gold and red required of all of Phoenix' crew, while from her shoulders hung a burgundy tank and black vest. Maroon cargos hanging from her hips, she looked up with her hazel eyes to her commanding officer.

In the middle of the spartanly lit bridge stood a moderately tall bespectacled woman, her eyes stoic and brown as she balanced against the subtle tilts of the gravity plating. Olivine skin met dark and short-cropped hair as she smirked and spoke her reply. "Well, let's hear it Kass," her order came, smooth voice a testament to her years of song.

Her right bicep had the curled flame of the ship's mascot upon it; having lived the shipmaster's life for nine years. She wore her band round her left bicep, wrapped double thick and tied to be just taught enough. She listened to the gravely voice that came through the speakers, hands held behind her black adorned back. A pair of circles cut out of the tawny cloth her tank was made of showed off her sides, toned from her years of service as they were rested on by the black belt that helped support her almost ragged and certainly faded crimson pocket pants.

"Captain. Meet us at these coordinates as soon as you dry-dock. Code Axis," came the familiar voice.

Jasyn's tone was serious but no questions could be asked. "It's a recording Ma'am," the commswoman, Kass, affirmed. "The coordinates he sent are somewhere in the middle of Old Algonquin."

The park had expanded and then receded again, the actual boundaries changing and the southernmost border moving several hundred kilometres upward.

The Captain made herself stand taller and looked around her bridge. "Comm. Leon and Shannon; tell them to meet me in hangar two. Have the Echo Flare prepped for launch," she said to her Ex-O, smirking again as she turned and started to leave the bridge. "Full repairs, My engines take priority. I want to be able to fly when I need to Reese," she spoke again.

The woman, Reese, nodded and spoke a quick; "Of course Phil."

The Captain walked into the lift and started her descent, dropping to the lowest deck as she sighed. "What the hell does Jasyn want now..."

--

A corona class ship is small. The original blueprint calls for a bi-sectioned hull for port and starboard; allowing one side to be depressurised while the other suffers no ill effects. The Phoenix and the Alakandor were completely refit, and almost didn't look like Coronae anymore. The tri-decked ships had double-thick hulls; or hulls with vacuum lattices between them. An outer hull breach had little effect on most of the ship.

The main hangar was in the belly of both craft, in the bottom most deck. The Phoenix' Captain watched what few crew were off duty as they milled about; but took special note of the approaching Leon; her long-time sweetheart and head of the pilots on board.

They were rare to kiss in public on the ship, but joining up in the hallway they spoke seriously. "What's all this about?" asked the taller, tanned-skinned man; his roguish looks lending a quirky visage to his question.

The woman shrugged as she walked, un-phased by the man's manner. Seems nothing about him could shock her after that day twelve years prior. Standing there, naked in Orion's home, she and Leon had spoken openly. They had grown closer to each other and even Orion as they had; and when they were found the two of them suddenly remembered their predicament. Modesty returning full force they had covered themselves and blushed, but now there was no real modesty between them.

Now though, as Leon walked alongside her, they had a job to do. She responded in the uncertain to her lover's question and smirked. "He wouldn't say. Code Axis though," she told him as they walked into the hangar.

Shannon stood there, a woman in her twenties, holding a young, brown-haired boy no older than eight by the hand. She was their babysitter, and took care of any of the crew's children with the help of her staff of two. Her blonde hair was tipped in blue and she showed intelligence but had a smugness to her.

The hangar was otherwise mostly deserted, save for the bay crew who were busy prepping their transport craft for launch, and so father and mother approached child. Young Atticus looked up at his parents with those amber brown eyes. "Hey there Atty. Daddy and me are going away for a little," she said in her most nurturing tone. "You be a good boy while we're away. You remember Uncle Jay right?"

The boy nodded and smiled as he spoke out "The wolf man! Are we gonna go see him?" His parents just smiled a bit.

"Jasyn needs to talk to me and Daddy, hun. You stay here, okay?" spoke the Captain.

"We won't be gone long," Leon added, grinning fatherly at the boy, "We just didn't want you to be worried, 'kay bud?" He reached out and tousled his son's hair.

He looked up at them and nodded. "Okay... but I wanna see uncle Jay," he demanded.

"We'll see," mother said, as she stood up again and looked to Shannon. "Sorry to do this to you like that," she fretted.

"Oh, don't 'cha worry ma'am. 'ell be no trouble at all, will ya' lad?" she mused and asked of Atty.

The boy looked up at her, loving her accent all his life, and shook his head happily. "Nuh-uh. No trouble."

"You two look after yerselves. I best not be readin' about 'cha" she smirked. "Get goin', your pallie needs ya," she added, shooing them.

