Apathos
Another story likely to become a series. Man, I need to get a life. Before I go any farther (or is it 'further'?) I need to give Shinkada his credit, seeing as his story inspired mine, so they're kinda similar. It actually takes place in the same universe, just many years later. If you've read any of his stories you'll notice, if you haven't, well, you should. As usual, get out minors, priests, ect. As always, I hope you enjoy. You know... as opposed to hoping you don't. -Coyote
The general looked over the mass of furres below him, under the bridge in the main quarters of the ship. The leopard looked disappointed. "Are these truly the best we have left to send into the training program?" He strode to a mouse typing, eyes focused on a computer screen. There were several computers in the room, along the walls and in the center, almost all of them manned by a furre typing at surreal speed.
"Some of their statistics are very impressive sir. Some of the best we've ever seen, but as you said, the majority of them hardly made it in."
The leopard raised a brow. Based on what he had seen out of the students, none of them measured up to his standards. He really hadn't expected much; he didn't even think many would show up even though they lowered the age limit to be in the army down to sixteen. Many were even below that, but they were at a drought as soldiers went, so they were accepted.
Currently the earth was at war with alien forces, many troops had been lost in the first few battles and even more as the war progressed. He figured at least thirty million had been lost in the battle of Trafalgar, a loss that had taken place near Alpha Centauri. The actual death toll hadn't been recorded yet, the experts were still estimating. The general swore at the thought of it, he had known and trained many of those who went to that battle.
It had started a little more than a year ago. The earth had decided to withdraw troops from Kitharas, a hospitable world near the drakes. Many troops were still on the alien world, hopefully awaiting the trip back home.
Then it happened.
No one was prepared for what happened next. Swarms of alien ships flew onto the drake world, blasting everything in sight. They weren't drake ships, they were much more advanced than that, they absorbed the power of the energy weapons fired at them, the attacked earthlings would only discover that after more losses.
This new force destroyed the camp on Kitharas, in just minutes. They wouldn't stop there, this new enemy would then send hordes of ground forces, seemingly unstoppable, to wipe out every bit of life they found. There were no survivors.
These new enemies would continue to attack the drake world until most of the remaining drakes would be transported to another planet. Many of the ships never reached their destination, blasted out of space by the superior alien pilots. Now the drake world was barren, lifeless and these new aliens were aiming for the earth.
The earthlings eventually figured out that their current weaponry was useless and switched back to using solid shelled weaponry, winning a few battles with this new tactic. But it was too late, they had lost too many troops during the first few battles. Now they were just delaying the inevitable.
Then, something strange happened. A scientist from this new enemy suddenly defected to the losing earth. With him he brought technology and information about their new enemies. He was a S'rocian, which was the name of the attackers, a race that had never been defeated. The S'rocian leader had suddenly decided to attack everyone near them, to conquer the universe. Earth was only the eightieth planet on the list of those to be destroyed; this wasn't even close to the first planet they would destroy.
The S'rocians were a warlike race, similar to the Spartans of earth's past, never satisfied with what they had, hungry for war and domination. The scientist was tired of the terrible horror of war and brought his knowledge to earth, the only planet he believed to stand a chance against his race.
So, things were looking grim for the earth, these were the last soldiers this ship would probably ever see. The next loss the earth suffered would probably be its last.
"So this is what they give me to work with. Show me the top five candidates." The mouse quickly did so, scooting over so the general would have a clear view of the screen. Ahh, these were impressive, these five scored much higher than the others, they would turn out nicely, that is, if they didn't crack under the pressure. Tala, Søren, Bragoon, Mia, and Julia, the top five candidates. He would have to keep an eye on them. They might break.
That would be the last thing they needed. Their mission was to train these candidates, those who did not pass in the top ranks would be grouped with those who failed and sent off as typical soldiers. The others... well he would be debriefed on that when the time came.
"Yo', sup general." The general closed his eyes tiredly as the kangaroo approached him.
"Captain Rorax." He said wearily. Usually he would take a shot at anyone who showed this much disrespect, but he figured it was coming from Rorax, it always had, even when physical harm returned for doing so. He respected Rorax, in a way, the roo had always been an excellent leader, he could inspire troops into doing miracles, the general had seen it firsthand before.
"Aww, none o' that captain shit. You know my name's just Rorax. So these are the kids, huh? Sorry lot aren't they? I won't be surprised if half of em don't make it the whole period."
"Mighty inspiring words there Captain Rorax," The leopard replied dryly. He had to admit though; he had thought the same thing.
"Well, let's get down there and get inspirin' general." He grinned, bounding out of the room. Sighing, the general followed him.
~*~
"Goddamn I'm bored." Domino yawned, "Man, when do we get to shoot sumthin'?"
