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Cold Steel: A Hearth Star Story

By Psion

All Rights Reserved

It was cold, so very cold, down in the dark corridors of the giant starship. Lights flickered ominously and the metal walls echoed with the sound of worn machinery protesting a lack of care and maintenance. Pipes hissed from somewhere off in the distance, elsewhere the steady dripping of condensation from ducts full of fresh coolant could be heard.

Within these dark hallways, ragged figures stirred and slowly woke up. Humans clad in tattered clothing slowly began to putter through the morning chores as the community of Junction Delta-16 gradually came to life. As the small hamlet completed day cycle preparations, a young woman dressed in piecemeal body armor and a thick patchwork cloak cut from scraps of fabric appeared in the western corridor. Behind her was a small line of followers; men and women all battered and bruised. Several looked around with the detached glaze of the emotionally dead in their eyes. As the leader of the group walked towards the village, the town guards stopped her.

"Hold it! State your business traveler." One guard, the woman assumed he was the community leader from the way he carried himself, stepped forward.

"I am the huntress Claire Lockheart with the results of last night's hunt. I have two people who need a doctor if you have one and the rest need... god where do I begin?"

"Factory deck or Mead Halls?" The day shift leader asked.

"Mead Halls. Everyone with me escaped from the brothels They have up there." She replied, no one needed to ask who "They" were. All of them knew who their oppressors were.

"Christ... Well, just line your catch up in the intersection. I'll see if the doc's awake, I'd also call the town together but I don't think it will be necessary." The guard captain replied nonchalantly as he walked towards the doctor's stall.

Claire looked around with a pair of ice-blue eyes, indeed it wasn't. The "town" was a t-shaped intersection in the labyrinth of corridors that make up the lowest levels of the ship. Crude barricades were forged by welding metal shipping crates together before fusing them with the wall, giving defenders decent cover while protecting the settlement behind them from incoming fire. It also pretty definitely marked the Junction's effective borders, twenty feet from one end to the other, with the bottom of the 't' extending about as far. Within these boundaries was virtually the entire town. Market stalls, sleeping cubicles with half-rotten privacy curtains, if it wasn't in the main corridor it was crammed into the two small store rooms connected to the base of the T. The only way word of her arrival would spread faster was if she came in shooting.

Walking through the narrow path between stalls with her charges in tow, people whispered as they watched her pass.

"That's her, that's the Huntress."

"Really? I thought she'd be blond."

"Dude keep it down, I hear she's a crazy ex-cop, Detroit SWAT or something. Besides, what's wrong with brunettes?"

"Really? I thought she was a Marine?"

"No, she has to be a cop. Marines wouldn't know how to track like she does. They say there's nothing she can't find."

"I hear her home in Freeman's Hold is decorated with the pelts of all the alien freaks she's killed."

"I don't believe it, don't you know that woman's kill count? She'd plaster the walls, ceiling, and floor in fur and still have a ton left over."

Claire tuned the chatter out at that point. As much as it irritated her, she had begun to develop a reputation thanks to her effectiveness at tracking down escaped slaves and bringing them to safety in the bowels of the ship. At one time, before the They invaded Earth and carried off thousands of her species as slaves and trophies, she really had been a Detroit cop. Though she wasn't SWAT, she was a beat cop that had just made detective when everything changed. Indeed, she hardly fired anything bigger then a pistol before she was trapped on the Hearth Star and even that was mostly just to make qualification.

Being stuck on the Wuffs worldship changed that. After escaping from the slave pens; she learned to navigate the lowest levels without getting lost, how to move through the upper levels without being unseen, and how to track those in flight from the top decks and find them before her foes did. Even then she was glad she already knew how to handle herself in a fight, having the deck stacked in her favor meant nothing if she couldn't keep her head when it mattered. She will not have that one time happen... come on, focus on the present Claire. There's nothing left of your past but ghosts and memories, concentrate on what you can do now. She thought to herself as she motioned for her wards to line up. Almost immediately a crowd began to gather, even people who ran the town during the night cycle put off sleep for a few more minutes to see what the fuss was about.

"People of Junction Delta-16, I am Huntress Lockheart. I am here to ask one very simple question, do any of you recognize anyone in my party?"

For a moment there was silence as both the freed slaves and the locals looked at each other, trying to find one face that would light a flare of recognition despite the grime and dirt everyone was covered in. Claire sucked in her breath, hoping she wouldn't have to drag all these people to Freeman's Hold. Suddenly...