"Thank's Shan!" called Shelby over her shoulder as she walked past with Leon towards the Echo Flare. As they boarded she waved to son and sitter, smiling feebly with worry.

"G'bye mummy!" young Atticus waved, well used to his parents leaving the ship without him.

Shelby approached the cockpit and sat down as Co-pilot, letting Leon do what he loved. "Flight checklist:" she began, "A-web?" she asked.

Leon tapped at the sensory board and nodded when he found the system. "Check"

"Antiproton tanks?"

"Stable"

"B-Tech"

"Online"

"Grav. Plates,"

"Ready to engage,"

"Sky and Starflight Engines?"

"Calibrated at peak efficiency"

"Weapons?"

"Do you really think we'll need--"

"Weapons," she reiterated.

"Nominal" he replied.

"Ancillary subsystems?" she asked after a few moments of button taps.

"Charging," he informed, before he asked one of his own. "Sanity?"

Shelby chuckled and pushed the status monitor away. "Who needs it?"

The ship powered up and the gravity plating beneath it was deactivated. The bay had been depressurised long before it was necessary; just after they had boarded. "Why are we taking such a big ship anyway?" asked Leon.

To this, the Captain shook her head and chuckled; tapping the GDO display and retracting the departure doors. The Echo Flare was a transport craft. Lightly armed with one large common quarter and enough room to fit and properly deploy a standard squadron of ten troopers easily and effortlessly with room to spare.

It had been designed as a tactical long-range drop ship and had often been used as a secondary line of fire for the Phoenix. Their baby brother as it were; and heir to the Echo Wind's name. "Because; Jasyn made it quite clear that he had company. I want to be ready."

"But all he said was--"

"Code Axis: He and someone who knew Axis. He might have patched things up with Mathieu," she sighed, before looking up. "Oh, we're about to clear the bay," she informed.

Leon glanced up and nodded, grinning softly. "These soft drops suck you know... Why do we do this again?" he asked, glancing at the mother to his child.

"You obviously don't pay enough attention to the doors when you leave the bay, hun," was all the reply he received, as the clear light flashed on. With a bit of a jolt they started their thrusters, artificial gravity taking over once again though they barely realized it had been off.

And they turned the blue-lined ship towards the surface and the coordinates that Jasyn had given.

--

Aboard the Alakandor, however, Mathieu was also preparing to launch. "Hey love?" he called over the Custom Bots' Comm. System.

Alraune turned his MPN enough to glance back at Mathieu, smirking softly though his love couldn't see, "What's up, babe?" he asked, resuming the slow walk towards the edge of the bay.

"We have to get these things modded some time soon. I think your left leg might be miscalibrated," he informed with a bit of a healthy chuckle to his voice.

"Whatever..." shrugged the human, turning back towards the bay doors. They were open, but a field had been put in place. The blue glow of oxygen against vacuum by the barrier tech made the view to the stars a mosaic of dancing colour. "Should we have beat them up like that?" he asked after a moment, looking back over his shoulder to the two unconscious bay crew.

"Dad was clear; they're not supposed to know we're leaving. Cloak on, rotate your frequency," he dictated, looking at the controls for his own. The pair stood at the edge, looking down through the tilted bay doors.

In moments they were invisible to the naked eye and the barrier before them suddenly jumped. It 'grabbed' them, by their own shields, and flung them into space; like putting a magnet next to another. They told the ship to close its bay doors a minute after they were opened, and they had timed it perfectly.

"Okay, you have the coordinates; just don't crash into me," grinned the husky, flying for the landing zone.

--

Jasyn kicked the ground askew and yawned wide as his eyes strayed towards his chronometer, known colloquially as a clock or watch. He rolled his shoulders and straightened up, before grinning back at the brothers. "We should begin to expect company now, boys." he rasped, his icy eyes taking in their forms.

The pure white fox rolled one shoulder to loosen it and with phenomenal grace he skated across the ground, literally, from under the treeline. Looking upward into the midday sky, he beckoned his family over. "Delta," he said, "Beta, Gamma. Come here and tell me if you see what I do."

The brothers stepped out--some with likewise or even greater grace, though Beta stumbled on a branch--and gazed to the heavens in search of this elusive 'thing' that Alpha had seen.

"What did you see?" asked Delta impatiently.

"A speck, between the highest branches of that oak," was his answer, and with three fingers outstretched he gestured.

The speck was growing larger, quickly. Soon a gleam of light showed it to be a ship, and the sound of engines reached their ears.

With two heavy thuds, all but Gamma turned quickly. Four three-inch-deep impressions had appeared, and slowly--from the ground up--the ions dispersed. As the light suddenly started to reflect off of the metal, the pair of machines were revealed.

