Snowlit Dawn - Through the Starry Abyss

Story and Setting by Hack-Wizard

Copyright 2020-2023, all rights reserved.

Special thanks to:

Kittoradra - for his support, advice and listening to my various gripes and random rambling throughout working on this.

Leo Ambermane - for dedicating a significant amount of his free time to helping me edit my mess of words into something more fit to read.

Chapter 1

200 years ago, at the end of the long interstellar war, an opportunistic alliance successfully forced an advanced race out of their region of space, taking much of the leftover technology in the process. Called the Independent Alliance, it was in truth one of convenience; dissolved almost overnight, with no friendship of any kind remaining between the three member species. The Leonin Empire, ever imperialistic and aggressive, quickly began annexing distant worlds which had been colonized by their former allies in the Lupin Council. Following the war, the Lupin Council lacked the resources to defend colonies further than a few dozen light-years of their home system; they had no choice other than all but abandoning hundreds colony worlds with their descendants, the Canids. The Otterian Republic, no longer able to count on aid from the Lupin, faced stiff competition from the Vulpin, a species ruled by a ruthless board of corporate business leaders. The Vulpin had largely played all the factions against each other and are now the single biggest economic powerhouse in the sector. The Lapinian Confederation, a peaceful race of explorers and who had avoided any involvement in the war, now found themselves in the middle of two expansive and belligerent powers. For the first time in their history since the industrial age, they had no choice but to formalize the loose system-based militias that were formed to protect against occasional piracy.

The few worlds who remain independent are resource poor, extremely unstable or both. In truth, many have little choice but to join the Lapinians, or risk takeover by Vulpin or Leonin forces - neither of which is a favorable outcome. The Tigrin have been the most unfortunate in that regard, their world having been exploited, oppressed and/or abandoned by all of the major powers - save for the Lapinians. However, this has not dampened the hope nor the ambition of their youth. One such Tigrin, by the name of Dorrin, spent the last of his saving booking passage to a Lapinian-ran Cultural Exchange Station - largely a free port where all races are welcome, so long as they do not bring weapons or cause trouble. Even in this largely safe space, however, trouble awaits around every corner.

Snowlit Dawn, 1430 Hours, Day of the Incident

Dorrin paced anxiously around the small area between crates in a ship's cargo bay. He could feel the air getting thinner every moment, which caused him to just pant and try to breathe even harder. Nothing had gone like he'd thought it would, nothing at all. First, the entirety of his savings, which he'd spent years building up, was barely enough to book him passage on a filthy refugee transport. It's o __k_ , Dorrin,_ he'd thought at the time, y_ou've just gotta put up with sleeping in a cold cargo bay with rusted deck plates that smells like the sweat of 20 different species. It's temporary, things will get better._ Things did not, in fact, get better at all. Rooms on the station were not free, and the "New Resident Package" had consisted of little more than a canteen, worn sleeping bag, and a few dried Vulpin ration packs. Not only were they insufficient to keep him full, but he felt like he was close to vomiting after eating them; but hey, that odd red furred Vulpin had offered him a job sweeping floors in his casino, a few weeks and he'd have enough for a room... except that job only lasted a few days.

Some Otterian prick has claimed he picked his pocket after bumping into him accidentally, which he had most assuredly not done, yet once the accuser's wallet was found in his side pocket management had immediately dismissed him. "Fucking rudderbutt mudlurker probably just wanted free turns at the slots." He grumbled aloud at the memory, wishing he'd payed more attention when his history teacher said they were not to be trusted. What was it? Something about mining out our outer planets before we could even reach them ourselves? It didn't matter, that was the past and this was now.

...but how had he wound up in this situation in the first place? Oh, right, that Half-Leonin corridor gang. After he'd lost his "respectable employment" not even station management would hire him to scrub toilets. Actually, that was probably because he decked the that Otterian asshole who screwed him over, knocking his front teeth out. "Still worth it" he grinned to himself, laughing bitterly. Those hoodlums were the only ones who'd talk to him, and the closest thing to other Tigrin on the ship. He should have known they'd set him up and sell him out when they needed a fall guy.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard the sound of atmospheric scrubbers kicking in, and a hatch opened. He ducked just in time to see a coyote-like female wearing greasy and stained jeans with torn overalls an an equally as dirty tight fitting tank top enter the cargo bay. "Stupid sensors on the fritz again, I swear I'd like to throttle the Vulpin who designed this rust-bucket." She kept grumbling, but no longer in Galactic Standard, but some language Dorrin was unfamiliar with. Nonetheless, he saw an opportunity, and crept towards the door... then rushed through once he was at the threshold.

The corridors of the aging freighter were both uncomfortable and unfamiliar to him. He knew by now they had to be underway, and came to an uncomfortable realization: why brother running? What was he going to do, try and take over the ship? He had no idea how to even run a space vessel and... "Ooofff!" He grunted as he barreled into a thickly built and older Lupin. The wolf-like person looked down on him disapprovingly, physically unfazed by the impact and beginning to growl as he grabbed Dorrin by his scruff. "Captain Donna," he snarled into an intercom with a deep gravelly voice, as Dorrin tried to squirm away futilely, "we appear to have a stowaway onboard."

A female voice answered, sounding mildly irritated but mostly dispassionate, "Well, that explains the sensor readings I sent Tallia to investigate, well done Sabre. I'll send Lia down to collect him from you right away."

"O-oh shit!" He gulped, his ears lowering as he once again wondered what the universe seemed to have against him personally.

It wasn't long before Dorrin saw a female Lapinian, fur the color of coffee that had plenty of added cream, with a few white sports. Unlike most he'd seen before, however, her ears hung limp and would have flopped about with every step... had she not tied them back behind her neck with what looked like an olive drab ribbon. Her outfit was clearly military, a vest with the same color as the ribbon with several utility pockets. He could see several weapons tucked into holsters at the waistline of matching-colored pants, her combat boots somehow barely making any sound.

"Aww, you found me a widdle stway kitty, eh Sabre?" She teased with a malicious looking grin, "You know I already have one of my own!"

The dark gray, nearly black furred wolf grumbled and shook his head, "Are you truly allergic to professionalism, Lia?" She sighed, rolling her eyes as she deftly took a pair of cuffs out of a vest pocket and slapped them around Dorrin's wrists before pulling them behind his back. He couldn't believe she managed to do it without him noticing!

"Yeah yeah, I know my orders and I'll carry them out, boring as they may be." Sabre walked away as Lia prodded Dorrin's back, "Move it kitty, or I'll skin you!"

Dorrin looked back with a growl, looking down as he was almost two feet taller than her, "I'm not your kitty... Bun-bun!"

He only had a moment to chuckle before she twisted his arms in a way that made him yowl and pinned him to the floor. "Call me that again, and you won't be walking for a month!"

The Tigrin groaned as Lia pushed him into what appeared to be a small meeting room, with a few chairs and a table. A white-furred husky-like female sat at the other end, wearing a plain shirt and jeans, giving him a look somewhere between irritation and mild exhaustion. "Very good Lia, you're dismissed." She said in the same dispassionate voice he'd heard over the intercom.

"No can do chief," said Lia flatly, shaking her head and causing her ears to jostle, "Tigrin are tougher than you might think, I'm not about to leave my boss in the room with one I don't trust."

The Captain rolled her eyes, "I'm not a defenseless pup, but I suppose that's what I pay you for, very well." She turned to Dorrin, looking even more annoyed. "Now, what are you doing on my ship!?"

He sighed, looking down at the table, responding after a silence just long enough to be awkward. "I-I never meant to wind up here, it's a long story."

"Of course it is," she groaned, once again rolling her eyes, "look, as an interstellar freighter, we pretty much have a week's time minimum between ports and we just left the last system. To put it bluntly, you have plenty of time to give me a thorough answer and I expect nothing short of that... e** specially** if you don't want to find yourself floating in an escape pod in interstellar space."

Dorrin sighed, looking up at her, "Alright then, I'm not the best at storytelling, and Tigrin aren't known for sharing such things, but I'll do my best..."

_ Lapinian Confederation Cultural Exchange Station LC-CEX Miros, One Week Prior _

The corner Dorrin had claimed in a disused corridor was cramped and uncomfortable. The cheap sleeping bag did little to make the deck plating more bearable on his back, but it was better than the refugee transport at least. Fortunately, no one tried to mess with him anymore, giving someone free dental work in the most direct way tended to do that it seemed... or at least til now, a hooded figure had been hanging around last night, whoever it was big, almost as much as him. "If you want a fight, just get your tail over here; stop skulking like a cub hunting bugs!" He growled, blinking as the figure approached, removing his hood to reveal the familiar face of another Tigrin.

"I'd heard you were here, Dorrin, but I couldn't believe it!"

For the first time in over a month, Dorrin smiled. "Saril!" He purred, practically pouncing on the other and pinning him to the wall in a close embrace. "I remember when you left home-world last year, I've missed you a lot."

Saril chuckled at that, hugging back, "As have I... now I wouldn't normally say this but, looks like you could use some help, come with me."

"So, what is this thing you need help with?" Dorrin asked once they'd passed a crowd of people in the corridor, knowing so many people have devices that literally record everything said and can even auto-translate conversations.

"Actually, it's not me, it's..." Saril stopped talking immediately once a couple Vulpin rounded a corner, who passed the Tigrin almost as if they didn't even exist. Saril waited until they were far enough away before continuing, "it's Maros, he wants to recruit you."

Dorrin followed Saril into a disused cargo bay. "Are you sure about this, old friend?" asked Dorrin, more than a hint of worry in his tone, "Maros never was friendly, and he's the last I'd have expected to help out a fellow Tigrin."

Saril shook his head at that, "I was wary of him myself, but well... much like you wound up with no choice. Got laid off when the shopkeeper I was working for here relocated, and it seems we're seen as risky employees for some reason. But... In this case, Maros actually is the one who offered to recruit you. Were you not in the desperate situation I'd have recommended you decline this, but... I don't see another option."

Dorrin shook his head, seemingly losing the edge off his concerns, "Eh, he's a Tigrin at heart, we stick together when it really matters, even if we prefer being apart usually." A white-furred Tigrin was waiting, flanked by a couple of intimidating Leonin with stripes, seemingly also part Tigrin. "So, we meet again Maros," said Dorrin as he addressed the white furred one, "you want me to work for you?"

Maros regarded him with his one good eye, apparently he'd lost the other at some point after leaving the home-world, and a scar ran down from it over his muzzle. "No, not exactly..." he waved almost dismissively, "as honored as I am to think you'd believe I could run the Black Stripes; I am merely a Lieutenant. You are right that we wish to recruit you... you've got just the reputation we want, after giving that foolish rudderbutt the Tigrin dentistry special!" The Leonin hybrids standing by him chuckled at that, only stopping when he shot them both a hard glare. "This is a one time offer, you are either in, or out."

Dorrin froze for a moment, like prey seeing a hunter. A gang??? He'd figured it was probably some sort of quasi-legal business since Saril was only recommending this due to the desperate nature of his state but... he'd never have expected something so directly risky. "OK, I'm in." he finally replied abruptly, as he had nowhere else to turn.

_ Snowlit Dawn, 1445 Hours _

"All that tells us is you're a gullible and naive fool!" Lia snickered with her arms folded from a corner near the door, turning her nose up.

Donna rubbed her temples with pad-tipped paws, "Lia, I pay you to protect the ship and it's crew from threats, not point out the obvious..." the Captain turned to Dorrin with a look combining weariness and deep irritation, "but as informative as that may be on your character and recent history, it does not tell me what I want to know. Namely, how you wound up in my cargo bay; but I digress, you've shown you're not a serious threat to me or my crew and I've been up 72 hours. We can continue this later." She stood up, heading for the door, "Lia, put him in the spare bunk room, and make sure he doesn't cause trouble."

Dorrin nodded with a slight bow, "Thank you, captain."

Donna stopped for a moment at that, "Don't thank me yet, we're still assessing lost and damaged cargo, both of which you owe me for. I'm not putting you in an escape pod for two reasons: the pods cost a lot to replace, and I'd never collect on your debt. If I were you, I'd be thinking about how I might best pay that back."

After locking him in his new room, for which the descriptor tiny was the single biggest understatement in the universe, Lia had left Dorrin alone to his thoughts. He laid down on the bunk, which was barely big enough for a Tigrin and creaked worryingly under his significant weight.

"Spirits," he sighed to himself, almost crying, "how do I get myself into these messes???" Of course, in this case, that was probably the most rhetorical question in the galaxy. Best he could figure, he'd been set up, his best friend was dead or captured and it was all the fault of one of his own kind! These thoughts were interrupted as the door unlocked with a loud thunk and opened to reveal what appeared to be a full-blooded Leonin dressed like a doctor and wearing a face mask.

"What do you want?" growled Dorrin, the memories of his parents telling him never to trust a Leonin and the myriad of reasons why fresh in his mind.

"Well, I was sent by the Captain to ensure you didn't have anything contagious or medical conditions we need to be aware of..." He answered, taking out a scanner but not turning it on yet, "I'd prefer to have done this before you boarded the ship, but no way to fix that now."

Dorrin looked skeptical, "Are you sure? No experiments, torture or rape? Because I thought that's what your kind specialized in."

The doctor sighed, actually appearing genuinely hurt by this, atypical from the norm for Leonin to conceal "weak" emotions. "I'll get this out of the way quickly, I went to medical school on Otteria. Never was a conformist, much less a 'good Imperial Citizen'. In fact, they tried to execute me for that not long ago." The Leonin chuckled at that sentiment, though it was a bitter one. "So no, none of what you're concerned of. Please stay still whilst I scan you or it will take longer."

Dorrin rolled his eyes but otherwise remained still. "So, you work for a Canid that seems to think much like a Vulpin, interesting career choice for a dissident."

The doctor looked up from the scanner after that remark, "There's more to Captain Donna than you think, but still... it was hardly a choice. About the safest option available when one's own people want you dead; annnd... scan's done. Looks like someone has had too many Vulpin food packets but other than that you appear completely healthy. I would like to see you for a full workup if you wind up staying with the crew. I'm Gerard by the way, sorry we had to meet under these circumstances."

Dorrin shook his head at that, "Name's Dorrin, not had a choice in my meals for a while... and I don't think your Captain will let me leave anytime soon."

Gerard nodded, turning to leave, "Not surprising, Tallia is yapping her maw off all over about how everyone is going to lose pay over the ruined crate of Lapinian Tea, that stuff isn't cheap and probably made this run unprofitable at least. But I'll say this much, there are far worse ships to crew than the Snowlit Dawn."

The next morning, Dorrin was escorted to a larger briefing room, this time more of the crew was present: Sabre, and even the Yotan, (who he'd assumed was Tallia) were sitting with Donna on the other side of the table. The Captain looked much more rested and in a better mood and Sabre wore the same disinterested frown typical of Lupin, but Tallia was outright leering at him... as if he'd stolen her meal or something.

"I think you know what we want to hear," started Donna, still sounding flat but far less weary and irritated, "so let's get to it."

The Yotan at the table growled, "And it better be damn good, for your sake!''

Donna sighed, giving Tallia an annoyed look, but nodded at Dorrin to continue as Lia once again leaned against a wall near the door.

_ LC - CEX Miros, _ _ Morning of the Incident _

The lighting flickered ominously in the shared flat room the Black Stripes had allowed Dorrin to stay in. Of course, that was about the best he could say of it. They made him give them his sleeping bag after joining, and not long after he'd got there his personal items had started disappearing. Well, at least he had an actual bed, even if it was shared with Saril; not to mention enough food for full meals, even if it was still mostly Vulpin packaged crap.

"Dorrin, we've got another job," informed Saril, nudging Dorrin out of his half-slumbering state, "and it's a big one."

Dorrin grumbled a bit, blinking as he sat up, his tail swishing irritably. "Oh, so we're going to shake down a major business for protection credits now, instead of single traders who are too old to walk? Oh, or are we stealing premium Vulpin nutrient packs from the supply caches?" He'd expected that he'd be doing stuff he didn't care for, but Dorrin had found the "work" both distasteful and pathetic in equal measure.

"Look my friend, I don't like our normal work either," replied Saril, shaking his head, "but this is something significant, and comes with a promotion if we do well."

Dorrin blinked at that, looking surprised and skeptical, "Don't they save that kind of stuff for the senior membership?"

The disbelief in his voice was echoed by Saril, "It would seem not, but yes, there's something... off about this whole thing, so we'd better be careful. Anyway, Maros is waiting to brief us."

The briefing had been very nonchalant, Maros was in a hurry for them to get going and mostly just threw an envelope containing a small tablet with their instructions at them. While the whole "get your tail to work" thing was quite normal, the tablet was not.

"Saril?" Asked Dorrin, "has Maros ever used a tablet to give orders before?"

The other Tigrin shook his head, "once, when we needed to falsify station security records of us, but neither of us had that skill set, so it doesn't make much sense to send us to do that." He peeked around the corner as Dorrin digested that information and looked at the tablet.

"That makes this even stranger, it claims it will reveal objectives as we complete and need the information. All it says now is 'go to cargo bay 32C."

Saril looked at it himself at that, "Yeah, I don't like this at all, but what are we going to do? He'll throw our tails out if we refuse!" They entered the cargo bay, which appeared to be full of various crates and containers - not surprising as this was one of those used for intermediate storage of goods. "Well?" whispered Saril incredulously, "this is a restricted area, if someone finds us here, it won't matter how good our excuse is!"

Dorrin looked at the tablet with a growl, "It says to check container 332249H... go ahead, I'll guard the door, this stinks like rotten Otterian Sushi." With a nod, Saril made his way down the rows of crates looking at numbers. Dorrin scanned the room visually, it was very hard to tell who might be there, with all the obstructions but... wait. He could have sworn he saw someone running on a catwalk above... maybe several and - a sudden explosive flash from the container Saril was looking at almost blinded and deafened him!

"Shit, Saril it's an ambush!" he cried out too late, as dark uniformed figures dropped down to where his friend's body lay.

"Get him!" shouted one of them, pointing a rifle of some sort in Dorrin's direction as the others turned in unison. The wide eyed Tigrin leapt behind a nearby canister just in time to miss a dart that whizzed right past his ear. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck! was all he could think as he dashed between containers rapidly and jumped into a loading chute... to flop out gracelessly atop a large shipping crate under a crane by a freighter, causing the container's seal to crack. Without thinking of what might happen he pulled it open, tossing out most of the tea it contained and pulled it shut, shivering in the dark and wishing he'd never left the home world.

_ Snowlit Dawn, 1400 Hours, Day After The Incident _

"What a loser," chided Lia with a deep chuckle from across the room, "didn't even try to fight back, just ran and hid. So much for the macho Tigrin!"

"Do I look like a trained commando???" Dorrin's ears went flat as he growled towards her, "I left home because I didn't want to be a soldier or a farmer!"

"Lia, pick at him like that one more time and I'm docking your pay!" growled the Captain, with a surprising amount of passion Dorrin had never seen from her before, which vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "Well, you have explained yourself adequately, Dorrin. We shall discuss this in private and let you know what we have decided." She motioned to Lia, who once again escorted the Tigrin out.

"So clearly he's a young and stupid buffoon," began Tallia once Dorrin had finally left, "he'll probably just cost us more than an escape pod in the long run!" Her tail flicked angrily, and her teeth clenched as she stared at the other two.

"Tallia, dear," sighed Donna, giving her a nuzzle, "you made your opinion abundantly clear, and all that growling is giving you wrinkles. However, as I said last night, how are we going to recoup our losses if we kick him off, be it here in deep space or the next station? Furthermore, none of us want to be responsible for his death, directly or otherwise."

