FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Right after Dairyu went out of the elevator to a bar where he was given a tag to (he wore a wristband which projected holographic map detailing the whole area of the station. He could also find where his friends were in that giant station). He found a calm nu jazz bar where he found his friends and crews sitting around a big table talking to each other, Even Calventis and Dajar (the shipwright assistant that Capisa won from the old former Mako agent) talked to each other passionately, sharing knowledges to each other regarding environmental functionality.

Atho sensed him first before the others saw him a second later. Dairyu also noticed two other newcomers, which wore official flagship uniform. One, of course, was Lunera. The other was a human he never met before.

"Oh, great timing, Dairyu. This is Pritchard Belford, captain of the St. Vincent."

Pritchard stood up and extended his hand to Dairyu. It felt so awkward that a human would want to shake his hand, given that he was the scapegoat for their failed conquest to the stars. But Pritchard here was different. Not only that he's a notable human to ever appear with them, but he's somehow...more energetic and experienced than his old friend Al, at least for the dealings with extraterrestrial races.

"I've heard a lot about you from Lunera here," said Pritchard. "Never thought I would see you in the flesh. I thought you would be more...heavy-set?"

"I prefer not to talk about it." Dairyu then proceeded to sit down on a vacant chair. "Now what are we getting on?"

"Straight to the job, huh? I like this guy, Lun."

"Who doesn't nowadays? Biggest comeback I've ever known in my entire life."

"Well...fame aside, we need your help again to save this galaxy from another destruction. The Federation...well, screw that. This is not even in their scope anymore. With the outbreak of the ghosts, they wouldn't have the time to even think about closing the portal..."

"But I thought your ship was the hospital ship that went to the nebula?" asked Rose. "Isn't that supposed to be the place where we can close the portal to the fifth dimension?"

"Well, wolf lady, I don't understand any of your technobabble but that place was infested with ancient Saurian weapons that would've decimated St. Vincent if we didn't pull away," said Pritchard.

"Did the Saurians told you anything about any battles happening there?"

"I guess it is inside their 'lost history' moments. They may have a big library, but we can't blame them for losing some parts of their history. Terrans do."

Yet, comparing to Saurians, Terrans were still relatively young. The Saurians had made ancient-looking things to be futuristic. It's not even a sleek design like most of the Federation members. It was like ancient bricks and things that could be seen with one of the pyramid structures their ancestors left on Terra when they were trying to make a colony there. To be truth, in the Federation circle, the Saurians were the first to travel the space, then the Scyllas (before the civil war that ravaged their world). Both Aqura and the Aldoons came to space almost at the same time, while Terrans finally caught up 200 years ago. But by that point, Terrans advanced far quicker than the other aliens because of a decisive historical moment where an Aldoon visit to Terra opened an opportunity to space travel, and since then, everything advanced. That's what Dairyu was taught in history class long time ago. People nowadays had more knowledge of the stars and history than the knowledge of getting a decent fun, which was something that Dairyu resented, and was the reason why he left Terra to be a Warrior.

"Hey, Dairyu, are you okay? You look like you're thinking about something."

Dairyu looked towards Capisa and said, "Y-yeah, sorry. I spaced out. So, what are we going to do now with the nebula being guarded by some ancient Saurians?"

"We can't fight them, that's for sure. Even if we rely on using Saurian technology to fight their own technology, it might end up becoming a massacre. We don't research on weapon technology nowadays, right? Everything we had were updates from the older versions. They are ghosts, too, so they may be invulnerable."

The group became silent when they were contemplating on their course of action. But then, when they wanted to start talking, a voice said, "It's useless to try to force your way to the nebula."

Seiryu was standing by the door while some onlookers saw him with both horror and disbelief, especially those who knew Terran history. Lunera was agitated, too, but before he could say more, Seiryu approached them casually, ignoring many of the negative reception from the patron. He then sat down on a nearby chair and said, "Well, what do you care? If we finish this, I might as well vanish and return to the fifth dimension. No one's gonna give me a shit about my past, right? Let me tell you something very important, Dairyu. We are not going to close the leak if we can't determine the source."

"But isn't the portal is in..."

"Oh, that's one of the few that's big enough to destroy a space station," said Seiryu casually, causing some of the patrons to cringe. "I am not talking about that portal. Like what red here said, it is the site of an ancient space battle, so of course it had a giant dimensional leak if the fight was massive. Terra also had leaks in some places that enabled me and countless others to cross dimensions. We gotta find the source, not a giant portal."