"Mommy?" A child within the crowd asked suddenly. Almost immediately one of the women in her party looked up, eyes blazing with a sudden wellspring of emotion. The young girl stepped forward, holding her older sister's hand, trembling with joy. "Look! Look Sarah, it's mommy!" She cried.

It took less then a second for mother and daughters to lunge towards each other in an emotional embrace; it took less then five for things to sour in a manner Claire had seen too many times before. Abruptly stepping in, the day-shift captain forcibly separated the reunited family.

"Alright, break it up. I'm sorry but she can't stay, we're out of living space as it is." He replied apologetically. A reasonable answer and one she could see was the truth. Yet the way he pulled them apart told her he wouldn't be so polite if she didn't have a large-caliber revolver on her belt or that her weapon seemingly "appeared" in her hand the instant he jumped in. Amazing how an instant can change one's perceptions and how one moment could hint at the monster behind the mask.

Once again, there was silence, the huntress stared her opponent into a deadlock as she swept the crowd. From behind the guard, out of his field of view, was that... yes it was. And he was nodding; this matter would be taken care of. Checking the rest of her group, no one else had seen anyone they recognized. Thank heavens for small favors; this made the process of moving on slightly less difficult. Placing a hand on the woman's shoulder, she spoke to the other human female with a soft but firm voice. "I'm sorry but we have to go. I'll take you to Freeman's Hold." Claire intoned with no doubt that she would drag the other woman out by her hair if necessary. Leaning closer, she whispered. "Don't worry, it will be all right."

Throughout this exchange, the spindly doctor came in and worked on the injured escapees. Bandages and splints were applied when called for and by the time the exchange was defused he was gone, Lockheart would have marveled at how fast he moved if she weren't so pressured to leave. Still gripping the mother by the arm, she motioned for the rest of the group to follow her as she mad her way out of the village. The chieftain followed beside her, much closer then she was comfortable with but on the other hand it kept him from seeing her ally put a reassuring hand on the shoulders of the two girls.

The huntress silently led her band out of the community and back into the maze of corridors. The dubious leader of Delta-16 followed her to the barricade and attempted to start a conversation with her. Claire remained silent, her gun gripped tightly in her hand, as she waited to make sure the last of her charges were outside of the village before leaving herself. There was too much friendliness in his voice as he bid her farewell, something about him that made her skin crawl as she walked away...

Her path lead back into the dim underworks, through a corridor of grimy metal walls that took her band about a quarter of a mile away from the village before opening up into a small room roughly ten by twelve feet wide. At one point Claire imagined this area was a substation for one of the Hearth Star's vital systems or maybe just a lounge for tired crewmen to rest their feet after running all over a starship that could make the Death Star look like a regular battleship. Yet any evidence that could tell her what this room was for was gone, all she knew was that this area was a great place to rest and was on the other side of a very large and imposing bulkhead that could be shut instantly in case of emergencies.

It was here she motioned her group to stop, almost immediately the mother had started to break down, sobbing uncontrollably while Claire dropped to one knee and drew a crude double-barreled shotgun that was strapped to her back. Sighting the weapon, she faced the direction they just came from and listened. One of the other prisoners reached over to comfort the crying woman while looking at their guide for an explanation.

"Ummm, wasn't that supposed to be the part where you agreed to take the two girls along with their mother?"

"He wouldn't let them go. Didn't realize it at first but the leader has all the hallmarks of an egomaniac, he's addicted to being in power. He's just polite to the outside because half the communities around him have enough muscle to ruin his little world... I should have realized it sooner, I saw his kind before so many times."

"Okay... so is this the part where you tell us about your man on the inside?" The inquirer asked as a shot rang out in the distance. Claire didn't answer, instead listening with a worried frown as a second and third round went off. First was Sarah holding her little sister's hand in an iron grip as the two of them raced for the bulkhead door. Then came her contact, turning around to fire a round at his pursuers before running after the girls. Lockheart stepped aside to let them pass, as soon as the hooded man ran through the open portal he jumped behind a beat-up computer console and slowly coaxed it to life with a combination of button pressing and words of encouragement.

With a metallic shriek that could have woken the dead, the door slowly came to life with a fanfare of warning lights and klaxons. Gee, I wonder if they got the hint they need to hurry up? The huntress thought sarcastically as three guards from Delta-16 raced around the corner. It was too little too late though; the lead pursuer hit the thick metal bulkhead in frustration just as the portal sealed shut. Catching up to her now required a competent engineer or a half-hour detour. Either way she was going to be long gone by the time they got on the other side of that door.

"Nice job Alex." She said over her shoulder while turning in the direction of Freeman's Hold.