The Yotan huffed, folding her tan furred arms in front of her and turning away, "No, I want him to pay, not die; but it's doubtful he'd do more than waste resources, and make it even more unlikely we'll ever get to retire, much less comfortably. Wait, he was in a gang, right? Is there a bounty on his tail we could collect?"

The husky shook her head, "I had Aria check records with the Lapinian authorities last night, mainly to confirm his story. He's got a few small outstanding fines, all of which have been determined noncollectable due to no income or appropriate assets, but no bounties of any kind."

"Of course not," groaned the coyote, "since when are things ever that easy for us!"

Sabre, who had been sitting with his eyes closed in an almost meditative position, finally spoke up. "There is no one in the universe who was not young and foolish at one time." He casually turned his gaze to Tallia, who had also begun to face the other two again, "but there are fools of all ages."

"Dammit Sabre!" she grumbled, rolling her eyes, "I swear you pick the worst void damn fucking times to spout off your old-fashioned Lupin wisdom! Can you just... not for once?"

"That 'Old Fashioned Lupin Wisdom' has kept this ship on course since I was a pup," noted Donna, rolling her eyes at Tallia, "and in more ways than one, my love. I'm not about to tell Sabre to stop for anyone, so please quit asking him to."

"Fiiine!" sighed Tallia, rolling her eyes, "But only because you asked me to, you sexy bitch."

Sabre grunted, giving them both an annoyed look. "Captain, is this really the time for flirting and playful banter between you and Tallia? I thought we were deciding what to do with the stowaway."

The captain blushed, embarrassed somewhat more by Sabre calling them out than Tallia's dirty talking. "You're right, as usual. So, what do you think we should do, Sabre?"

_ Snowlit Dawn, 1600 Hours, Day After The Incident _

It felt like nearly an eternity had passed for Dorrin before the door opened and Captain Donna stepped in, carrying a bundle of clothing. She dropped it at the foot of his bunk with a sigh. "We have decided to keep you as probationary crew member. You'll need something to wear that isn't torn all over, Sabre was kind enough to donate a few of his old outfits... can you cook?"

"Wait, I ruin your most valuable cargo and you're just giving me a job?" The Tigrin blinked at that response, he'd figured if it was up to that Lupin asshole and angry Yotan he'd be getting the escape pod. "Uh... I have cooked in the past, it was... edible." His words stumbled out as he tried to give a satisfactory response to her question. "I-It's way better than packaged food! Especially the Vulpin shit, I hate tha-"

She held up her paw-hand, stopping him, "Good enough, we've not had someone who could do more than warm up packaged meals for some time. Get dressed and go down to the mess hall right away." She tossed him what looked like a very used keycard. "Don't lose this. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got 100 things that need my attention, ask Aria or Sabre if you need help."

He began to speak up, but she had already left the room quickly; with a shrug he pulled on the slightly tight but otherwise wearable clothing. It's gotta be better than the gang, the corridors or the farm.

As he exited the room, he found himself running face first into a young lady with fur and a face like a Siamese housecat. "Nyaaah!" She yowled in surprise, barely managing to catch herself to keep from falling to the deck.

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry!" Gulped Dorrin, moving over to check on her, "Are you ok?"

"Hehe, takes more than that to hurt me, silly!" She giggled, brushing her fur off. "You must be Dorrin, I'm Aria, pleased to meet you!"

"Oh y-yes that's right..." he stammered with a blush, scratching the back of his neck, "uhm, I'm sorry, the Captain had asked me to do the cooking, but I have no idea where anything is on this-"

"I'll show you, come on!" she practically squealed as she grabbed his wrist with more force than he'd expected possible from her small frame, practically dragging him down the hallway.

It did not take long for Aria to half-lead, half-drag Dorrin to the mess hall - which was a fairly cramped dining room with a single large, off-white plastic table, covered with various scratches and what were clearly stains from meals of old. It did not appear to be mounted to the floor, but he would not be at all surprised if it was held in place magnetically, as was the norm for most shipboard furniture that wasn't a fixture. On the walls were several old-fashioned photographs, many faded and blurry: they appeared to show a mountainous world, often covered in snow. The environment depicted reminded him slightly of the southern continent of his own home world, the home of the white Tigrin, and a place he had once visited on a vacation with the family... before numerous crop failures made such things too expensive.

"Oy! Quit staring at the Captain's old family photos and get to work, you bum!" he heard coming from the doorway, turning to see Tallia staring at him with much the same glare as before. "It was not my idea to keep you aboard after all, and if you keep wasting time Donna will kick you off!"

Aria turned to Tallia, making some almost growl-like noises consistent with many canine and vulpine species' languages, but too quick for him to intelligibly decipher, even if he had a working understanding of them. Wait a minute he thought to himself she was... she was speaking to me in Tigrin back there! How the heck?!?

"I still do not understand how you manage to do that so well," Tallia remarked to Aria in Standard, shaking her head and rolling her eyes, "fine, whatever, let him get acquainted with the ship... but my dinner better be decent!" The Yotan engineer walked off, muttering something to herself he could not make out.

"Yeah, you're a bitch too!" called out his new Felin friend to Tallia as she left. "Sorry about that Dorrin, she's always like this, I'd almost guess her former home-ship's crew didn't miss her for it."

"H-how do you speak such perfect Tigrin?" he asked in his own native language, glad to finally be able to use it for more than yelling at some punk trying to steal his stuff. "Most people don't even understand it, much less have the ability to speak it."

"Oh that?" she asked in Tigrin, acting as though he'd asked her something terrifically mundane or obvious, "I just picked it up when I visited your home world a few years ago."

He shook his head, again surprised at how well she spoke and casually she approached her skills, "That's... quite a skill, it's a very hard language to pronounce correctly."

"Oh, not at all!" she laughed, waving a paw-hand, "Otterian, now t** hat** was hard. Those little clicks and chirps made my maw and throat sore. Anyway, the kitchen is through the door."

She led him into a somewhat dingy but otherwise clean kitchen: an old and heavily modified food replication unit on the wall, an electric stove in one corner, utensils in zero-g safe storage and many more stained counter-tops. There was also a walk-in freezer in one back corner and a dry storage room on the other.

"Oh, uh right... don't touch anything in there with Lupin writing on it." she noted, gesturing to the freezer door, "Sabre doesn't usually get very emotional, but he gets downright furious if anyone touches his snow rabbit meat; and knowing the Lupin he is not going to let you prepare it for him."

"Yeesh, guess that shouldn't surprise me..." He paused, peeking into the freezer. "Uh, so... what should I prepare for everyone else?"

"Well, Lia is surprisingly easy, just grab the Lapinian greens, toss them on a plate for her... and make sure they don't wind up in anyone else's food, they're mildly toxic to most of the rest of us. Our pilot Herbert mainly lives off of oat bars, which he drops in for at really odd times. Don't expect much attention from that Equin, he's always blasting something into his ears. The rest of us pretty much make do with whatever's readily available so you'll be cooking for 4 of us, 5 counting you. Sorry, gotta go, I'm sure you'll do fine!"

Dorrin had opened his mouth to say something, but she'd already ran out. With a shrug he opened the freezer, looking around to see what they had. Most of it appeared to be paper wrapped meat, with what appeared to be Lupin script on it. Ok, don't touch that then, he thought to himself, how did get ahold of so much snow rabbit? Further in was what looked like a sizable number of fish, and some more prepared meats which just needed to be cooked. That's what I'm going for, tho I have no idea how to prepare "Liboar."

"Gaaahh! A stowaway!" Dorrin whirled around to see a deep brown furred horse-like person behind him mashing on the intercom and practically neighing into it, "Captain, we have a stowaway raiding the cold storage!"

An audible groan sounded from the wall intercom. "No Herb, that's our new crew member," answered a clearly irritated Captain Donna, "would it kill you to read the briefing memos I send, for once?"

The horse blushed deeply, cutting off the intercom. "Ah, sorry about that I guess... I'm Herbert, uh... I just came here for an oat bar, don't mind me."

"Right, I guess you'd know where those are, I do not." replied Dorrin, rolling his eyes, not surprised as the Equin just walked off, banging his head to a barely audible beat that was clearly blasting in the horse's ears. "Well, guess I've met everyone, and given the composition of the crew I doubt I'll fail to meet expectations." He sighed to himself, setting some meat on the counter, and looking at the warmer and dry storage. It was about as he'd expected, freeze dried generic vegetables and lots of powdered broth and stock; surely it would make at least a decent stew, perhaps this would actually work out.

A few hours later

A spoonful of stew steamed as Dorrin blew over it to cool it before having a taste. It seemed fine to him, even good, but he had no idea how it would taste to the rest of his new crew. This made him extremely apprehensive, which was on full display as he nearly spilled the stew whilst ladling it into five very used looking plastic bowls.

"Where's my dinner, kitty?" Dorrin turned up to see Lia in front of the counter, looking blasé as she scrutinized him. He figured she had little to do in deep space and didn't envy her position if he was being honest.

"Oh, I still have it sealed," he answered quickly, barely managing to set the pot of stew down on the counter without dropping it. He rushed over to the counter where he had a similarly worn looking plastic plate, opening a bag full of greens and tossing them onto it, then handing it to her with a trembling paw-hand. "I d-didn't want them to wilt."

"They will if you don't seal the bag." the rabbit-like lady grumbled in mild irritation as she took it, grabbing utensils from the other side of the counter and taking a seat on the opposite end of the table, before starting to consume the strong-smelling greens.

"O-oh right sorry." The tiger blushed as he rushed back, sealing the bag and putting it into the cooler it was previously stored in. He shook his head to himself as he went back to preparing the stew to serve, trying to forget that she was still watching him.

"So, this is dinner?" Dorrin's neck snapped up to see Gerard at the counter, licking his lips as he eyed the stew, "Oh and I'd wash my hands before you eat if you just served Lia's greens. Trace amounts can cause some very unpleasant indigestion if consumed by Tigrin."

"Damn, right!" Dorrin almost yowled, rushing to the sink and washing them, "Th-thanks Gerard, I kinda forgot."

"I figured you would have; Lia is a very demanding and intimidating lady." Noted Gerard with a wide grin.

"Aw shut yer maw, kitten!" Shouted Lia, her tone surprisingly more jovial than Dorrin would have anticipated towards Gerard, "Or I'll show you just how... intimidating... I can be in bed!"

Gerard blushed deeply, leaning in to whisper to Dorrin, "Uh yeah, we're kinda, together, if you get my meaning. Don't laugh, she'll tie your arms in a knot."

"I... see." Dorrin responded, almost sheepishly as he lowered his ears. He wasn't confused about the meaning or implication; he just couldn't imagine the physical dynamics that would be involved for the two of them to actually have sex. Lapinians were not physically durable, everyone knew that, and Leonin tended to break things even if they didn't mean to... which ironically wasn't very often, as they tended to want to cause damage. With a nod, Gerard picked up one of the bowls and took a seat next to Lia, practically stooping down to give her face a nuzzle.

"Your job is to feed us," growled Tallia as Dorrin turned to her, "not watch the orbiting asteroids."

"Uh, what?" he gave her a baffled look at that statement. There were no windows, much less any way to see asteroids at the speed the ship was moving... or more appropriately space around the ship was moving.

"It's Yotan slang," clarified the Captain, who had arrived with Tallia, "she means people who are flirting." She then gave Tallia a nuzzle and hug from behind, causing the stern faced Yotan to blush. "Like this."

"D-dammit Donna, always at the worst times!" Tallia gave a flustered growl, her ears twitching as Dorrin stifled a chuckle. "Anyway, I... guess this looks edible, if I get sick, you're cleaning the engine room for a week!" She gave Dorrin an accusing point of a claw tipped finger before picking up two bowls and heading to the other side of the table with the Captain.

This time he noticed the next person: Aria casually sauntered up, her off-white tail flowing smoothly behind her. "Hey there Dorrin, that looks delicious, thanks for making dinner! ~" she purred, in Standard this time, taking a bowl and sitting next to Gerard.

"Dorrin, I need to prepare my meal, kindly vacate the mess." Commanded Sabre, his dark furred face betraying little in the way of emotion as he handed Dorrin the last bowl. The tiger rolled his eyes but exited the kitchen as he started to take a seat as far away from the others as possible.

"Hey Dorrin, come sit here." requested Aria, patting the chair next to her, "you are part of this crew now, after all."

He blushed but took a seat next to her, almost trembling as he started eating his stew.

"Mostly thanks to Sabre," noted Captain Donna, "he didn't think it was fair to kick off someone so young without giving them a chance."

There was a clatter of metal and plastic utensils from the kitchen at that, and a sharp glare from the on the other side of the counter. "Do not make me regret suggesting that, young one." He growled as he went back to preparing his meal.

Not knowing how to respond to that, Dorrin just went back to eating, head jerking back up as he heard another loud noise from the kitchen, noticing that Herbert was lying atop Sabre now. "Uh oh, sorry I didn't notice you." The horse apologized, helping the growling Lupin up.

"You would not notice me if I were wearing reflective garments!" Sabre growled to the Equin, taking a finished meal on a plate with him to the table.

"So good of you to join us, Herbert." Chuckled Donna as Sabre sat next to her. "Get your usual food, take a seat and... Take. Out. Those. Headphones. That's an order."

Dorrin couldn't help but chuckle at that as Herb removed them and sat down with an oat bar. They were certainly a strange and interesting crew, but unlike others aliens he'd met... he didn't know why, but he felt he could trust these people.

Captain's Quarters

Donna smiled to herself as she retired to her quarters for the night. She had no clue why: not only had she incurred a massive loss, but Tallia was too busy fixing some engine tuning issue to join her in bed. Must be that stew, she thought to herself, licking her lip, it's been too damn long since we had a cook, much less a good one. As much as Tallia had insisted the meal was "merely adequate" she could tell her cranky Yotan mate genuinely enjoyed it. The crew really does need a break, and time to bond. Just like daddy would have said, were he here. She shook her head as she sat down at her terminal, the worn office chair creaking softly, despite her being quite lightweight for a Canid. Her smile quickly faded as she looked over the finances, it was every bit as bad as Tallia had said. They needed to make credits soon, or they'd not even have funds for basics.

"Aria?" She asked after enabling the comms, "please tell me there there's a good contract opportunity in Harastus."

"Unfortunately, not on public channels." The Felin sighed, sounding uncharacteristically morose, "not anything we can manage that would do much more than cover base costs..."

"Slag.." growled the captain, banging her head gently against a nearby bulkhead, "can't believe I'm asking but... what about... abnormal requests, the kind we normally don't even look into?"

"Let me check the spam folders, just a moment... hmm, that's interesting, and something I'd normally say steer clear of, but I get the impression from your tone we're almost past the event horizon. Some big Vulpin corp is looking for a freelance shipper... that's... unbelievable, none of the standard tricks in contract wording either, must be desperate."

"Meaning it's probably hot merchandise..." Donna almost whined, looking at a picture of her and her father on the wall. "Sorry daddy, it's this or give it all up - tell them we're... potentially interested."

Chapter 2

Herastus Spaceport, 5 days later, 1328 hours

Captain Donna made her way through the maintenance tunnels of Herastus' only spaceport. It was a fairly new colony on a recently terraformed world, meaning not much had been built, even if a large number of Lapinians had already moved down to the now lush garden world; in turn, this meant the limited security forces of the growing colony had much more to worry about than keeping people out of empty storerooms, like the one she was heading to. Of course, the Vulpin knew this, and as such it was excellent "neutral ground" for an off the books meeting regarding a "perfectly legitimate" contract. The metal door before her slid open, revealing two white furred Vulpin. The foxlike males were short, as typical of their species, but clearly of atypically well developed musculature.

"Security precaution ma'am," one of them said in well practiced Standard as he held up a scanner and the other began to pat her down, "and yes, this is a condition of getting the contract."

She growled lowly at that, but didn't resist. "Fine, but if you try to slip a paw beneath my clothing, you'll regret it." Her cold, practiced glare caused the two to hesitate a bit, the one patting her down now doing so in a more... professional manner than he had initially. Think that came across as credible, she thought to herself, knowing Lia was tracking her location and Gerard was monitoring her vitals, just in case; daddy said never to trust a Vulpin, especially if they give you what seems like an honest deal.

"No concealed weapons." Said the one behind her as he stepped away.

"Confirmed, all I'm seeing from the bio scan is a standard sub-dermal vitals monitor," he nodded, tapping the side of his face, likely activating implanted comms, "she's clean sir, you're clear to enter."

Another arctic foxlike person entered from the other side of the room, wearing a gaudy green suit and a clear monocle over his left eye.AVR, she thought to herself, a suit important enough to make a deal like this one isn't going to have an optical defect.

The Vulpin sat at a nearby table, gesturing to a chair opposite him, which Donna sat in reluctantly. "Let's get down to business, time is money, and Dafra Corp is paying too much for those two already." He began, giving the soldiers an annoyed look.

"They're not your regular security?" She asked, even more curious, having expected they'd use their own guards.

"No," replied the fox flatly, "my own security would not be able to witness any contract. These two are Board Security, meaning I'm their customer, not their boss." He rolled his eyes, then the one in his monocle moved as though he was studying something. "Now, with that out of the way... yes, your ship looks suitable, this is a quite simple delivery contract. We just need you to deliver a package to Alabaster Research Station in the Naruso system. This shouldn't take you more than a couple weeks at most... just one week, more realistically. It's a standard cargo pod too, so you'll have space to take on other jobs or goods of your choosing."

"But what's in this package?" She asked, giving him a more suspicious look as the Dafra Corp representative winced slightly at this perfectly normal question.

"Proprietary goods belonging to Dafra Corp," he answered, quickly hiding his discomfort, "a prototype specifically, one which we cannot afford to be a subject of corporate espionage. Rest assured, it is not anything illegal or that would be harmful to your crew."

"So why not transport it yourself?" She asked, seeing clearly there was much more to this than he was letting on. The two guards behind her seemed to not care one way or the other, one of them she could even swear appeared to be playing a game on his tablet from what she saw on a reflective surface on the wall.

"Not that it's any of your business, but we've had a lot of problems with leaks as of late; the CEO doesn't know who to trust, so..." The suit cleared his throat and tapped his fingers, the perfectly filed blunt tips making soft clicks against the table.

"So you're trusting a stranger with a clean record, right." She continued, not sounding convinced, giving him what she hoped was an unnerving thousand-yard stare.

"Let's not play coy," he screeched slightly, unintimidated, "we are offering you quite a deal, take it or leave it."

Meanwhile, aboard the Snowlit Dawn...

Dorrin grumbled to himself as he cleaned the dishes, scraping hard in what seemed like a vain effort to get a stubborn stain out. It wasn't the stain that was bothering him, though...

"D, you're scraping the plate so loud I hear it over my tunes!" Herbert complained from the dining table, the horse-like man dropping the oat bar he was eating as he put his hands over the large earbuds in his ears. "You're gonna ruin our dishes!"

The tiger glared at Herb for a moment, then sighed, putting the plate aside on a magnetized drying rack. "I guess you're right, but it sucks having to stay aboard when we reach a planet, with absolutely nothing better to do!"

"Welcome to my life," chuckled Gerard from the other end of the table, the Leonin's eyes focused on a holographic projection as he munched on some leftovers, "I'd love to go out and see things, but Leonin Agents would be all over us in short order if they found out where I was.''