"Jeeze Domino, we're waiting for the general to talk with us, we won't be shooting anything for a while." His friend, a mink in black military uniform said. "When he comes out here, I don't know you, I don't want to be associated with the only furre not in uniform on my first day."
Domino waved her off, "Whatever, I'm wearin' most of it. Have you seen the others yet? We got separated and I lost track of em."
"I wouldn't worry about that if I were you, just hope the general doesn't throw you out the air hatch when he sees you." The dingo wore black combat boots, similar to his friends and those of the numerous furres around them. His fatigues were green and back, symbolizing how well he had done on the entrance tests. Green was the lowest. She wore dark blue and black fatigues, fairly good. He wore an emerald green shirt under a black military jacket, giving him a strangely mismatched appearance. A green dew-rag on top of his head completed his attire, perfect with holes cut out for his unusually large ears.
He shrugged again as a leopard stepped out onto the stage in front of the mob, standing behind a podium. "Listen up maggots!" He roared, silencing the mass instantly. "For the next few months the teachers here'll be doing what they can to turn you maggots into soldiers! So you'd best get used to the company here. Any grudges will be settled in a ring or else. You got a problem, then tough it out! Too bad! I ain't your momma kids! I'm the general, that means I'm in charge of all of you from sun up to sun down. Get on my bad side and you won't last long! I'm not your friend and I ain't your momma.
"You, what do you think you're doing?" Domino nearly jumped ten feet in the air, surprised at hearing the general's voice behind him. The dingo spun around, surprised to be muzzle to muzzle with the officer. "Didn't see that coming, did you?" He said and his voice sounded throughout the whole room. Everyone turned to watch the two.
The general couldn't believe this pup's audaciousness. He wasn't even in uniform and his eyes were glazed over with boredom while the hologram onstage was talking. He still looked at him in disbelief.
"Didn't think so. Atteeeention!" He barked and every furre in the room stood up straight, heels snapping together, right paws going up in a salute, left snapped down to their side. "Now, since this is your first day, I'll take it easy on you." Just as Domino relaxed the leopard nailed his gut with a solid right hook, making the canine double over in pain.
Domino gasped for air as a footpaw connected with the back of his neck, flooring him. The general looked down on him, displeased. This was one of the candidates, how did he make it in? Maybe he was one of the top five? No, he didn't look anything like the pictures of the others. Well, this was great, obviously someone rebellious had made it in and there were probably others like him. The kid had blacked out, he now was completely unconscious. This one wouldn't last long.
~*~
Domino felt a paw grab him by his collar and pull him up roughly. "What's your name kid?"
"Huh? Whahhappened?" He opened his eyes to be looking into those of a kangaroo. Captain Rorax's to be precise.
"I'll excuse your rudeness at not answering my question, seeing as you just woke up, but in answering yours I'll just say, you got knocked the fuck out." He let the dingo stand on his own, looking the pup over. Huh, even he wouldn't have tried something that stupid when he entered. "Now, what's yer name?"
Domino stood at attention, his stomach still aching after the last time he did so. "Domino Yonix sir."
The captain waved a paw. "Enough with the sir kid, call me Captain Rorax, alright? Make sure you treat everyone here with more respect 'r else you'll get hurt."
"I know..." He put a paw on the back of his neck gingerly.
"No, you don't know." Rorax put a pawtip on his nose, "What you got today was nothing compared to what could have happened. You better grow up, you're not suckin on your momma's teat here, you're on your own. It'd help if you made some friends, they might keep you out of trouble. 'D you know where yer quarters are?"
"Yes... Captain. Seventeen CR."
"Hmmm. Alright, dismissed." The roo walked away in disbelief that the dingo could even stand after the general punched him. And not dressing in uniform; was that some way of testing them? Nah, he was thinking too much. This kid was a plain one, bound to be on the field, probably a rifleman, or average trooper. But something was different about him. He would have to do some research on that one.
Once the captain was out of sight, the dingo dropped the act, clutching his aching stomach with both paws, groaning. Man, did that guy have to hit him so hard? He stumbled forward, slowly going to his room.
~*~
"Heath," Rorax said to a ferret sitting in the bridge as well, typing along with the others. "Look up one of the candidates for me. Name's Domino Yonix."
"Okay sir, would you like to see?" He turned to the side.
"Not right now. Just fax it to Dean and have him take it to my quarters, I'll look at it there."
"Okay s-"
"And don't call me sir."
"Okay s.... Chief." The captain grinned.
~*~
Finally he had made it to 17CR! Man, it had taken forever, especially with his stomach hurting like this. Most of the pain had worn off but that only made him realize how bad his neck hurt. It felt like it was broken. 'That general guy was a dick', he thought, 'that other guy, the Captain, wasn't so bad though'. "He didn't hit me at least." He grumbled, opening the door.