"Of course, always glad to help." The shrouded man replied, pulling back his hood to reveal the thin face of a young Caucasian man in his mid twenties. Short black hair and green eyes were his only visible features, the rest of him was covered by a thick leather suit weighted down with equipment harnesses and an oversized hiking backpack, all of them crammed with tools.

Yeah, you're so helpful that you've been waylaid by that Delta-16 shit for the last two weeks instead of making your other rounds. God damn do you need to learn how to be more assertive. Fortunately I think D-16 is going to get cut off for a while when I make my report, this is the third time something happened to our techies there and I think I'm starting to understand why. Blegh, wouldn't have been able to pull this off if you weren't there. Claire mused to herself as she motioned for the rest of the group to get up and follow her. They still had a ways to go to get to the monorail station that would take them home....

The station was part of a network of trains and vertical lifts that connected the ship together. Shuttles expertly fitted into high-speed tunnels lined with electromagnets that ran the length of the ship from bow to stern, electrically charged rails providing power and a constant data stream to the largely autonomous vehicle. The Star's original builders made it so that one of these high-tech railroads existed every several levels. And with the current owners most definitely not being the ones who built this ship, The Wuffs maintained the railway running through the bottom of the ship as well as they maintained the rest of the lower decks... poorly. The station platform was covered in grime, the lights flickered in a way that would have been ominous if Claire hadn't gotten used to it, and several sections of wall left the ship's innards alarmingly exposed; definitely a far cry from the luxurious glitter of the upper decks.

As the group crowded on the empty platform, Alex found a computer terminal and activated it. The holographic display cast a pale incandescent glow on his face as he navigate menu screens and tried to make sense of the alien characters in front of him. "Alright, the next train should be coming up in two minutes. We get on that we can ride it clear to the lift to Freeman's Hold.... I just realized something, it's almost time for Boom-Boom to pay us another visit isn't it?"

"Now that you mention it, it is. I wonder what that cheeky little gunrunner has for us this time?" Claire wondered aloud as the tram lights became visible, two pinpricks of light in the otherwise pitch black tunnels of the tramway....

Chills ran down her spine as Boom-Boom brought her ship towards the Hearth Star. Nudging the small blockade-runner in for a landing run, her palms grew sweaty as the giant egg-shaped ship grew larger in her view port. She was nervous and not for the particular passengers she was carrying on this run, two of which sat beside her out of sight of the telecom screen; no the purple-furred anthropomorphic vixen was nervous because she was fighting bad vibes about this job ever since she "accepted" it.

As the moon-sized ship filled up her field of view, her computer beeped with an incoming message from traffic control. On instinct she put it on the telecom screen, the grizzled face of a Wuff pirate filled the display. Boom-Boom hated the Wuffs, the black-furred lupine morphs were a plague upon the galaxy, plundering and looting like a race of mammalian space locusts... But the main reason BB hated them was because they were sex-crazed pricks that hated guns. Which meant they never bought anything, belittled anyone who did buy something from her, and gave whole new definition to "sexual harassment." Thank Goddess she found a worthwhile market on that oversized tub; otherwise she would have stopped making this run months ago.

"Reading you clear Hearth Star traffic control, this is the free trader Moon Goddess."

"By Grud, the pups weren't kidding about you." The traffic controller replied with a lewd whistle. Boom-Boom resisted the urge to roll her eyes; even for the Wuffs this was a record.

"I'm carrying a shipment of weapons for the Grand Bazaar on the Mead Hall deck." She replied, forcing herself to continue on as if this was a professional exchange.

"Aye, pussy guns for the Grand Bazaar... or for the furless hoomon cock-blockers?" The pirate asked with a toothy grin, causing the vixen to freeze ever so slightly. From their position out of sight, her two bridge "guests" looked at her quizzically.

"Of course not!" She countered angrily. "What would I want with those dirty little ape-men?"

The operator growled. "Do we look like idiots to you?"

"Why of course not." The vixen replied, her voice dripping with obvious sarcasm. Yeah this conversation was definitely going downhill.

"Well then we're idiots who have footage of you selling weapons to the humans, images of you partaking in their males instead of us, and scan reports that you have members of the Star Corps and Intergalactic Police Agency on board."

The smuggler looked to either side of her, at the leader of the SC marine squad and the IPA captain sitting out of sight, before turning back to the screen. Casting an occasional glance at the sensor readouts and computer reports keeping her ship on course, she quickly brought up a map of the lower decks she bought off the humans. There had to be a way out of this that didn't end with them getting blown to dust.