"At least you've actually got something to do," huffed Dorrin, coming out from behind the counter with a snack of his own, "wait, what exactly are you doing?" He gave the display a curious look, but he couldn't make heads or tails of the graphs and quickly changing numbers that flew past.

"They're Captain Donna's vitals," he answered, not breaking his focus, "she's doing something... risky, so Sabre insisted I monitor them. Lia is nearby her in case anything happens too."

"Isn't Herastus one of the safer worlds?" Asked Dorrin, even more curious now than before, "She's just a freighter captain trading supplies, why would she need to be monitored?"

"I'm not normally part of the command meetings, unless they need a medical opinion on something," Gerard replied with a shrug, "so no idea. But yes, this is pretty abnormal, which has me even more worried. Sabre doesn't ask for this sort of thing without good reason. Oddly enough, Lia was part of the last meeting, but she doesn't like talking about work to me; says I'm too squeamish for it." He chuckled, watching a notice flash on the display. "And she's on her way back, looks like whatever they were concerned about wasn't an issue."

Primary Airlock, 1347 hours

A few minutes later, Donna and Lia were both in the airlock. Lia was playing with her floppy ears, looking bored, but Donna looked frustrated and nervous as Gerard looked over the bio scans. "Ok, no residual contaminants, you're clear to enter."

"Whatever," grumbled Lia as she walked in, yawning, "thought maybe I'd get some action, but nope... just hanging around corridors in an agri-world's half-built spaceport. Thanks for wasting my training time, Captain..."

"You know damn well those Vulpin could have tried to make me a 'compulsory intern', so stow it!" snarled Donna with a degree of anger Dorrin hadn't really seen from the captain before. Granted, he'd only known her about a week, and not particularly well. "Is Tallia back yet, or is she still trying to find spare parts and materials?"

"No," answered Gerard, "she's still out, but I've not seen any vital alerts for her either, apart from her normally elevated blood pressure..." The doctor muttered something else under his breath that didn't sound like it was in Standard.

"Yeah good luck getting her to lighten up." Donna chuckled, once again calm as she and Lia entered the ship proper, "Sabre is just arranging for some additional supplies to be delivered and is on his way back... oh! Dorrin, he said he's got something you should like."

"What I'd like it to get to physically visit a nice planet..." Dorrin grumbled under his breath, fairly certain he didn't want whatever that stuffy old Lupin was getting him.

"Once you've proven I can trust you I'll consider it," replied the Captain, putting a paw-hand on the tiger's shoulder, "but for all I know you'd just rush off and vanish in the wilds, with your debt completely unpaid."

"Are you kidding me?" He shouted rolling his eyes and punching a metal wall panel, which held fast with a loud clang, "I literally have nothing, and went to space so I might have something. Do you think I want to just go back to that you fucking b-!"

His complaints were cut short by a familiar harrumph from the airlock. "The young rarely appreciate anything, I see that remains unchanged." Sabre let out a deep sigh as the airlock scanned him. "Nonetheless, I do have some things you will want, once I am allowed in by the good Doctor that is."

Gerard looked at the scanner and nodded, letting the aging wolf in, who was carrying a bundle of what looked like clothing. "I noticed that my old outfits fit you rather poorly, if not uncomfortably so," noted Sabre as he handed the bundle to Dorrin, "therefore I got your dimensions from Gerard when I found that there was a small Tigrin community here. I am fairly certain they intentionally overcharged me for the work, so I expect you to wear them."

Dorrin froze for a moment, the last thing he expected was to get something he actually wanted from Sabre, much less for premium price, but... "Wait, there are Tigrin here?" He finally replied, taking the bundle.

"Don't get any ideas," Lia said flatly before walking off, "you owe the Captain money, and now Sabre too it seems."

"Yes, there is a small Tigrin enclave on this planet, and no," sighed Sabre, "he does not owe me anything for this; it is what was needed for the ship and its crew, that is enough compensation for me."

What in the void is he playing at? Thought Dorrin to himself, unable to formulate a vocal response to the situation he was now in.

" You a** re welcome,** by the way," spoke Sabre again, sounding mentally exhausted and slightly frustrated, "now if you will excuse me, I have a course to plot."

Cargo Bay 2, 1521 hours

Tallia grimaced as she looked at the lone crate with the Dafra Corp logo printed on it. She didn't know why it bothered her, really; after all, back on her home ship she'd regularly have to prep batches of whatever cheap Vulpin gear they could get for use. There was always something intentionally wrong with them: persistent and invasive ads, silent data collection, logic bombs designed to brick units after the warranty period expired... even the more old fashioned single component designed to fail in a way that would force a full replacement. They irony was, once you got past the spyware, adware and "planned obsolescence/failure" stuff, a lot of their tech was fairly decent... and that's how she kept the Snowlit Dawn running, in all honesty.

In spite of being quite good at such things, Yotan weren't the ultimate scavengers and masters of re-purposing old tech because they liked it. They, in reality, had very little choice. Without a home-world or even their own systems and stations, their supermassive Home Ships were their primary and often only support mechanism. Y_eah, damn Ragerians helped us build those, and for what? To drift around, collecting garbage to make_ it into less crappy garbage just to keep us going... to find yet another unsuitable world, or one that would have been ok, if everyone else in the void damned sector hadn't beat us to it? She shook her head knowing this was the very thing that had led to her departure from the New Dawn, the Home Ship she grew up on, several years ago. Our tech is at least a couple steps ahead of every other power, but no, we can't possibly take matters into our own hands and take what we need because that would be _ wrong. And yet_ _ I _ go out to make my own way, take what I need... and still have to deal with the _ same. damn. t rash! I really don't need to be playing with some overpriced Vulpin Toy when I've got critical spare parts to prep and install..._ She sighed to herself, attaching a scanner to the custom computer she carried around, which looked like a haphazardly constructed laptop with parts that just barely fit together. But I'm not about to go flying on an interstellar trip with some V __ulpin black box shipment. Never ends well! The readout on the display showed the contents seemingly solid and opaque to all the scans, causing her to raise an eyebrow. This scanner can penetrate artificial heavy metals... n_ o way this is physical shielding, must have a high-grade jammer. Those are extremely expensive, e_specially for one localized to a single container. That knowledge concerned her greatly: Vulpin corps don't spend any money they can't make back 10 times over at least: it was something of great value... the kind of value many in the galaxy would pay mercs to steal or kill the previous owners for. Time to break out the high end cracking tools, hope I'm not too rusty.

Primary Corridor** , ***3 Days Later, 2013* hours

Dorrin felt more awkward than he'd ever had in his life as he waited outside Sabre's quarters. The old codger had invited him over for, of all the wacky things in the galaxy, tea; but as much as he'd hated to admit it, he did feel like he owed him at this point. He may be a stuffy old Lupin, but he's the one who's really helped me, he thought to himself, this outfit is better than anything I had back at home. Best figure out what his angle is, and whether or not it's something I can live with.

Sabre soon enough came down the corridor, nodding to Dorrin as he opened the hatch. The Tigrin followed him in, looking around at the plain and sparsely decorated room. It seemed much larger because of the lack of furniture, even though it was only about twice the size of Dorrin's cabin.

"You may take a seat at the table," instructed the older wolf, getting out a kettle, "tea takes a few minutes to properly make."

"Oh, I know," sighed Dorrin, feeling somewhat patronized by that remark, "Tigrin drink tea with many of our meals."

"Perhaps we are more similar than you think, then..." Sabre considered aloud as he filled the kettle with water, turning it on to heat it, "though for Lupin, it is usually a morning and evening thing; and when one wishes to discuss business."

Oh, here we go,_thought Dorrin, grumbling to himself inwardly, _I knew he had an angle. "Ok then, gramps," he began, sounding almost disappointed, "what is it you want from me? And no, I'm not going to do something illegal, that's straight out not happening!"

Sabre chuckled at that as he added tea leaves of some sort to the kettle. The laughter seemed slightly bitter to Dorrin, though he couldn't imagine why. "Oh no, nothing of the sort. You have probably noticed we are somewhat low on food, and that means..." The wolf paused with a frustrated sigh, "that means I will have to share my previously exclusive food stocks."

"You mean the 'snow rabbit' that you yelled at me for almost cooking by accident the other day?" He groaned at that memory, especially since he'd already been reduced to using dried beans to supplement the limited supply of other meat. "So, you're did all this just to tell me I can use your meat?"

"No, not exactly. Snow rabbit has to be prepared carefully..." noted Sabre as he poured out tea so dark it was almost a matte gray, "and it's not wildly known how. That is why I insist on preparing it myself, everyone else I've allowed to try has overcooked or burnt it, all or in part."

"So you want to teach me how to prepare Lupin food, that's going to be difficult to explain to mom..." Dorrin took a sip of the tea, which was more bitter than he was used to. "Guh, what is this?!?"

"Oh? I didn't realize you were in contact with your parents, what have you told them?" Sabre asked casually, sipping his own, not reacting to the tea or showing a notable emotional response. "This is Lupin Fangbloom tea, though I presume that would an acquired taste for Tigrin. I do have some sugar if it is too bitter for you."

"No, I can stand it," Dorrin grumbled, gulping down the last in his cup, glad it was only a small amount, "and really, I'd rather not talk about it." In truth he'd only began to write a letter, and had yet to ask Aria or the Captain about sending it, but he knew exactly how his parents feel about him being close to a Lupin... and it wasn't positive.

"I do not pretend to think your upbringing was not prejudiced against Lupin, but perhaps..." Sabre was cut short by the intercom.

"Sabre, meet me in bay two, Tallia has figured out what's in our mystery box."

Cargo Bay 2, 2029 hours

Sabre and Dorrin entered the cargo bay together, quickly noticing Tallia and Donna were already there.

"What's he doing here?" Asked Tallia incredulously, glaring at Dorrin.

"He has already finished his work for the day," shot back Sabre, "and as part of this crew, I think it concerns him as much as anyone else aboard."

"He can't even leave the ship, so I see no harm from him knowing," observed the Captain with a nod, "go ahead and tell them what you told me."

"Alright," Tallia finally sighed after a moment of grumbling, "it's a prototype of duplicated Ragerian engineering nanites... and a stolen one at that."

"Stolen from whom, how can you tell, and what's a Ragerian?" Dorrin couldn't help but let loose this barrage of questions, only thinking better of doing so well after the fact.

"Now's not the time for jokes, boy!" Tallia growled, before noticing the genuine look of confusion on Dorrin's face giving her head a curious tilt as she spoke again, "wait, you... seriously don't know about the Ragerians?"

"Tigrin were never even contacted by them, nor were they involved in the Ascent Wars;" explained Donna, "in fact, the war was almost over when the Otterians discovered their system." Dorrin gave her a surprised look, to which she replied, "Since you're going to be here a while, I read up on Tigrin history and culture; it's not surprising he doesn't know."

"Most of our tech is based heavily in Ragerian design, if not precise clones of it." Explained Tallia, rolling her eyes as if she'd had to explain this thousands of times before. "Actually, the databases on Yotan home-ships contain a lot of Ragerian design blueprints, specs and code. They actually helped us make them after all."

"And had they been so helpful to the Lupin, the state of the Galaxy may have been quite different." Sabre grumbled, shaking his head, "But that is long in the past, they are gone now, forced to completely retreat from this sector, the Independent Alliance saw to that."

"As interesting as a comparative history lesson may be, Dorrin's first question is more important;" interjected Donna, looking back to Tallia, "how do you know the Vulpin stole this prototype?"

"Pretty obvious, the code is encrypted and signed by a key belonging to the Otterian Defense Academy." Replied Tallia, with a cocky grin. "In fact, the Vulpin will have a very hard time cracking it to use it, but they'll eventually get it... assuming we deliver it to them. Considering what this is, they are seriously underpaying us for safe delivery."

"I figured as much," agreed Donna, "but there's no way we're getting more for this deal from them."

"As much as I would rather the Vulpin not get more of a technological edge, we would still have to pass through their space to reach the Otterians." Sighed Sabre with a displeased grunt, "and that a 3rd party witnessed the deal tells me Dafra Corp intends to pay out. The Otterians are also a... mercurial bunch, and are just as likely to arrest us as compensate us, or give us empty words of gratitude."

"I don't think giving the Vulpin a decoy would work either." Sighed Tallia, "Whilst I have sufficient 'defective' nanites for it, I lack the signing and encryption keys. They'd know it's either not the original or that it had been tampered with."

"At the risk of sounding like you, dear, of course we can't just have it easy;" groaned Donna, looking at Tallia, "we've got at least a few days, I'll decide by-"

The ship suddenly lurched, then continued to shake violently, as the inertia threw everyone around.

"Captain, we've got a situation," came Lia's voice over the intercom, "an Otterian Frigate is trying to interdict us!"

Bridge, 2041 hours

The group made their way to the bridge quickly, which was in much the same state as the rest of the ship: run down and not visually appealing, but still clean and functional overall. Dorrin noticed many of the seats appeared to be taped in places and only two matched each other, he'd guess they were salvaged from other ships.

"They literally came out of nowhere captain," reported Lia calmly, who seemed to be looking over holographic projections of the ship after them, "must have been using some sort of stealth tech to mask their signature. Definitely a military ship, they've got some balls pulling people over in Lapinian space."

"They're not fools, though," Aria practically yowled, "subspace comms are completely jammed; I can't get a distress call off to the Lapinian Merchant Marine! They just showed up and started trying to pull us out of shift, no requests or demands, this isn't at all like them!"

"Actually that's not what surprises me, now that we know what we're carrying, it's how they found out." Donna snarled as she took her seat, in what appeared to be the most dilapidated chair on the bridge.

Lia and Aria gave each other confused looks before a loose oat bar wrapper flew from where Herb was flying the ship, almost smacking right into Donna's muzzle. "Dammit Herbert, stow your snacks!"

"A little busy, ma'am," he neighed, trying to maneuver to break free from the interdiction beam pulling back on the ship, "these guys are good, not sure I can shake 'em!"

"With our upgraded weapons I could possibly disable them if we drop abruptly, but Herb would need to give me at least a second of steady flying, with the firing arcs aligned..." Lia rubbed her paws, looking entirely too entertained at the prospect of firing on another ship.

"If we do that, the Otterian government will surely revoke our license for operating in their space;" growled Sabre, shaking his head, "I say a controlled drop, maximum thrust on a vector in their general direction then run like we are being chased by a frosthawk."

Dorrin didn't know what a frosthawk was, and if it was something Lupin ran from, he didn't want to find out either. Still, he felt like everyone was missing the obvious option. "Why don't we just give it to them?"

Everyone but Herbert suddenly froze, turning to stare at the Tigrin. Herbert kept flying, but removed one of his large earbuds, rotating the ear it was in back towards him.

"It sounds like we're probably not going to get out of this without some kind of massive damage or risk, and the Vulpin stole it from them. Also didn't Tallia say she could make a fake copy if she had their key thingy?"

Donna turned to him, with a surprised look; he thought she was going to tell him to shut his yap for a moment, then she nodded to him. "At this point, it's probably the least risky option. Herbert, prepare for a controlled drop to sub-light. Aria, as soon as we drop get me the Otterian Captain on private comms."

Private Briefing Room, 2048 hours

Donna sat down in a small briefing room off the bridge... which was not much bigger than a closet. A flat hologram projected on the wall with a flicker, revealing the face of an Otterian in a blue uniform.

"You must be the captain of the Snowlit Dawn... Donna Briskwind? Captain Atlar of the ONV Black Wave."

She nodded, figuring they'd already looked up their license. "That is correct but.."

"You may not be aware of this, but your ship is carrying stolen property of the Otterian Republic." He interrupted, holding up a webbed paw-hand. "I'll be docking with your ship in a moment and sending over a retrieval team, I trust I'll have your full cooperation?"

"Wait, wait!" She replied, holding up her own hand. "We only just discovered what it was, don't you want to know who stole it from you, and do something about it?"

He paused for a moment, scratching under his muzzle and looking down. "We already know it was stolen by agents of the Vulpin Dafra Corp, but... what exactly are you proposing? We can't exactly embargo the Vulpin much more than we already are."

"My engineer is Yotan, and happens to have a way to, er... make a fake copy of your prototype, but we'll need your help. Specifically, it needs to be signed with your key to be convincing."

He looked up, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her. "We can't just hand that out, as I'm sure you're aware, but... I suppose I could have one of our technicians do it. The top brass would be overjoyed if those research stealing barnacles fell for it!" He rubbed his hands together with a grin.

"Agreed, but I'd like for my engineer to oversee the process."

"Of course, of course... this is going to make a very interesting report, Atlar out."

5 Days Later...

Dorrin sighed as he got out of his bunk, rubbing his dry eyes, which had became a daily ritual for him. It had been several days since they'd encountered the Otterian ship; their technician helped Tallia set up the decoy prototype, and then left with their property. They hadn't said a single unnecessary word to anyone whilst they were aboard, which he almost found refreshing, at least this lot knew how to not yammer on for hours, like they usually do.

"Dorrin, I am waiting in the kitchen," the mildly annoyed voice of Sabre suddenly sounded over the intercom, causing Dorrin to jump and nearly hit his head on the ceiling, "please expedite your arrival so we may prepare breakfast."

"Whatever you say, gramps," snickered Dorrin as he put his clothing on, knowing just how much being called that annoyed the old Lupin, "unless you want me cooking in bare fur, it'll be a few." But just how am I going to explain calling him that to mom and dad? He thought to himself, looking in the mirror as the wolf grumbled over the intercom before cutting it off. Once Dorrin finished getting dressed he headed out towards the kitchen. Whatever, I'm going to likely be the first Tigrin to learn how to cook Snow Rabbit.

Bridge, 0524 hours

Captain Donna observed from the bridge as Herbert landed the ship in the Vulpin Station's docking bay. Just gotta act like nothing happened back there. She undid a button on one of her "dressier" outfits she wore when she knew she was dealing with clients. That Tigrin can cook well, perhaps too well, I could have sworn this clothing fit just fine a month ago. This thought process was pushed to the back of her mind as what appeared to be a Vulpin scientist or engineer came on the screen, his shiny white hazmat suit making his muzzle and face hard to see.

"Ah good, was worried we weren't going to get this here for months." He sighed with a barely visible grin. "I'm sending the warehouse bots to retrieve it from your hold, please disable any security measures you may have that would impede them."

"Confirmed, they're standard loading droids," nodded Lia, her voice dripping with irritated boredom, "unlocking doors and locking down our internal networks."

"Hold up," ordered Donna, putting her hand up to indicate that Lia should stop doing that, "the contract says, 'payment due on delivery of goods,' and I don't see the account credited yet."

The Vulpin let out a shrill noise, shaking his head. "Look, my boss will have my tail if I don't verify the cargo before signing off on it. Alright... how about I come aboard first and check the package? It's not like I could just lift it up and run off, is it?"

"That is acceptable, once you have signed and the deposit has occurred we will let your loading bots in." Nodded the captain, signaling to Lia to open the airlock for the Vulpin.

Cargo Bay 2, 0531 hours

Tallia watched the Vulpin scientist suspiciously as he examined the cargo crate, one hand ready to pull a stun blaster from her jeans if he tried anything... or seemed to be getting wise to their deception. "So... what exactly is this thing?" She asked, feigning ignorance fairly well.

"It's, well..." the Vulpin looked around nervously, still in his hazmat suit, "actually I can't tell you exactly, but it's going to revolutionize the repair process!" He sounded absolutely giddy, and almost like a company ad as he signed something on his tablet. "Ok, you should be getting payment now."