And suddenly there was a low roar and the wind picked up as the ship began to land behind them. Setting down gently, the Echo Flare thrummed one final moment before the lines of Blue on a Crimson and gold background faded. Not even a minute later were the five that had been there before joined by another four.

Standing in the airlock hatch was a grinning, dark haired woman with a band of crimson cloth about her arm. With the angle of the sun, the thin-framed glasses she wore upon her nose caught glare and her eyes were hidden partly, though the dead-voiced wolf grinned wider, recognizing her.

"Captain S. Phillips, Commander of the Freebird Phoenix and well respected mercenary." the wolf smirked and bowed his head a bit. "And the ever present Leon; pleasure to have your company finally."

"Oh stuff it wolf-man. We came as soon as we got your message," the girl spoke jocularly, her own coy grin thinning as she lowered her head and looked at the others. "What's with the Fox Flock, Jay?"

As the pair stepped down, Mati spoke over Jasyn's shoulder. "Something's happened, Phil. Axis might be-"

"Don't get your hopes up, we only saw something that looked like Axis," Jasyn quickly halted his son's excitement.

"Axis? What did you see?" the woman demanded; her eyes trained on the nearest brother, Beta.

"Phil, the people of your world..." started Mati, halting as his love laid a hand upon his shoulder.

"Our people have him, or at least his DNA. They are using his genes in some twisted experiment," explained Alraune, nodding at the woman. "Captain, please. I was in his wing; if there's a chance that he's alive I want to rescue him this time. If he is truly dead, I do not want his genes used in some-" he continued before Alpha cut him off.

"Epsilon is our brother! He-"

"If he's not Axis, he's a very good lookalike."

Shelby started, "Hold on, one at a-"

"Listen, furless;" began Delta, interrupting the woman to answer Alraune's comment. "I don't care who that is to you. He is still our brother and we will fight to rescue him."

"You're a product of this twisted project, the lot of you are. By all intents and purposes, you should not exist," started Jasyn, growling in his whisper.

"But nonetheless," Alpha spoke, drawing silence from both sides as he growled deeply. "We exist. Whatever the reason, we exist. I remember being abducted on the streets of... some far off memory of a city. Whether I lived or not before I became this, Axis is important to you. Epsilon is important to us."

Jasyn nodded slowly and turned towards his ship. "We know where they have his genes. We need a ship, with able crew..."

At this the Captain shook her head, a thin smirk crossing her formerly thoughtful features. "Jasyn... don't ask me to put-"

"My ship, my crew. As was agreed." interrupted the wolf, waving his hand to make the point clear. Shaking his finger he added "I have never asked a thing of The Phoenix, but the Freebird needs to prey. We need that ship, and your soldiers."

"But-"

"Captain Shelby Siar Phillips, should you not aquiesce to this, I will commandeer my ship and it's crew." the wolf concluded, turning around with a deadly serious look on his face.

The woman closed her eyes and balled her fists up. She knew he would make good on his threat but it would get nobody anywhere. "Jasyn. They won't listen to you. I won't have you march off to your death. So... Admiral, Sir! I would be honoured to welcome you aboard, and fight alonside you again." She brought her hand up in the Trian salute, three fingers, index-middle-pinky and stood at attention.

"Stand down, Captain. I am hardly an Admiral, but I am your commander-in-chief. You will help us then?"

"When you threaten me with a loss of control... do I really have a choice?"

Jasyn's head tilted in a nod, a sigh rising from his throat as he apologized, "I'm sorry about this-"

"Why not Atlas'-"

"Atlas is a government lap-dog, pun notwithstanding." Jasyn spat. "He wouldn't have anything to do with this; apparently his brother is less important than his command."

An eerie silence passed over them and Phillips looked back towards her husband. "Let me see what you've got; you did get copies right?"

"Of course I got copies. I'm not a first-year cadet," Jasyn snickered and shook his head.

The woman turned, her dark hair fluttering in the light wind as she peered over her shoulder. With a tone commanding but gentle, she suggested, "The fox flock might want to get on my ship before they're left behind." Promptly, the brothers walked up and, though Delta threw Jasyn a begrudged glare, were much obliged for the lift.

The craft had a single curved corridor down the right side that followed the curve of the hull all the way to the cockpit. Walking crouched a little, the doors to the side bore signs upon them. "Engine room, quarters, lab, and this is the troop locker. You can sit there," the woman pointed into the room with seats lined up along the walls.

The brothers stepped in and attached the five-point buckles across their chests, the Captain and her love continued to the cockpit and sat down. Glances passed between the brothers and as a dull ping sounded they glanced toward a screen on the wall.

