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Integration

Part Eleven

Duntay sat in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. One of his ears hung down the side of his head as he stroked the tip. Dylan had just finished detailing the shift in his and Kira's relationship towards more regular, closer physical contact, but the viliti didn't respond after the human finished speaking.

Kira tapped the armrest of her plush, dark brown chair, and glanced around the black wood paneled room, distracting herself from the silence by looking at the various paintings of alien worlds hanging from the walls. A grin broke across her muzzle and she looked down at the red carpet, hiding her expression from the officer. The psychologist didn't know what to say about the impressive, rapid progress she had personally made with Dylan.

With her gaze already downward, the guardian leaned forward to see over her bosom, down at her charge where he was seated in her palm, held against her stomach.

Dylan met her blue eyes for only a moment, brushed the fur on her thumb with his hand, and coughed to get the captain's attention. "Sir? Are you alright?"

Duntay's legs uncrossed and his hand left his ear, the large appendage bending back up towards the top of his head. "Ah, excuse me. I apologize. I was wondering about the psychological effects of a guardian and charge relationship." He smirked, his gaze going up to Kira, both of them locking eyes. "As well as feeling some envy for lupari intuition."

The sergeant sat straighter in her seat, her tail quivering, wanting to wag, and she bowed her head. A lupari's empathy could be a powerful thing, but it wasn't all knowing. It was something to be proud of to be praised by a professional like this.

Duntay waved the topic away. "This is something for academic studies. I need not burden you with my theories. Now, onward. Dylan, could you elaborate on how Kira puts you at ease?"

Kira felt her charge shift in her hand, crossing his legs. Her thumb carefully slid closer to brush against his knees. Through her palm pad she felt him relax before he said, "Uh... well... she just does? How am I supposed to explain it?"

"Could you be more specific on the emotions you feel?" the viliti asked.

"No."

One of Duntay's ears bent halfway to the side. "Are you unsure of what you feel?"

"Oh, I know exactly what I'm feeling," Dylan said. "I'd just like to hold onto a shred of my masculinity. Kira's ears only."

Duntay's attention drifted back to Kira, and a soft, rolling chuckle escaped him. "As you wish. Perhaps you could tell me something else, then." He looked back down to Dylan. "What if she's not around? Do you need her to anchor you emotionally?"

Kira's ears bent downward as her nostrils flared, trying to gauge her charge's reaction to the question. She couldn't get anything other than that calm demeanor that had become more and more common. "No, I don't believe so," he said. "Just knowing she's around helps, I think. I've gotten more used to the other giants without her. I climbed into someone else's hand, remember?"

"Yes, of course," Duntay said. "I know you have excellent control of yourself in tense situations in particular. But let's say that someone else has to take you somewhere because Kira is unavailable. How would you react?"

Dylan sighed, a quiet growl under his breath. "I think I'd climb into their hand. Just because I'm afraid doesn't mean I won't act. I've seen enough giants already that the shock isn't much of a shock anymore."

"That's good to hear," Duntay said. "Indeed, this is a most impressive rate of progress." The officer shuffled in his seat as his large paw started tapping the floor. His speaking became more rapid, but his voice stayed as flat as it always was. "My ears are itching with curiosity. The early fears often seen in humans meeting non-humans for the first time can often be so dire, extreme, and they make it seem that they'll never be able to cope. For a traumatized human, traumatized so directly by, well, giant aliens, to adapt this quickly..." He shook his head, ears waving. "Unless this is some kind of outlier case, there's going to be some very interesting psychological studies in the future. It's fascinating."

The viliti was diverging into an unrelated topic, his rapid speaking suggesting some excitement breaking through his usual calm, seemingly sluggish demeanor. "Sir," the lupari said. "You're becoming distracted."

Duntay frowned and flicked one of his ears. "Apologies. I was getting carried away." He looked down at his tablet. "Ah, and now onward to less pleasant topics. Remember, you need not answer my questions." His gaze fixed on Dylan, that focus on the session returning. "Do you think Kira's presence could keep you calm when you meet a sissach?"

Kira felt Dylan's hand squeeze her thumb fur tightly just before he said, "I don't know. Maybe."

The captain tapped something into his tablet. "What if you were in a mech at the time?"

The lupari heard a small intake of breath from her charge before he hesitated, cutting himself off. One of Duntay's tall ears leaned forward, but the viliti otherwise showed no signs of noticing. Finally, Dylan said, "I think I'd be calm enough. Probably entertaining thoughts of tearing the sissach's head off."

"Do you think those thoughts could come to reality?"

"No, sir. I can be sure of that. I would likely get pissed at it, however," Dylan said. Kira turned her head aside to look out the window to hide her lopsided smirk. Imagining her charge baring teeth at someone many times his size was an amusing thought.

The captain's huge ear flicked and straightened back out with the other. "Very well. I'm sure you already know, but it does need to be stressed. You are going to meet sissach. You may even tend to their wounds. Do you think you could handle that?"

"Yes," Dylan said. His guardian returned her attention to Duntay, not afraid to hide the approving smile at that confident answer. "I would never refuse to treat someone."

Duntay placed his device onto the small wooden table next to him."That is good to hear, Dylan." He laced his fingers together and placed both hands in his lap. "However, there is a more immediately pressing concern to treating the wounded. Could one of your breakdowns be triggered by a sissach?"

The human hesitated, not immediately answering as he did just before. Kira's thumb started to stroke over his legs. "I don't know. In a fight I doubt it. Meeting one in the barracks? I don't know, sir."

"Kira's become an important part of your recovery, and in a remarkably small amount of time." The viliti's eyes glanced up at Kira's again, then darted back down to Dylan. "How this is going to affect your reactions to triggers still has yet to be seen."

"Actually..." Dylan said, but tapered off. Duntay's ears rose higher, and he remained silent as his patient decided if he wanted to continue. The medic's hand pushed Kira's thumb down to still its strokes, then gave it a squeeze. "Last weekend, at that pub place, I started to lapse into one. I think some thumping of silverware caused it. Maybe a glass setting on a table. I'm not sure." The lupari looked down at her charge, recalling this. He never talked about that moment until now. "Kira noticed, and all she did was touch me and I came back."

Duntay picked up his pad and hastily typed into it with a single hand. "That's perfectly normal. She anchored you back into the now. You can expect her to be mindful of your emotional state, as any lupari would. As long as she is present, she will more than likely sense when you begin to detach from reality." He ceased his typing and laid the tablet on his lap. "Her sensitivity to your mental state becomes more fine tuned the better she knows you and your problems. I will not ask you about what it was you were remembering, but I highly suggest you discuss it with your guardian."

"We'll see," Dylan said quietly.

The viliti pushed himself to his paws and bowed his head at the both of them, his ears wobbling. "That is all for today. You two are doing very well, and I hope it means I will soon not be needed. Dylan, good luck with your mech training. I have not seen a human dislike the machines. Sergeant, keep your nose on him."

Kira stood up, a bit of a wag to her tail as she grinned down at the shorter captain. "Of course. Thank you sir."

Dylan scoffed and pressed deeper against Kira's stomach as she started to move. "Tell it to her like that and she'll do more than just smelling."

Duntay kept his face perfectly straight as he said, "I didn't say smelling."

-

Dylan held onto Kira's fingers as they curled around him, keeping him secure while the huge lupari laid herself out on their usual bench. Kira carefully placed her hand down onto her chest, just above her breasts. The man slid off of her palm, his boots planting onto her shirt. He lowered himself to his haunches, crossing his legs, and looked down his guardian's snout as she settled it right in front of him, eyes slightly crossed to focus on him. The human slowly rose up and down as Kira breathed, her eyes tracking him the whole time.

"One whole hour to kill," Dylan said.

"Yeah..." Kira responded with a flick of her ear. "It'll be a little crowded too. I think that human waited until the weekend to check the simulation records. What a penis."

The medic snorted in amusement. "That loses impact through the translator."

"What a flea, then."

"Now that's just getting into making fun of short people."