She checked her own projection screen, which showed a confirmed transaction, then overrode the bay doors, watching as a loader droid rolled in.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Said the Vulpin with a happy nod as followed the robot with the crate out.

Tallia couldn't help but giggle as he left, after the doors closed, knowing they'd paid for something completely worthless. "Captain, it all went smoothly," she said over the intercom, "let's get launched and back on course to somewhere.... tolerable... so we can have breakfast."

Captain's Cabin, 1957 hours

Donna relaxed into her office chair once again with a satisfied sigh. It had been years since she'd last had Snow Rabbit, back when her father was still alive. Still delicious, too bad Daddy isn't still here to enjoy it. Dorrin is really doing a great job. She glanced over the accounts once more, smiling to herself as they were back in the black. "Not how you'd have done it, Dad, but..." she murmured with her hands folded, "but I hope you're satisfied with the outcome, or you'll forgive me for doing what I had to."

"Praying to your daddy again?" asked Tallia, but not in a condescending way as she leaned against the door frame, "still find it hard to believe Sabre got you into that, love."

"He didn't," chuckled Donna lightly, though wistfully, "not all Canid species keep to the old traditions, but mine have on that one."

"Still not as silly as what Yotan traditionally believe," Tallia chuckled with a grin, moving closer to put a hand on Donna's shoulder, "some of my people still worship a long dead planet, and the gas giant it used to orbit. At least your father wasn't an imagined persona."

The Captain turned off the screen, standing up and embracing her coyote mate. "You'll probably think this is crazy but... sometimes I really feel like he's still here."

"You're right dear, I do!" She chuckled softly, giving Donna a brief nuzzle. "Though most of my family would say some trite shit about him 'living on in your memories.' Come on, I'm filthy and we're both tired. Let's go take a shower and get comfortable for the night.

Meanwhile, somewhere near the Vulpin / Otterian Border...

Denal Blackpelt looked over a holographic projection of a disabled Otterian frigate, the one he had found carrying more of their stolen tech mere minutes ago. Several rapidly changing overlays showed various metrics and relevant data: overall review progress, specific members of the Otterian crew who had their memories scanned and most importantly - log files from the ship in question. He stroked under the black furred muzzle on his face, which had both wolf and foxlike features as most Ragerians do. "So, not only did they manage to scavenge the nanites, but they also had it stolen from them by a Vulpin company they'd contracted to do waste disposal," he shook his head and flicked his long, fox-like tail, "still just as foolish as they were 200 years ago."

A lighter furred Ragerian appeared on the screen, saluting in spite of being crouched down on a vessel made for beings little more than half his size. "Sir, we've finished aggregating the relevant memories of the Black Wave's crew. They've actually made our job fairly easy with how they compartmentalize information on a need-to-know basis. Half the crew will just need to have any memory that would point to our interdiction and boarding replaced."

"Very good," Denal nodded, straightening his silver uniform as he stood, "as for those with more... specific details, what is the cover story we're implanting them with?"

"Mainly a revision to the encounter with the freighter Snowlit Dawn. The Neural Redaction AI has determined the most efficient method would be to remove the encounter altogether, since no damage or major interactions unrelated to the cargo occurred during the exchange. We'll also be removing any ship records from this event and replacing them with a stop to correct a minor phase variance in their shift drive."

Denal looked down, his frown deepening. "That still leaves the freighter it was on, records show they discovered what their cargo was and were able to create a convincing decoy to dupe the Vulpin with."

"That's correct, but only because their engineer is Yotan and thus familiar with our nanotechnology. When all factors are considered, the AI predicts only a 0.01% chance the actions of the freighter's crew will lead to further technological leakage."

"Still too risky, assign an agent to monitor them, too much damage has already been done."

Chapter 3

Snowlit Dawn, Captain's Quarters, 0812 hours

Dorrin glanced about nervously as he sat in a fancy wooden chair that felt slightly too small for him. Why did the captain call me to her quarters? He asked himself, standing up abruptly as he heard a creak from the chair; the last thing he wanted was a reason to owe her more money.

"Relax silly," chuckled the captain as she walked in, "if that thing can hold Gerard and Sabre's fat asses it's not going to break on you."

Phew, she's in a good mood, so I guess that this isn't a bad meeting! He thought with a sigh, feeling relieved as he gingerly sat back down."Ok... so, what do you need from me?" He asked, once again feeling uncomfortable as he realized he was several inches taller than both of the two she'd mentioned, and potentially heavier.

"Oh I don't 'need' anything you're not already doing, this is about something you expressed an interest in... specifically going off-ship and interacting with non-crew. I've decided that, after working with you for almost a month, you're trustworthy enough... in spite of the circumstances of our arrangement." She paused for a moment as the tiger's ears perked up, before raising a clawed finger with a well-filed tip. "Just don't binge-watch Vulpin Pay-Per-View, click on anything you see before reading the fine print, or access non-local system nets all the time. In a lot of cases, the charges for that adds up really quickly and will burn through your paycheck fast... well, once you've paid me back that is, in about a year."

Dorrin blushed at that - he knew all about Extranet Charges; his butt ached nostalgically as he recalled being taken behind the woodshed as a cub for watching... things he should have known better than to. Ironically, his parents only found out because of the aggressive way Vulpin direct-drew payment from accounts without confirmation or even entry of payment details. "Uh thanks, and yeah I'm... aware that's a bad idea..." He replied with a blush. Oh damn, I don't even know how much she's paying me!

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure everyone's made that mistake at least once," she winked at him with a knowing grin, "daddy locked me in my cabin for several days after I did, which is the space that's now your room actually..."

Too. Much. Information! He thought, blushing a deeper shade of red. "Look uh, thanks again but I really need to start on lunch..." he exaggerated, wanting to be anywhere else on the ship, away from his suddenly creepy Captain.

"Of course, but before you go..." she took hold of one of his hands, her grip firmer than he'd have had expected, her paw pads callused from regular work. "I just want you to know, my crew is family to me, you included. If you ever really need anything, please let me know. I... act detached because I often have to, not because I want to."

He nodded back as she finally released his hand, silently slinking out the door. Void damn, this letter just got way more awkward.

Meanwhile, on the Bridge

Herbert banged his long head to his typical loud electronic dance music, only paying half the attention he ought to to the ship's course. Finally, Aria isn't trying to chat me up every few minutes and Sabre isn't here making the air stale. He sighed in relief as he peeked back to see he was alone on the bridge, then minimized the readouts on his holographic display, bringing up a window titled "Swords of Spacetime."

The program in question was a rather unique and popular online tabletop-like RPG, with options for correlated or private instances. Players could be as anonymous as they wanted to, and most were only known by the name of their currently played character. Of course, if all players in a current location were not online Herb couldn't do more than one round of actions, but he could at least plan shenanigans, if not get them started; besides, he only had to wait on one other guy.

Hmm, Green Fang the Wise is active? He blinked, noticing the single party member with him at the time was apparently online, bringing up an out of character text chat with him.

- [Hey, didn't expect ya to be on, this is great! So, how are we gonna sneak into the Void Mage's Stronghold?] -

- [Harold? I thought you were normally on duty right now.] -

Replied Green's player out of character, he'd quickly learned when Herbert's character tended to get online.

- [Grr, s **t**** ill have not rolled high enough to get a read on anything. You are a bard, are you not? Perhaps try chatting up the guards?***] -*

Herb was about to type a reply when the ship shook, and Green dropped offline almost instantly as Herbert was nearly thrown into the projectors. Momentarily, the readouts replaced the game showing an alert: the ship had been forced out of FTL. "How the..." his jaw hung open as he stared at the wreck of a small shuttle drifting in front of him, a Ragerian shuttle?

Briefing Room, 0839 hours

"What in your ancestors' names were you thinking, Herbert?!?" Shouted the normally soft-spoken Sabre at the cowering Equin pilot. "Part of your job is to watch for unexpected exclusion zones! I have 2nd degree burns from my tea on my right hand because of you!!!"

"And I almost lost an eye!" Growled Tallia through gritted teeth, her back fur standing up as she pointed at a fresh cut on her face.

"Settle down everyone," groaned Captain Donna, facepalming, "Herb, please tell us exactly what happened."

"And why the logs show you playing a void-damned game!" Interjected Tallia again, narrowing her gaze towards the Equin pilot. Herbert shrank beneath her furious stare, afraid that he might wind up pissing himself if the hostility continued to escalate.

"Dear, either calm down or I'm going to have Gerard give you something to calm you down. Let him speak." The captain sighed again, settling down to hear what happened.

"I... yes, I was playing a game, b-but I had an auto-divert set up to warn me of and dodge any gravitational sources. This one didn't exist until we were right on top of it!" He stammered, feeling very uncomfortable and nervous without his earbuds blasting music.

"It is a Ragerian shuttle, one from the war days..." noted Sabre, "they were able to do a lot of... unexpected things."

"Doesn't change that 'Harold Lightninghooves' here was not doing his job." Replied the Yotan, giving Herbert another threatening glare.

"So, you are Harold... I have had my suspicions since we partnered up." Chuckled the elder Lupin for a moment, before his face turned dour again. "Play on your duty shift again, and Green Fang's player will have to report you."

"Now that we've established everyone's pastimes, can we get back to business?" Donna groaned, shaking her head. "Aria and Lia should be reporting scan results soon. Herb... I'd better not find you playing games on duty again, or I will dock your pay. As it stands, you're relieved for the day without compensation."

Herbert sat there stunned for a moment, too shocked at the revealed identity of who he'd been playing his game with to respond to the loss of income; eventually he managed to clear his throat and respond timidly. "I should have expected that I suppose, it won't happen again, Captain." He stood, making his way to the door... only to run into it when it failed to open like normal.

"C-Captain?!?" A frantic yowl shot out from Aria over Donna's separate pocket comm. "All our controls just locked out!"

The four stood in silence for a long, awkward moment, until it was broken by Herb. "Oh crap, I left my earbuds on the bridge!"

Meanwhile, in the ship's mess

Dorrin was still shaken by the, well, shake, that the ship had suddenly taken. It was far worse than the planet quake that nearly leveled his family's home a decade ago. Even more disturbing was how quickly the look on Captain Donna's face turned from shock to deep concern for him, to rage towards... well, Herbert, he'd guessed. He's the pilot, seems he'd be responsible for whatever the hell that was. I don't think Donna was in a state to answer questions without yelling, guess I'll find out later. Guy may not like talking much, but I hope she doesn't do anything too extreme to him.

He made his way back to the mess in record time; fortunately, he kept the utensils stored neatly and nothing had been jerked free or gotten lost. Damn! If I'd been working in here at the time... holy hell, that could have killed me! The Tigrin shook his head, brushing the thought away. Eh, no worse than the hundreds of times I nearly went afoul of machinery on the farm, or a wild animal trying to get into the pens. Might as well actually do what I told the captain I would and start working on lunch.

A removable, but currently wall-mounted, tablet blinked with an urgent message from Aria:

• [Abrupt Shift Drop - report status, damage and any injuries immediately.] -

He smiled to himself for his diligence as he reported no damage or injuries, at least that was always a good thing. Since the Vulpin mission, he'd actually managed to obtain a larger and more diverse set of foodstuffs. Whilst this was positive, as most sapients quickly grew tired of the same meals, it meant more planning work was required. A lot of these items were significantly different than what he could get on Tigra and he had found, during small batch testing, that many of the recipes he knew simply did not work with the substitutions available. Ironically, he'd found the Lupin cookbooks from Sabre's files (once the old coot let him read them) often worked out better. He had just opened one such book, looking through its table of contents, when the lights went out and flickered back on.

He looked around nervously as the display on the old, tablet, which had clearly been opened and repaired many times, remained a hazy blank yellowed color... Suddenly, the screen flickered to life with a simple yet unmissable message, undisguised in Standard:

- [Please help me.] -

"What in the frigid hells?" He spoke aloud, tapping at the touchscreen in vain, then trying to reset the power. It blinked off, only to come right back to the same display and message... until a new one appeared.

- [Help me, or everyone will die.] -%$##

He staggered back, looking around to see if maybe Lia was hiding around the corner somewhere. That Lapinian had a very cruel sense of humor and had played a couple of nasty pranks on him in the past week, out of boredom. "Dammit Lia, this has gone too far, I'm reporting this to the Captain!" He growled, looking back at the tablet, when, out of the blue, another message appeared.

- [I'm afraid this is not a joke, Dorrin, and I'm not Lia.] -

- [I can't let your ship leave until you rescue me.] -

At this, a map appeared on part of the screen, showing a path to one of the airlocks.

- [Go here, quickly.] -

Briefing Room, 0857 hours

"ENOUGH WITH THAT DAMN RACKET, HERB!" shouted Tallia as she tapped furiously at her tablet, which had a lead running to an open wall panel by the door.

"He's just nervous dear," replied Donna as she stroked the back of Herbert's neck, trying to calm him down.

"Th-that's the biggest understatement in the universe," stammered Herb, sitting down only to stand back up and go back to pacing, his hooves clopping loudly against the metal deck. "Doesn't this normally take you about 3 minutes???"

"That's when I'm not fighting someone to trigger a release," grumbled the coyote, "had I known I'd have brought the blowtorch, but a Ragerian hacker wasn't even on my list of anticipated issues! AAARGH!! Fifth time they locked me down just before I'd enabled a safety override; I'll bet the fucking bitch is laughing right now!!!"

"The shuttle has been here over 200 years..." thought Sabre aloud, "would not anyone aboard it be... dead?"

Tallia gave him a very somber stone-faced look, staying silent for a moment before saying, deadpan, "That doesn't usually stop them."

Meanwhile, in the airlock

With a grunt, Dorrin forced the helmet of the largest enviro-suit available over his head; by the markings it appeared to be a Leonin make and was slightly too small for him in some places. Must be Gerard's... I really hope this ghost, spirit, or whatever horrific thing it is, doesn't just kill us any-- by the rains! The hull was riddled with fist sized holes, distant stars winking out from the void on the other side to the airless cabin within. To his right was a largely shattered cockpit, and to his left... a huge gash where he'd figured the thrusters must have once been.

Dorrin cautiously entered, moving towards the dilapidated cockpit, deck plates creaking as his magnetically charge boots clanked over them. There was still someone in the seat it seemed; taking ahold of one of the chair arms he spun it around quickly, only to come face to face with what was once some sort of canine. Her (it looked like a female) flight suit was torn in several places, exposing preserved sandy blonde fur. The emergency enviro-suit's helmet was cracked, with her hands frozen in place as she had desperately grasped her throat for air, so long ago. The pilot's eyes bulged, and her maw hung open, a dried tongue hanging slack on the side. A wave of nausea washed over Dorrin, and it took all his willpower not to upchuck in a helmet he could not remove right now.

The tablet was vibrating consistently, once Dorrin managed to force himself to stop convulsing, he looked at it once again.

- [I'm sorry you had to see me in my... ** f ***inal physical state, but we have little time;* t** his wreck will not hold together much longer. There's a panel beneath the seat, I've unlocked it. Within the compartment is a handle connected to a removable cylinder, **** t *wist it 90 degrees clockwise to release, pull it out, and take it back aboard your ship.] -*

The Tigrin grimaced as a shiver went down his spine. She really is a ghost... but..._Dorrin flipped open the panel, trembling as he twisted the handle as instructed, causing it to nearly fly out of its position as he tugged, barely keeping his balance. _Why does she want me to take this piece of junk? He took one more look at the body: it looked almost like some kind of cross between a Lupin and a Vulpin, something he knew would never happen. Another loud creak from the deck plates pulled him away from his thoughts, and he scrambled back to the airlock.

Briefing Room, 0** 9 *2* 9 **** hours**

Donna laid her head muzzle against the briefing room table with a groan, her normally white fur was stained dirty gray in places from trying to help Tallia disassemble the door. At least the effort was finally beginning to bear fruit, especially since Lia was helping from the other end now. The hand comms had stopped working; whoever... whatever this was has started jamming them, but the door was not so thick as to block out shouting from the other side.

"Ok, I've pulled out that spring-like thingy," called out Lia from the other side, "is that it?"

"Should be; ok, you and Sabre need to get on the left sides... y** our**left sides, and get your hands in the slight opening we've made." Tallia instructed, panting as she flopped into a chair, "Get ready to push away from each other."

"Ready!" Shouted Lia, as Sabre nodded silently, having already moved quickly to where he was needed.

"Ok on three," Tallia called back, "One, two, three!"

The two grunted and groaned, and the door slowly slid open with a raspy metallic screech. Once it had opened enough, they both collapsed to the floor, panting.

"I-it's open?" Stammered Herbert as he stood back up, rushing towards the door. "Finall-eeeeh!" He fell to his knees as Lia jumped on has back after he crossed the threshold.

"Herb, you lazy fucker!" Lia wheezed with a death glare before getting off him. "You're doing the heavy lifting next time, oat-muncher!"

The horse whinnied in shock, saluting Lia "Y-yes sir, I mean ma'am I mean... s-sorry, just don't dislocate my jaw again, please!" Herb quickly rushed to his station, hands shaking as he picked up and put in his earbuds with a relieved sigh.

"You... you didn't actually do that, did you?" Asked Donna with a wide-eyed blink.

"When we were first assigned together, he wouldn't quit complaining about the dumbest things, so I gave him something real to complain about." Lia remarked casually, as thought she was talking about her breakfast, adjusting the bun she'd put her floppy ears in this morning.

"We don't have time for this!" Tallia shouted as she rushed out into the bridge, looking at the sensor stations and trying to override lockouts. "If this is what I think it is then..." she gasped as a camera feed showed Dorrin entering the airlock with a cylindrical container on a handle. "Oh no, by the Dawn, nonononono!" She shouted, trying to activate the shipboard comms in vain. "DORRIN YOU OXYGEN-STARVED BRAIN-DEAD MORON, GET THAT ACCURSED IMPRINT OFF THIS SHIP!"

"D-dear?" Donna asked shakily, putting a hand on Tallia's shoulder, "I don't know why he's in Gerard's EVA-suit, but what's got you so concerned over this 'imprint' thing?"

"Is it a bomb?" Lia asked with a child-like grin, practically bouncing over. "I'd love to get a good look at a Ragerian bomb!"

"Might as well be, if he ties it into the computer core." Tallia rasped, breathing heavily. "Remember how I said death doesn't usually stop Ragerians?" She pointed at what Dorrin was carrying. "That's how."

"How?" Asked Aria as she peeked over Tallia's shoulder. "Looks more like a black box to me."

"In some ways it is, but it's more than that," replied Tallia, "that enclosure is set up to store an 'imprint' of a living person: a copy of their mind at a given point in time. Don't even ask how that works, the Ragerians didn't tell us, nor did they give us anything that would let us make our own; just a couple of 'advisors in a can.' It has limited resources when it's not physically connected to another system but... you've already seen what one can do to our ship's outdated computer systems."

"I'm not about to hand over my ship to some dead person." Donna growled, gritting her teeth. "We need to get down to engineering."

Tallia sighed, her ears lowered, "I... I still can't get past the security on the doors. Even if I had a blowtorch, it would take too long."

"Would explosives work?" Asked Lia with a wicked grin, sliding a box of something out from under her station.

Airlock, 0936 hours

"You can't be serious!" Shouted Dorrin, growling at the tablet as he finally finished tearing off the rest of the uncomfortable spacesuit.

-** [*Why would I joke about this?] -*

He was about to say something in response, but more text appeared on his tablet.