Inside, his roommates were already unpacking all their things. It was a small room, or felt that way, with two bunk beds on two opposite walls and a computer against the near wall. His bag, a large gym bag, sat over in the corner where he had placed it before. A black jaguar had his back turned to him, pulling out a poster.
"Hey," said a raccoon sitting on the bottom bunk of the bed across from the jaguar. His eyes were steel colored, his hair cut extremely short, like the feline across from him. He grinned; Domino figured he was about seventeen. "You're that kid huh? The one who got knocked out by the general?"
"Yeah, that's me," He said, turning red beneath his fur.
"Hey, don't feel bad about it, my dad said the general would make an example out of somebody on the first day. You just got lucky enough to get chosen."
"Lucky me." Domino muttered sarcastically. "So, aren't there supposed to be four of us in here?"
"The other guy hasn't shown up yet." The jaguar said. "I'm Ray, what're your names?"
"Domino."
"Abel. Hey, what're you guys takin'? I signed up for classes but no one really told me about em. I got basic kung fu, rifle marksmanship, two sniping classes and two theoretical battle classes."
Domino's jaw dropped, only six classes? He had nine! "Are you sure? I got way more classes than that!"
"I dunno, maybe it's because I did so bad on the entrance exams." He shrugged, grinning, "Thirty from the bottom."
"For real?" The panther spoke up. "Ha, I did better than you. Only six classes too! Fifteenth from the bottom. Top that!" He grinned, trading fives with the raccoon.
"So they must've stuck all the dropout types together, huh?" Domino smiled. Man, he could hardly believe his luck, nine classes. He groaned at the thought. He knew he shoulda Christmas treed the test. Well, at least the written part.
"Yep, so how bout we go get somethin' to eat before everyone else, huh?" The three walked out of the room. "Think we'll get in trouble?" Ray grinned.
"Doubt it, the bell'll ring in like five seconds, we'll just say we finished unpacking early." Domino said, putting his paws behind his head. He was starving, getting knocked out takes a lot out of you.
~*~
"I glanced at the sheet telling the stats of that kid, general." Rorax said to the leopard.
"What kid? One of the top five?"
"No, the one you decked before, remember him? Or have the past fifteen minutes been filled with so many whoopings you already forgot?" He grinned, narrowly avoiding the fist that came as a response.
"I'll deck you if you don't get to the damn point." He growled, not really meaning it. The two stood in the bridge again; the general had been in the middle of checking their course when Rorax had approached him.
"Alright, alright. The kid's name is Domino, he's got a lot of potential, I think he'll go far; he'll do really well. His stats are pretty normal but his latent abilities are something to talk about. Look, this is what the machines reported on him when he first came here." The captain handed him a paper.
His stats were listed going down, numbered through one hundred. He skimmed down through them. Strength seventy-three, lots of room for improvement there, speed eighty-four, pretty good. He looked down the list, not impressed in the least. "Yeah, he's alright I suppose, nothing special though."
"I'm keeping an eye on him, and I'm digging up some more dirt. There's more to this kid than there seems. He's too good to be normal. He placed somewhere in the middle of the pack and it doesn't add up with his stats."
"Why are you so interested in this kid?" He asked, raising a brow.
"I don't really know, I just know we need good soldiers or we're doomed. I'm hoping if I follow this through it might pay off."
"I'm impressed, seeing you this motivated. While you're at it, check on the S'rocian girl, she might tickle your fancy too."
~*~
Domino quickly ran through his schedule in his mind. First, advanced blade skills, followed by stealth and tracking, then close combat, theoretical battles, small arms, paw to paw combat, rifle skills, advanced survival, and another small arms class.
"What's up with you?" Ray asked from the other side of the table. They had arrived just before the mob, getting their meals and sitting down as the others just arrived. "You hardly touched your burger."
The three had gotten burgers, all of which were fine, but carried a healthy taste with them that paled in comparison to the real thing. "Nothin', just thinkin'."
"You shouldn't do that, it's bad for you." Abel grinned.
"What isn't?" he smiled. He found himself liking the raccoon and panther, though the later seemed a little strange.
Ray seemed almost like he was... he couldn't put his paw on it, but there was something funny about the panther. Abel was pretty laid back, Domino realized after a few minutes of conversation, he was one of those types who figured problems would work themselves out... or kill you, and if they killed you, well it was fun while it lasted. Domino took a huge bite out of his burger. Advanced blade skills was up next, he would need his strength.