Over the intercom, Phillips voice came and very officially she spoke, "This is your captain speaking, I'd first like to thank you for choosing Phoenix Airlines. In the event of a crash please remember, we are sitting on a P-AP bomb waiting to happen; this ship is capable of slipstream and has been fully topped off for that event. We will be disembarking in-"she paused a moment, the brothers rolling their eyes at her little speech. "Fifteen seconds ago and we will be arriving in about ten minutes. You can thank the ship's designers for the sa-mooth and bumpless ride, inertial dampeners to die for. Enjoy the flight."

She tapped at the controls and grunted quietly, "I hope that wolf has a plan..."

"You know Jasyn better than I do, and even I know he's got a plan," quipped her pilot, grinning as the ship cleared the atmosphere.

Correcting herself, the captain shook her head, "I hope that wolf has a good plan."

Chuckling a little, Leon pressed a few keys on his display and plotted a course.

--

"You want to take walkers into a human controlled facility?" queried a surprised Phillips, her brown eyes wide with shock. "We'll kill somebody!"

"Not if they're smart we won't. I'm taking that risk, Axis deserves it. Besides, all I really need is your 'marines', just to be on the safe side," countered Jasyn, leaning over the briefing table and looking the brown-eyed woman in the eyes.

"I want to find out exactly why they have a Sirian in Cryo; regardless of who it is. This is an unacceptable holding and if it isn't corrected soon then-"

"Listen, Jasyn. Your government won't do anything. You came upon this information illegally and humans don't just kill one another. It-"

"Don't kill one another? You have three Global Wars that say otherwise!" interrupted Jasyn with a fist upon the table. About the only way he could interrupt somebody with the voice he had.

"Point taken, Jay; if we do this we'll be chased from our corner of the galaxy all the way to Uncharted Andromeda. If we don't die from our own people we'll die of starvation or run out of power," the girl reminded him, punctuating her words with a finger against that same table. She stood sturdy, unwaivering as the wolf.

On the sidelines of the main argument, Mathieu heard his love joke, "It's like watching an old space-opera, but with less music."

A snicker overcame the two, ears and lips twitching as they watched on.

"Listen, Phillips. I'm doing this regardless, and if you don't give me your blessing then I'll just cut you out of the operation entirely. I will commandeer your ship if I absolutely have-"

"No Jasyn. I'm going to help you, I just want you to know you'll be biting of a giant hunk of gristle and you might not have the muscle to chew through."

The wolf stood upright and folded his arms across his chest, ears alert and eyes narrow with suspicion. Never known to hesitate for long, Jasyn sighed and shook his head. "We move tomorrow morning. Pick five of your best mercs and meet me in the hangar bay an hour after Torontonian Sunrise," he turned and began to walk, with practised and even commander steps.

"So Jasyn?" smirked the woman, arms folded across her stomach as she peered at him from the corners of her eyes. "Does it feel good to have a command again?"

The wolf stopped only long enough to grunt in disdain, before turning the corner and retreating to the guest quarters.

"Oh boy..." sighed the woman, looking at the two other males. "Sorry guys... I forgot you were even here. Get some rest, you're coming are you not?"

Mathieu shrugged and stood, "For Axis, I'd blow Jasyn." Both of the others gawked wide-eyed at the husky, and he smirked quietly, "What? I almost did, once. Of course, Axis wanted nothing to do with it."

" Rest. That's an order!" grunted the Captain, pointing him and his human lover out the door.

"Yes Ma'am!" saluted the husky, and quickly vaulted out the door. Followed swiftly by his human.

--

Seated astride a fighter's fuselage, Jasyn gazed around the hangar bay with a look of mild irritation. He was slowly being joined by the handpicked soldiers, pilots, and techs; but still he needed the others to be there. He tapped a small PDA-like pad that displayed a map of the facility that Axis was supposed to be in.

The four brothers walked, prowled, or glided in with their innate grace, and the wolf barely heard them until Beta asked, "is this everyone?"

Startled from his reviewing, Jasyn looked at the little fox and shrugged. "I'm waiting on Phil and the boys. Gotta brief the troops, you know."

"Well, not all of us know how to fly those wrecks. You know that right?"

"Which of you can fly? I know at least one of you can."

"Alpha and Delta can fly on their own, I've got some small piloting skills. I probably should stay out of the facility,"

"Then you're going to fly transit. Once we get within range, those three will jump from your transport and you'll have to fly beyond range again. I need those three and their... skills" Jasyn emphasized that word delicately, reverent and resentful in the same token.

Finally, the last three arrived and stood in their armoured flight suits, same as everyone else.

"Alright... we're going to be going in on three prongs. Those three are going to lead us to their brother..."

--

Sitting boredly at his post, the guard on duty jumped when he heard the prox' sensors ring. "What the-" he barely had time to say, before an explosion nearby knocked him out of the little guard shack, braining him against the sidewalk. Unconscious but alive, he was largely ignored by the four walkers and a strange flying fox.