"Do you know why I keep making this trip?" She asked the Wuff, trying to distract him while she tried to figure out a quick escape. The Star's tractor beams locked on but they hadn't fully powered up yet so maybe... Suddenly pulling her ship into a dive, she shouted for the other passengers to hang onto something. Meanwhile the traffic controller waited silently for an explanation.

"I kept coming back because for a race of techno-barbarians the humans are so much better in the art of love-making then you are." She cackled and accelerated towards one of the abandoned hangers on the lower decks, effortlessly passing through the Hearth Star's shields and scraping against the trash-strewn flight deck as the vixen managed a rough landing.

As the ship came to a stop, the hotshot pilot leaned back into her chair and let out a deep breath. Beads of sweat dripped down from her face and onto her ample bodice as she brought up the diagnostic scanners and read the damage report. Her face fell; there was no way her ship was going to fly again without some serious repairs.

"Well... looks like we might get to see if there is any truth to your claims." The traffic controller laughed manically, still in contact as she forgot to turn off the communicator in the confusion. "I've sent some males down to take care of your little friends, told them there'd be some hot vixen ass in it for them if they can take care of a handful of fatties." The Wuff cackled, closing the channel with a sneer that made BB's blood run cold.

"Oh Goddess... why did I accept that offer? Prison would be better then this." Boom-Boom exclaimed, placing her face in her hands.

No one was around to answer her question. As soon as the ship had completed its abrupt landing the passengers had thrown themselves into action, or at least they got to work as quickly as their bulks would allow. None of them was significantly worse for the wear from the crash, an upside to the amount of insulation they all carried. And if they hadn't figured it out already, Lieutenant Jerky of the Star Corps, one of Boom-Boom's two silent bridge guests, made certain they knew.

"Alright, listen up people. Wuffs figured out our plan and are going to try and capture us. Try being the key word; we're going to make sure they don't succeed. Sound off if you're ready." He ordered

"Been ready the instant I stepped on this tugboat. Hoo-RAH!" That was Donut, female heavy weapons specialist. Excellent at her job but with an attitude that ensured that was all she would be good at.

"Turrets and drones are ready to go sir!" Chunky, combat mechanic, replied affirmatively. Newest member of the squad, very smart and tech-savvy but not a great deal of battle experience.

"Nataskya is ready." Vodka, reconnaissance, responded as he popped the magazine into his sniper rifle with a reassuring 'thunk!' Jerky ignored the irony that the best scout in his squad was also its biggest member. How the ursine anthromorph hid his immense bulk was a mystery the officer decided was best left unsolved.

Elsewhere, the IPA officers gathered around their leader Cayenne. The equine squad leader let out a relieved sigh; Jerky's ability to project his voice meant there was no reason to repeat anything he would have told the marines. "Alright, you all know what to do. We cannot let them take Boom-Boom. Not only is she the only one who can fly us out of here, but we also have a few new questions for her. Everyone understand?"

"Yeah we understand. Come on, even a Wuff could figure out what we have to do!" Pepper, the team's weapon specialist, replied as she defiantly shoved a fresh power cell into her police blaster, the feline was always a hothead.

"If I can get into the Star's computers I might be able to control which direction they come from." Sage, IPA engineering specialist, shy and bashful but she was always reliable when the chips were down.

"I have the bandages!" Curry, a savant when it comes to medicine, an airhead when it came to everything else. Sometimes Cayenne loved her like a sister, other times she was jealous of the lapine medic. The equine officer sighed; no point fretting about silly things when the Wuffs were coming.

Outside in the damaged hanger, Sage and Chunky welded metal debris together to form impromptu barricades; flickering sparks flew in small showers as the two engineers quickly assembled their crude barriers and set them up facing a promising direction. Not that it wasn't hard to figure out which way the Wuffs were going to attack from, the space had two tunnels connecting it to the rest of the ship and only one of them echoed with the lupine marauder's chanting.

"I say vixen, you say pussy! VIXEN!"

"PUSSY!"

"VIXEN!"

"PUSSY!"

"And they wonder why we think they're uncivilized." Jerky deadpanned as he chambered a round into his BFR, the Big Fracking Rifle. A fully automatic, large caliber assault rifle with an extended magazine; capable of sending forty to fifty twenty-millimeter rounds a minute downrange with pinpoint accuracy up to five hundred feet. Nine out of ten species in the Galactic Republic considered it utter overkill for anyone other then the Star Corps and even then there were critics....