Kira playfully growled in her throat. "I just can't win."

"Sorry, Kira. You're now a perverted racist."

The lupari growled again and pushed her snout forward, sliding it onto the human's lap. A single fang poked out the side. "Rar..." she said playfully, barely moving her mouth. "I hate humans. Pet me and maybe you'll get to escape."

Dylan leaned back to give her muzzle room to budge in and his clothing ruffled as her big, black nose snuffled. "But your breath stinks," he said over her sniffing sounds.

Kira's snuffling stopped and her eyes widened as they crossed yet further. "You're the worst at convincing mean predators to spare you."

The human's hands stroked either side of Kira's snout, behind her nose. He kept his touch light, merely brushing the fur. Even so, the lupari's eyes lidded happily as she smiled, exposing parts of her canine teeth. "I'm actually trying to get you angry so Maduk will get on your case. It's all an attempt for a new guardian, you see."

Kira hummed, eyes opening, the blue irises focusing on her charge once again. "You're doing an awful job at that now." Her voice was barely more than a mumble as she kept her mouth movements as little as possible while so close to his body.

Dylan shrugged and kept up his petting, his fingers digging through her fur and rubbing at the skin below. "Even horrible people like me can't resist petting a puppy."

Kira lifted her muzzle out of Dylan's lap and propped her head up against the bench's arm rest. "This puppy wants chin and throat rubs." She tilted her head back, baring her throat. The fur appeared dense like the rest of her wolfish mane, enough for him to sink into if he laid himself out.

Dylan scoffed and got to his feet to unsteadily walk off of her shirt, the movement made awkward by her breathing, and wade into her thicker fur. His hands touched against the underside of her muzzle, stabilizing himself as he lowered down to his knees, his fingers gently rubbing her chin. His legs vanished into the thick fur, leaving only his waist and above visible.

A soft thrum escaped Kira's throat from his little touches, deep enough to rattle the human's body. The soft, white fur his hands brushed through made him feel flush with its warmth and soothing texture. Even so, a shiver still shook him, stronger than the rattling caused by the lupari, and traveled into his hands. He knew she would notice. She always noticed. He wasn't quick enough to pull away before Kira felt it. The lupari turned her head, one eye looking worriedly at her charge. He smiled sheepishly and pulled her chin back in front of him, returning to his attentions on her. Fear was irrational, but a quiet moment like this allowed a wandering mind. It was best not to think about anything other than making his friend happy. Or, to think about just how silly it was.

Dylan smiled to himself. "This is so weird."

"Hmmm?" Kira hummed in response, not wanting to halt his pets by moving her mouth.

"I'm petting my sergeant's throat."

"Mhmmm?"

"If I did this to a human sergeant, and I would never want to, I'd probably lose my hands. This kind of thing would never happen in a human military."

He watched her throat swell as she swallowed, the puffy white fur bulging ever so slightly under his hands. Her fingertips pushed against his front, gently sliding him backwards so she could say, "We're not human, Dylan. But this is a rather extreme case, I'll admit."

"You're just loving it, aren't you?"

Kira's fingers loosely wrapped around his body. "May I pick you up?" she asked him, and earned two pats on her finger in response, saying he was ready. She lifted him off of her chest and sat up properly on the bench, turning to lean against the backrest and placing her paws on the ground. "I'm a lupari. Of course I'm loving it. You're like a dream come true." She kept him held in her hand while her other cupped around the bottom, insuring he had ground to stand on just in case he slipped through her loose grip. "A tiny little person to get all of the best spots?" She smirked at him and lifted her hands up to the side of her head, bringing her charge close to her ear. "It's too wonderful. Could you get in there too?"

Dylan could feel a lot of heat coming from the inside of her ear, it was almost shockingly overwhelming compared to the cool warmth of the day. This was new, a step up from the throat treatment. "I guess. Bring me closer."

The guardian nearly shoved her charge into her ear, the radar dish sized appendage dominating his entire view. Now it was certainly uncomfortably hot, but he said nothing in protest as he stretched out his arms and placed his palms against the thin fur of her ear, the pink skin beneath easily visible at this closeness. Kira subtly pushed him even deeper when she felt his touch and tilted her head and ear down, almost brushing it against his head.

Dylan got to work, bending his fingers to begin scratching at her skin. "Ooooh," she moaned happily, her ear flicking softly to lightly bump the human in the face. Her grip loosened around him and he slipped down, but her open palm kept him in place. She was turning to putty right before him. Abruptly, she pulled him out of her ear, her huge head swinging around to look at him. Her blue eyes sparkled with delight. "That's just too good! Do it to my other ear, please. The earpiece can agitate."

Kira tightened her grip to keep him from falling and used her free hand to pull the small device from her other ear. She stuffed it into her pocket before lifting him up to her ear. It was just as hot as the other, though the fur inside was a ruffled mess and the pink skin was a little darker from wearing her earpiece. Mindful of her sensitive hearing he whispered in Common, "Closer."

She quickly obliged, nearly placing him entirely inside her ear, and sighed dreamily when his hands made contact. When his fingers began to scratch, she actually whined like a dog. He quietly laughed and picked up a rapid pace, his hands a blur. A loud thumping sound immediately followed, making him pause. That didn't sound like her tail, and the shaking he felt through her body was a lot more intense than when her tail wagged.

Dylan grinned hugely in realization. That was her leg! She was kicking her leg! His hands shot back to work, and the thumping returned just as quickly. "Awww, who's a good girl?" he said in English, knowing without her earpiece his words wouldn't be translated. "Who's a good girl? You are. Yes you are, yes you are." He laughed to himself, far too amused with this little jab at her dog-like nature while she couldn't even understand him. "Good doggy, yes so cute and adorable..." There was no small amount of smug satisfaction being able to say this to a sergeant, even if she was one he respected very much. "Who's a good girl?"

"I am," Kira said in English. Dylan's ministrations immediately halted along with Kira's thumping paw.The massive ear shook as his guardian started to laugh, and he was soon pulled away so she could turn her huge eyes on him. She bore a pleased, conceited smirk. "I am good girl, yes?" she asked in horribly accented English, but the words were simple enough to understand.

The human blinked dumbly several times. "Uhhh..."

The lupari whined, her ears folding back as her eyes shimmered sadly. "I not good girl?"

Dylan rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry."

Kira responded with laughter, exposing her teeth and blasting him with warm air for a short few seconds before her free hand covered her mouth. Dylan wanted to sink into his guardian's grip and vanish from view. Or perhaps fall through it and plummet to his doom to escape this shame.

The lupari struggled to contain her laughter. "Oooh you're the cutest shade of red!" Her face loomed closer, blue eyes squinting at his face.

The medic whipped his head to the side, trying to hide his blushing. "Piss off!"

Kira giggled some more as she dug into her pocket and replaced her earpiece. Her grin was wide and toothy as her hand returned to cupping under him, still holding him in her grip. "I was hoping for a moment like this! Oooh, the scents coming off of you, the look on your face..." She snickered and lowered him down onto her lap, opening her grip hand to leave him standing on her supporting hand. Dylan turned his back to her, hiding his face. He heavily plopped himself down onto her black pads, but didn't say anything as Kira went on to explain, "I've been studying English while you were attending your lectures. I told you I'm good with languages."

Dylan struck her in the stomach with his elbow, a harmless bap to her. "You didn't say you'd learn English."

Kira's free hand gently poked him in the side with the back of a claw, almost a shove to him. "But then I'd miss an opportunity like that."

The human pushed back against the finger with his leg, his boot shoving against the huge, overpowering digit. She could easily overwhelm even his legs with her hand, but instead she grabbed his entire leg between two fingers and lifted it up. Dylan suddenly went limp, a frightened look in his eyes as he laid on her palm. "Don't grab my legs, please."

Kira's fingers immediately released him. "Apologies."

Dylan laid out on her hand, looking up at the sky. The lupari's thumb bent towards him and gently rubbed against his side. He turned his head away from it to see her face. She was looking over her bosom at him, an apologetic look in her eyes. "It's alright," he said. "Mistakes happen. So are you going to bring me back up to your ear now? I wasn't done yet, you know."