Munitions had begun to be fired, shots of phase-matter hitting the active shields of the towering machines. Thoughtfully equipped with energy weaponry of their own, the guard were quickly taken out by the large MPN.

The several large walkers halted momentarily as their pilots began to communicate.

"J squad, this is Phil. Our entry has been secured but not for long. Waiting on your order to move."

"Grrah... We're under heavy fire Jay, they've got anti-barrier guns on our end," cried Alraune, twisting his walker and firing a few concussive rounds to the ground near the source of the incoming fire.

"Only use lethal force if necessary teams, Jasyn ou-"

"Jay, they're deploying some special ops team. Weird black armour that reminds me of our walkers," the woman grunted a bit, heavy fire beginning to rain down from these strange soldiers. Then, suddenly, one of them lifted into the air and continued to fire.

Alpha widened his eyes and ducked out of the way, firing back at the armoured beings. "They were only in the planning stage when we escaped, how did they- Shoot them! Kill them fast! They're powerful and I can't do a thing against that armour!"

"What do you mean you can't-"

"They're designed to resist our attacks. The soldiers are genetically engineered just like Epsilon. If you don't shoot them, they'll-" the fox yelped and threw up his arms, a bubble appearing a mere eighth of a second before the force of a direct hit from an RPG hit him full on. "Graah! Shoot them!"

Phillips hesitated only a moment, hearing the fox repeat his suggestion. She grunted and clenched his fingers around the triggers, aiming deadly accurate and neatly puncturing the helm of one of the flying menaces. There were half a dozen more; and as shrapnel from the destroyed helmet rained down they began to target her specifically.

Her squadron opened fire at the other armoured soldiers and began to pick them off slowly.

Inside the Facility, a woman in a lab coat gazed at the security feed from outside. "Looks like a family reunion. Should we wake up our kit?"

"No, he can't be woken up. We don't know what he'll do. Deploy more of the Epsilon Soldiers-"

"Sir, we don't have any more. The other three groups are unfinished."

"Damn... Don't let them get in. Fire everything we've got at those walkers, they're too big to actually get through the front doors but they're too well armed. I don't need to tell you what'll happen if we lose all of those soldiers."

"Yes sir. All units, target the walkers. Use your best judgement but concentrate your fire,"

The woman smirked and gazed down at the screen with Epsilon on it. "One hell of a field test..." she whispered, and using every ounce of stealth she had, she slipped a program into the facility computers.

The black-suited soldiers glowed red with the barrier technology. Designed for stealth, the armour sped the soldier's movements considerably. Running through the corridors, the soldiers divided into three groups and spilled out into the fray. This last wave was better armed, firing AP rounds deep into the MPN suits.

"Gah! That's my gun arm!" Letting loose a growl, Mathieu unloaded a payload of missiles into the masses, neatly cutting the number attacking him down to a more manageable level. "I'm running low on limbs, Jasyn," grunted the husky, his gun-arm having blown apart. "My shields are depleted too, soon this hunk of metal will be a walking death-trap."

"It's already a walking death trap, try for headshots. As brutal as it may be, it's our best chance here," growled Phillips, unloading AP gattling fire in a wide arc and thinning the attacking soldiers, regular and epsilon alike.

Jasyn growled low in his throat and whispered over the comm. "Once you take out those soldiers, ditch the walkers. Converge in the western wing, I'm told that's where the Cryo-storage is."

The ground was growing redder by the second, soldiers falling quickly. "Fuck, you'd think we were fighting a war," came one of the Mercs.

"Jasyn, I've got a strange reading coming from the Cryo wing."

"It's Epsilon, he's waking up. We have to get there before then!" shouted Delta over his headset, before he and Alpha both blew holes in opposite sides of the west-wing. The two of them rushed the facility and disappeared within.

"Dammit, cover me," Jasyn sighed, jumping from the cockpit as soon as it opened. The soldiers fired at him but a quick thinking merc slipped in front and began taking fire, returning more than his fair share.

"Go Jasyn, and hurry!"

"Mati, Phil, care to-"

"We're already on the way inside slowpoke!"

The facility rocked, screens falling and lights flickering off. "Dammit, one of them hit main power. We're losing Cryo sir."

"Emergency power, keep those units active!"

"Sir, Three of them are breaking into the Cryo Ward-"

"Automatic Defenses, now."

"Already on it sir."

Jasyn glanced upward and noticed the lights on the auto-turrets flicker. Quick thinking, he blew a hole through the nearest three and tucked himself into an alcove. "Dammit! Internal Defenses. Mati, watch yourself!"