~*~
Man, he had a long day ahead of him. He was running late. The dingo had run back to his room to change into uniform to avoid who knew how many more beatings later. Now he was the only one looking for class. He put his paws behind his head, walking to class. Now what door was it? He looked at a sheet of paper he had pulled out earlier. Ah, 364E. He stopped at the designated door and went in.
Or rather, out, seeing as the door led out to a huge grassy plane. Huh, he was on a ship just a second ago. 'Ohhh, this must be a hologram', he thought. It sure was realistic though, he could feel the wind on his fur, even the smell of grass seemed real. A group of students had crowded around a tree and apparently were waiting for the teacher, seeing as no one else was visible.
He strode over casually, at least he wasn't late. The dingo didn't spot anyone he knew, which he expected, none of his friends were that crazy about blades like him. Pretty much everyone were in small cliques, groups had already started forming and he wasn't in one of them. That was strange, back in school he had been one of the popular kids, everyone had liked him, now no one knew him.
Yep, same old groups too. There were the jocks, all looking as pumped up on steroids as usual, standing with their bleach blonde girlfriends. And the Goths, pale fur and black hair. He was surprised to see them out here, shouldn't they be complaining about their lives back on earth? Maybe their parents had sent them here. Hmm? He spotted a female wolf with blue fur all by herself. Strange, she was very pretty and seemed shy, the way she stood told him. She also was the only one there wearing all black.
That meant she had ranked really high on the entrance exams! Maybe that was why she was by herself, she probably made everyone else look lame in comparison. Well, that was no reason to make her be lonely. He strode over, stopping next to her, smiling, "Hey."
She looked surprised at being spoken to, let alone smiled at. "H- h- hi." She stammered. She was cute, with bright violet eyes that stood out from her fur and hair that was the same intense shade. Her body... well perfect might be saying a bit much but she wasn't far off, with well-sized breasts that would be more than a paw full, and a slim waist. Domino couldn't get a good look at her butt without being noticed, and probably slapped, but assumed it was perfect.
Obviously she was very shy, from the way she blushed beneath her fur and shank back. "Hi, I'm D-" He was cut off as suddenly an otter appeared out of nowhere, behind him.
"Attention!" He roared right in the dingo's ear, making him jump. He immediately went to attention, raising his right paw in salute. "Well, let's see you worms get into line!"
The others scrambled to get into line and Domino rushed as well, hoping to not be made an example of by this teacher, but that would not be the case. He tripped, falling to the ground, hard. He rubbed his nose, walking to the end of the line. Dammit, he hadn't fallen on his own, that jerk tripped him!
The otter wore an almost invisible smirk on his face as he paced up and down the row, scrutinizing each of the twenty or so furres. "I am captain Janson, and as you know I'll be teaching you advanced blade techniques. This isn't a class for the faint of heart, but that's why you signed the waver, right?" He smiled. "In just a few weeks you'll be using real blades, so you'd better learn fast, it's not easy using a blade when you only have two fingers."
Domino smirked, like he would be having that problem. He already knew how to use a blade pretty well. "Did I say something funny?" Suddenly the otter was in his face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Or do you always have that stupid looking smile on your face?" This evoked a few snickers from the other students. Except that girl... she seemed like she was-
"Hello? Are you listening anymore?" He shook his head. "Wasn't one ass whooping enough for one day?" This got even more laughs. Damn, he wasn't going to have a friend at this rate.
"Yes sir!" He barked, realizing he should finally concentrate. "Sorry sir!"
"That's better. Now, I want to see you all in pairs in ten, no seven, seconds, go!" Again there was a mad rush as everyone went to get in pairs. Seeing as no one went by her, Domino found himself paired up with the shy girl from before.
"Hey again." He said.
"I hope you're happy, because from now on these will be your partners whenever we do sparring unless I say otherwise." A groan came from several groups that had been hastily created. "Better shut those traps of yours afore I give you something to really 'aww' about." He said. "I want to see what you know, everyone grab a practice blade." He gestured to a rack of swords that had risen out of the ground behind him.
The blades looked a lot like lightsabers except the handles were more like those of typical blades, regular cross hilted rapier type blades and basket hilted sabers. Domino was among the first up to get a blade, retrieving a red bladed claymore. Of course it wasn't a real blade, energy ran though the glass like plasma of the blade blade, creating the power that would cut, or in this case, sting enough to motivate anyone not to be hit again.
The shy wolf returned wielding a katana looking blade. "I never caught your name." He said, "I'm Domino."
"I'm Mia." She said quietly, blushing again. Jeeze, was this her first time out in public? 'You'd think this is the first time anyone's ever talked to her', he thought.
"Okay, let's see what you've got." Captain Janson said.