Kira's worried look vanished, replaced by a sly grin. She lifted the paw she was thumping on the ground, crossed her leg over the other, and used her free hand to lightly rub at her foot. "Are you sure? Because you didn't say I'm a good girl when I asked if I was. Only good girls should get ear scratchings."

Dylan groaned and ran his hand through his short hair. He sat up and leaned against her stomach, watching her knead at her paw. "You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope!" She dropped her foot back down to the ground. "Now who's a good girl?"

"Come on..."

"Who's a good girl?" She punctuated the question with a puppylike growl.

"Yirshan?"

"Oh?" Kira whined. "Okay. Let's go find her and you can give her ear scratches." She stood up from the bench, threatening to go.

Dylan called her bluff. "Hatia?"

Kira started walking. "I hear jahkatians love getting the base of their wings treated. I hope you like feathers."

The human wasn't worried at all as he looked ahead."It has to be Ufurin."

The sergeant giggled, but kept on walking. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

Dylan felt like he was playing a game of chicken at this point, and he was the only one headed for something horrible, like petting the ears of the unit's commander. He still wasn't backing down. "Does that mean Ufurin's the good girl?"

"If you say he is. Let's go see him."

"I'm not so sure he's the good girl. It's probably Larish."

Kira growled and finally stopped. A small asishi was walking by and jumped in surprise when she blurted out, "Just say I'm the good girl and pet my ears!" She looked at the other soldier when he stopped, unsure if he was the one being spoken to. "Not you. Carry on."

Dylan waited for the asishi to leave before finally saying, mockingly slow, "You're a good girl."

"Thank you," Kira said, exasperated, and padded off the path onto the grass.

The human was grinning like a fool at this point, utterly pleased with himself for bringing someone her size to agitation in a teasing match. "But good girls don't demand ear pettings, so I may be lying."

"Alright, so I'm a bad girl," Kira said, growling again. She sat down on the grass and stretched her legs out. "Bad girls demand paw rubs."

Dylan's grin vanished. "You're a genuine good girl."

The subtle movements of her tail wagging could be felt through her hand and body."I know," the lupari said and reached down to her stomach with her other hand. "I'm going to grab you now, okay?"

Within moments, Kira was on her back, one leg kicking at the grass, with her hands held up to her ear. Dylan caught sight of a few aliens that stopped to look, obviously confused with what the sergeant was doing. They couldn't see his little form, and for all they knew she was playing with her own ear. Some of them even started to stroke their own as they walked off, obviously wondering if she found some kind of secret.

It all was cut short, however, when a deep female voice suddenly shouted, "WHAT are you doing, sergeant?!"

Kira immediately sat up and released Dylan onto her palm as she brought it back to her stomach. The human was a bit dazed from the quick movement, but could see that a large female neishor captain was standing on the pathway, glaring at them. Kira hastily said, "I am enjoying company with my charge, ma'am."

The officer looked down at Dylan, then stomped off of the path towards them to get a better look at him. "On your feet." The lupari hastily clamored to her paws, her hand cupping around her charge to keep him safe from all the jostling. When her hand left, Dylan saw the officer looking down at him, and swallowed deeply. She was tremendous. Larish and Yirshan were big, but Kira was face to stomach with this gigantic neishor. Both of them snapped off a salute, Dylan unwittingly doing the human version before realizing the mistake and crossing his arm over his chest. The officer had to lean down to see him better. "Is this true, private?"

Dylan nodded rapidly. "Y-Yes ma'am. She wished for me to, er..." He hesitated. This was so incredibly strange, and at the same time awfully terrifying. This neishor seemed much more like the strict military he came from. How was he supposed to tell someone like this he was giving his superior ear rubs? With the long pause, the giant turned her head to the side and peered even closer with one huge brown eye. He could see his whole reflection in it. "... she wanted ear rubs and I wanted to give them to her."

The captain stood back up to her full height. "She didn't force you?"

"No, ma'am."

The neishor rubbed between her eyes, shaking her head. "Lupari... and humans, apparently. This is the third time this week!" She sighed and turned to leave. "Carry on."

The pair silently watched her leave, and when she was out of earshot, Kira started to snicker, jostling Dylan in her hand. The human waited for her to be further away, watching her back warily, but soon broke into laughter with his guardian.

--

Kira bounced lightly in the sand of this massive arena, the area around her and Dylan kicked up and battered from their training. "Watch my paws," she said to him. "I favor kicks, so it's up to you to figure out which one I'm going to be using."

Kira let him have this one. She shifted her paws, getting ready to kick with her right leg. Her warning ensured Dylan saw it coming, and as her paw left the ground with a burst of flying sand, he readied himself for the attack.

The lupari's foot slammed into the human's side, staggering him, but he managed to grab it with both of his arms. Kira expected this response. Dylan was too stubborn, he favored physically clashing with an opponent over avoiding their attacks. That could work if his foe was weaker. But that simply wasn't the case here.

Before her charge could even figure out what to do now, her other leg leapt off the ground and her pads smashed into his face. He stumbled backwards in shock, releasing her caught leg, and the lupari landed in the sand on her rump. She kicked out again, hooked her leg around the human's, and pulled his foot out from under him.

With a cry he fell into the sand with his guardian. He desperately tried to scramble away, knowing what was coming next.

It was too late. Kira's heel bashed him in the chest, pushing the air out of him. Before he could recover she wrapped her calves around his neck, locking her feet together, and squeezed hard, choking him. Coughing and squirming on the ground, his hands feebly pried at his opponent's legs, trying to pull them apart at the paws.

The lupari grinned as she watched, one of his hands lacing its fingers with her four toes, and propped her head up on one arm, elbow in the sand. She loosened her grip just enough to let him breath, and patiently waited for him to give up.

As expected, her charge took longer than most to finally stop his struggles. Only when he started to run out of energy did he stop fighting it. He growled out in frustration and punched her in the calf. "I need a damned crowbar for this."

"Here's an idea," Kira said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. She laid back, propped up on both elbows now. "Paw rub to escape."

Dylan weakly pried at her legs again. "Only bad girls demand paw rubs."

The lupari splayed her toes on one foot, and wiggled them when he glanced at it. "Am I a bad girl?"

"No."

"What am I, then?"

"Oh for fu-" He bit his tongue and his head fell back, propped up by Kira's calf. "You're a good girl."

Kira laughed triumphantly as she unwrapped her legs and crawled over to Dylan. Her hand pushed against his chest and shoved him back down into the sand. "I still need to sign the peace treaty."

"What?" She bent her head down and started to nose at his throat. "Oh."

The lupari chuckled again, breathing hot air against the human's throat as her cold, wet nose rubbed against it. She felt his body stiffen when her tongue lapped out, running over his skin several times before stopping. As she pulled away, she rubbed the side of her muzzle against his cheek, her tail slowly wagging. When she was done with her victory affections, she sat back on her haunches and allowed him to sit with her.

Dylan looked sidelong at his guardian, who was delighted at just being able to nuzzle her charge, with her happy smile and tail brushing through the sand. "I feel like I should be going on about military discipline," he said.

Kira's tail stopped and she cocked her head, smile turning curious. "What do you mean?"

"It's all nice, don't get me wrong." He crossed his legs and turned on the spot to face her. The lupari did the same, causing their knees to touch. "But it's just so... weird. Not to you of course. But I just can't get over how you would never see this kind of thing on Earth. The physical shows of affection, I mean. It strikes me as so unmilitary like."

Kira flicked her ears in understanding. "Yes, I know what you mean. I know you learned all about lupari and our adoration of physical touch. Some other species like it too, like the falashai, but the prevalence of it with us made it so it's not much of a stigma in the military."

Dylan squinted, unsure. "That neishor officer thought otherwise."

Kira smirked. "She didn't make us stop, did she?" Dylan nodded a yes. "Besides, you're exposed to an exaggerated form of it all, anyway. Affection is encouraged, anyway, if the human responds well to it."