Which meant it was the perfect weapon for dealing with the sudden flood of Wuffs rushing down the tunnel. The gentle glow of their ion swords cast the corridor in a pale light as the empty metal space filled with a sea of jet-black fur and neon-colored hair. Cherry red, lime green, berry blue... and some dark shade of purple Jerky couldn't identify; a bright Technicolor rainbow done up in an insane variety of gravity-defying styles.

The elephantine marine blinked once to clear his eyes and promptly raised his rifle. "On my mark, give it to them!"

"Your mark?" One of the IPA girls replied with a smug tone in her voice.

"Yes, his mark Pepper!" Cayenne quickly shouted back.

Jerky continued as if the exchange never occurred, he was too busy watching the tide of Wuffs run closer. Pepper's cocky challenge was logged in the back of his mind next to the part of him that wondered just how the piratical horde managed to maintain something resembling basic cohesion in these massive wave attacks. Just another thing to deal with after the shooting stopped....

Jerky's signal was barely audible above the roar of his BFR sending a hailstorm of metal slugs into the wall of bodies. Almost immediately the others fired with him, SC bullets joined by IPA blaster bolts in blasting back the alien marauders. Lifeless bodies flew like cartoon rag dolls as projectiles tore them apart. Yet the horde remained undeterred, charging on even as the corridor gradually filled with a ludicrous amount of corpses; the growing pile clogging up the mouth of the tunnel. Chunky threw down a sentry turret, the crab-like robot planted three stubby legs before deploying a heavy auto-cannon, and managed to narrowly turn the tide in their favor.

Wuffs were only particularly brave when surrounded by dozens of their pack mates and the shield belts they wore so they could run around shirtless were worthless in a sustained firefight. The elastic polymers of the Corps' motorized BDU provided infinitely better protection, but then the Wuffs also had a tendency to scorn practical technology if it wasn't "kewl" enough. Which meant that the Star Corps and the IPA had the advantage in this fight, they just had to remain calm and keep up the pressure....

At some point in the firefight, Boom-Boom had appeared behind her protectors. No one could see the look on her face but being able to scream loud enough that she could be heard over the din expressed her fear just as well. With a blinding speed one with her generous bosom generally did not run, the vulpine smuggler jumped over the defensive line, managed to miraculously avoid getting shot, and bolted down the other tunnel.

Seeing that their prize had escaped, the surviving Wuffs retreated and melted back into the ship's vast underworks. Jerky gritted his teeth and quickly considered his options, none of them were good but if he wanted to have a chance at getting everyone off this ship he needed to chase after their guide. With a sigh he made his decision.

"Alright, Star Corps with me. Cayenne, can I ask you to make sure the rest of our equipment's hidden then try to meet up with us?"

"Why do you get to go on ahead?" Pepper, of course. This time Jerky was ready with a rebuttal.

"If you want to explore the dark, gloomy lower levels of a run-down space ship in front of us, go on ahead. If you see any tentacle monsters, tell them to save me some pictures." The Corps officer replied nonchalantly.

Unsurprisingly that ended the conversation, the IPA weapon specialist suddenly remembered something she needed to do back inside the grounded freighter. Shaking his head, Jerky signaled for his squad to move out. Within seconds the foursome was locked, loaded, and squeezed into the murky guts of the ship. A tense finger on his rifle's trigger, the lieutenant followed behind his heavy weapon specialist, and tried desperately to make sense of the information he had been given over the last hour. Who were these "humans," Jerky assumed Boom-Boom's pronunciation was the correct one, and what was their connection with the Wuffs? The traffic controller referred to them as "cock-blockers," a Wuff insult that implied that the two races had a fairly negative relationship. Given the Wuffs' juvenile pursuit of plunder and nubile females that did not say a great deal. Ultimately there was only one way to answer that and the other thousand questions swirling around in the back of his head....

Distracted by these thoughts and making sure the tunnels were carefully explored, he didn't hear the sound of Sage messaging the communicator in his helmet until the IPA engineer switched to the public channel all eight explorers shared.

"Boss, Lieutenant Jerky? I found something."

"Yes?" The marine officer answered

"I was in the bridge seeing if I could get the sensors working and maybe pinpoint Boom-Boom's location. Fortunately, the scanners work well enough that I can track her position."

"Okay... I'm sensing an 'and' somewhere in there Sage." Cayenne replied, apparently listening as intently as Jerky was.

"Well, there's a sheaf of paper with codes written on it and there is some kind of signal coming from her position." The technician replied, switching her audio pick-ups to give both leaders an earful of beeps and bops.

"You sure? That sounds like a lot of static."