Domino slowly swung his sword, giving the wolf plenty of time to dodge his attack. She countered with a thrust he barely dodged. 'Okay, she's pretty fast', he thought. He slashed vertically, this time a bit faster. She stepped aside, then rushed him, knocking his blade to the side.
Domino used the momentum, swinging around and slashing again at full speed. 'Ooops', he thought as he realized he was moving too fast and she would never be able to dodge his attack.
But she did. She leapt over his blade effortlessly, landed behind him and jabbed him in the back with her sword.
"Ahh!" He yelped, rubbing the spot on his back. She was so fast!
"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, returning to her shy self. "I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it." He grinned, giving her a thumbs up. "That was awesome." He held his blade at ready. Okay, she was pretty good, not better than him though.
He attacked again, hacking where she had been a second before, then just barely ducking a slash from her. He flipped backwards, her sword missing his ear by a hair's breadth. He lifted his blade over his head to block her next attack and pushed back, trying to knock her off her guard but found he couldn't. He was pushing as hard as he could and she hadn't budged! What was with her!
Suddenly her other paw came down under his blade, grabbing him by his collar. She flipped him over, slamming him on his back to the ground.
"What the fuck?" He said weakly.
"Bested by a girl, huh?" The captain suddenly stood above him, grinning. "Don't feel bad though, it's not like I'd be complimenting you if you'd beat her." Domino hopped to his feet, shrugging off his defeat.
"Come with me kid." He walked off from the groups, leaving Mia behind. The two had enough distance between them and the groups that he and Domino could talk and not be overheard.
"I appreciate what you did for that girl." The captain surprised him.
"Huh? Oh yeah, you saw me goin' easy on her, huh?"
"Don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about... Domino, right?"
"Yeah, okay I won't. What're you talking about... sir?" The dingo decided to add the sir so the otter wouldn't have any reason to hit him.
He closed his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief. Was he kidding? Didn't he know she was a- No, better not to tell him and give him any reason to ruin things. "Making friends with her, she's pretty shy, none of the others wanted to make friends with her and I saw what you did."
"Oh, you know, I wasn't just gonna let her be all by herself. She seems nice enough. But now I see what the others were thinking, I'm gonna get my ass handed to me all semester. Is that all sir? I should go back so I can get my ass kicked some more."
"Yeah, that's all. Go on." Captain Janson watched the dingo in absolute disbelief. That had to be the most clueless kid on this ship.
~*~
Six hours later Domino was sore and tired. His arms felt like they were going to fall off, and he still had another class to go to. He had plenty of time to spar with Mia, losing frequently, but got better as class went on and by the end of class had bested her three times.
The captain had taught them a few nifty tricks with their blades, such as one where the mercury making up their blades was refracted into a boomerang shape and used as such to attack an enemy. Domino had taken a liking to the captain; he was fair and funny once you got past the military exterior. As long as you respected him and addressed him with such he was like your best friend.
They had formed a line again and stood at attention as he spoke to them. "I saw some pretty good things out there, some of you are... well good isn't a word I'd use." Domino could have sworn he saw the captain wink at him. "And some of you died a hundred times out there, you need to work harder. You're dismissed to go to your second class."
The class scrambled for the door, suddenly having regained their energy. The dingo strode out beside Mia. "So what're you're classes?" He asked.
She listed them. She had ten classes, most of them 'technology shit' as Domino would have put it.
"Hey, you have paw to paw combat and small arms with me!" He said. 'Great, even more time to get beat up by a girl'. She smiled, nodding.
"See ya Domino." She said as she went into another door.
"Oh, see ya." That had to be the most she'd said all day. Well, time to get to class, he didn't want to be late again. He had gotten lucky with Captain Janson, but he doubted that would happen twice.
He stumbled into class, arriving before several students. In this room, holograms created a boggy marsh. He stood a few meters from a murky pond, dotted with huge lily pads. He could hardly see past there, the fog was too thick. His fur felt damp, strange, holograms didn't do that. It didn't explain the mud on his footpads either.
"Yo, Domino!" He turned to see Ray approaching him. "Cool, I didn't know you were in my class!"
"Sweet, least I know one furre here." They traded high fives, already acting like old friends. "Man, d' all the teachers here show up late?"
The panther shrugged. "I dunno, my first teacher was on time." He looked around casually, "She'll show up sooner or later."
"Huh? How d' you know it's a her?"
"A hare told me on my way here. Didn't have much time to tell me anything else."
Domino grinned. "Hope she's hot."
"Think you'll actually have a chance?" Ray turned. He hadn't spoken, but that voice sounded just like his. What the hell?
The dingo didn't notice. "Hell yeah. I'll be in her pants before you can say easy A." He was on his back before he knew what hit him. First he was just having regular guy talk with a buddy, then he was on his back in the mud, a female skunk in his face, standing on his chest. "Godammit." He said, knowing he was in trouble, letting his head drop to the mud.