"Why?"

"It helps put you little ones at ease. Plus, it's fun."

Dylan snorted. "I guess. It's still strange. It just goes against what I imagine a military to be like."

"And that is?"

"Rigid, disciplined, difficult to falter in a tough situation. At least a good military. But then that didn't work out anyway, so I don't know what I'm complaining about."

Kira's ears stood straighter and she started sniffing out some anxiety from her charge. "Are you talking about your unit on Earth?"

The human nodded and looked down at both of their legs. "My mind's been on this since the session with Duntay."

The lupari's head slowly cocked to the side. "Why?"

"We were the US Military. We weren't supposed to break and run like frightened animals."

Kira slid in the sand to place herself next to Dylan, their sides pressed together. "You're talking about that memory you were having."

The medic nodded once. "Yeah. Our first engagement with the rynar. We shattered so fast. I guess you could call it humbling, but it felt more soul crushing. I never thought I'd see US soldiers routing." Kira gently rubbed his back. "I don't really know how to describe it. It's just... shocking, I guess? I saw crew jumping from tanks. Trucks running away, leaving men behind. Watched a Bradley run someone over as it tried to get away. It wasn't supposed to be like that." He leaned back against her stroking hand. "Can you imagine your battalion breaking like that?" Kira canted her head as she thought about it, trying to imagine it for him, but Dylan didn't let her answer. "But you don't have to fight things many times bigger than you. That simulation we did a while back was just a taste. It wasn't real. It never actually happened. And it went better than it did for us, anyway."

The lupari squeezed the human's shoulder gently. "I wish I could see what you saw."

Dylan looked at her with a cocked brow. "Why?"

Kira smiled softly at him, teeth hidden. "Because I want to understand you better. We were well equipped, organized, ready, and knew what to expect in the simulation. It wasn't like that for you at all, wasn't it?"

The human shook his head, scowling. "We had rifles when we needed missiles."

"Yes." Kira flicked her ear in agreement. "That simulation tried to show the struggle of the size difference, but it didn't fully convey the terror, did it?"

The medic shrugged. "Not really, but it got the point across. Even with the right equipment it's not much of a contest."

"That's fine, but the terror aspect is a big part of your trauma. I think I should understand that part as much as I can."

"Plenty of others had the same problem, you know. I doubt I'm the only human here with a bad memory of first contact."

"Of course. But it's an important part of your trauma."

"Why do you want to learn so much about it, anyway? All you need to do is keep doing what you've been doing."

The sergeant smirked at her charge and her hand gently squeezed his shoulder again. "Because I'm a lupari."

Dylan rolled his eyes with a slight smile. "Right. Nosy bunch aren't you?"

Kira flared her nostrils exaggeratedly, audibly sniffing. "Always. But you know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah..." He waved her off. "That crazy lupari empathy thing."

The lupari nudged him, pushing him sideways. "Don't act like it's nothing!"

"It's not! I just don't like how you can read my mind."

"It's not like that!"

"It sure sounds like it," he said, a teasing smirk on his face.

"You're being a tailtugger again."

Dylan's smirk turned to a full on grin. Kira's eyes widened and she tried to scoot away, but it was too late. Dylan grabbed her tail and gently tugged on it, preventing her from escaping. "Tailtugger sounds ridiculous, you know."

Kira growled at her charge. "And what do you call a tailtugger?"

"A smartass."

The lupari's growl abruptly stopped and she cocked her head, starting to giggle. "A smart butt?"

Dylan released her tail and his mouth gaped. "Er... that's not translating well, is it?"

"At least it's not smart donkey," the lupari said back and turned in the sand, hiding her tail from view. "I suppose a yutri update fixed that problem." Dylan looked embarrassed over the translation mistake that utterly ruined his teasing. She knew the difference, however. English swears had too many multiple meanings. It would still take time for translation software to be updated enough to handle it. It wasn't something she would let Dylan know, however.

The medic put on a dejected face. "Smart donkey sounds better than smart butt, though."

Kira laughed and waved this conversation away. "We're getting distracted. Dylan, the more I know about how your mind works, what it has experienced, the better I can react to keep you comfortable, notice problems before they become problems."

"I suppose, but it doesn't matter. I can't really describe the rout to you, anyway."

"You don't have to. You can show it."

"Excuse me?"

Both were suddenly interrupted by Dahashi's blue orb flashing into existence next to them. The orb flickered as it said, "I do not recommend that."

"Recommend what?" Dylan asked, then immediately said, "Oh. Oh I get it. Holy shit! You can do that?"

The orb bobbed once, nodding an affirmative at Dylan. "Yes, if what you are thinking is that I can recover a memory from a person and allow another to experience it. I do not recommend it, however, because it rapidly leads to mental degradation for the guest. It is safe for one memory every other quarter of the year, so I do not recommend it for horrible memories. I believe they should be used for pleasant ones."

Kira frowned disapprovingly at Dahashi. "You're opposed? Dahashi, I was certain you would agree to this. You know as well as anyone how important something like this could be."

Dahashi's orb flashed brighter as it silently regarded them both, slow to respond. "I do not recommend it."

Kira felt a slight nudge from her charge. "It's not worth wasting your one memory use. Or however it goes."

The lupari nudged him right back with her elbow. "I don't ever use them. I don't want to. But I want to for this. Don't you wish others knew what you went through?"

Dylan rubbed the back of his head. "Well... they do know? I told you what happened."

Kira shook her head and rubbed her hand on his back. "I mean do you ever wish someone knew exactly what it was like, so they knew exactly how you felt?"

The medic swallowed deeply and slowly nodded at her. "But I don't want to..." He trailed off. Kira's hand moved up to his shoulder as she patiently waited for him. "It might scare you or something. Make you upset. I don't know! I don't want it to mess you up. Could it do that?" He looked to Dahashi.

The orb blinked twice. "No. Even if I implemented a haze, the worst that may happen is nervousness afterward. Regardless, I still do not recommend this course of action. I highly recommend not doing this. Please. I highly advise reliving a pleasant memory instead."

"Didn't you want to see what the zone was like?" Dylan asked.

Dahashi bounced the orb in place, making it look impatient. "Yes and I still do, but if you do this I would have to delete the memory from my systems. I would not remember the memory, only that a reconstruction happened. Your past is not mine unless you allow me to see."

"Alright," Dylan said and got to his feet. He helped drag Kira up before focusing on Dahashi. "If she wants to see it so badly, then fine, show her. She might bite my head off if not." That earned a light whack on the back of the head from the lupari. "Ow, hey come on!" He held the back of his head and grinned at her. "Abuser."

Kira raised her hand for another strike. "Abuser?! I am not! What am I?"

The human rolled his eyes. "A psycho bitch?"

Instead of hitting him in the head, the lupari pounced the man. They both fell to the ground in an explosion of sand. Kira sat atop his chest, pinned his arms, and leaned down close. She bared her teeth, growling. "What am I?"

The medic lifted his head up, nearly touching noses with her. "Psycho. Bitch."

Kira lightly nipped him on the nose, a little play bite. "Why are you specifically calling me a psychotic female canine?"

"Er..." He furrowed his brow, caught up in the translation confusion. "Because... I need to stick to more reasonable curses, like asshole. You're a psychotic asshole."

Kira scoffed. "Now that's just crude. I'll punish you later, though." She pulled the human to his feet, and both returned their attention to Dahashi. "May we start now?" she asked him.

The orb wobbled side to side. "I do not recommend this."

"Just do it," Dylan said.

There was a several second pause before Dahashi said, "Very well. I have already recovered the memory. Reconstruction will begin in ten seconds. I wish you did not do this." With that, the orb suddenly vanished, leaving them both alone.

Dylan touched the side of his head. "Holy shit that was fast. I didn't even feel anything."

The lupari grinned at the chance for another tease. "Humans worship feces?"

Dylan groaned. "Dammit, woman..."

...

...