"No too much repetition... wait a minute!" She answered before pausing to listen; both officers could hear the sound of paper rustling before the IPA tech continued. "SOS... discovered by pirates... on route to Freeman's Hold... send help. Repeat... on route to Freeman's Hold... send help."

Jerky processed this as his team plodded along after Boom-Boom. He opened his mouth to speak but decided against it. He had heard of this system of communication, a positively ancient form of electronic messaging that no modern star-faring civilization bothered with anymore. And while he remembered little about it, he knew it was impossible to broadcast a reply before the original message finished.

Sure enough, Sage intercepted another communication; resuming in the same slow tone of someone trying to translate a language she didn't understand. "Message received gunrunner... sending out war party... keep beacon on and meet at usual location."

"Is that all?" Cayenne asked finally.

"That's all of it."

"Well that solves a few problems. Can you figure out what direction she's heading in?"

"Yes, she's about thirty meters ahead of you. Bio-scanner is picking up at least a dozen Wuff life signs behind her and three unknown signatures on an intercept path."

The Star Corps marines kept moving, hopefully they'll arrive in time to save their panicked pilot and get some badly needed answers. Hopefully they would make it, because Jerky didn't want to think about what would happen if this mission got any more complicated....

"Could this get any worse?" Claire sighed as her grip tightened on her faithful shotgun. After hearing word that Boom-Boom had run into trouble, Alex and the human huntress were joined by Jonathan Freeman to try and rescue her before the Wuffs could cut off their one real connection to the outside world.

"Oh I don't know. Horde of savage space pirates out to kill us, a smoking hot alien female with huge boobs behind us, if it weren't happening to me right now this would be so hammy I'd laugh." Alex replied.

Jonathan, the leader of Freeman's Hold, shook his head. Formerly a corporal of the US Army, he had just been honorably discharged from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and struggling to readjust to civilian life when the Wuffs attacked. A shop teacher by trade, he shepherded his students to safety in the woods around his hometown and taught the kids how to fight. Together they harassed the aliens for days before they were finally overwhelmed and forced aboard the Hearth Star. And when the massive ship suffered a brownout that lead to a full third of the enslaved humans escaping to the harsh freedom of the lower decks, Freeman and his "rangers" broke out and went on to found the community that was his namesake. As soon as he heard that Boom-Boom was in trouble, John grabbed a laser rifle and joined up Claire and Alex just as they finished depositing the refugees....

Which lead to where they were right now, three humans armed with a mix of alien firearms and human guns machined out of scrap metal. Behind them, an anthropomorphic vixen with dark purple fur and breasts bigger then her head cowered in fear. In front of the three Terran warriors, over two-dozen chanting Wuffs hell-bent on gangbanging the smuggler.

With a crack of his neck, Freeman eyed the oncoming mob of sword-wielding pirates and pulled the trigger on his laser rifle. Beams of azure light burst from the barrel of the gun as he punctured two Wuffs in the chest with weapons fire. His cohorts quickly joined in; Alex braced himself and fired a comically oversized gyrojet gun that probably weighed as much as he did. Rocket-propelled bullets exited his rifle in short bursts as the mechanic struggled to keep recoil under control.

Favoring a proven human design that she was experienced with, Claire had much less trouble keeping a constant stream of fire on her enemies then Alex did. With a clinical detachment one normally reserved for household chores and personal hygiene, the brown-haired woman showered her foes with a steady spray of buckshot. Blood splattered against the metal walls as she burned through her remaining shells with a quickly building fury.

Lockheart audibly swore when she heard the dry click of an empty barrel. Her friends were slightly better off, both of them favored guns with large magazines so they had some time before they were down to knives and fists, but that would not keep the aliens back. Letting her shotgun fall and dangle by a shoulder strap, she drew her sidearm and picked up a dropped power blade from a fallen Wuff. With the cutlass-like sword in her hand and crackling with energy, she screamed a battle cry and charged into the oncoming horde. If today was her day, then let no one say that Claire Lockheart, the Unwed Widow, didn't ascend to Paradise without a fight....

Jerky saw the battle almost as soon as he could hear it. A horde of Wuffs was furiously charging a trio of human militia. His squad had arrived right behind the Wuffs, presently holding their fire until they could get a clear shot at the enemy. He cast a quick glance at the other group, noticed their leader was just about to order a retreat when suddenly one of them broke rank and charged the pirates with pistol and sword. The first lupine was decapitated before he even realized what was happening, the second went down from the back swing of her blade. Meanwhile metal slugs from her handgun claimed her third, fourth, and fifth victim.