"Easy A." She said, grinning. Despite the fact that she was standing on his chest, limiting his air supply, Domino couldn't help finding himself attracted to the skunkess. She wore a captains uniform, under which were breasts that defied the laws of nature, barely held in by her shirt.
She stood up straight, still letting her (not really heavy, but still considerable) weight rest on his chest. "I'm captain Ruanè, your stealth and tracking instructor." Domino looked up as much as he could to see the others had gotten into a line. He turned his attention back to the skunkess on him. 'Too bad she's not wearing a skirt'.
"Now, unless you want to end up on your back, like this poor excuse, you'll treat me with the utmost respect at all times. You hear me?"
"Yes ma'am!" The others said.
Ruanè stepped off his chest, walking towards one end of the line. Domino sat up, happy for the break. He looked down the row, recognizing a few faces. Huh? His sister was in his class?
The captain stood over him again, pushing him back into the mud with her footpaw. "Don't get up until I tell you to, you understand?"
He nodded. Attractive as she was, this was starting to get on his nerves. "Yes Ma'am."
"D' any of you have any clue about why you need stealth and tracking abilities? Don't answer, I'd rather tell you myself. Let's say you're a reconnaissance squad and your mission is to gather information about where the enemy is located and their defenses. In order to find their base, you need tracking skills and to get around their base properly without being discovered you need stealth.
"Let's see how well you know how to conceal yourselves. If you can't do it without technology, you sure as hell won't be able to do it with."
"As you can see, we're in a swamp. This room is state of the art; force fields are generated around the objects in this room to make them seem real. It's much larger than you think, somewhere around three miles, of course all of this distance is perpetuated."
So that explained it, Domino realized. He knew the rooms on the ship couldn't be that big or the ship would be huge. Perpetuated distances were created in small spaces to make them seem enormous, the holograms were in relation to the user so he could actually run and move nowhere. It was like virtual reality.
"Your mission is to get this information from me." She held up a red piece of paper. "If I see you your mission is failed and you're out of the game. I'll give you a three-minute head start to conceal yourselves, then I'll come looking for you. If I find you, you're out."
'Seems easy enough,' Domino thought.
"The one to get my information will get a prize." Grins ran through the male part of the students, "However, if all of you fail and the information is not obtained, then all of you will be punished." Everyone gulped at that. Punishments weren't anything to look forward to, especially here.
"Just think of it as a game of hide and seek that you don't want to lose."
She looked down at her watch. "On your marks, go!" Half of the students took off, heading into the swamp, leaving the other half behind, still wondering if the teacher was serious.
"Two minutes and forty three seconds." She said and they finally realized that she was, heading into the woods. "Are you just going to sit there?" She asked Domino, who still lay in the mud.
"Damn, I was hoping you forgot about me. Guess that means I can go, huh?"
"Two minutes and twelve seconds." Domino took that as a yes, taking off.
~*~
Around three minutes and twelve seconds later half the class was back in the clearing, praying that the remaining students would be able to get the paper from captain Ruanè.
The skunkess strode through the swamp casually. She was fairly surprised at the amount of students she hadn't caught yet. Of course, it had only been a minute, that wasn't much to boast about. None of the students in her last class had even come close to getting her, and she didn't think any in this one would either. She quickly spotted two students, hiding on a tree branch that was directly above her path. Too easy.
~*~
Domino sighed quietly. She had nearly seen him that time. He knew he had to be the last one left. Almost everybody had been sent back to the clearing. It was up to him to keep them from getting in trouble. His sister had been caught just before him, caught just before she could snatch the paper out of the captain's front coat pocket.
It seemed impossible, the skunkess heard everything. Every twitch, every breath drew her attention. It was just about time to make his move. He took a deep breath, preparing himself to go. He stopped, shocked to see Ray sneaking behind the skunkess, hopping through the trees. Then he realized what he had to do.
The dingo darted to Ruanè as silently as he could, hoping his roommate was on the same page.
~*~
Ruanè smiled. She heard the quick pawsteps of someone running behind her, possibly thinking to catch her off guard. Yeah right, not with that racket.
He did though. Suddenly a pair of paws gripped her butt, taking them in a firm grasp. She practically jumped, she certainly wasn't expecting this.
Domino sighed in happiness; he actually had an excuse for doing something he had wanted to. Of course, this was dependant on the ability of his roommate to think quickly. 'Oh yeah, fifteenth from the bottom', he thought, groaning. Suddenly Captain Ruanè came back to her senses, grabbing his arm, flipping him over onto his back. Dammit, this was the third time a girl had put him on his back and he hadn't gotten any.