"The Rain makes sense," said Lunera to the group. "The need to find the source, and what could possibly be a better ship than St. Vincent? I mean, she's the sister to Pineapple Express and the backup for the galaxy exploration. It was suited up for an exploration."

"And do not forget Wind of Change," said Dairyu. "Let's just say we travel in different directions, where we might get to one another someday, after this journey ends."

Lunera and Pritchard looked at each other. "Well, well. You have a flare for dramatic, too," said Pritchard. He then raised his glass and said, "May this mission brings yet another peace to our worlds."

While the others said their wishes for their own goals, Dairyu walked towards Seiryu and took him outside. Some of the patrons wanted to lash out at Seiryu, but they felt bad when they saw a hero with him. They went out of the bar without any accident.

After they reached the plaza, Dairyu stopped and said, "I promised Natsu that I'll marry her after we are done."

"You should've done that earlier," said Seiryu. "Not to mention you broke your self-imposed exile just to meet her and made me a good half-sister who doesn't inherit any of your sarcasm."

Both of them laughed slowly. "I'm not ready to be her father yet. Not until I've found my worth."

"Anyway, I noticed that you had a statue dedicated to your efforts in a war back in Terra. Don't they notice you the moment you step out of the ship? I mean, I know it's weird for me to ask this, but how did you even..."

"I'm a stowaway. They thought I'm some kind of a broke Neo-Warrior and they offered me passage to Terra. I was so thinned out and grew my hair long they didn't notice me at all."

"A Warrior is broke? Wouldn't that be suspicious? Warriors were the highest paid unit in the whole military!"

"Hey, peace time, remember? They don't get paid much anymore. Seriously, we make more as bounty hunters than being official again."

"You don't consider being a Warrior again? Those black scales might cause some serious repercussions because of your illegitimate works," said Seiryu. "But seriously I don't give a shit about your life now. We are of a different dimension now."

"Since when did you become concerned with my life?"

"Since you gave me a snow princess sister who gave my mom a chance," said Seiryu with a smile.

Before they could leave the floor, though, Capisa approached Dairyu. "Wait," he said. "You might want to stay to chart a new destination."

"You have any suggestion?"

"I don't know any. Wanna go to the ship and let me elaborate?"

Dairyu wondered about Capisa's intention, but Seiryu scoffed and said, "You really are screwed if he knows something you don't."

Back in the Wind of Change, Capisa stood in front of a section Dairyu didn't take notice before: the lounge. Unlike Azure, the lounge was a properly equipped section of the ship, complete with sofas, chairs, and a bar (yes, a bar). Unlike the rest of the ship, the bar was the newest addition, given that it had newer-looking wooden panel with some even newer stainless steel kitchen right behind the counter. It was also well-lit with newer lightbulbs. Yet, there was one thing that suddenly caught Dairyu's attention: it had no automated replicator system like the one _Azure_had.

Annoyed with the fact, Dairyu turned towards Capisa and said, "I think we ought to return this ship to Adonis I and let our 'chieftain' take a better look at his work."

"What in Leviathan, Ryu?" Capisa then turned to Seiryu. "Is he always this sarcastic?"

"Oh, you didn't know him then, sharkie. He's a hell of a bad remark."

"Uh-huh...anyway, I asked Calventis about this design. He said that Let doesn't want us to be relying on replicating technology or we won't appreciate our journey."

"You mean we gotta find a cook to give us provisions? I am okay with having an extra crew on deck, but we are not having a cruise! Where can you find a fighting chef except in movies?"

"Well, Calventis and Dajar can't fight."

"Capisa, I'm not an idiot. An Aquros and a Scylla can manage on their own. I know your race is a warrior race, and Scyllas...you want me to tell you the whole story of their exploits? Or maybe you want Seiryu to tell you?"

"Okay, okay, I get it! We need a cook who can fight. Of course we cannot get a Scylla or one of my race because our senses are not for most food. Terrans..."

"Before you continue, let me give you a tip," interrupted Seiryu. "I don't want to talk bad to my own race, but just let that thought go. Convincing a five-star celebrity chef to be in our crew is hard, but finding a fighting celebrity chef is impossible. Not to mention, Terrans normally don't go around the galaxy and taste all sorts of stuff all aliens can get. I mean, sharkie...we are all carnivores."

"Yeah...I noticed. Rendloks...I don't know anyone aside from Atho."