- [It's a trivial matter to read the ship's logs. I do not trust most of your crew to help me, for a great many reasons. Now, hurry up and get me to your computer core. How would you like being stuck in a box for 200 years?] -

Dorrin grumbled, rolling his eyes as he picked up the container Marla was in; at least that was the name "she" had given him. "What happens if I don't? You haven't given me a compelling reason to trust you, Marla."

- [Then we all sit around until you run out of supplies] -

Marla replied via the tablet, the screen flickering seemingly faster each time.

- [I have no reason to trust you either, really. Do you want me to start listing all the abuses I've seen from other species in the 247 years I was alive prior to my natural death? You seem to think we have plenty of time.] -

Dorrin blinked at that, growling for a moment at finding himself being used by someone else again. He picked up a brisk walk quickly after that moment. Can't argue with that; she's got control over everything already and I'm tired of sitting and waiting. Maybe when she's done giving insane demands, I can start doing things for myself again!

Meanwhile, on the Bridge

"Lia, whilst I'm pleased you have given us a working solution," growled Captain Donna to the Lapinian, "I am not pleased that it involved you concealing a dangerous and unapproved weapon in a key part of my ship."

"You know Captain, if I wanted to sabotage your ship it would have happened months ago." Sighed Lia, rolling her eyes as she applied a shaped charge of the explosive putty to the door. "You really don't have much in the way of Op-Sec here. Besides, this stuff is completely inert unless exposed to a directed charge, and I kept it somewhere that wouldn't happen."

"I cannot believe I am saying this, but she is correct;" noted Sabre, "substance 7128 is completely stable in all but a few specific conditions, and safe storage considerations are minimal."

"Wait, how do you know that?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow as she connected a remote detonator. "The Lupin Military keeps the details of that particular weapon very confidential, even if it is pretty old news by now."

"That is not your business," growled Sabre, "focus on the task at hand!"

"It's a fair question, I'm not sure why this has you so defensive," remarked Tallia, turning off the terminal display with a huff as everyone moved to the opposite end of the bridge, "but you're right - we don't have time for that now. This is gonna be a bitch to fix later but go ahead and pop it open."

"Mind your ears..." Lia advised before triggering the detonation. It was fairly small, more of a loud pop, as the door was blasted cleanly open.

"One down, 4 more to go." Shouted Tallia as they rushed down the corridor. "We've gotta move!"

Engineering compartment, 094** 2 **** hours**

Where the heck is everyone? Thought Dorrin as he entered Engineering, half expecting Tallia to howl at him for setting foot in here without permission.

"Damn your clumsy steps, those cables aren't cheap!" Dorrin recalled her shrill, loud voice vividly, and how, despite being over a foot shorter than him, she'd backed him straight up against a wall. "One step to the right and you'd be visiting Gerard for a week, not to mention giving up any thoughts at having children! That symbol means radiation hazard, comet brain!"

He shook his head at the recall, suddenly grateful she was not here at the time and looking down at the... whatever it was he was carrying. Container, it's just a kind of container. He affirmed to himself, looking at the tablet for guidance.

"Well?" Dorrin asked, half nervous and half annoyed. "Where should I put this down?"

-** [*One moment,] - **appeared texted reply from Marla,* - **** [***I'm sorry, the schematics are...* o** utdated. Your engineer has a great work ethic and much talent, but apparently isn't very big on documenting changes.***] -*

After a few minutes another map popped up, directing Dorrin to an access port.

- [Fortunately you still have a compatible slot,] - explained Marla, - [you just stick it in the slot - it's a standard hot-swa **p**** pable quantum data-core interface.***] -*

Dorrin opened the panel, revealing a slightly dusty slot that looked nearly identical to where he'd retrieved it from. Yet again, he vividly remembered Marla's body in the seat above it, hesitating for a moment. _Well... I can always remove her later, I suppose..._he thought, sliding it into the slot as it clicked into place.

No sooner than had Dorrin inserted the canister before there was an explosion at the primary door to engineering.

"DORRIN, PUT THAT VOID DAMNED THING DOWN!" Tallia shouted, before going gasping, eyes going wide as saw the device had already been installed. "FUCKING HULL BREACH!" She pouted, slamming a fist against the deck plate. "Do you... have any... idea... what you... just did?!?" The coyote panted hard, a defeated look on her face.

"I... I'm sorry," gulped Dorrin, looking nervously at Donna as she entered, who seemed more livid than he'd ever seen her, "M-Marla said we'd all die if I didn't help her and..."

"And I wasn't lying," came an unusually accented canine female voice from the intercom, "you may want to brace yourselves..."

Moments later, the ship lurched to the side, then forward, something Dorrin recognized as a jump to super-liminal speeds after spending so much time aboard the freighter.

"I don't know who you think you are, 'Marla'," growled the captain, now glaring at one of the cameras, "but this is my ship and I don't take kindly to space-jackers."

"I think I'm the one with direct hardware level access to all your ship systems right now, and I have no intention of releasing them," came the nonchalant reply, causing Donna to grind her teeth audibly. "I spent the last part of my career directing the fight against the Leonin and Otterians. Do you think some backwater Captain with no military experience is going to strong-arm me out of an advantage?"

"Captain," growled Sabre as he clenched a fist, "I believe she is claiming to be General Marla Jorlen... the same who murdered everyone in our most distant colony, forcing the Lupin to declare war with the Ragerians centuries ago!"

"That..." Marla's voice halted at that, softening somewhat, "was not my intention, but was entirely my fault. I wonder, do you feel the same about the raids you once conducted on Vulpin shipping, 'Commander' Saber Blackpaw?"

Dorrin's maw hung open as he watched the mixture of rage, disgust, regret and shame on Sabre. He'd never seen a Lupin flatten their ears back and tail between their legs like that; it looked downright pitiful. Wait... Commander Blackpaw???_He thought, as he remembered his history classes from a few years back. _Ho-ly shit! That old coot is... him?!? The only Lupin that ever got any favorable mention in Tigrin history! Admittedly, he couldn't remember the specifics, at that point in his life it seemed so unimportant, and he cared more about looking at... well, things that his parents would say he was too young for. Still, the name had stuck somewhere, pushed to the back of his mind until now.

"No," finally growled Sabre with new determination, "I did what was right, and what my government wished they could do, but did not for all the wrong reasons! You do not get to compare yourself to me! Dorrin, move aside!"

Dorrin gulped as Sabre stomped towards the open panel, quickly moving away as Tallia jumped in front. "Sabre, she's not bluffing about having low level access to everything! If that gets damaged or removed without her releasing control, all the control circuits will be fried, and that's the best-case scenario!"

The Lupin snarled in rage, but stopped, turning back to the captain with his regular composure. "I will be in my quarters if you need me!" He snapped abruptly, before storming out of engineering, his footsteps hard against the deck plates.

"C-Captain I'm sorry I..." Dorrin stammered, stopping when Donna held up one hand, the other covering her eyes and the top of her muzzle.

"Just... go prepare us a meal, I don't care what. And don't do anything this... dead person tells you without my permission."

Captain's quarters, 2 hours later

The captain grumbled under her breath as she returned to her quarters. Ancestors help me..._she thought as she flopped into her chair, almost crying as she looked at the course information Herbert sent her. _This 'Marla' is taking us straight to Lupin Prime. I knew Sabre was something of an outcast to his people but... Piracy??? She sighed, sinking back into the cushions and armrests of her favorite chair, "Daddy, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Probably because it was classified, and he signed a very strict NDA with the Lupin Government." Answered Marla's voice, followed by a projection of her on a holographic display. Unlike the body from the ship, she appeared very much alive, wearing a mostly white dress uniform that Donna did not recognize, thick dusty blonde fur puffing out from the openings for her neck, ankles and hands. Marla's face had features similar to both Lupin and Vulpin, currently wearing a blank look that betrayed few emotions, and a tail similar to Vulpin which swayed slightly behind her.

So that's what a Ragerian looks like... thought Donna as he looked over the projection. If she was alive, wasn't a known mass murderer and hadn't just hijacked my ship I'd even say she was attractive. Once she'd finished her observations she growled aloud. "Get out of my quarters, you bitch!"

"I'm afraid that's not entirely possible," chuckled Marla with a soft smile, "you see, I am the ship now."

"You can still stop gloating over me in my private quarters." The husky captain sighed, shaking her head.

"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Marla asked, her smile turning to a light frown. "It isn't. Believe it or not, I take no pleasure in this whatsoever. In fact, this ship is barely adequate for me; cramped and draining to run, even."

"Oh, I'm so sorry you're not satisfied!" Donna snickered sarcastically. "What can we get you to make you nice and comfy? Perhaps a military grade central core? Oh wait, those are expensive, and I don't have that kind of money." Donna growled, the mocking fake concern in her voice disappearing instantly. "You're just gonna have to either let us remove you or deal with it."

"That's beside the point, and your engineer is the last person I'd trust with my enclosure." Marla huffed, gritting her teeth. "I doubt you're aware but she's the reason the New Dawn lost the last of their imprints, and it was not an accident like her report claimed. Can't say I completely blame her, Arcturus Longtail was always a lech, but I'm not about to let her put my enclosure in a trash compactor like she did his."

Donna blinked, realizing that it would probably be trivial for Marla to read private logs, or any kind of records; something Donna had resolved to not do without good reason. "Well then, given your circumstances... and assuming I believe you, what exactly are you trying to accomplish by flying us straight to Lupin space?"

"The same thing I was trying to do centuries ago," sighed Marla, lowering her ears, "I want to show the Lupin why I did what I did, and take accountability for the damage I have done."

Meanwhile, in the corridor outside Sabre's Quarters

A bowl of pitiful-looking stew sloshed around as Dorrin tried to carefully walk down the corridor to Sabre's room. The elder Lupin had not shown up for mealtime when it was called, or whatever you might call it since it didn't feel like lunch - too late for that, but too early to be dinner. Honesty, Dorrin was worried about Sabre after what happened in engineering, he'd not been responding to anyone's comms. Apparently, Gramps wasn't even talking to the Captain - something he'd overheard her mentioning to Tallia in between the Yotan's rants directed at finding fault with everything Dorrin did. If he didn't know any better, he'd even say the meal he'd prepared was giving him a disapproving look as he knocked on the metal door to Sabre's quarters.

"What?" An unusually curt response, then suddenly a groan was heard from the other side of the door, which fell into an unexpectedly awkward silence.

"S-Sabre? I b-brought you some f-food-!" Dorrin stammered before nearly yowling in shock as the door slid open, revealing an almost snarling Sabre. The Navigator's room was, in a word, trashed: his tablet was smashed in a corner, several intercom speakers and microphones torn out, as well as pieces of paneling and other unidentifiable things that were once some sort of functional pieces of technology.

"Thank you, Dorrin." Sabre panted, clearing a spot on a now-cracked table for the bowl and setting it down with unexpected care. "I apologize for the mess, she would not leave me alone."

"I, uh..." Dorrin started to reply, looking down as he pushed aside a piece of debris with his foot, "are you... really Commander Blackpaw?"

Sabre dropped a spoon into the bowl at that, looking away. "I... was. A very long time ago. What do you think you know about me?"

"Uh, well..." Dorrin fidgeted nervously, trying not to say something wrong or stupid, "w-we don't view Lupin or their military positively but... you were not depicted as a villain who handed us over to the Vulpin, like the others were."

Sabre's ears perked at that, turning to face Dorrin once more. "And why was that? What did I do that was worthy of such recognition?"

The hell kind of game is G __ramps playing? Dorrin thought to himself as he squirmed slightly under Sabre's gaze. He's not senile_ , he knows what he did way better than I do!_

"I am genuinely curious about this, Dorrin. You are the first Tigrin I have known from your home system in a very long time."

"W-well, I... don't remember specifics," admitted the Tigrin with a sheepish blush, "I kinda... barely paid attention in history class."

"Hmph," grunted Sabre, shaking his head, "that is not something any Lupin of good repute would ever say, but I am hardly one to lecture on that."

"Um... what did Marla mean by 'piracy?'" Asked Dorrin, feeling a little more bold now that Sabre seemed to have calmed down. "She said the Vulpin accused you?"

"I..." Sabre paused, looking down as he shook his head and grit his teeth, "I cannot answer that question."

"What???" Dorrin almost roared in shock at such a frustrating response. "Why not? It clearly happened a long time ago, and it's not like I give two shits what some Vulpin assholes think of you!"

"That is a nice sentiment, Dorrin, and I do appreciate your acceptance;" replied Sabre with a half smile, before frowning again, "however, I am not at liberty to discuss, confirm, nor deny any information regarding classified activities I was involved in for the Lupin Military. My answer will not change, do not ask me again... but I would very much enjoy hearing what the Tigrin think I did, should you care to research your own history in detail."

"I... I think I'll do that," nodded Dorrin as he headed towards the door, "I need to clean up, thanks for talking to me Gramps."

Bridge, 3 hours later

"Captain!" Called Aria over the comms. "Someone from the Lupin Military is on priority comms regarding our 'little malfunction'."

"Oh please, I'm hardly a malfunction," groaned Marla, her hologram projected on the bridge the same way as she had appeared in Donna's quarters, "but I suppose I can understand not announcing a Ragerian presence over open comms."

"It's a secured channel." Aria said flatly, shaking her head. "Frankly I don't know how to quickly sum up what I think about you, at least not politely."

"To whom will I be speaking?" Asked Donna, heading towards the private briefing room.

"One Major Scythe... Alpha class?" Aria looked shocked at this. "That's... they don't normally interact with outsiders who aren't political leadership, and even that is rare!"

"So is a working Ragerian Imprint I'll bet," noted Donna, motioning to Marla's projection, "you're the one who requested this, get your tail in here."

"I already am," replied an identical projection on the other side of the doorway, which was still in pieces, "oh and, unless things have changed, Lupin Alphas get quite incredulous if you make them wait more than a few minutes, you'd better hurry!"

Donna stifled a growl as she walked into the room, trying to get back into her "business mode" as she accepted the call. The white furred face of a female Lupin in a slate-colored military dress uniform greeted her, a scowl on the Alpha's maw was quite apparent. Oh wonderful, the one person I need to help me is already irritable, this day just gets better and better!

"Captain Donna Briskwind of the Snowlit Dawn?" Asked the Lupin in a clipped tone as Donna nodded, continuing just as she opened her maw to speak. "I am Major Scythe, Alpha class, Outworld Affairs. You have exactly 10 minutes of my time and will explain why you are approaching Lupin Space promptly."

Ancestors... n __o wonder our relations with our distan_ t_ relatives are so hit and miss. Donna thought, once again about to speak just as Marla beat her to it.

"General Marla Jorlen, Ragerian Regulatory Forces, Division 2 Command. I have commandeered this vessel so I may surrender myself to your forces and submit to judgment for crimes I committed before I was imprinted to the AI enclosure I now reside in. Please allow us pa-"

"Request denied!" Scythe glared at Marla's projection, more in annoyance than anything as she snarled out the very sudden and final sounding response. "The Snowlit Dawn has no less than 3 crew aboard who have been banned from entry into any Lupin port."

What the void damn hell?!? Donna mused, only barely keeping her expression neutral before replying. "Major, I am not aware of any such ban, it is true that we do not have a current Lupin shipping permit but-"

"I am not an appeals clerk, take it to the proper channels," interrupted Scythe flatly, "7 minutes."

"EXCUSE ME, LUPIN!?!" Screeched Marla, her own face now a snarl. "Are you listening to anything that I've said?!? By the Order, your leadership is still dense as a Neutron Star! Don't you want justice, and to know why I deployed gravity mines around one of your colonies?"

Scythe merely rolled her eyes at that. "General, I am only speaking with you because my agents have verified your claims, outlandish as they may be, and I would rather not have to order the destruction of a civilian freighter for approaching the home-world. We have recently become very aware of your motives from another source, there is nothing for us to gain from having you on Lupin Prime. Now, reverse your course and return control to Captain Briskwind."

Marla looked dumbfounded, standing there silently as Donna spoke up again. "Major, she will not allow us to remove her, perhaps you could-"

"Captain Briskwind, I have given you my answer, do not waste any more of my time!" Growled Scythe as she abruptly cut the transmission.

"I..." whimpered Marla softly, her holographic ears still lowered as the ship seemed to begin to slow, "I'm sorry Captain, I'm returning control of the ship to you, just... don't ask me to leave your ship. I'll... try to make myself useful, seeing as I no longer have any other purpose."

"Herbert, do you have control over your station again?" Asked Donna through the doorway, giving Marla a skeptical look.

"Yes Ma'am," he shouted, "I'm returning us to our previous course... am I still losing pay over this?"

"No Herb, you are not."

Sabre's Quarters, 1501 hours

Sabre sighed to himself as he began sweeping up the damage he'd caused to his quarters. I will pay for my outburst, even if Captain Donna insists I shall not. He though to himself, one ear twitching as he noticed a high-pitched squeal from the closet. Damn accursed bitch found something else to bug me wi- wait... t __hat_ i_s my old Quantum Pair Comms Unit, that frequency can only be heard by Lupin ears! He opened the closet door, digging through boxes until he took out a dusty old case, marked in Lupin as "Property of the Lupin Council, authorized use only." It is tied to a specific device on Lupin Prime using Quantum Entanglement, there is no way she could access that. He had been surprised that they'd allowed him to keep it in exile, until it was explained that it tracked his location and if he ever tried to ditch it, they'd send someone to "implement a more invasive method of tracking." His eyes widened as he opened it, reading a text message sent in Lupin.

- [Commander Blackpaw, your case may be reviewed on condition of your reactivation. You have 5 minutes after confirmed reading of this message to accept or decline this directive.] -

He blinked, all the memories of that soul destroying day returning: surrendering his command, trial over subspace radio, and being disowned by his entire family. It only took him the barest of moments to type a reply.

- [Directive accepted.] -

Chapter 4

Snowlit Dawn, Sabre's Quarters, ** 10 *1* 7 ***hours,* a week later

Sabre shook his head as he read his new orders for the 3rd time. "By the ancestors," he muttered quietly to himself, at to low a volume for even himself to hear, "first she says she does not want General Jorlen's imprint... then she turns around and tasks me with trying to get information out of her." The last thing the aging Lupin wanted to do was talk to... her, and it didn't make any sense; but in spite of knowing he had little choice in the matter, Sabre typed in a question for his command

- [(CmdrSBlackpaw0834B) Command, this directive is vague, request clarification of intended parameters.] -

A moment later a response popped on the screen, accompanied by the high pitched whine only his ears could hear.

- [(MajIScythe3524A) Details are on a need to know basis, and getting clearance for you is already bending the rules, I will not get exiled along with you.] -

She is responding to me directly, this must be more serious than I had imagined! Sabre's maw hung open as he asked another question.

- [(CmdrSBlackpaw0834B) I do not understand what I am supposed to accomplish here, how am I to complete this directive without knowing the intended goal?] -

-[(MajIScythe3524A) Honestly, we are not entirely certain ourselves. Suffice it to say things are happening out there that could threaten the entire sector, really threaten it, and understanding the Ragerian perspective and mindset may be the only thing ** that allows us to survive. Keep your eyes and ears open **** to **** observe her reactions.] -**

He sat his teacup down with a clatter, barely keeping himself from spilling it. "Ancestors... no wonder she was in a bad mood, an Alpha would never exaggerate this."

"And what exactly is 'this'?" Marla asked over the recently repaired intercom in Sabre's quarters.