For the first time in her life Kira found herself living a memory, and the very first thing she felt was deprivation. She could see. She saw Dylan's hands and arms as he clutched a rifle in his lap. She saw he was in the back of a light four doored vehicle with a few others soldiers. She could see all of this so clearly, yet she still felt blind. She saw these people in a small vehicle, with their weapons and their equipment, but she couldn't smell them. She wanted to smell but all she sensed was an indistinct blob of scent. It meant nothing. It was tasteless. One of Kira's very first thoughts in her first memory reconstruction, was a wonder as to how humans could live with these olfactory disasters they called their noses.

She couldn't let her bubbling anxiety over the lack of scents worry her, however. She reminded herself that this was merely a simulation. Her true self could smell perfectly fine. With that reminder, the worry over her nose was easily cast aside when she realized what Dylan was looking at out the vehicle's window as they sped by. What must have been thousands of humans were walking on the lightly snow covered grass between two roads, dragging with them large bags, suitcases, and carts. Light to dark skinned humans from young to old were in the crowd. Just past them, trapped on the road parallel to this, was a massive jam of wheeled vehicles. It was obviously an exodus of refugees from whatever unfortunate city was attacked by the rynar.

Dylan's gaze stayed locked on the crowds as the world slowed to a crawl, making it that much easier to see each individual human civilian, the looks of fear, anguish and resignation on their faces, as it all went silent.

Dahashi appeared walking next to the vehicle, completely unhindered by the slowed world. The blue falashai was wearing a light, elegant outfit that covered his top with various looping, sheer cloth that left his lithe upper body visible, but covered his legs in purples and gold. "Welcome to the first day of the Rynar Invasion of Earth." He cast his arm out to wave over the mass of civilians, his voice unhindered by the thick glass that was between he and Kira. "On this day, a large force that included elements of the 29th Infantry Division, Dylan's division, mobilized to head south to relieve the besieged Fort Lee as the rynar rapidly moved inland after landing on the coast. The rynar easily overwhelmed the Norfolk Naval Yard before many of the ships could escape, and were at Fort Lee before the local forces could even fully realize what was happening."

The AI looked ahead, presumably down the long military column. "The civilians you see to the left are all fleeing the fighting, but there were too many displaced so quickly. It was too much for infrastructure to bare." He looked into the window of the vehicle, passed Dylan and at the others inside. "Directly to your right is Private Tobias Sampson. The one driving is Private Keith Leonard. The person to the right of him is Corporal Ryan Andrews. I know they are only one of many, and you are not going to know who they were in this too short of a time, but do them the honor that I cannot of remembering their names and their faces. There are so few left that can."

The falashai's form slowly faded away and time returned to normal, the crowds turning to a blur of motion once more. Dylan looked aside at the dark skinned soldier to his right, his skin glistening with sweat despite the cold, as he watched the civilians. Tobias glanced at Dylan and forced a small, nervously breathy laugh. "At least the civilians won't get in the way of our alien asskicking, right?"

There was a bitter laugh in the front passenger seat and Ryan, a lighter skinned human, said back, "They're two hundred goddamn feet tall. We'll be lucky if they don't just march over us."

"They're not that big," Tobias said.

Ryan leaned over to look in the back seat at the other soldier. "You saw the pictures! They're fucking giants."

Sampson leaned back seat and swallowed hard. "That was more like a hundred feet."

"I think it was closer to fifty," Dylan said as he turned to look out the window once more. Kira wanted to add her own number, but couldn't say anything. It was a surreal feeling, she thought, to speak without intending to. Nor could she speak when she wanted, and when she did speak it was with a voice that wasn't her own.

Ryan returned to looking forward. "Still too big."

It seemed like the mass of people would go on forever, as if there were no end to the souls fleeing the fighting only hours old. Sooner than Kira hoped, however, the crowd became less and less until there was a trickle, to almost nobody. All that was left was the muddy ground, abandoned vehicles, and a mess of items left behind. Despite the countless civilians they passed, Kira knew there were many more caught in the fighting.

With nothing else to look at, Dylan leaned back against his seat, looking forward where he could see outside the front with a truck directly in front of their vehicle. Ryan bent forward and looked up at the sky, where the figures of aircraft could be seen flying ahead of the column. "They launching missiles?" the corporal asked.

The driver, Keith, leaned forward as well to gaze up. "Yeah... why they shooting so early?"

Dylan pushed up from his seat and pulled himself to the center. "I'll check up top," he said as he stood up and pushed open a hatch at the top of the vehicle. Kira felt the cold air blowing against the human's unfurred face. She would shiver, but Dylan remained still as he looked ahead. As far as he could see was a long line of vehicles. From small trucks like this one to tanks to bigger trucks carrying more tanks were all driving along this road. It was so much. There were so many soldiers, weapons, and vehicles. If Kira saw this without knowing anything else, she would think whoever the enemy was, this was their doom coming for them.

Even the sound was intimidating. The guttural snarl of human engines sounded like an enormous beast, even through these dull, little human ears. The sight of aircraft high above completed the ensemble, their presence silent but still a show of a long reach.

Dylan watched the sky as missiles streaked out from the aircraft and the distant shapes abruptly broke formation. Blue streaks of plasma fire peppered the space they just occupied, and scattered across the sky, trying to track the tiny craft, only to vanish into the clouds as they found none of their targets.

The medic ducked back down and closed the hatch behind him. "They're getting shot at up there," Dylan said as he crawled back into his seat, the others watching him.

The corporal bit his lower lip and turned back around. "Shit. We're not supposed to make contact for hours." He opened a compartment up front and pulled out a large piece of folded paper. He hastily unfurled what looked like a map and scanned it over. He shook his head rapidly, but before he could say anything more the vehicle slowed to a stop as the convoy halted.

Chatter over the vehicle's radio came on. Panicked shouts of contacts, orders to disembark, to find defensive positions and dig in, all spilled out of it.

They were coming.

The next few minutes were a frenzy of motion, the pace accelerated by Dahashi, as he allowed the lupari to see the panicked, unprepared mess that unraveled. Soldiers poured out of trucks and onto the road. The vehicles turned to head off of the pavement to find cover. They were on a long stretch of empty road with not much more than forest to hide in. Kira couldn't imagine how this would work. Not when their enemy's weapons could chew through such small trees. But she didn't have to imagine how it would work. She knew it wouldn't.

By the time it was finally done and the defense was hastily assembled, Dylan was laying in wait near the forest's edge with several other platoons. Grenade and missile launchers were distributed, mortars set up, and artillery pieces were pulled into the tree line to offer direct fire. Even tanks were squeezed in, among other lighter armored vehicles. Most, however, lined the side of the road, ready to take long shots down the stretch of pavement. It was a hasty defense that did little to utilize their numbers, but it was all they could do.

Dylan wasn't given even a grenade launcher. Instead, the medic stayed back near the rear of his platoon, clutching his rifle as he crouched against a tree. He was, however, issued a thick bag full of equipment intended for burns.

They were all silent. Even the rumble of the vehicles fell quiet as they silenced their engines. The only clear, close sound was the occasional long breath from Dylan. The steam from his breath was coming out in large puffs that were occasionally broken up as a shiver went through his body.

Despite what was about to happen, it was the cold that occupied so much of Kira's mind. Even with this clothing, she felt so exposed and vulnerable. Such a small, insignificant dusting of a snowfall seemed so bleak where normally she would welcome the cool chill, barely even felt through her thick fur.

These thoughts soon fell by the wayside as she heard the sounds of distant battle. The far off, dull booms of explosions and the rumble of human aircraft drowned out the quiet wail of the wind through the winter struck forest.

Then there was the wait. Kira knew what was coming, but she still felt her anxiety rising. She had never felt so wary of a calm before a storm. She couldn't smell anything nor could she hear anything worth hearing. It wasn't that there was nothing to smell or hear, but that she simply couldn't hear or smell them. Dylan didn't have the means for it. So here he waited, all of these humans waited, incapable of even the simple self reassurance of knowing what exactly was around them at all times.