The three of them went silent, before Seiryu said, "Well, shit. Here we are, standing by the bar, contemplating on who will be a master chef in our little star trek here. First and foremost, we gotta re-supply, then we talk about preparing foods and shit. Now call your crewmates and get us to a nearby planet to find edible foods."

Half an hour later, all of the crews in the ship had readied themselves to take off. Seiryu and Capisa guided the ship to the open space while they saw the St. Vincent's massive shape practically covering all their HUD and window display. Yet, it quickly vanished after Capisa initiated FTL towards a nearby supply depot some light years away from the station.

After seeing that they didn't need to do anything until they broke FTL, Seiryu slumped back to his seat and sighed.

"Say, sharkie, how long have you known Dairyu?"

"Not long. 6 months at best." He then chuckled. "I kept remembering myself during those times and now. I may had denied it when I was young, but I was a complicated Aquros."

"How so?"

"I...practically was a spoiled rich kid who thought that his expertise in engineering would help him survive. Turned out I wasn't an expert at all after meeting with Let. If I had never met with Atho, Let, Ryu, and Rose, I might not be an agent I am now. I might also be dead, somewhere in this sector or the others."

Seiryu noticed that Capisa made a smile to himself. "Dairyu was such a different draconian that he is now. I remembered him taking on various shady jobs and even bribing a slave owner to make Let our crew. As for myself...seeing the sight of blood repulsed me."

"Huh, kind of weird for a shark-based alien," replied Seiryu with a sigh.

"Weird, right?" Capisa then wanted to ask Seiryu about his hatred to an Aquros, but he thought it would be best to ask him some other time. Even then, Seiryu still wanted to talk about it.

"When did your race suddenly resented the term 'Sharkie'?"

"Are you asking me the reason of a racial slur? Normally, I would say 'you got a nerve', but seeing that you're already dead, I don't mind. You know your sharks, I know my own race. It's as simple as that. Our race took offense on it after knowing that our...less-evolved cousins were called a shark in your world. I mean, don't get me wrong, but the sharks in your world are all our less-evolved ancestors."

"Yes, I heard that your race went into space much earlier than us, but that doesn't explain why megalodons are in our world millions of years ago."

"Saurians went to Terra millions of years ago."

"Let me guess. They want to save their 'Less-evolved cousins' from extinction?"

"Just ask that question to a Saurian, but I doubt they can give you a definite answer given that they have loads of lost histories. Anyway, just imagine. If someone calls you a 'dragon', would you be offended?"

"Offended? Are you serious? We are proud in our 'less-evolved cousins'! Never underestimate a dragon's intelligence and their sage-like life. Even the rest of the Terrans feared them."

"Of course you can be proud with that. But a shark is a fish, with no other intelligence but to hunt. Aqura are very, very sensitive when they are compared to a fish."

"You look kinda fishy to me. Get it?"

"You're not the only race in the whole Federation to understand bad puns, okay? Look, whenever you are having an audience with an Aquros, do not refer to them as a sharkie or they will beat the living hell out of you."

"Yeah, I can tell that, but I kept calling you a sharkie for another reason." Seiryu paused for a moment, then he said, "I am going to be very honest, sharkie. I hate you."

"As long as you don't jeopardize this mission, I don't care. We can keep our hostility, but don't you ever let this mission fail..."

"I was tortured by a squad of sharkies when I was captured. These squad weren't normal elite soldiers with heavy-duty EVA suit and big guns. They looked like you."

"What do you mean?"

"They don't look like a soldier, but they have these stealthy armor that were painted black and no water helmet. These...sharkies are fucking assholes. They almost fucking drowned me inside a gel! They cut my antlers and left me to die naked in a fucking room filled with decaying corpses! I know this kind of torture is for making me speak, but it only filled me with rage. I still remembered it like it was yesterday..."

Seiryu's ranting was stopped when he saw Capisa's visage, who turned serious and menacing. He never saw the Aquros looked like that before, but from his aura Seiryu realized that he pushed the wrong buttons in the Aquros. The Aquros's hair stood up like an angry animal, and he bared his teeth.

"Tell me...did you kill them like animals?"

"H-hey, what's with the sudden...?"

"Answer my fucking question."

"Of course I killed them with my two hands! But why..."

Capisa then took a deep breath and his visage returned to normal. He then said, "Terrorist groups are assholes who think that they are trying to save the world from the government while what they are doing are destroying artifacts and killing innocents by tagging them as heretics. You were lucky you're a killing machine yourself."

"Are you telling me that those sharkies are..."