"Unlike you, we've got Delta to keep us company. We'll meet you there."

"Jasyn! I'm coming back for you, just hold tight," Alpha spoke, and the wolf heard the familiar sound of plasmas bolting through the air. The turrets in his hallway began to twist around, and Jasyn took a chance.

Stepping back into the corridor, the wolf blew away another two turrets before making a run down the hall toward the sound. "Alpha, that better be you I hear," he said, to himself, and passed around the corner right into the returning fox. They grabbed for eachother and steadied themselves, gazing momentarily at eachother's eyes before turning and resuming. "This way!"

The battle outside was dying down; the E-soldiers weren't as well-trained as the mercs, and even though they were more advanced it wasn't by much. The mercenaries had taken casualties, but the soldiers were beginning to retreat.

"Call back the Epsilons, we need them to guard our project!"

"Yes Sir,"

The doctor watched the screen quietly, thoughtful as she watched the enemy soldiers enter the Epsilon Chamber. "We're too late," she sighed, looking at the commander, "They're already inside the room. But on the bright side, if they wake up Epsilon he'll probably kill them."

"He'll probably kill us too," the commander grunted.

"He might die being pulled so suddenly from the Cryo."

"Get the soldiers there. If they get him out of here we're finished,"

"Yes sir,"

Delta approached the suspended fox quietly, his eyes inflamed with rage as his joints cracked with the clenching of his fists. He stared in utter contempt of it all; the manner which Epsilon was being kept-with tubes and restraints holding him still. He howled a loud and raging yell, the walls shaking around him and an unseen force pushing outward; not sudden but gradually building up in strength.

Phillips and Mathieu gazed up at the container, then braced themselves as the force began to push them away. Fissures began to form, slowly but already they were leaking. "By the gods... it looks just like him..." whimpered the husky, before yelling over the increasing din of Delta's power. "You're going to kill him if you wake him up too fast! The shock-"

"Shut up! You have no idea what you're talking about!" came the cutting and angry growl of the ambergold-tailed fox.

"Yes I do! You're going to shock him to death!"

The waves of force grew stronger and the fox turned just his head. Glaring angrily back at the husky, his fur began to bristle, "Don't anger me, fool!"

"Delta!" came a loud yell from the entry. The fox looked back and growled louder; "Don't try to stop me, Alpha!"

"You're going to kill him, brother. Stop!" said the pure white, feet carrying him forward without a hinderance.

A pulse forced outward from the middle of the room, and despite the wave Jasyn forced himself back against it, into the room. All but the two brothers were straining against the strange sideward pull, for that's how it felt. Something pulling them away from the centre, not pushing on their fronts but tugging on their backs.

The wolf's eyes caught the pair and he yelled, yes yelled, above the percieved sound all around them. "Stop!" his voice resonated, echoing around the circular chamber and catching all of them off guard. Delta's focus was swayed and his eyes lost their inner flame, but the force remained.

"Alpha! Make him stop!" cried Mati, the web of fissures spreading across the surface of the tube loudly, the noise reaching their ears above the fake-noise of the powerful waves.

"Wha- that's not... me..." Delta slowly lost his words, peering into Alpha's eyes. The pair of them turned their attention to the bottled experiment and caught on at the same time.

"Epsilon!" they spoke in unison, and the pair dove.

Alpha tackled Mathieu while Delta took down Phillips, but the glass shattered outward and rained toward the unprotected wolf.

Armoured arm rising, Jasyn covered his face and crouched his body as the needles of glass hurtled at him, bracing for the sting of the shards. It did not come, no glass striking him at all. Opening his eyes and looking past his arm, the wolf gazed through the suspended glass shards, just floating in midair between him and the shattered remnants of the canister.

The shattered remnants of the empty canister. The room's centre was bereft of life, the fox no longer there. The wolf heard water drip from somewhere to his right and looked. An arm extended under where his raised one would be, bare and white and sodden; dripping to the ground.

Slowly Jasyn turned, everything was suspended in the air and a soft ripple surrounded him when his tailtip brushed the edge of the bubble. He peered at the fox that had been behind him, doused as he was, and met the violet irises. The eyes were vacant. They had nothing in them. He saw no sentience in those eyes, no personality or conscious thought. And all at once, the bubble broke and glass tinkered to the ground all around them.

They stood in silence, the wolf gazing downward into the same eyes he had lost so many years ago. He knew that this was not the fox he lost, but he looked exactly the same, every darkened fleck in the eyes and every damp whisker. It was so much the same, and so much different.

The wolf whispered softly, "A-Axis?" and got no reply at all. Those eyes just stared in either fear or reverence. The wolf slowly tried to put his arms around the fox and though the kit didn't stop it, Jasyn knew it didn't feel right. He stopped himself and slowly stepped away, just staring quietly.