Dylan was cold, afraid, scentblind, half deaf, and he didn't even have a weapon that would do him any good as an enemy so much more powerful than anything he'd ever known was coming. Just like any other species, the humans obviously drew confidence from strong allies. It kept them firm even if they were afraid. However, it was made so much more important for them, as their abundant weaknesses could only be dampened with fellows at their side. Perhaps that was why many humans took to their guardians so well. A guardian made up for so much that they lacked, beyond merely the vast size difference.

Kira had these thoughts to mull over until the thunderous eruptions of human tank fire were heard up the road. The reports of automatic cannons followed, then soon the loud, angry whooshes of missiles. A hail of fire could be seen flying down the road at targets unseen.

Several men with large missile launchers were ordered forward. They crept out to the forest's edge, aimed their weapons, and large missiles were sent flying into the air. Kira couldn't see the targets, but there weren't any blue streaks of return plasma fire. She hoped it meant the human fire was simply far too overwhelming.

The wild spray of heavy weapons fire lasted for only a minute before it came to a slow stop, the thumping of an automatic cannon the last weapon to finally cease. There was some shouting, cheers, and the revving of engines as vehicles fired up and began moving.

The curious whining engines of the tanks grew louder as they sped by, visible through the trees. Armored troop carriers followed right after them. It was an attack. They were exposed and the humans decided their best course of action was to press forward before their enemy could gather their wits. The infantry in the forests were ordered forward. They stayed within the trees as they began to run down the lengths of their concealment. The chatter of big guns behind them meant artillery was already taking shots in support of the advance.

It looked good. There was so much equipment, so many soldiers, and so much supporting fire. It was a neat operation, as far as Kira could tell. No amount of neatness, however, could change just how clustered it was.

The hum of rynar fighter craft filled the air. Dylan looked up at the sky, through the leafless trees, to see streaks of plasma cannon fire hurtle towards the road. Searing hot plasma explosions erupted all along the pavement in terrifyingly massive clouds that consumed whole vehicles in blue, superheated destruction. Kira felt the heat as it washed over Dylan, almost burning at even this distance.

The infantry dove for cover behind trees as their armored support began to explode apart, their fuel and ammunition detonating from the intense heat. Kira couldn't see anything as Dylan covered behind a tree, his head tucked down. She still felt the heat, however, and it felt even hotter as burning debris flew into the forest, landing around them.

The sound of trees shattering had Dylan look up to see what looked like an entire turret from a tank smashing into a tree. It fractured it, but bounced off and went crashing to the ground, nearly landing on two men. The first tree the turret struck slid down the side of another tree and hit the ground with a deep thud

Kira got a look at the havoc at last. Burning debris she couldn't even recognize littered the forest floor, the pyres of other vehicle turrets could be seen further away, and some of the trees were already ablaze. Even the snow all around had melted, turning the ground to mud.

Cries for medics echoed off of the trees, snapping Dylan into action. The man had to sprint all of a stone's throw to find his first patient, a man with a large piece of shrapnel embedded in his side with three of his comrades desperately trying to help him. The medic shoved his way through them to get to the soldier. He bent down to get a closer look at the wound in the man's side, the medic's hand already digging at his pouches for whatever tool he needed.

Dylan's attention snapped up, down along the forest, as flashes of light erupted far ahead. A second strafing run was hurtling towards them, combing the forest length along the road. Dylan and the other soldiers shot to their feet just as the sounds of the plasma bursts reached them and ran for the road, escaping the treeline.

Even these weak human ears could hear the cry of that wounded man they left behind them. It lingered in Kira's mind even as the explosive bursts of the plasma tore the forest apart, the sound of fracturing trees mingling with the loud blasts. A wave of heat washed over Dylan's back as he hit the pavement, covering his head with his hands. Kira felt the heat, only uncomfortably hot for her, but she didn't doubt it was causing harm to the human, slowly cooking him.

The heat lessened as the plasma bursts dissipated, leaving behind a burning forest that still hotly licked at the men on the road, preventing them from fleeing back into the cover of the trees.

Dylan looked up and behind him from his prone position, his arms still covering the back of his head from the heat. Humans that weren't far enough away from the strafing run were still running towards the road, engulfed in flames. Their agonized screams reach Dylan's ears even through the roars of the flames all around, from the trees to the burning, exploding vehicles on the pavement.

Dylan grabbed his rifle, the weapon just ahead of him lying on the road, and got to his feet. He moved to do something, taking a few steps, but stopped himself. He along with the survivors, could only watch as their comrades burned in front of them. There wasn't a thing they could do, not even a blanket in reach to smother the flames. Everything they could use was burning in the vehicles around them.

The medic watched, frozen in place, focusing on one soldier just in front of him as he staggered onto the pavement, his body completely wrapped in scorching flames. Behind him, the forest was ablaze with dancing ash falling around, already beginning to cover the road and everyone on it. His hands were clutching at his face as he fell to his knees. He wasn't screaming anymore, the flames suffocating him as it consumed all of the oxygen. He twitched and jerked as he sat there, ashes of his clothing and his own body falling around him.

The soldier's hands slid from his face, pulling much of the skin with them, and fell by his sides. Kira could see his burned face, eyes melting away, just before the flames covered his face, and the man's body slowly fell forward, unmoving on the pavement.

Kira felt numb as she watched, barely even registering what came next. There were many stories of the devastating losses among the human militaries during the three days before the UTO arrived at Earth, but seeing it happen was making her heart race. An overlay from the simulation asking her if she wanted to disconnect, as if she forgot she could with a mere thought, flashed in front of her eyes. The lupari willed it away and kept watching, at this point more morbidly curious about how Dylan survived this than anything else.

Vehicles from further back in the convoy arrived. Human with firefighting equipment poured out of trucks with specialized, red colored firefighting vehicles following behind. They had to fight hellfire. Both sides of the highway were engulfed in flames as the forests burned, the trees completely consumed. The burning vehicles leaked fuel that swept across the pavement, burst with secondary explosions, and Kira swore she could hear some cries for help within a few. Pitch dark smoke reached high into the sky and the ashes fell like snow, blocking out the sun. It was dark on the road, the only light coming from the roaring flames.

Dylan was coughing, his breathing becoming ragged. It was becoming difficult to draw breath here. And it was so hot. So incredibly hot. Visibility was degrading. It was difficult to see the new vehicles in all the smoke and fire, to see other humans. And here Dylan was, standing as if he had given up, looking around dumbly.

A hand grabbed the medic's arm. He turned to see another human, wearing thick fire resistant clothing with an oxygen mask. He yelled for Dylan to come, voice muffled by the mask. He dragged the shocked medic along, and both began to run side by side. When they passed a firefighting truck the man gave Dylan a forward shove, encouraging him to keep running without him.

Dylan ran through a corridor of fire. The forest burned and burned, the grass itself alight, a wall of flames that would let no man escape alive. He weaved around burning wrecks, black dead husks now the tombs of countless men. Through the fire, smoke, and ash Kira saw other human soldiers, survivors trying to escape the blaze.

Dylan ran with them, more and more coming together. It seemed like dozens of them were on a mad dash to escape the scorching heat and suffocating smoke. Even through her shocked daze, Kira was happy to see at least this many made it. It seemed impossible, but at least there were these.

The smoke lessened, the vehicles became more sparse. Sunlight was starting to shine bright again. It was a light at the end of a dark, burning tunnel. There were people. As Dylan passed the last burning tank, Kira saw people on the other side of this corridor of death. Men, clean of the scorching of the disaster ran and met the survivors. Dylan collapsed against another soldier, coughing, wheezing and breathing hard. The other man pushed an oxygen mask against the medic's face, and he choked on that for a few moments before the relief of fresh oxygen reached his lungs.

Dylan held the mask to his face and rested his chin on his savior's shoulder. Despite all of the talk of humans being less physical with each other, here Dylan was using his other arm to hug the man. This other soldier offered a fresh face and relief from the pain of the chaotic world only a short distance behind, and that was worth more gratitude than he seemed to know.