Seeing their opportunity, the other two humans grabbed Boom-Boom by the shoulders and carried her to safety. That was the opening the marine officer needed; within seconds of giving the order, the Star Corps squad fired their weapons on full auto. To her credit, the human swordsman was smart enough to get out of harm's way, diving for cover behind a convenient awning while her foes were turned into so much ground meat.

As the last Wuff fell, the brave berserker stepped back into view; kicking aside corpses with an armored boot heel. With blade and gun at the ready, she carefully appraised the marines. Donut's helmet speaker cackled with disbelief as she laughed at the warrior's display. "Really? Does she really think she can take us with a toy gun and a piece of Wuff crap?"

"Enough Donut." Jerky replied; looking the alien over as he tried to quickly think of how to handle what was almost certainly a first contact situation. Assuming this was a human, they certainly were an interesting-looking species. Slender, primate-descended, with a face that was less jutting then similar lifeforms, and a seemingly distinct lack of fur or hair except for their heads. And assuming their race was similar to other mammalian beings, this particular one was female. If that was the case... the SC officer was glad his helmet covered his face. If Jerky had one weakness, it was a strong female warrior. This flaw was one of the few reasons why he put up with Donut...

"Come on sir, do you really think she understands-" The heavy weapons specialist began.

"I understand you just fine bitch. I learned how to speak Universal from some of the Guild holdouts we have a couple levels down." The human female interrupted suddenly as she eyed the four of them up, demonstrating a crude but comprehensible understanding of the common interstellar language. "My name is Claire Lockheart. And since Freeman isn't here, on behalf of his settlement I have one question. Who the hell are you?" She asked boldly yet Jerky had a feeling that she wasn't quite as brave as she appeared.

Claire was scared out of her mind and struggling to keep it from showing as she looked back at the four heavily armed strangers. The first thing that she noticed was how big they all were. She knew from the Guilders that the galactic republic was a very indulgent society but good grief all four of these super troopers were huge. Donut and her boss in particular looked big enough to crush a small car and yet they were far from the largest, that guy hanging out in the back looked as wide as both of them put together.

All four of them were clad in olive green body armor, faces hidden behind yellow visors and other physical features hidden beneath a carapace of rubbery armor plating. All in all it gave Lockheart the impression of being accosted by four giant olives. Four olives strapped with a comical amount of ammunition, grenades, and bulging pouches. She would have laughed if two of them weren't effortlessly carrying the same stupidly huge assault rifle that nearly broke Alex's shoulder just a few minutes ago.

Finally the leader shouldered his gun and removed his helmet. Given how she had already encountered several anthromorphs with exotic colorations, Claire was surprised by how... ordinary the elephant-morph looked. His face was a leathery gray and his short-cropped hair was a beautiful jet black. Free of the artificial constriction, the alien trooper's trunk-like snout unfurled and reached down to his generous waist.

Meeting her gaze, the unmasked male nodded. "I am Lieutenant Jerky of the Star Corps." He began and motioned for the others to do the same. Donut followed suit after a light grumble; Claire was surprised to see that she was the same species as Jerky, some how she expected the gunner to be something more... aggressive.

"Sergeant Donut you've already met. And the others are Private First Class Chunky," He gestured to a black and white cheetah morph that managed to stand ramrod straight despite carrying an oversized pack full of gadgets, tools, and ammo that must have weighed as much as he did. "And Corporal Vodka." Jerky finished, introducing the team's sniper.

Lockheart raised an eyebrow as she recognized the crimson fur and ursine features of the Corps sharpshooter. "A Kultivar? I thought they were more interested in tending their farms then fighting Wuffs."

The giant, nearly spherical ursine marksman smiled and laughed. "Sometimes weeding requires a more extensive touch." He answered with a heft of his huge rifle.

Jerky raised an eyebrow. "You'refamiliar with the Kultivars?"

"Three of them run a Traktor farm on the biosphere level. We trade spare parts and protection in exchange for food." Claire replied.

"Looks like we have a great deal to discuss. Can you call your leader back so we can talk? Amongst other things, I'd like to get my pilot back."

The human kept her expression neutral. Boom-Boom certainly had a lot of explaining to do....

Alex hated combat; he particularly hated how well he had adapted to it. He didn't mind killing Wuffs, after all it wasn't like everything that happened to him for the past year or so wasn't their fault or anything. No, the reason why he hated combat was what happened afterwards. Once the shooting stopped, there was nothing holding back the flood of emotions of killing and nearly being killed. The instant Jonathan and he managed to finish escorting Boom-Boom to the tram platform, the tinker found he couldn't keep his hands from shaking. By some miracle he managed to contain his trembling well enough to call a train to their station. All that was left was to wait and hope that Claire was all right.