"Epsilon!" cried both brothers, scrambling to their feet. They hadn't seen anything; too worried about the raining glass. They hovered around him, looking him over for wounds or anything strange. His ears flicked and fell back, and he looked so very frightened. He made not a sound.

Phillips and Mathieu stood slowly and looked at the fox, and then at Jasyn. "D-dad?"

"It... isn't him." hoarsely came the wolf's voice.

"How do you-"

"In his eyes..." he interrupted, and both brothers blinked and looked.

Though vacant and blank of intellect, the fox's instincts made him fearful. He gazed between the brothers, and quickly used his arms to push through them. Slipping around behind Jasyn, he peered over his shoulder at them.

"Axis?" asked the Captain, fixing her recently cracked glasses upon her nose as her feet carried her closer to the three-tailed fox.

She gazed into his eyes as well and though he still hid behind Jasyn, he also gazed back with that same emptiness.

"Axis... it's me, Shel-"

The corridor shook and Jasyn sniffed the air. "Humans, more of them. They're heavily armed judging by the quaking. I think they're firing on your mercs."

"Or Aura!" the husky grabbed his headset and activated it, "Love, we have him. Get out of the facility, we have to leave now!"

"Copy that Jay?"

"Yeah, Flinch. Get those mercs out of here."

Jasyn half turned and looked at the young fox quietly.

"He trusts you Jayse... that's a good sign..." said Phillips. The brothers looked between themselves and Epsilon.

"Let's get back to the ship first and figure this out later..." Alpha said, slowly turning and skating through the doorway.

"Yeah..." agreed the wolf, and he slowly held out a hand to the wet fox.

Shakily the instinctive fox took the proffered paw and was led outward.

They were met with surprisingly no resistance and Phillips grinned inwardly, "My boys are good at what they do, gotta give them that."

"Beta, get yourself back here. We need to get out of here pronto.

As they slipped out of Alpha's breach, they walked into the front lot of the building. The walkers that remained were worse-for-wear but they would still fly. Jasyn's had been blasted beyond repair and all suspected that many of the surviving craft would not be spaceworthy.

"I think, in the back of my mind, I planned for this..." Jasyn said quietly, still holding the frightened fox's paw in his own armour-clad one. Then the shooting came back.

Jasyn, without a thought, brought his arms around the fox and lifted him up. Protecting his head, he ran behind a piece of walker, braking on one leg and twisting to fall backward against the pavement behind cover. The fox was trembling in his arms, ears flattened as he clung to Jasyn tightly.

"Uhh... anyone who still has a working walker; get yourselves to the front court and secure our extraction point!" Phillips commanded, and the four remaining walkers jumped the building or slipped quickly around the side. She herself ducked behind another walker chunk, firing her rifle around the side a few times.

The walkers formed a line between the grounded commander's family and the infantry spilling out of the building. The brothers began to shoot plasmas back, Alpha favouring his left paw while Delta preferred two handed volleys.

"Where did they get this second wind from? I thought we killed their soldiers!" cried Alraune over the comm. He climbed his walker quickly, having done it before in half the time, and slid into his seat. Powering up took a short while, and he watched as pulses fired off on the other side of the building.

"Come on you piece of scrap... faster!" he grunted, slamming his curled hand down atop the central display. The cockpit closed very quickly and he brought his hand back to the control mechanism. Kicking off the ground he landed softly atop the building. Leaving dents in the roof, he walked with as light a step as the walker allowed; cracking the asphalt beneath as he peered through the bottom of the cockpit at the people.

Swinging his targeting scanner downward, he brought forward both hands and fired AP rounds straight downward at the people below. Like a scythe through a field of wheat, the infantry fell beneath the hail of metal.

The roar of the transport's engines came over the din of the firefight, and Beta set down behind a few of the wrecked walkers. Thankfully the pilots had ejected and slowly began to rejoin the fray. Firing pulse-rounds into the enemy forces, the soldiers were decimated quickly.

Jasyn lay there, hugging the fox tightly and just whispering quiet assurances to him. "Don't worry... please don't worry. You'll be okay, I won't let them hurt you." He was too distracted by this that he didn't even hear the transport set down. Phillips was falling back toward it, and as she passed them by she dropped and tapped his shoulder.

"Come on, Sir. Time to leave," she said, firing another few shots over the wreckage one-handed as she grabbed his shoulder to help him up.

Rising with assistance, Jasyn held the fox again protectively and ran toward the transport while Phillips fired back. More for insurance than actual attack, the remaining men were pinned down behind their own pieces of rubble.

"Can you all make it back to the ship?" Phillips asked as she took over flight control from Beta.