"What did you think you'd accomplish with that move?" She asked, having regained her cool.
"Winning." Domino grinned, gesturing behind her. Ray stood there, in possession of a red piece of paper.
Ruanè shook her head in disbelief, smiling ruefully. "A distraction, huh? You sacrificed yourself so he could get the paper, huh? Crude, but it worked I suppose."
"Uhhh, yeah." Domino stood. Sure, that was why he decided to do that. He and Ray exchanged high fives, congratulating each other.
"Come on, your classmates should know you saved their asses." The two walked back the way they had come, followed by the skunkess. He tail waved side to side slowly and she walked with a little more bounce in her step. She could practically still feel the dingo's paws on her ass and had enjoyed the feeling a lot more than she let on. They would have to start doing this more often.
~*~
A groan escaped the class as they saw who the last two students were, automatically figuring they had been spotted.
"What're you bitchin' about?" Domino asked. "We won."
"Are you kidding?" A cheetah asked in disbelief. "You're joking, aren't you?"
"No, you should be happy." Their instructor appeared before the group. "These two were the only ones to actually use stealth to it's full potential, so they will be using the more advanced stealth devices first before the rest of you, until I see some better work out of the rest of you. Do any of you know you leave tracks in the mud?
"The two of you are excused, you may leave early." She waved them away. "The rest of you will be receiving a crash course in stealth, since obviously half of you don't know what it is."
Domino winced at her words as he and Ray left. "Man, she's tough." He said, once they were safely on the other side of the door.
"You are the Dingo! That was awesome!" The panther grinned. "That was fuckin' sweet! Wish I had thought of that."
Domino returned the smile. "Hell yeah, that pretty much made my day."
The panther elbowed him slyly. "Hey, she never said anything about it, I betcha she liked it."
"Of course." The two walked down the hall, trading remarks about captain Ruanè. "When she was on me, I was so temped to just pull her down on top of me. Arrg, it's so hard to not touch her, God!" He exclaimed, "I just wanna, man, I can't even say all the things I wanna do to her!"
"Captain Ruanè, right?" The two spun around to face the speaker, Captain Rorax, saluting when they saw it was he.
He grinned. "At ease. So, captain Ruanè, right?"
"Uh, yeah sir." The dingo scratched his head, wondering how angry the captain would be.
"Oh yeah, that skunk has one nice rack." Their jaws practically dropped at hearing this from him. "What?"
"We just weren't expecting that from you sir." Ray replied. "But, yeah she does have a nice rack, kind of distracting." Huh, Domino though, that didn't sound like Ray at all.
Rorax sighed longingly. "She still won't let me hit it. Maybe one of you 'll get lucky though. I mean, she must like you a lot to let you be excused early. Still, chances are slim to none of that ever happening."
"Gotta have hope." The dingo grinned, making the others do the same.
"That's right. If only some commanders in the military thought the same thing. They'd probably win a lot more battles. Oh, but as to why I came here. I actually was going to your class to get you Domino. Hope you don't mind if we leave your friend, Ray, right?"
"Yes sir!" He replied, surprised at the roo's unexpected knowledge.
"C'mon Domino." He strode away, leaving the dingo to shrug at his friend before following.
The two went down an abandoned hallway before Rorax spoke. "Domino, why did you join the military?"
He shrugged. "I dunno sir. I guess... it was... to protect someone." Rorax's brows went up at hearing that. Interesting.
"Now, what would you do to protect that furre? How much would you give? Would you risk your life? Would you sacrifice someone else's?"
"I dunno sir. I guess I wouldn't know until I was in that situation. I don't think I would sacrifice someone else though. Even it meant protecting that other furre to let the one I cared for die. But I guess I wouldn't know until it happened."
"Good answer." The roo nodded his approval. "It sounded like you meant it. Look, I see a lot of talent in you so I'm giving you a shot at this. You're going to be in another class, your tenth. You'll meet me and your classmates on the commons area on Friday after class. Don't go around telling everyone though, this class's members are... select."
"Sure Captain, but I'm not sure what you see in me, I sucked on the entrance exam."
"Don't be modest Domino, it doesn't suit you." He saluted before walking away. "I gotta go. We got a meeting of the captains, the General 'll put a footpaw up my ass if I'm late."
"Later sir."
~*~
Well, that was weird. Domino paced back to his room, thinking about what the captain had said. Potential, in him? That was a laugh.
"Heya Domino." Said a familiar voice. He turned to see his sister walking along beside him. Of course, it was obvious to anyone that she wasn't his direct sister, seeing as she was a ring-tailed lemur while he was a dingo. He supposed he might've found her attractive if she wasn't his stepsister, but never really thought much of it. She had fiery red hair and all of her fur was white except for the black stripes down her long tail and her black paws. "Captain Ruanè let me go early too. Cool, huh?"