It took five minutes for the train to arrive, by that time Lockheart returned... with friends. Four alien space marines waddled after her like giant limes, overstuffed chests jiggling with bandoliers of ammunition and grenades. Fat gloved fingers gripped comically huge guns including a few that looked... well guess it was obvious whose truck Alex's rifle fell off of.

Behind the four armored heavyweights was a second group, all female. Together they wore a mix of elastic skin-tight uniforms that brought back memories, memories of the old cheesy pulp sci-fi that his dad used to like. A dull yellow draft mare, a blue-furred tabby, a surprisingly normal-looking brown beaver, and a rabbit with bright orange fur; four anthromorphic females not unlike the Kultivars or his Guilder friend, the tech-smith Wrench. Alex and Jonathan looked at their cohort expectantly. "So... friends of yours Lockheart?"

"Boom-Boom didn't bring any guns this time. Instead she came with a squad of Star Corps and space cops who wanted a seat on the Hearth Star. Looks like we better make the ones we have last." She explained in English.

The buff ex-military man shook his head. "Well... welcome to Hell strangers. Allow us to be your boatmen as you travel the River Styx into suffering like you could never imagine. So what are your names?" He greeted in Universal with a big sarcastic grin. Alex rolled his eyes; John's grasp of the language was the worst out of all of them.

Lieutenant Jerky and his cohorts introduced themselves; Alex let his gaze drift from one to the next. Donut the violent and slightly psychotic heavy weapons specialist, Vodka the calm and laid-back veteran sniper, Chunky the overeager apple-polishing tech specialist, and finally Jerky the stalwart military officer. All they needed was a foulmouthed drill sergeant and the set would be complete.

Then there was Captain Cayenne of the Intergalactic Police Agency. The yellow-hued equine was tall, easily taller then even Freeman, and only slightly plump; which made her surprisingly skinny for one of the overfed citizens of the Galactic Republic. Plush hips lead up to a big, well-rounded ass squeezed in a steel gray skirt that didn't quite cover all of her plump thighs. Her helmet was off, revealing long black hair tied in a bun as she regarded the humans with dull green eyes.

Next to Cayenne was Sage, a beaver dressed in short shorts, tank top, and a utility harness crammed with tools, all of it dyed a bumblebee black and yellow. The rodent morph was shorter then her commander, about an inch shorter then Alex, and much plumper. Chestnut brown hair was worn short, a blush formed on her cheeks as her brown eyes met his. The human mechanic felt his shaking abate somewhat as he managed a discreet smile behind his collar.

On the other side of Cayenne, standing slightly frontward, was Pepper the apparent weapons specialist. Cradling a large support weapon Alex couldn't even begin to identify, she regarded the humans with a cocky grin. Midnight black hair tied in a ponytail offered a gentle contrast to her dark blue fur, dark blue eyes glistened like sapphires. Clad in a similar uniform to her leader, the feline filled out her outfit even more amply then Sage or Cayenne. Indeed, only the last member of her party eclipsed her...

From his first glance, Alex could tell there was more empty space in Curry's head then there on the other side of the Hearth Star's hull. Yet apparently someone trusted this citrus-colored bunny with a medical license. At least that's what her uniform suggested... a white and red trim corset and bikini bottom. All with suggestively placed red crosses over her crotch and breasts. Long platinum blond hair was worn freely and pale yellow eyes regarded Alex with a twinkle that suggested that if he wasn't mentally undressing Curry, she was certainly undressing him. And egad was she enormous, two massive hips and a gigantic bubble butt that made her nearly as wide as she was tall.

The human techie didn't have to look at Jonathan to know he was probably doing his best to keep from laughing. And even despite being intimately familiar with the Galactic Trade Guild holdouts, Alex couldn't blame him. Farmers and engineers were one thing but soldiers and cops? Was this someone's private fantasy they stepped into or what?

Shrugging, he looked back over at the mayor of Freeman's Hold. Jonathan shrugged in turn as he resumed addressing Claire's new friends. "A pleasure to meet all of you. I am Jonathan Freeman of Freeman's Hold. If you'd like, you can come with us to our village, I think we both have a lot of questions for each other." He replied as the monorail train came to a stop at their station.

Jerky and Cayenne looked at each other for a moment before leading their groups on to the shuttle and crowded together with the humans. With a slight squeak, the tram creaked to life, slowly carrying its living cargo deep into the bowels of the Hearth Star....