"Accursed ghost! I told you to...!" He growled, just barely stopping himself from smashing the intercom again. I s_hould have kept my maw shut... she is not going to let this go, and I cannot just keep her distant anymore, maybe I can use th is..._ "I actually was referring to Scythe's behavior when you spoke with her. Specifically the third party source she mentioned, it recently hit me how... unusual that part of the exchange was." Suddenly he was glad the Captain had shown a recording of the call to him, unpleasant as it was. This was an opening, something he could use to get more information out of her, and perhaps get close enough she'd inadvertently reveal even more.

"Interesting..." she replied, not exactly sounding convinced, though nor did she sound like she was dismissing his explanation, "but why would a 'third party source' put the Major in a bad mood? Intelligence is intelligence, so long as it's verified the original source doesn't change the value of the information."

"It may change or influence your perspective on the source, however;" Sabre replied, "perhaps we can assume that source is a Ragerian. Lupin do not trust your people, for reasons you can likely guess; and yet, if a Ragerian were to provide valuable, accurate and verified intelligence, a good Alpha or even Beta would have no choice but to acknowledge its value, along with the value of the informant. Of course, this is but a theory, but it is the most plausible one I can conceive."

"Let's assume you're correct. If I was Scythe, I would still not believe any evidence provided by a Ragerian until it was verified... unless... unless this Ragerian had already provided verified information many times, or they provided something major and verified that was outright detrimental to them - if not Rageria as a whole." Marla's projection had appeared in his room, shaking her head at these postulations. "I'm afraid I find your theory rather far-fetched, Commander. The more I see of the state of things in this part of space, the more certain I am that no Ragerian in their right mind would want to be anywhere near this cluster-fuck of a cluster... nor can I see any reasonable motivation for one to wish to aide a species as stubborn, insular and backsliding."

Sabre clenched his teeth through the latter part of his response, he'd expected insults but... the General also had several real points. Still, he couldn't be sure how honest she was with him, and he needed to know more. "I cannot refute that Lupin do not like sudden or radical change, and we have made many mistakes... however, we are yet different than the Lupin you had known, even if this may not be obvious since we isolate ourselves so. May I ask you more about the Ragerian perspective? I wish to understand your people better."

"You... what?" The projection blinked, seemingly caught off guard by this response. "As you're likely aware, I've been out of the loop for centuries but... what perspectives are you referring to?"

"I suppose I shall start with history, why did you refuse us shift drive technology? The real reason, not the excuses."

"That... is complicated," Marla sighed, lowering her ears, "and that wasn't a decision I was part of, but from what I know and had heard of it, we didn't want to hand a species with such aggressive and ridged culture something that would allow them to impose it on other species who could not adequately defend themselves, like the Leonin have apparently succeeded in. Or to rapidly exploit the natural resources of worlds with no care for fragile ecosystems, like the Vulpin did, after they deceived us into believing they would handle the technology as we had advised; they didn't, what a surprise. I suppose we can't say we aren't cockups either, eh?"

"Thank you for explaining," Sabre nodded, this was probably the most honest-sounding rationale he'd ever heard on the matter, and certainly not one that had been given before in their history books. "I can't help but think that, had you not forced us to rely on your ships for colonization, or paying Vulpin to ferry us our relations could have been very different."

"Perhaps, but whilst we're being honest, our leadership and expert council had determined that your species was not ready for broad-scale inter-system colonization." Marla explained, shaking her head at a confused-looking Sabre. "Our recommendation was orbital habitats, this would have allowed you to prepare and sustain a deep space fleet more easily, solved your immediate overpopulation issues and made your own development of and adaptation to FTL technologies more straightforward. Your 'Council of Alphas' outright refused to consider this proposal and insisted that 'only planetary colonies would suffice the needs of the Lupin.' Idiots."

Though hearing one insult the historic leadership of his world chafed him, Sabre did not let on to it. In fact, when he thought about it, that's what the Lupin wound up having to do to preserve any of their off-world colonies; in all, he was actually somewhat surprised she hadn't tried rubbing that publicly available and well-known fact in his face. "I... see," he finally replied, looking down, "thank you for your time and honesty."

Meanwhile, in Dorrin's Quarters

Dorrin grumbled as he waited for the video call to connect - he hoped his parents would finally pick up this time, subspace calls were charged by the attempt as well as time spent, and he didn't like the idea of Donna paying for a ton of attempts and no actual talking. Surprised the Captain wanted me to do this, how the hell did they even find out? I still haven't finished my letter!

[Connection established] displayed the screen, as did a video feed of his parents.

"Dorrin? What in blazes have you gotten yourself into?" His father growled in Tigrin, his worn and loose-fitting clothing covered with fresh dirt and mud. S __till wearing a sun hat... m_ ust have been outside working._

"Dad, I... it's complicated," replied Dorrin, looking to the side to see his mother cooking on the edge of the video. "How did you find out where I was? I was going to write to you but-"

"Your mother got the message you sent yesterday, and nearly fainted! Why in nature's grace you'd want to work aboard some damned Half-Lupin's ship is beyond me. The things you said happened and the crew you're serving with... just, just come home right now, we need you here!"

Oh great, this again... he rolled his eyes at that, trying to figure a good answer for them.

"That's impossible and impractical!" Marla interjected into the conversation, a look of shock spreading on Dorrin's face, as well as his father's. "Even if we left port immediately, it would take two months to reach Tigra. Furthermore, that doesn't account for supplies, interruptions and the subspace distortions surrounding your home system; the latter of which I don't think this ship could transit at all!"

"Who's there with you?!" Dorrin's father demanded, glaring at his son like he did before he'd punish him earlier in life.

"Ship's AI," Dorrin spoke up quickly, "she's technically everywhere... even if we often wish she wasn't... but like she said, I can't just come back, and I have a job now!"

"From your message, sounded more like a debt and enslavement!" His father glared at him again, the sound of water boiling starting to fill the background. "I find it hard to believe that you want to be where you are!"

"Apparently Lapinian Tea is a very high value commodity," Marla interrupted again, "he does owe slightly under a year of his wages for-"

"Will you let me speak, Marla? Sheesh!" Dorrin growled, looking towards the ship intercom's camera. "I was... irritated when I wrote that, and it seems it was accidentally sent somehow, I'd planned on editing that part later at some point. I'm making more than the farm makes in a year each month!"

"But you're not seeing any of it," his father shook his head, "and considering your captain is Lupin, you never will."

"Dad, she's not Lupin, she's Huscanid," Dorrin tried to explain, feeling more exasperated at his father's overt specism by the moment, "they've been separate from the Lupin for hundreds of years!"

"They all look alike," snorted his father dismissively, "and you can't trust any of 'em, son! Didn't they teach you that in history class?"

"Commander Blackpaw could be trusted..." Dorrin replied under his breath, starting to wholly regret speaking to his father once again.

"Suuuure he could, that was just to make us trust them so they could take advantage of us and sell us out to their Vulpin buddies. Look son, I know things aren't great at home, and we're barely making ends meet, but who's going to run the farm when I'm dead? Your mom's not getting any younger after all. We held onto this land, in spite of the Leonin, Lupin and Vulpin; don't give it up because some Hus-whatever promises you good money. Better get off now, dinner is almost ready, and these calls are too expensive."

"I'll think about it..." Dorrin muttered halfheartedly.

"And I'll make sure your son writes." Marla added at the last moment, getting another glare from Dorrin before the transmission ended.

"Marla, you sent my draft message, didn't you?"

"Well, at this rate you, weren't going to send it for a decade."

Donna's Office, 1042 hours

"Dorrin, please come in," instructed Donna, sitting with her right leg crossed over her left, "sorry about the abrupt order to call your father. He recently contacted me and... well, I'm not going to repeat what he accused me of doing, I trust you sorted out that misconception?"

"W-well as much as possible, Marla sent a message I'd not had a chance to finish preparing and wording very well..." He replied, fiddling with his shirt's collar.

"Of course she did." Donna groaned, shaking her head; something told Dorrin that she'd done something like this to someone else already.

"Sorry, my dad is kinda..." Dorrin paused mid-sentence, looking for a polite way to word what he was going to say.

"Rude? Suspicious? Demanding? Ignorant?" Donna suggested, holding up a finger for each.

"Specist, he's unfortunately specist, even for a Tigrin his age."

"Well, that explains a lot... guy thought I was a Lupin, I take it he's never been off his home-world?"

"No, he has not; not something he could afford without selling the farm, something he'll never do."

"I wouldn't ask him to, my daddy would be rolling in his grave if I ever sold the Snowlit Dawn..." she paused for a brief moment, before looking towards the nearest camera, "but I'm sure he'd understand my reasons if someone doesn't start respecting people's privacy!"

There was no response back.

"Good," said Donna, before looking back to Dorrin, "don't worry about the costs from calling him, I'll-"

"Captain!" interrupted Marla's voice suddenly.

"What was I just saying about privacy?!?" The captain growled towards the camera again, "Don't interrupt me unless its-"

"Urgent?" Marla asked, completing Donna's complaint. "I think I'd consider Gnoll ships converging on our wake pretty urgent."

Bridge, 1046 hours

Donna quickly marched onto the bridge to find Lia looking at a tactical display.

"Captain, I was just about to call you, there's a Gnoll ship approaching from the aft."

"I'm aware Lia, Marla told me already."

"Actually, there's 3 carriers," corrected Marla, who had just appeared on the bridge, "two are further ahead; just outside what our long-range sensors can normally detect, preparing an ambush if we run."

"Wait... If they're out of range, how can you-?" Lia began to question, cut short by Marla's response.

"Gravitational distortions from larger ships cause micro-fluctuations in the ship's shift field, plus I've been optimizing your sensors for better detection."

"Well, that completely ruins my battle plans..." Grumbled Lia, hitting the console loudly but not hard enough to damage anything.

"Prepare to drop from shift and engage the carrier following us with with our cyber-warfare suite, then-" Marla seemingly ordered before Donna interjected.

"Are you forgetting this is my ship?" Growled the captain, glaring at Marla's projection, "Besides, we don't have a cyber-warfare suite!"

"You do now." Marla said with a grin, as Dorrin slinked onto the bridge.

Dorrin tried to find an out of the way corner on the bridge, having followed Donna up there. He'd heard rumors about Gnolls and the last place he wanted to be was alone in the kitchen if they boarded. Still, he had heard that s_ome_ of them could be reasoned with, in the loosest sense of the term. "Couldn't we j-just drop a cargo pod of supplies, so they'll let us go?" He asked, remembering hearing that sometimes worked, recoiling as both Donna and Marla gave him a withering glare.

"As valid an idea as that is at times, it won't work with the wrong tribe." Aria explained, projecting a visual on the screen of the pursuing ship, it looked to be centuries old, and had visible signs of prior battle damage along with blood red markings.

"And we really can't afford a loss right now, either." Nodded Donna towards Aria in agreement.

"Judging by the markings, they're one of the cannibalistic tribes, so it's not worth considering that course of action anyway." Aria sighed as Sabre rushed in, taking his station.

"Apologies, Captain, I was working on an escape course-" Sabre started to explain before Marla interrupted him.

"I told you that's unnecessary, we can easily overpower-"

"Ahhh g-guys???" Whinnied Herbert as the ship lurched and he frantically worked his controls, "They're interdicting, your orders, Cap?"

"Prepare for a controlled drop, Herb," Donna sighed, shaking her head. "show us you can be trusted, Marla."

"Thank you Captain, you won't regret it..." Marla's projection bowed slightly as she turned to Lia. "Due to limitations of the ship's systems, and since Gnoll raid interceptors run on a very basic system I can't hack them, you'll need to operate the defense turrets normally."

"Hehehee!" Lia laughed, bringing up a control system, "and here I thought I'd never get to use these babies!"

"I will keep an escape course ready and watch the long range sensors, in case she fails." growled Sabre, looking more than slightly annoyed as they dropped out of FTL.

Dorrin noticed Marla's projection flickered for a moment as the ship lurched.

"Donna! That imprint is diverting power all over the place, I asked what the fuck she's doing and she just said, 'Captain's authorization.'" Tallia howled over the intercom.

"Sorry dear, no time to explain, just don't get in her way unless I say otherwise." Replied Donna, receiving a grateful nod from Marla.

Several small, dart-like ships emerged from the bottom of the Gnoll carrier being projected in front of the bridge, before the hostile ship's lights flickered then cut off.

"Everything aboard that ship has gone into a full diagnostic cycle," explained Marla with arrogant tone and grin, "the Leonin were never any good at basic software security. Lia, Herbert: you have a minimum of 3 minutes to get rid of those fighters and get us out of mass lock respectively... before the other two ships show up."

"Wow... I know a couple-a nerds in Lapinian Counter Intel that would love to get ahold of whatever you just used... they're coming into ra-"

"C-Captian!" Gasped Sabre in disbelief at his sensors, "the two inbound ships, they... they just vanished!"

Meanwhile, in the Medbay

Gerard frantically stuffed some smart sutures, anesthetic and basic surgical tools into his vest pockets, before taking a seemingly over-sized plasma pistol from a DNA locked drawer under his desk; in truth it was perfectly sized for a Leonin grip, if not a bit small. He paused for a moment, gazing down at it. Leonin standard issue to officers, and yet the only time I ever used it was on two young troopers... His paw-hand trembled as he moved to holster it, remembering how he had been forced to take two lives of his own kind... before realizing it wasn't even loaded. I'd rather not... dammit! He thought, as he dropped the charge pack he was trying to load into the slot at the top, the small, dusty metal canister clattering softly as it fell against the smooth, polished floor of his clinic. He bent down, picking up the capacitor cluster and loading it, finally getting the sidearm into his holster. I will only shoot to save another, nothing has changed, my conscience is clear. The lights began to flicker, a high-pitched squeal echoing through the hull as the defensive turrets began to fire. May it never come to that again...

"Gerard, I recommend you remain in the Med-bay unless you're needed." Marla's voice echoed into the room, shocking the doctor: she'd made a point of interacting with him as little as possible.

"I didn't know you cared," he said flatly, crossing his large, dusty orange furred arms, "after all, you go out of your way to avoid me."

"I'm trying to coordinate a battle, we can discuss this later." She replied dismissively, not even bothering to show herself.

"I thought Ragerians prided themselves in being able to do a lot of mentally challenging things at once." He snorted, rolling his eyes.

"This ship has very limited resources, but you're right, I've been avoiding you. I have no time for a fool."

"A fool? A fool?!?" He roared, nearly pounding his fist against his desk, stopping just a hair away from it. "I suppose you're right, I'm a fool for believing I could change things: for my people and the galaxy overall."

There was a long pause, Gerard's ears twitched as he grinned slightly. Did I just win an argument with a Ragerian? Then the ship shook, in a way he'd felt only once before: something had penetrated the shields, and hit the hull.

"Gerard, please load an empty high-capacity data crystal into your terminal, quickly!" Marla shouted, genuine worry and fear in her voice as her projection appeared before him for the first time.

He nodded, putting it in the slot and looking over her worried face. "Thank you, I... I can't explain now, but you've probably just saved me, and the whole ship."

Her projection flickered off, and the data drive ejected, just before the lights went out.

Engineering, moments later

"MARLA, WHAT THE FLARE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?" Tallia screamed as the lights went out, and she pulled out a flashlight. Her enclosure is lit up, so she's not offline... w __hy's she not responding? The Yotan engineer grumbled inaudibly as she unlocked a manual power distribution panel, a puff of dust flying out. N_ ormally the void damn bitch won't shut up about how my work "violates 15 separate safety standards" and now she's just cut everything off?!_ "Ok, there's the emergency power breaker." She grunted as she pulled the stiff lever, only just getting it to switch on by putting her full weight into it. "Gonna have to oil that later..."

The lights flickered on dimly, but the holo-projectors remained off, and the regular displays were blank or filled with digital noise. "Whatever she did totally corrupted the OS," groaned Tallia, "good thing I keep 4 separate backups at a time." She took her tablet and plugged it into an input port, typing some commands quickly... Before hearing a loud bang on the sealed doors, which soon started to bend inward. "Oh, fuck me!" she whimpered, reaching to grab a plasma torch nearby as the thick door tore open like a tin can. A monstrously large hyena-person charged in like a blur, pinning Tallia's thin frame against the console she was at.

"Submit or die." The nearly 8-foot Gnoll barked out with disturbing laughter, in a deep but somehow feminine voice as she put even more pressure on Tallia's neck.

"Like.. I.. could... do... anything... else!" The engineer barely managed to choke out, just before the almost feral brigand tossed Tallia to the floor like a ragdoll, then deftly restrained her wrists behind her back with metallic cuffs.

"Where's the Leonin?!" The Gnoll snarled over Tallia, taking out a long, curved and serrated dagger, holding it to her throat.

Meanwhile, in a maintenance crawlspace

"Quiet!" Lia insisted in a low whisper as she held a paw-hand over Dorrin's mouth, practically pulling him through the maintenance shafts. "Gnolls are killers, if they find us on their terms, we're dead!"

Everything had happened so fast: shortly after Sabre had noticed the approaching Gnoll ships had vanished, another one appeared literally right above them, and blasted the crap out of the Gnoll fighters that had been swarming them. Moments later though, they fired on the Snowlit Dawn with something not even Lia or Marla had ever seen, and everything went dark. The last thing he remembered was someone pulling him into a nearby maintenance hatch.

"Wh-what about the Captain, and the others?" Asked Dorrin in a nervous whisper, stifling a groan as he crawled along behind her in the cramped crawlspace.

"Best case?" Lia asked, giving him a grim, even depressed look, "They've been tied up and locked in one of the empty holds, and the Gnolls are taking everything that's not bolted down. You... don't want to know the worst case."

Dorrin shuddered at that, if it was enough to phase Lia, it couldn't be good. "Why did you grab me? Why not the Captain?"

"Three reasons:" she answered, "you're the least likely to know how to handle yourself if they corner you, Captain Donna has dealt with Gnoll boarders before, and most importantly - you were knocked out cold right by the hatch and in my way to get out."

"That makes me feel just wonderful." Dorrin sighed as they continued forward, as fast as he could move silently. "So, what's the plan?"

"Not telling, bad Op-Sec." She shook her head as they stopped at a T-junction, "If they catch you, you can't tell them anything you don't know, right?"

_Gotta admit, she's right... uh oh._Dorrin's ears twitched as he heard some shuffling and creaking to the left, looking to Lia and gesturing in that direction. She nodded, drawing an almost comically small pistol from a shirt pocket and moving around the corner...

"NYAA-mmfh!" Came the sound of Aria's voice as Lia drug her back around the corner, then gestured for her to be quiet.

"Void damn, have you never been on a ship raided by Gnolls either?" Lia whispered, shaking her head as she removed her grip from Aria's mouth.

"I... believe it or not, I actually lived with a Gnoll tribe for a couple months." Aria muttered sheepishly, looking away and lowering her ears.

"This is a very bad time for jokes," Lia chastised, shaking her head, "we've got to move, they'll find us if we stay here."

"I'm not joking," sighed Aria, "they're crude, even barbaric in some ways, but it's largely because they have no choice or don't know any other way to live. Anyway, I got a look at the markings on the mystery ship: they're the Vorescythe Tribe... actually one of the more reasonable ones. Last I'd heard they only raided Leonin vessels or..." she gasped audibly as it dawned on her why they'd attacked the ship in the first place, "oh void damn, if they find Gerard, they'll-!"

She trailed off, looking up at the confounded faces of both Lia and Dorrin. "We need to get to the med-bay, fast!"

Bridge, several minutes later

"YOU. DID. WHAT???" The projection of a Gnoll in a red uniform snarled from the bridge of the Snowlit Dawn, her smoldering gaze directed at the Gnoll warrior pinning down a very angry Captain Donna.