"Shar'ath extremists. The black stealthy armor is a let away. Let me tell you something that is for your ears only. I am with a black ops As'karan agency called Mako, and I am one of the agents. Shar'ath is a terrorist group intending to rule the galaxy by establishing an empire. They have intense hatred to all Federation aliens, but they hated their own race more than others. Shar'ath may not be a threat to the rest of the alien races, but for us...they are assholes.

"Some years ago, a bomb exploded in a colony mall killing hundreds of people. Shar'ath took the blame and they threatened us to break from the Federation. Of course, knowing the benefits of our Federation, we refused and waged war on them. Yet, As'karans were not as strong as it was during the war, so our government enlisted us Mako agents to take away their main operations by assassinating and interrogating all illegal conducts throughout the sectors. I have been doing this job for over 10 years and they are still threatening us like we are some Leviathan fanatics. I was offended when they said we are some devil spawn and must be eliminated."

"Well, Leviathan is a demon, so..."

"For Terrans, yes, but they made me sick. Leviathan encouraged peace but they told us that peace is for cowards. I am sick of them getting away from our grasp when they should be rotting under the sun."

"That doesn't tell me why you hate them so much. I mean, I hate those sharkies for making me look like a weakling, but..."

"What will you do when you realize that you are as bad as a monster as they are, hmm?"

This caused Seiryu to become silent and contemplated his own motive on hating Capisa.

"You can sense aura. You can tell that. I killed and tortured so many Aqura that I am basically a monster like them. Mako are nothing like them, but our actions make us look like them. They are making fun of us by stating the obvious. You know who I am, then."

"Capisa..." Seiryu never thought he would call Capisa by name, but his self-conscience kicked in, knowing that Capisa was almost the same with him, but in a different sense.

"Capisa," said Seiryu. "I may not be the best one to talk about this, but you haven't sunk to my depths yet. Dairyu almost fell to my level, and you are in the middle of it, but you still have a chance to make things feel right again."

"By what?"

"You want to be an asshole with questionable method, then fine by me, but want a hint? No matter how over-zealous and how extreme they are, just be a worse person than them. Simple as that. I heard that you are the heir of a strong business, right?"

"So?"

"Let's face it. Violence is not the way to end things. But how about manipulation? Find a way to destroy them financially, and they won't be your problem anymore."

"We cannot talk to them like civilized beings! They are animals who doesn't..."

"Hey, hey, let me finish. You said you are a black ops agent, right? Those guys don't care about their agenda, they only need credits. You want to win, then I'll tell you how. Use your financial power to squander the fortunes of their operations. You don't need to kill anyone...well maybe some needs to die...but scam them in the biggest scam you have ever done in your life."

"I don't get it."

"Simple. Find where they keep their credits, use your connections to take their funding, then take those credits to yourself. Then when you find a stream, leave them broke by giving them a lot of debts, and voila! You are rich, and they are beggars. You don't need extra funding for a violent war. Sooner or later there won't be any 'terrorist business' going about."

"Then how do you think I can get any...oh, yes...you're a genius!"

"Agents like you should have a massive database and connections to sort this trouble. Just find any drug dealers, weapon dealers, owner of knack-off weapon factories, or maybe the stocks of suspected terrorist front. Take those away, and they will not be your problem in no time."

"And I don't have to worry if the stock crashed and inflation happens, because Mako have many ways to return the stock to normal. I gotta propose this to my superiors."

Right at the same time, they went out of the FTL, but they didn't get to their intended destination. Instead, they stopped right before an unknown Terra-like planet. Seiryu looked at the panel and saw their coordinates, but it wasn't right.

"Capisa, why the hell are we stopping a light years short from the depot?!"

"Let me check...oh, shit, I forgot."

"What?!"

"That planet down there is surrounded with strong EMP pulse...and I didn't turn on the shields. Now our systems are down and we are practically blind."

"What kind of a planet emits a fucking EMP pulse?! This is not a scenario of a cheap science fiction story, right?! Are we going to land and try to explore that planet?!"

"Well, it's not an unknown planet. It's a Saurian outpost for colonial development...but don't expect a crowded place."

"Fucking great! I have a stock Forbidden Planet plotline playing in my head right now! I'll tell the others. You try to find the outpost and land us safely."

Capisa watched as the planet went bigger and bigger to the screen. He just sighed and changed the controls to manual. He thought that it might just be another semi-adventures where they only find repairs as necessary and leave.

His thought would be different if he knew what he and the rest of the crews went into.