Eyes teary and blurry from the smoke, the medic looked at what was ahead of him. Countless soldiers, more tanks, trucks, and so many others vehicles were all along both sides of the highway. Despite that complete and utter destruction, there was still so much left. There was still hope.

Dylan was soon rushed further back, guided along with the other survivors further and further away from the cloud of smoke, into clearer and fresher air. Someone took Dylan's helmet off and draped a wet towel over his head. The coolness was almost shocking. The towel covered the medic's face, blinding him and muffling his ears. Kira felt his gear being removed, his backpack and weapon taken away, letting the cold air reach him easier. Someone eased him down to sit on the road, out of the way and open to the cold air, sapping the overabundance of heat from his body.

The cries of burned wounded came from up the road. Dylan pulled the towel off of his face to see men carrying stretchers appearing out of the smoke. It was his first good look at the inferno from the outside, and his head tilted back to see the black cloud grasping for the sky, so high above. It was swirling and seemingly dancing in the wind. The cool gusts felt good against the back of his head, easily touching his skin through his shaved hair.

He only admired the scale of the flames for only a few short moments before his attention shot back to the situation before him. His equipment was scattered on the hood of a nearby truck, among the items of a few other survivors. Dylan tossed the towel onto the vehicle and grabbed his large backpack and belt off of it. He slung the bag over his shoulder and held the belt in his hand as he dashed for the closest wounded, joining a legion of medical personnel as they all scrambled to save what little they could from this tragedy.

There was shouting and confused orders being tossed around, nobody quite sure who was in charge of this mad dash to save the burned. The medics looked terrified as they checked their patients. They were not prepared to deal with so many burns like this.

An older looking soldier took charge. He barked out orders that snapped cohesion into the distraught medics and other soldiers. A field hospital was already being set up further up the road where the convoy came from, with firefighting crews working to keep the fire from spreading. Medics, Dylan among them, were loaded into trucks with the wounded.

There were six medics in Dylan's truck with only two burned soldiers on stretchers, laid out on the floor. All of them were shouting at each other on how to help the two men, none of them experienced enough to be sure of what to do. A gel was smeared onto the burns and painkillers were injected. There was so little they could do with what they had. Burn treatment simply wasn't a large majority of their training or their equipment. There were no nanites at work here to strengthen the skin, meaning they couldn't do much with equipment without making things worse. The gel didn't even seem to be helping.

One of the men stopped breathing during just this short drive. A medic hissed for the others to stop talking and checked their patient. Nothing was happening. They squeezed an air pump in his mouth. One medic started chest compressions, trying to ignore the stretching and tearing of the burned flesh, but there was no response.

The soldier died in the back of that truck, and none of them even knew who he was or what he looked like. His identification tags were burned into his flesh, his face seared and unrecognizable. Silence reigned. The medics looked at each other, distraught. As if all of one mind, they scrambled for the second man. Six medics crowded around their patient, desperately trying to keep him alive, to not lose another one. His vitals were closely watched, his oxygen supplied, and his burns soothed. It was so little for six of them.

Dylan was squeezing the air pump when the truck suddenly swerved. He was flung back against the side of the cargo space, slamming painfully against the bench lining the side. The truck swerved again, nearly propelling Dylan to the other side, but it came to a crashing stop as it collided with something hard and unyielding, instead throwing him and everyone else to the front. They all smashed into the back of the cab, cries of pain and heavy thuds filling the truck from the sudden, hard stop. Dylan's impact was buffered by the body of one of his fellows, sparing him much of the pain of hitting the metal. He fell back to the bottom of the truck, on top of the dead soldier.

An automatic cannon started firing directly next to their truck, ruffling the covering canvas and deafening the men inside. The shock of the noise had Dylan pressing his hands to his ears, trying to muffle the sound. When it stopped, there was a mad scramble to escape the back of the vehicle, but all hesitated when the rear flap was pulled aside.

They looked like giant, tailed robots, however Kira knew a rynar trooper at any size. They were emerging from the smoke far behind, their plasma rifles against their shoulders, firing as they advanced. Plasma swept the crowded road. It lacked the incendiary explosive charge of the larger plasma cannons, but at the humans' size it hardly mattered.

Light vehicles were peppered with plasma bolts, searing holes being burned straight through them and disintegrating the occupants. Some exploded as the superheated energy ignited fuel or extra munitions. Tanks and lighter armored vehicles desperately fired back, making a cacophony of heavy weapons fire.

The rynar looked so confident. They were so sure of themselves. Their advance was so steady, surely the sign of an overly confident leader. Their advance hesitated for only a short moment when the heavy human weapons tore into the lead troops, sending them crashing down as holes were blown into their bodies, explosive ordnance rippling across their armor.

The medics gathered their wits and jumped out of the truck. Dylan was told to check the driver as they handled their patient and two of the medics struggling to walk. Dylan went around the truck to see that it had crashed into one of the lighter armored troop transport vehicles, which was shooting down the road with its rapid firing cannon. A part of its front end was embedded into the front of the truck.

The medic opened the door of the truck, the cab still mostly intact. A look inside showed no driver, but the windshield was smashed apart. Kira could feel Dylan's grimace. He left the door open as he ran around to the back of the armored vehicle. He found the truck driver on the road just behind the vehicle, a twisted, broken mess, but he was moving. It looked like he flew through the windshield, hit the armored vehicle, and fell off the back of it.

Dylan shouted for help and a stretcher from his fellows, but his call was drowned out by the belch of the big vehicle's engine as it shifted into reverse. The medic cried for the machine to stop as he grabbed the soldier's harness and tried to drag him aside.

There wasn't enough time. Alerts flashed into Kira's view again as she watched the machine's tread descend on the human's stomach. She wanted out! Out out out!

...

...

Kira's eyes shot open and the lupari cried out loudly, her gaze darting around in the pod as both hands clutched her chest. She panted rapidly while the door opened up, a few whimpers escaping her.

Her whimper turned to a shriek when Dahashi was revealed, his projection standing just outside of her pod. The falashai AI was engulfed in flames, his normally blue fur a fiery red as fire flickered over his body, his eyes black pits. "Tricks of the mind!" he hastily said as Kira pushed herself back against the pod, as if she would vanish out the back of it. "Calm yourself! Whatever you see is false! It will pass."

The lupari stopped thrashing and her ears turned towards the fiery Dahashi, testing his words. She didn't hear the flames, nor did she feel the heat. Her breathing slowed slightly and she blinked rapidly, trying to clear the hallucination. She snapped her attention to his left as she saw transparent, black scorched specters of human soldiers as big as he was run past him, their steps utterly silent, and their faces locked in utter panic. Kira leaned out of the pod to see them after they passed, but they were gone. Instead, she saw the hive engulfed in flames. Pods were burning as people nonchalantly walked on by. Ash fell from high above, darting about as if a wind was blowing through the large, open building. Her mouth gaped as she looked up at it.

Dahashi looked up with her, his fur no longer on fire, but still red. "You see why you cannot do this regularly, I assume?"

Kira lamely flicked one ear and slowly dragged her gaze back down to Dahashi, and then what was just past him. She saw another human specter, almost solid unlike the others. He was completely covered in black, ugly burns as he sat on his rump, legs pulled to his chest in a fetal position. He rocked forward and back, shaking his head and burying his face in his arms, as if he were crying.

The lupari groaned and fell back into the pod, blinking rapidly again as tears formed in her eyes. "Stars..." she croaked and rubbed at the fur on her cheeks, brushing away the drops. "That was awful. There were was so much fire and, and... death." She looked at Dahashi again, still standing outside the pod. He was back to normal, his fur dark blue and golden eyes glimmering. "Just hearing about it didn't do it justice at all. That was slaughter."

The AI flicked one of his ears. "The slaughter of amassed human forces is a tragically common tale from the war, and something that I believe isn't known enough."