"Raid Commander, they gotz a Leonin aboard," replied the one pinning down Donna, as she slammed the Captain's head against the deck plates, knocking her out cold before she could try to interject, "b-sides za Matriarch said Leonin cola-erm whuz da word, Arth?"

"Collaborators..." groaned the projection of Commander Arth, shaking her head, "the word you're looking for is 'collaborators', Zhy."

"Royt, Matriarch said deez colahboratoz is fair game, right Arth?"

"I knew I shouldn't have put you in command of a party..." sighed Arth as she looked down at Donna. "Just because there's a** single Leonin on a ship doesn't make the crew collaborators. Just... just don't kill anyone until I get there, still a few more cannibal ships to destroy. And that includes Leonin! I'll** decide if they're collaborators, got it Zhy?"

"Yas Arth," nodded Zhy, looking away to hide that she was rolling her eyes, "will tell others."

Half an hour later

"Rrrgh, stoopid yoosless tek!" Zhy snarled as she smashed a sensor console on the bridge. The loud noise caused Herbert to jump, even though he was tied up in the corner next to where Zhy had unceremoniously tossed the captain.

"You're going to pay for that..." Donna groaned weakly, trying to give the Gnoll a death glare before wincing in pain.

"Oh, zat so?" Zhy laughed, picking Donna up by the scruff of her neck. "Tell where da Leonin iz, maybe I not break your jaw, puppy!"

"And what, pray tell, would cause you to think he would stay in one place?" Sabre growled, straining against the cuffs holding him to his normal seat on the bridge. "I suppose your mother never taught you critical thinking as a pup, or manners or... anything. Clearly you are not the most precious ore in the pile!"

Zhy chuckled as she dropped Donna back to the floor, staring Sabre down as she approached menacingly, until she was staring him point blank in the face. "You no talk 'bout mamma dat way, old man!"

Sabre locked his eyes with Zhy's, not looking away or blinking. "I shall talk as I damn well please, you are nothing more than an overgrown bully!"

- Slap! - Sabre's maw flew to the side as she slapped it hard, leaving a gigantic red mark, and blood started leaking from his nose.

"Yoo lucky not male Gnoll or pet, and Arth say no kill."

"Zhy, we'z found their Medbay, no sign anyone in there," called out the voice of another Gnoll over a communicator they'd brought, "did find drawer of plasma charge packs, only Leonin military use 'em."

"Keep looking Grri," Zhy growled, "oh, leave Uhr toh watch da room in case he comez bak."

Meanwhile, in the Medbay

Gerard nervously watched from the one-way glass of the stasis chamber as one of the two Gnolls who entered left. Now there was only the shorter and more scrawny of the two - relatively speaking at least, 7 feet was still taller than him and Dorrin. Nine hells, so much for being safer on a freighter... he thought as he looked at his tablet, which he'd plugged in the data drive to.

- [Good thing I was able to enable patient privacy mode, eh?] -

Gerard rolled his eyes and typed a response back.

- [Yes, oh Marla my hero. What would I ever do without you?] -

- [I can see the sarcasm in your face you know... a** lso she's not likely to leave anytime soon, but all the better. More time for me to poke around unseen whilst they look for you.] -**

- [I can't imagine what you'd find interesting about dilapidated, low end Leonin warships from centuries ago.] -

- [Well for one, an answer to how these "relics" appear to have Ragerian shields and Yotan weapons... seemingly of a relatively** new configuration **** as it is not anything **** I'd seen in my previous life.] -**

Gerard's attention had been drawn to the Gnoll, who cradled one of her wrists and was digging through supply drawers for something. There was a long, jagged scar along her forearm, a familiar one...

"I-it's her?" He gasped, putting a paw-hand over his maw as the pirate's gaze jerked straight towards the stasis chamber he was in.

She tilted her head to the side, then shrugged, going back to rifling through the medical supplies.

Another message appeared from Marla.

- [Well, that was foolish, you know this "lady?"] -

- [We've met, she's one of the reasons I'm a fugitive.] -

-[Oh, part of the couple you saved from being purged?] -

Gerard stifled a growl at that.

- [Could you not** read my private journals?] -**

- [You think your old superiors didn't?] -

- [Well no, I'm sure they did, but I thought you Ragerians tried to claim you were "better", no? And you're not my superior.] -

-[Look, imagine if you could see someone's thoughts in your head in plain text, how long until you wind up reading them? That's what your files are like for me-! Oh crap, ready your weapon!] -

He looked up to see the stasis chamber opening, it looked like the Gnoll had accidentally bumped the controls.

Gerard started to reach for the weapon at his belt... then stopped. No, I will not kill a mother to save myself.

Unknown location

"MRRRRFFHH!" Tallia tried to scream though the thick wad of cloth that had been forced into her maw as she was thrown down somewhere, landing on what she'd guess was hard metal. Difficult to tell, given she'd been blindfolded as well as having her wrists and ankles tightly bound.

"Yoo fix tek, or I smash cute puppy's jaw!" The Gnoll who'd brought her here snarled, before stomping off. Holy hull-breach, realized Tallia, she... she means Donna! How the fuck am I supposed to fix anything bound like this?!?

Softer footsteps approached from behind and she felt the ropes being untied. "I'm sorry you got dragged into this," came a high pitched but male voice with a rather nasal quality to it, "but Zhy isn't joking, if you want you want to get out of this, you've gotta help me fix our control systems."

The blindfold was removed, letting her see the male Gnoll untying her. He was shorter than her, heck probably not much taller than Lia, and quite scrawny. If this is what male Gnolls look like, how do they even reproduce? Those ladies are void-damn giants!

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said nervously as he removed the gag from her maw, "so please don't try anything. I'm not a fighter, but the ladies outside are."

"No, really?" Tallia quipped, looking over the pathetic looking hyena guy. "Please, you look as sturdy as a Vulpin Space-wreck."

"If my mate heard that she'd knock you halfway across the ship, but I digress... I'm Brouh, Chief Mechanic of the Bloodrage."

The previously restrained Yotan rubbed her wrists as she stood, her eyes starting to come into better focus in the dim light. "Oh wow, so you tap broken stuff precisely instead of smashing it?" She snickered sarcastically, eager to not be bettered by someone from a primitive species.

"H-hey! I've read the maintenance standards manual more thoroughly than most!"

"You have manuals? Wait... what in the?" Tallia blinked in disbelief as she looked around at the clean, well maintained and utterly familiar systems. "This is... this is Yotan tech!"

Back in the Medbay

Uhr raised the scrappy looking rifle she was carrying to point it at the Leonin.

Gerard held up his open hands, gazing directly into her yellow eyes. "You didn't keep the bandage on long enough I see, typical."

She blinked, then gasped in recognition, her weapon clattering to the floor as she dropped it. "I-it's you!"

He nodded with a soft grunt, chuckling somewhat. "We really must quit meeting like this, people are going to start talking. How's the cub?"

"She... she's fine, safe and healthy, thanks to you."

"You're welcome," he stepped forward, gently taking ahold of her wrist "let me take a look at your arm, you shouldn't still be favoring it like that."

She tensed a bit, but did not object. "Commander Arth keeps telling me to get it looked at but..."

"But nothing, whoever this Commander Arth is, she's right." Gerard shook his head, taking out his scanner. "Ok... yes, this definitely still has fractures, the last thing you should be doing is carrying a heavy weapon! Also can't you get your friends to lay off? We're just traders."

"Not an option, to either." Uhr sighed, shaking her head, "Zhy would kick me off her raiding party, and everybody else already has a full team, or doesn't want me with my... infirmity."

"I'd ask why not, but knowing both our cultures a little, I think I see why." Gerard groaned, giving her a pat on the back then getting up to get something out of storage. "I'll get you a brace and some painkillers, it will help but you really need to be care-!"

The grate over the service hatch dented and slammed open with a clang, and a short blurry figure shot out. Moments later, Uhr had been pinned to the floor by Lia, who was holding a knife to her throat. "Paws off my mate, bitch!" Lia spat, pulling the knife closer to the Gnoll's throat.

"ENOUGH! STOP!!!" Gerard roared, kicking the knife out of Lia's palm, to her abject shock. "Can't you tell when I'm working with a patient?"

"Patient?" Lia mouthed as she looked dumbfounded, but quickly released Uhr and picked up the knife. "I always knew you were nuts, love, but do you have a death wish? She's a Gnoll!"

"No, in fact she's one of the Gnolls that command was having me executed for helping."

"Oh, in that case I should thank you," Lia remarked as she helped Uhr up, who was looking at Lia like she didn't know what to expect from the Lapinian, "rescuing Gerard's tail from that execution squad was the most fun I've had... well, ever!"

"Is this really a Lapinian?" Asked an even more confused Uhr of Gerard, "And is she... sane?"

Lia practically fell back laughing at that, as Dorrin and Aria entered to see what was going on.

"Physiologically, yes. Psychologically, I haven't a clue," Gerard eventually replied, "but it's hard to imagine life without her."

"Never in my life did I think a Gnoll'd be questioning my sanity... anyhow, we can't stay here, especially not with all that noise, and your 'friend' complicates things."

"Actually, you can for now," said Marla's unexpected voice over comms, "there's only one other Gnoll aboard now. I've arranged a few... distractions."

Aboard the Bloodrage, Captian's Quarters

Zhy grumbled as she closed the door to her quarters, the only single room on the Bloodrage. The room was small, with a hodgepodge of furniture that had been stolen from various sources, mostly Leonin. Across from the bunk was a tattered poster of the Leonin emperor, with a target crudely drawn in red over his face. Zhy effortlessly pulled a knife from her belt and tossed it towards the poster, landing straight in one of the torn remnants of his eyes. It was actually a "decompression and catharsis" exercise which Matriarch Razormaw had mandated her leaders do whenever possible. Yeh, feels good, but pointless. Zhy grumbled to herself. "Fucken Arth and 'no kill Leonin', AAARGH!" She grabbed the knife and punched the two-dimensional effigy in its nose, then broke into the maniacal laughter her species was well known for. "Maybee crew have 'accident', all die, then we take ship... yes... must come up with extra special accident for Leonin... Arth never know!"

Somewhere in Ragerian Space

Denal's large, dark furred ears flicked as he was prematurely roused from his slumber. "0213 hours," he grumbled, getting up and moving towards a mirror, "this better be important." As he approached it, still in nothing but his bare fur, the reflective surface became opaque then was replaced by the image of a tan furred Ragerian in a gray uniform, who promptly saluted. "Do you have any idea what time it is, Lieutenant?" Denal half growled as he returned the salute.

"0214 hours sir," replied the other Ragerian, as he withdrew his own salute, "but this is extremely urgent."

"Then report and be quick about it!"

"The Snowlit Dawn was attacked by Gnolls, two groups actually. The first was taken out by the second, decisively, and the freighter has been boarded."

"I fail to see how this couldn't wait for your daily report at 0900." Denal grunted as an automated dispenser filled a mug with some dark liquid, which he began to sip."

"Sir, the Snowlit Dawn deployed an Active Cyber-Warfare Suite against both attackers. The Analytical AI has concluded with 99.87% certainty that an active imprint of General Marla Jorlen is responsible for this development."

Denal's eyes went wide as he spit out his drink, coughing and sputtering for a moment before regaining his composure.

"We had figured that they must have destroyed her imprint a month ago." Denal choked out, still having a bit of his drink stuck in his throat. "It boggles my mind that she'd willingly give Captain Briskwind anything to work with. This changes our entire plan of action... wait, you said the second group still managed to best them? How???"

"Uncertain sir, but our scans detect the other Gnoll ship has extensive Yotan and Ragerian tech modifications."

A sound of shattering porcelain echoed though the room as Denal's dropped mug hit the metallic floor plates. "Thank you for reporting this Lieutenant, notify me immediately if there are additional developments, or you find out more about these Gnolls."

The Lieutenant saluted, and the display returned to a mirror-like state.Gnolls are total savages, thought Denal, shaking his head as he paced about, trying desperately to come up with a containment plan, as he remembered fighting them in the war centuries ago, the Leonin took the most violent, early industrial era society they could and turned them into disposable shock troops, then tried to purge them once the war ended. How would they have gotten ahold of tech like that with all our precautions? Why would anyone want to arm them? He froze in sudden realization, rushing back to the mirror. "Get Ellia Longtail on vidcom, I need to speak to her now!"

Chapter 5

Unknown Location

Gerra Razormaw grumbled in irritation as she watched several holographic projections from the desk she was sitting at. It seemed to her that was a lot of what she did these days: read reports, make directives, yell at somebody light-years away over quantum comms. Fucking void dammit, I've turned into a glorified paper pusher, like an underpaid __V_ ulpin office drone or a_ Lupin records clerk. She snarled to herself at that thought, both equally infuriating for her - she wanted action, hands on leadership and to chew out idiots for being idiots in person. People take ya much more seriously when you're looming over 'em, or at least positioned to give them a swift kick... especially Gnolls. Hack is right though, I can't be everywhere, and if my people are going to get ahead, we need to learn to "operate with modern infrastructure and governance."

Her irritated sulking was interrupted by a vidcom call. "Oh lovely," she chuckled, voice dripping with sarcasm as she looked at the profile image of the Ragerian calling her, "Ellia wants to speak to me again; I can barely contain my joy." She pressed accept, and a live video feed of a cream furred Ragerian female filled the central projection.

"GERRA! WHAT IN THE ORDER'S GRACE ARE YOUR THUGS DOING OUT THERE?!?" screeched Ellia, in the way her species did when they were truly frustrated or angry; by this point, Gerra had gotten used to the sound, and ringing in her ears from it. This time, however, it seemed worse than usual.

"Puffball, stop screeching like your tail is caught in a door. I can't understand what you're saying past the headache and urge to shut you up!" Gerra groaned, using her 'pet name' for Ellia as usual - calling people by such nicknames (which always had a mild slight to them) was a time-honored tradition between Gnolls who respected each other, and she loved pushing the young diplomat's buttons. Ellia, of course, loved pushing them back too, in a way consistent with Gnoll culture, where friends and colleagues verbally jousted often.

"This isn't a joke Gerra, Denal says one of your raids targeted a freighter." Ellia huffed, an almost pout-y look on her face. Gerra's experience told her this either meant Ellia was dead serious about this or playing her own mind games. It was hard to tell which way she was heading without more dialog.

"If this is more Folf humor it's goin' way over by head..." Gerra paused then blinked as she picked up on a particular cue that had been noticeably missing, "wait, you didn't call me 'little girl'? You're being serious?"

"So serious I'll overlook that remark, giggle-dog." Ellia gave Gerra a sour grin - she absolutely hated being called a folf - apparently, they took it as something of a slur, like the term she's just used was to Gnolls...

Biting her lip Gerra stifled a snarl. I was asking for something like that with that slip, better not escalate this... oh goddess, admitting I don't want to actually fight Ellia is embarrassing. "I... apologize." It took her a moment to choke that word out; after all, she didn't really want to do so, and it took a Herculean effort to not default to the brutal honesty Gnolls were accustomed to. "What's the 'clockwork solder boy' accusing us of? My only active raid teams are trying to get rid of some cannibal tribes, just like you suggested we do." "Public Relations" she said, "it would make the Lapinians more receptive to future diplomacy" she said! At least her emphatic senses don't work over vidcom.

"You're forgiven, little girl." Ellia snickered, giving Gerra her typical smug grin; she knew Gerra was almost twice her age, and that was only the more benign meaning behind it. "But... apparently the freighter one of your ships decided to attack is a vessel Denal has 'personal interest' in." She rolled her eyes at that last statement.

"Yeah, yeah; sure I am, puffball!" Gerra snorted in reply, what little amusement she had evaporating quickly, "Let me see if I can guess, that ship would be the Bloodrage, right?" Now it was Gerra's turn to grin, she'd not heard any reports about any issues, but she'd figured her guess was on the money, and the look of surprise on Ellia's face told her she was right. Priceless, absolutely priceless. Love getting her flustered!

"I... thought you weren't aware of any-"

"Anyone disobeying orders? I'm not, but Zhy is the only one who's bold, ambitious and utterly stupid enough to pull something like this, likely using a very liberal interpretation of my older orders. Time to get Commander Arth on the call and see what she knows..." the grin on Gerra's face turned into a scowl, "and to chew her out royally if she does know anything!!!"

Aboard** Arth's Command Ship**

Arth had just sat down to a meal... well, in the loosest sense of the term anyway. Urgh, reconstituted, recycled and synthetically created meat and veggies... __w_ ait, can you even really call this stuff that_ it it's produced entirely by machine? She looked at the unappetizing mush in the bowl before her, shrugged, then started shoveling it into her maw. Gnolls were not known for their table manners, nor weak stomachs, after all.

Her vidcom beeped, eliciting a growl, then a gasp as she checked a holographic pop-up, which told her who was calling.

"M-matriarch!" Arth gasped, forcing a nervous smile as Gerra and Ellia appeared on the projected display. She raised an eyebrow at the Ragerian's presence on the call. "Wha's she doin' here?"

"Well I'm certainly not here to observe your crude table manners." Ellia remarked with a grimace at Arth's messy face.

"Yeah Arth, wipe yer maw, Puffball here has a weak stomach!" Gerra laughed but only for a moment. "Table manners are the least of your concerns, Loudmouth. What does Zhy think she's doing out there?!?"

Oh void, I forgot to send that report in! Arth visibly shuddered at that as her mind raced but was set a bit at ease that Gerra used the old nickname she'd given her before she became matriarch. Been too long since she called me 'Loudmouth', that means she's not too angry, at least with me in particular. Wish I could still call her 'Old Lady' like I used to."I was... actually going to report that once I'd finished eating. She attacked the freighter Snowlit Dawn, they have a Leonin crewmember aboard, and she decided that meant they were Leonin collaborators."

"Next time I expect you to as freely share yer reports as you do remarks, Loudmouth!" Gerra huffed with a grin and chuckle, before frowning once more. "You did tell her not to kill anybody, right?"

"Absolutely Matriarch, those were my exact orders!"

"Good, at least I can still count on your judgment, if not doing urgent things immediately."

"Yes, and I'm on my way to her coordinates to-"

"No Arth, continue the operation. I will take care of this personally!"

Aboard the Bloodrage, Engineering Compartment

"Oh hells!" Brouh exclaimed to Tallia as he rushed towards one of the exits. "Sorry, the malfunctions have spread to waste reclamation, you uh... don't wanna deal with that, just keep trying to isolate the source, alright?"

Tallia shook her head, giving a nervous look to the hatch the male Gnoll had left from. Just leave me without tech savvy supervision? Too easy, I smell a trap... __w_ hat in darkmatter?!_ The diagnostics testing in the screen she was looking at had been replaced by a messaging interface.

- [You're welcome, Tallia; he was getting quite annoying, wasn't he?] -

_Marla? Marla!_She couldn't believe it but she'd never been happier to hear from a Ragerian imprint in her life.

- [Marla, if you've got a way out for me, I swear by the Dawn I'll never question or fight with you again!] -

- [I may just hold you to that... not quite yet though I'm afraid. I'm sure you've noticed the... unusually advanced setup these G** nolls have. Don't underestimate them, especially Brouh - he nearly pinned me down a few times, extremely sharp for any species.] -**

- [Hate to admit it but you're right, that last trick was pretty shitty of you though.] - Tallia chuckled at that remark, wondering if she was amusing anyone but herself.

- [Stick to engineering please, that one was old back when I had a body. It was the only way to get him to leave, needed something he couldn't fix remotely that would take time to resolve... and the little yapper is efficient, he's nearly got it sorted out already. Does the name "Hack" mean anything to you?] -

Tallia groaned at that; he was one person from her former life she genuinely wished she could forget.