"Naah! I've got a huge breach and my suit is torn," grunted a merc, and a second said likewise.

"Alright, get yourselves to the transport. Hurry up, I don't want to be surrounded!"

Two of the walkers turned and ran, heavily damaged as they were, to the transport and the pilots slipped out of them. Landing with a run, they boarded the transport and it quickly lifted into the sky.

The other two merc walkers turned and jumped into the air after them; thrusters kicking in.

Aura glanced down and spotted something; jumping off the building, he grabbed one of the felled E-soldiers and rolled before jumping upward after his companions. Engines choppy, he grunted into the comm. "Damn, my engines are failing,"

Without a thought the other two walkers doubled back and each took an arm; pulling the wounded walker through the atmosphere as one of them fired back downward a few times.

This transport, unlike the Echo Flare, did not have the same capabilities and it quaked with the ascension. The youthful Epsilon clutched tighter to his silver-furred protector. His teeth were clenched tight and he made the slightest whine as he hugged him.

Gazing down at the frightened kit, Jasyn looked so wounded. He didn't have time to be sad, he was too worried about this Axis-lookalike to be. "Hey... hey... we're okay here... Come on, I've done this a million times," the kit seemed to calm significantly as he soothingly spoke.

"Alpha..." Delta said quietly. "Why is he like this?"

"Were we all like that when we started?" asked Beta with wide-eyed curiosity.

"No," Alpha replied, with a shake of his head. "No, Beta, you were the last of us and you woke up exactly the way you are I remember it."

"I definitely sense something. He is familiar with you, wolf," Gamma spoke quietly, and shook his black-eared head. "Planted or natural, there is some memory in him. I don't know if he even knows it."

"It's called imprinting, I think," put forward Mathieu, his eyes peering sidelong at the cluster of foxes. "Jasyn is the first thing he saw when he was 'born' so he could see him as some sort of parent figure."

"Now that's just creepy," Phillips interjected, shaking her head. "How are you holding up, Jay?"

Jasyn glared up through dishevelled hair, his eyes not warm at all. Holding the conversation in contempt, he just hugged the fox and continued to whisper to him.

"Gamma..." muttered Beta quietly.

"Four paces ahead of you, mitts," replied the blackear, his eyes closed and face held upward.

"He's got an incredibly large mind..." he informed, his ears swivelling from side to side. "Much bigger than all of us. It's configured differently than I've ever seen... the paths don't make any sense."

"How do you mean?" Alpha requested.

"Well... I think he knows I'm here, but he's not fighting me. His mind is connected wierd. It's all counter-intuitive; and that makes no sense at all. It should be wired intuitively unless there's..."

"Brain damage..." Mati and Beta spoke in the same moment. "I told you that you were going to shock his system!" growled the husky, standing up from the seat and walking towards Delta.

Phillips yelled "Hey! What the hell is going on back there?"

"This idiot turned Axis into a vegetable!" yowled the husky, glaring down at the gold-tailed fox.

"Me!? He broke himself out!" Delta started to stand.

"You started it! If you hadn't cracked the glass we would have been able to wake him properly!" Mati pushed the fox back down.

The force of the fox's landing caused the cramped ship to rock dangerously to the side.

"God dammit Mathieu sit the fuck down! This ship actually -is- a bucket of bolts and I'd like to get to my home in one piece!" yelled the Captain, looking momentarily over her shoulder.

Mati slowly returned to his seat and snarled a bit, he and Delta exchanging angry glares. The Mercs were just watching quietly, passing conversation between eachother almost silently.

"Axis?" whispered the wolf, his arms still securely around the quivering fox. Again, he got no reply, but he didn't need one. "You look like him... and you trust me for whatever reason. I'm not going to let anything happen to you," he assured.

The fox's fur was still damp, and chill. He looked upward slowly, and his vacant gaze met that of the wolf. There wasn't any understanding, more like confusion. The fox's head tilted and he just regarded Jasyn in his own silent way.

"He hears you, Jasyn. He doesn't know what you're saying, but he knows it's a good thing," Gamma opened his eyes quickly and held his head. "Gaah! He just kicked me out," he grunted and rested backward.

"Was it vast... or just empty?" asked Beta of his brother.

"It might have been empty... it was almost like he'd never had a thought before,"

"How could that be?" asked Mathieu, leaning in.

The brothers looked at him and then sighed, "If he's a clone or something like that, then he's like a newborn right now."

"And... what if he's not a clone?"

"Then his mind has been blanked of all memory, for whatever reason..." Alpha spoke gently.

In their own little world, completely ignorant of the others, the wolf's fingers on one hand slowly rubbed the fur on the Fox's cheek. "I'll keep you safe..." he bid forth the words and hugged the fox tight. "I promise..."