The sergeant pulled herself out of the pod. Her paws touched down on the cool catwalk and she looked down at the shorter avatar, then at the human specter, still there. "The scale of it isn't easy to get your nose around," she said as she observed the specter. His burns were gone, leaving him in an Earth soldier's uniform, though his back was still to her. She saw red crosses of the human medical insignia on some of his equipment. "Dylan," she said, her voice cracking. "Is he waiting at the human sector?"

"Yes," Dahashi responded. Kira abruptly walked into him, his form flickering from the interruption. "Hold a moment!" he said after her, sounding grumpy from the walk through his avatar. Kira paused and regarded him over her shoulder. "First, don't walk through me. It's rude! You don't phase through fleshy people, do you?"

The lupari rolled her eyes and smirked, amused at the comment. It was a relief after what she saw. "I can't walk through fleshy people."

"Well, yes, of course. But I did not say you could. I said you do not."

"But I'd walk through them if I could."

The blue falashai threw his arms up, flabbergasted. "Barbarian! Ahem. Now, more importantly, Molayoninuoluwa Obasi, better known as Maduk the Guardian and Charge Internal Affairs officer is speaking with Dylan right now. He wishes to speak with you when you collect your charge."

Kira's ears splayed. "Do you know what he wishes to talk about?"

"He is asking Dylan about you right now. It sounds like he is looking for trouble in your relationship."

The lupari scoffed. "He won't find anything." Kira turned her attention ahead again and took only half of a step before pausing and looking back at the AI again. "Oh... did he see everything?"

"Only the training session and how you convinced Dylan to share his memory," the AI said. "I apologize for not giving a proper explanation. I do actually believe it was a wise decision to view Dylan's memory, horrible as it was. Thankfully the nosy human did'nt have that clearance to view Dylan's memory."

Kira flicked her ear and growled softly. Without saying another word she padded along the catwalk. The lupari descended several stairs to reach the human sector at ground level, embedded into a wall, only taking up the space of several normal sized pods.

Kira found Dylan and Maduk talking on the catwalk just behind the transfer pad. Her charge noticed her coming and nodded in her direction, prompting them both to turn to face her. Maduk flashed a large smile at her, his white teeth almost shining in contrast to his dark skin. Dylan, however, looked like someone flicked him on the nose. He was absolutely agitated.

"Greetings!" Maduk said, in his native tongue, his language unfamiliar to Kira before it translated in her ear piece. "Sergeant Kirache Rottjir, I assume."

The lupari canted her head slightly, her nostrils flaring. The man appeared pleasant in expression, but she could smell the familiar scent of fear coming from him. "Yes, and you are Maduk. I understand you wish to speak with me?"

Maduk nodded once. "Yes, however your charge has told me most of what I need to know. I only have one question for you." He looked at Dylan, who glowered at him, then back up at Kira. "Do you think your charge would be able to function with another guardian?"

The lupari immediately flicked her ear affirmative and opened her mouth to say yes, but caught herself and glanced at Dylan. He slowly nodded, though now a sympathetic frown was on his face. She had an idea where this was going. "Yes," she finally said.

Maduk clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Then you will be exchanging charges with Sergeant Yirshan Kultak, beginning after the weekend."

Kira barked out, "What?!" and her ears stood straight. Maduk took several steps back and his anxious look around did not escape the lupari's notice. "Why? What are your reasons?"

Maduk tugged his shirt collar, yet kept that irritatingly friendly smile despite his terrified scent. "Mr. Maddock's trauma makes him especially malleable of mind. The rate at which you two have grown close makes me believe there is some amount of coercion involved."

Kira's fur bristled and a growl rose in her throat, but Dylan cut her off by saying, "You're a fucking psychologist now? I'm not going to let anyone coerce me." He placed himself in front of the slightly shorter man, glaring at him, his fists balled up. "Imply that again and maybe I'll have a psychotic break on you. How about that?"

The sergeant bit her lower lip, one fang pinching it, as she suppressed a chuckle. Maduk remained impassive, but held up his hands. "Please be calm. Answer me this - have you willingly shared stories like yours with anyone else besides your guardian?"

Dylan glanced aside, hesitating. "No."

Maduk nodded. "And you have known her for only around three weeks, yes?"

"Your point?"

"My point is that in two weeks, not even the full three, you went from being terrified of her to sharing your traumatic past with her and even beginning a..." Maduk waved his hand in circles, fishing for a word. "An affectionate relationship with her. The rate of such a development seems far too quick for simple friends."

The medic scoffed and stepped away from the other man, leaning up against the railing and folding his arms. "Okay, great, so she's just being pleasant about the whole thing and I don't want to be some angst ridden mess and actually sort my issues out. Great psychology there, buddy. Aren't you supposed to be looking for actual trouble, like what Trikil was? Not shitting all over great pairs? What do you think this will help?"

"What I think," Maduk said, "is that if you are able to function with another guardian, then you will show that you are of sounder mind than I believe you are. You really should not be serving like this, but that is not within my power, only this."

Kira mirrored Dylan's pose and folded her arms. "So you want him to have some more psychotic breakdowns and get him discharged. Captain Duntay already bit that as an option. Why are you doing this?"

The civilian took a deep breath, his fear still admirably hidden to anyone without a decent nose. "I do not want him discharged, but if that happens then perhaps it is in his best interest. The way he clings to you, partakes in those... affections... and speaks of such personal problems implies you have much sway over him. Is it coercion? Perhaps not. Whatever it is that makes him so susceptible to your influence, it should be determined if is harmful to him. If you can control him or not."

Dylan shook his head and laughed. "Sounds like just becoming fast friends to me. But hell, what do I know about myself? I'm not a head doctor. Really should just leave it to the folks that know me better than me, like you."

Maduk didn't grace that with a retort. "This change will last one week. If Private Maddock remains in his right mind with no signs of degradation without Sergeant Rottjir as his guardian, then I will believe it is simply a good friendship." He bowed his head slightly. "Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I, ah," he coughed, "must return to reviewing simulation records while I await my escort."

Kira and Dylan didn't say anything back nor wish a farewell as they watched him head off down the catwalk to vanish into a room behind the pods. Once he was gone, the both of them deflated. Dylan turned and headed towards the transfer pad while Kira immediately laid her hand down, ready for him. "Fuck him," the medic said as he climbed aboard, sitting himself in the middle.

The sergeant tucked her hand to her stomach, waited a moment for her charge to lean back, then turned around and head for the door. "I suspect he wishes to use his power. He seems to have far too much for this. I think Duntay's ears will shake in rage when he hears about this."

Dylan let out a strained chuckle. "I don't think he's capable of that much emotion."

"Oooh..." Kira said as she walked outside, the door sliding open for her. "The viliti can surprise you very mu- er, Sergeant Mitchell?" The lupari halted when she noticed Mitchell's mech stopped just outside of the simulation hive, on the side of the path, standing in the grass as soldiers passed him by.

The man was sitting on the open deck of his mech, legs dangling, as he played with his yutri using a forearm mounted holographic projection. His arm laid in his lap while the other fiddled with the projected controls, controlling whatever was on the screen displayed in front of him. He looked up from his device, a smoking cigarette butt in his mouth. "Kira, Dylan," he said with a nod then got right back to his yutri.

"Maduk is waiting for you," Kira said.

"Yeah, I know." Mitchell grabbed the cigarette and snuffed it out on an ashtray next to him with a couple others in it. He pulled another one from his breast pocket, along with a lighter, and lit it, his eyes squinting from the close brightness of his forearm projection. The lighter closed with a click and clattered on the mech's deck as he returned to his yutri. "Fuck that guy. I'm stealing ancient asishi art. Gotta run before the guards eat me." His brow furrowed as he focused on what was apparently a game, smoke rising in front of his face.

Kira's ears flicked happily at the sound of a proper laugh from Dylan. The lupari started walking again. When she was out of earshot with Mitchell, she said, "Dylan, I have a question."

"Yeah?"

"Why do humans wish to fornicate with people they don't like?"

A smug grin broke across the lupari's muzzle as the human groaned in mock frustration.