He shrugged, "Sure." Part of him wondered what she had done to impress the captain; the other part wanted him to get out of his uniform so he could rest.
"Jeeze little bro, I haven't seen you in about two years and all you do is say, 'sure'?"
He shrugged, not really caring. He knew she was just being melodramatic. "What happened? I thought you were supposed to be in college?"
"Come on bro, the whole earth's in danger, even the colonies nearby, college will have to wait. I noticed you changed a lot in the two years I was gone." She grabbed his arm, pressing up against him. "You've worked out."
He shrugged again. "Meh, not really."
She quickly nipped his ear, sighing. "You're so dense Domino." She said playfully, hopping away. "I'll see you around." The lemur winked at him before skipping away.
Man, his sister was weird.
~*~
Domino arrived at his quarters to find Abel and Ray already waiting for him. Ray was seated at the computer, typing something, while Abel sat on his bunk, listening to headphones so loud Domino could hear the music clearly from across the room. He quickly took off his jacket, throwing it on a chair, then proceeded to yank off his boots.
"You know you don't have to wear those." Ray stated. "They're optional, if you don't like wearing em."
"Thanks." The dingo replied before hopping up to the top bunk above the empty bed, lying facedown. "Sooo tired." He groaned into a pillow.
Ray typed something, ignoring his friend, laughing at something on the screen. "What're you doing over there?" Domino asked, pulling his head out of the pillow.
"IMing my girlfriend."
"Really?" Abel grinned. "She's got you whipped all the way out here? Damn, she's good."
"Shut up, she doesn't have me whipped." The panther replied.
"Whatever, sucks for you. Just means you'll be the only one here who won't get any ass. And I'm telling you, there are some nice asses here." He grinned. "Right Domino?"
"Hell yeah, I already grabbed captain Ruanè's. He's right, it does suck for you Ray."
"Whatever." He grumbled, typing something else.
The dingo hopped down from his bunk. "Hey, put on the camera, I wanna see what your girlfriend looks like."
"No way man."
"C'mon, is it really your mom or somethin'?"
"No."
"Then let us see." The raccoon had joined in the teasing. "At least then she can see your cool roommates."
"Two words. No. Way."
"Hmm..." Domino pretended to be thinking. "Grab im!" Abel immediately did so; grabbing him and pulling him away from the computer while Domino immediately switched screens so they were on video.
A squirrel appeared on the monitor. However, instead of being a girl it was a guy, looking fairly surprised now. "Yo." He said as he typed it on the computer.
Hi, who're you? Came up as the response.
"Are you happy now?" Ray asked, breaking out of the raccoon's grasp. "Well now you know. I'm gay."
"Are you kidding?" Domino replied, turning around. "That's it? Man, neither of us have a problem with that, you didn't have to try and hide it."
"Yeah," Abel agreed, patting the panther on the back. "I'm bi, nothin' wrong with bein' gay man. So that's your boyfriend?" He waved at the screen.
"Yep, Aaron." Ray seemed to cheer up now that he realized his friends weren't ridiculing him for his sexual preference. He wore a smile and his tail wagged softly behind him.
"He's cute."
"I know." Ray pulled up the other chair as Domino scooted over to allow him room.
Who are your cute friends? The squirrel sent. Ray quickly replied, speaking as he typed. "My roommates." They sure are cute, wish I had joined the army, then we could have some fun. Aaron wore a mischievous smile. "I bet, cockslut." He teased lovingly. Domino smiled reminiscently, too bad he couldn't do this.
~*~
A few hours later it was lights out so the three all lay in their bunks, talking. "So, how long've you been gay?" Abel asked.
"Three years, since I was fifteen. Well that's about when I realized it for myself, I had always liked guys but never really admitted it to myself until then. But the whole time we were talking, you never really told us what you were into Domino. Not gay I'm guessing."
"Nah," He replied casually. "I'm straight, I guess."
"You guess?"
"Well... It's sorta hard to explain, like I pretty much like girls, right, but I can't say I really care either way about guys." He shrugged, though it was lost on the darkness. "I've been sucked off by a guy before. Just once, nothing to write home about, and I never did it again, never really cared to. So I'm not sure what that makes me, I mostly dig girls, but I'm not above getting a blow from a guy."
Abel nodded. "I see what you're talking about. Whatever, doesn't matter anyway. Now we don't have anything to hide from each other, we can be completely honest. Just means now we can walk around naked and know what each other's thinking."
'Man, this place sure is weird', Domino thought. 'And this is only my first day?' He rolled over, burying his head in his pillow.