- [That overconfident, smug, know-it-all Ragerian the New Dawn** picked up and decided to raise? You'd probably like him, you're two of a kind.] -**

- [Wait, he's a Ragerian? Oh shit, Brouh's coming back, be convincing!] -

The display returned to the diagnostic that was running, further along in the process albeit nowhere near where it should be as the hatch opened and the sweaty, scrawny hyena guy came back in.

"Well, got that shit on a manual override now, literally." He chuckled as it took all Tallia's strength to not groan. "That won't happen again at least, getting tired of isolating so many systems. Find anything whilst I was out?"

"Not really, uh..." her mind raced as she looked over the cooked diagnostic output Marla had given her. Come on Marla, gimme some ammo to get him outta here!

"Let me look, Hack had made a few adjustments to this stuff he called 'atypical' after all." Brouh noted, causing Tallia's eyes to snap over to him.

"This 'Hack'... is he a folf?" She asked, now having even more trouble focusing on the readouts.

"Yeah, he's the one who trained me and the other techs, plus he did most of the planning for our refits. You know him?"

"You could say that..." she answered, both not wanting to discuss her former student, nor feeling like revealing her feelings about him to this Gnoll was a good idea. What in the Dawn was Hack doing helping a bunch of Gnolls? Must have been captured, the stupid naive fool... but even then, he's not the type to help savages like them.

"You're from the New Dawn then? What are you doing out here?"

The heck does he know about the New Dawn?!? "Uh, I'd rather not talk about... wait, the distributed backups!" She pointed at one obscure point in the results. "It looks like there's corruption in all but one of the nodes and automatic restore is failing. Node 4 appears intact."

"Of course, must have been cosmic radiation... the odds of all but one node getting hit are a billion to one, and even more unlikely the fail-safe would not work..." He pulled up a reference chart on another display. "Of course, the other end of the ship, guess I'm getting plenty of exercise today. Don't go anywhere!"

Tallia sighed in relief as he ran off, and the chat interface reappeared.

- [Took you long enough to find that... but the revealing conversation was worth it: a Ragerian is training Gnoll technicians and upgrading their equipment? What in the Order's Name is this 'Hack' trying to accomplish???] -

- [I'm as shocked and frightened by this as you are Marla: Hack was the most difficult student I've ever had, but he wasn't the type who'd arm primitive thugs. Heck, he called my engineering assignments 'boring, unimaginative and suitable for only remedial students.' Damn F** olf regularly disregarded assignments and inserted whatever pet project he wanted.] -**

- [I can't imagine why... and that's a slur, like if I were to call you a "scrap-yapper"] -

- [I did not know that, old habits die hard... got a way out of this yet?] -

- [Possibly, but you're not going to like it...] -

Aboard the Snowlit Dawn, Medbay

"People say I'm crazy," chuckled Lia, looking at Marla's hologram in the medbay, "but what you just proposed is absolutely insane!"

"Tallia is already aboard their ship, and I've already got the logic bomb in place so speak for yourself. We just need to get to the armory and then rescue her and the bridge crew."

"And you're sure this is a good idea to say in front of the Gnoll?" Lia asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhr can be trusted," growled Gerard as he helped Uhr put on an arm brace, the suddenly assertive and defiant response surprising Lia, "I won't hear anymore about it!"

"Look, it's not like you're my choice of troops for this," Marla groaned, rubbing her virtual forehead, "but like me I don't think we have an option..."

"The Folf is right," remarked Uhr, not even noticing her sour expression at the term used, "I will explain to Arth what happened once you escape... she... will understand."

"You... you're sure about that?" Gerard asked Uhr, as he finished with the brace, "you could probably come with us if you don't feel safe."

Uhr shook her head at Gerard, looking down. "That would just put you in more danger. Arth is not just some brute like the others, and Matriarch Razormaw is... well, never quite met a Matriarch like her."

"What about after the armory?"_Dorrin piped up nervously, feeling more and more out of his depth by the moment. _I've never fired a weapon before, I'm not even confident using my own claws against actual killers like these Gnolls.

"Once that has occurred, I'll trigger the logic bomb and their systems will all go into a full diagnostic mode. That should give us at least half an hour to retake the bridge, extract Tallia and escape."

Marla's response did nothing to make Dorrin more comfortable. "You're... you're sure that there's only one other Gnoll aboard?" Dorrin finally forced himself to ask.

"Yes, but I doubt it will stay that way. My distractions won't work forever, we need to move, now!"

Back on the Bloodrage

- [Marla, have you lost your mind??] - Tallia couldn't believe this, not only was she helping her plant military grade malware in the ship she was on, but she also had to pretend she was helping them fix it!

- [I told you you wouldn't like it, but this is the best chance we've got. I'm arranging a rescue for you, what else do you want?] -

- [Oh I don't know... not being IN THE FUCKING EPICENTER would probably be a good start!] -

- [Ok then, how would you get yourself out without raising suspicion or getting yourself captured again and possibly killed? Because the corridors from here to the airlock are crawling with angry, well-armed and experienced G** noll pirates.] -**

Tallia took a moment, not knowing how to reply to that one. I'm so fucking hulled, void dammit.

- [Guess you can't, can you? Brouh is coming back, remember the plan, bye!] -

Snowlit Dawn, Armory

Lia held her pistol drawn and ready as the door to the armory slid open, checking both the left and right inside before moving in. Dorrin scooted in behind her as she signaled the room was clear, along with the others.

"That was easy..." remarked Lia as she moved towards the weapons locker, "if we didn't have such expert planning from our very own General, I'd say too easy."

Dorrin had never been in this room, no reason really, and he'd hoped there would never have been one, yet... something looked off to him as Lia disabled the locks.

"W-wait!" The young Tigrin grabbed Lia's hand as she was about to slide the door to the safe open, "is there supposed to be a wire there???"

Lia had glared at him for a moment, then her eyes went wide as she noticed what he'd seen. "Dorrin, I owe you a drink when we get to port..." she then turned to glare at and stomp towards Uhr. "but you... what was that you said? Something like 'we don't booby trap things anymore'? Should have known that was a pile of compost!"

"We... we don't!" Uhr stammered, in apparent shock at the accusation and evidence. "Matriarch Razormaw ordered that we stop shortly after she, uh... took over. 'Waste of materials that gains us nothing' was why."

"I can actually confirm that," added Aria, "it was a subject of much talk at the tribe I was with, as most tribes do it to ensure nobody else stakes a claim to things they've yet to collect entirely."

"I believe Uhr," said Gerard with a nod to her, "but someone set this up, and it wasn't one of us. Any idea who'd disobey your Matriarch like that?"

"Zhy might... but she'd know if Matriarch Razormaw found out she'd be... well, best not say, but I don't think she'd be on raids for a while."

"Eh, whatever," snorted Lia, already working to disarm the trap, "I need a good excuse to brush up on my UXO disposal and handling skills... and, got it! Wait, what's this?" Lia held up the plasma charge cell rigged to the crude trap - one of Gerard's, which he'd dropped earlier.

"Wait, that's actually the one I used back when I was helping Uhr and her mate escape," noted Gerard as he looked the cylinder over, "it's got maybe one shot in it, an overload probably wouldn't have done much."

"Zhy wouldn't have known that, hmm..." Lia tapped under her chin, her now partly loose ears swaying behind her a bit, "I'll bet she was planning to say you planted it, to cover her tracks."

"Sounds like her," Uhr nodded, "I'll watch for more... oh..." her eyes went wide suddenly, "she... she could be... we need to get to the bridge; I think she's planning to kill everyone and claim Gerard did it!"

Back on the Bloodrage

"Ok, the backup is being restored now," Brouh announced with a grin as he returned, "and don't worry, I'm sure we'll let you and your friends go, well except maybe the Leonin."

"Very comforting," sighed Tallia, trying very hard not to reveal what was going on, "can I go now?" Well guess I could always blame being captured for seeming nervous.

"If it were up to me, sure. I'm 'just a male' though..." Brouh grumbled, clearly not pleased with this part of his situation, "Matriarch Razormaw may be more, er... progressive than any other Gnoll female, but... she still doesn't see us as equal to females, so I only have authority to make repairs."

"Why don't you just leave then?" She snapped in annoyed response, making the short Gnoll jump in surprise. "If someone holds you back, just walk away!"

"Wow..." he blinked, giving her a look of disbelief, "Commander Sandra always said you Yotan were all about supporting each other over whatever else you might want!"

"Maybe I'm not your norm- wh-what did you just say?" She gasped in complete shock, it was a common name of course but... if this void-brained little Gnoll means my niece, how in subspace do they know each other?!?

Before he could respond there was a loud thunk and click from all the hatches, sounds Tallia recognized all too well - the entire compartment had just been sealed.

"H-hey, oh it's Zhy!" Brouh shuddered as he looked out the window of the hatch. "Glitches must not quite be fixed yet, could you hit the override please?"

Zhy just grinned, turning to a console and doing something else.

"What are you doing?" He gulped as he heard the air starting to be pumped out of the compartment, banging on the door. "That's not the right console, you're venting the atmosphere, th-that'll... oh..." He lowered his ears as she walked away, looking pale as he turned to Tallia. "She's... she's trying to kill us!"

Tallia was already busy trying to override something from her console, eventually kicking a metal panel. "Really? No shit! AAARRRGGGH!"

"Don't worry, the noise and output on the life support consoles are all simulated," said Marla as her projection suddenly appeared in front of a very shocked Brouh, "I had noticed she appeared to be... planning something, so I ran a fake shell program on the terminal she was at, so she couldn't actually do anything, then made it seem like she had."

"A-another imprint???" Brouh gasped, backing up a bit as his maw hung open, "Wh-where? What? How???"

"What do you know know of imprints, little Gnoll? No, don't answer that now, we have little time and I'm trying to do too many things already. We need to..." Marla stopped mid-sentence, a look of shock spreading on her face. "Another ship jumped in, looks like an amalgamation of several Ragerian... wait..."

Marla's Memoryspace

Marla's gaze went distant as she focused on connecting to the new ship, but instead of seeing an access point or control systems, she found herself in a pitch-black room, looking at another Ragerian. He had dusty blonde fur, somewhat similar to hers and looked familiar...

"Reese?" she asked after a moment, her voice filled with both confusion and hope, "What are you doing here?"

"I have no idea who you are talking about," he replied, flatly and dismissively, "but I could ask you the same thing, considering you just tried to bypass security on my system, and I have no idea who you even are."

"I... didn't expect there to be a Ragerian imprint on a ship with Gnoll colors and markings," she replied, somewhat crestfallen, and even more confused as her ears lowered, for the first time in centuries feeling completely out of her element, "I am General Marla Jorlen, Ragerian Regulatory Forces, Division 2 Command, I am currently installed on the Snowlit Dawn and..."

"The RRF does not operate in this sector, much less a General, and Division 2 was disbanded over a century ago. Be honest with me or I shall forcefully disconnect you."

"I've been stuck in the wreck of a shuttle for over 200 years, I was trying to reach Lupin Prime when I was ambushed by Leonin, and since I do not even know who you are or what clearance you may have, I will not tell you any more!"

"I will verify those claims, and since I can see you are indeed connecting to me from the Snowlit Dawn... this vessel is the flagship of Matriarch Gerra Razormaw of the Vorescythe Tribe, she did not authorize the attack on your ship and is here to, er... correct the situation with the raid leader... likely violently and lethally. I would advise not getting in her way, I'm sure you know what angry Gnolls are like, please disconnect now."

"W-wait, why would a Ragerian help-"

"I was being polite, but I wasn't asking, disconnecting you now."

Back on the Bloodrage

"-that's Matriarch Razormaw's ship!" Marla heard Brouh exclaim as she was returned to her normal state and all the data-feeds she had regular access to. Well, whoever that was, he wasn't lying.

"I know," replied Marla, "and I just got some very interesting information from that ship. I'm opening the hatches, get moving!"

Vorscythe Flagship, Main Control Room

Gerra examined the sensor readouts disapprovingly as her flagship jumped into range of the Snowlit Dawn. "Really Zhy? Just a run down freighter carrying basic supplies, is that what you want me to beat the crap out of you over??? Moron..."

"Matriarch, there's more to this ship than you think;" came a male voice without an associated body, "another imprint just tried to hack us from there... I have dealt with it. Also, I've got some footage from both ships, you're not going to like it."

"Show me, ship."

"I'd really rather you call me-"

"You're not really him though, and anything else gets confusing quickly, deal with it."

"Technically I'm a static state of what he was when..." he sighed, but stopped his explanation as Gerra began tapping one hind-paw impatiently, "as you wish, Matriarch. You're fortunate I still have the same feelings he does."

"Yeah yeah yeah, just show me what Zhy has been up to so I can decide how much to..." she paused as the projected video and audio feeds started in front of her, replacing the overlay of the system. First, she watched a feed of Zhy booby-trapping the weapons locker. One more reason to beat the crap out of her, I ordered an end to that years ago! Next, he played back the recording of Zhy plotting in her quarters. Oh yes, there was an "accident" alright, you saying that shit aloud, when I'm done, you'll be scrubbing decks with the males! Finally, she watched her locking Tallia and Brouh in the engineering compartment, eliciting an absolutely livid snarl from Gerra.

"The other imprint already saved the two of them fortunately, but you should probably-" the voice from the ship was interrupted by a scream from Gerra.

"That void damn backstabbing power hungry bitch!!" Gerra snarled, punching a metal panel and denting it. "Bring us in to dock with the Bloodrage, now!"

Snowlit Dawn, Bridge

Sabre sat silently as he slowly and quietly worked at slicing away the cuffs holding his wrists to the chair using his claws... well, in truth, not just his claws, he still had hidden nano-carbon edge implants from his days in the Lupin Military. It is fortunate they did not insist I have them removed, as painful as they are. He winced as once again had to retract and extend the practically invisible points to sharpen the blades. They were tiny enough you'd need a good microscope to see them, but sharp enough to cut steel cables with minimal effort, at least so long as he kept re-sharpening themwith each retraction and deployment. Almost have it... there! He rapidly hid a grin as he felt the last resistance to one of the cuffs fall away. Now, I just need to finish the other before the guard notices and wait for the right time to strike.

"Yoo relieved, get lost!" His ear twisted back as he heard Zhy entering the bridge again, and the Gnoll who had been half-heartedly watching the remaining bridge crew stepped out. He carefully quickened the pace of his filing on the last cuff with practiced precision. Once again, the extensive training shows its worth.

"What's the matter?" Donna snickered from one corner of the bridge, still tied up. "Still haven't found the doctor? Have you tried Medbay?"

"Iz no concern, you not live much longer."

"That's funny, I seem to recall your superior ordering you to keep us alive." Donna reminded the towering hyena, giving the pirate a frosty glare.

"Can't help if yoo try use bomb to escape and decompress ship, can I?" Zhy laughed sickeningly, taking out a crude explosive device and placing it on the outer bulkhead.

"Do you really think that your matriarch will believe that?" Sabre chose to interject, feeling the last cuff was loose finally. It is now or never.

"Why not?" Zhy huffed, stomping over to Sabre, looming over him.

"Well for one..." he began before leaping up in a flash, and knocking the surprised pirate to the deck, "this is how one actually attempts escape!"

Somewhere aboard the Bloodrage

Tallia rolled between corridors, narrowly avoiding several bullets from some sort of primitive rifles the Gnolls carried. Way too close, void damn! At least they're not shooting at the pipsqueak.

"Ladies, p-please stop trying to shoot her!" Brouh (the "pipsqueak" she'd referred to) whined in his naturally nasal tone, a request they promptly ignored as she attempted to peek around from her cover.

"This clearly isn't working," she growled, more at the situation than anyone: they'd barely gotten out of engineering before a patrol had noticed her - one which had no interest in talking whatsoever, "dammit Marla, what the space debris are you doing?!?"

There was no response from her, in fact there had not been any since they'd left the ship's engineering deck.

"HOLD YOUR FIRE YA VOID DAMN BITCHES, OR I'LL TEAR YA A NEW ONE!" Tallia could not hear where the deep but still feminine voice had come from, much less did she know to whom it belonged, yet... the Gnolls had heeded it, pointing their weapons at the deck plates. A rather less-stocky female Gnoll with silver fur and maroon spots casually strolled forward. She was an inch or two shorter than most of the other ladies and less... beefy... but clearly still in excellent physical shape. The newcomer wore a black leather vest with some muted gunmetal colored plates, a primitive and jury-rigged looking rifle slung over her shoulder and a yellow eyepiece over her right eye, no doubt displaying information that nobody else could make out. Tallia could have sworn that that was the standard tactical HUD the Yotan issued their security forces, or at least something close to it.

"M-M-MMatriarch R-R-Razormaw!?" Brouh yipped in shock, his face looking unusually pale as the owner of the voice walked towards them, surprisingly casually.

"Relax Brouh, you aren't in trouble," she nodded towards him as he averted his eyes, looking at the floor, "but your friend may be another matter... Hack said your name was Tiara or something? "

Tallia froze in shock, closing her maw with a click once she realized it was hanging open. Does everyone know Hack?!?"Tallia, it's Tallia, and what in the void are your brutes doing to the Snowlit Dawn???"

"Not anything I authorized, Fire-Yapper," Gerra snickered in response, "and you're going to help me... take care... of the moron responsible."

Fire-Yapper? Is that some kind of insult? Tallia shook her head in disbelief, deciding that if it was there were much worse ones she could be called and that she actually kinda liked the sound of it. "Last I checked I wasn't a Gnoll," she replied dryly, gesturing to her chest, "much less one who worked for you... mmm, nope, I'm still Yotan. Speaking of, how in the void did you get ahold of our tech???"

"As much as I'd like to show off right now, Zhy is planning to kill you and your crew, or did you not notice?" Gerra rolled her eyes as she began to walk past her, towards the airlock which they had been trying to get to moments ago, "You really don't have time to argue with me, Fire-Yapper! Either come and help me or stay the fuck out of my way!!!"

Tallia groaned and shook her head, starting to follow the "matriarch" even though she didn't know how to feel about this whole situation. How does she know what has been happening? For that matter, how does she know my name?

"You uh... really shouldn't antagonize her," Brouh spoke in a low voice as he followed her, rubbing his forehead as his ears remained lowered, "any other matriarch would have just tossed you aside for that, or worse... much less try to help you and your crew."

"I'm not just any matriarch," Gerra replied, looking over her shoulder and pausing for a moment, making Brouh gulp, "Brouh is a smart man, you should listen to him. Might even learn something." She snickered and grinned widely before continuing. "Probably more than Hack learned in your classes."

Tallia leapt forward at that, hitting the control console and causing the airlock door to close in front of Gerra. "I don't know what you're playing at 'matriarch', or how you know Hack, but I'm in this to save my ship and crew, not be insulted in the process. If you want my help, shut your yap until you need me to do something!"

Gerra glowered at her, fire in her green eyes as she looked down at Tallia - even being shorter than the others Gnolls, she was still much taller than just about everyone on the crew. Brouh gulped, almost trembling, but Tallia did not flinch, staring at Gerra with her own burning yellow eyes. For a moment she thought this may have been a mistake... until Gerra burst out in almost jovial laughter.

"Ahahahhaahah! Oh, I see my name of choice for you was right on the nose. I think I like you, Fire-Yapper, in spite of what I may have heard."

Back on the Snowlit Dawn's Bridge

The deck plating on the bridge slammed and creaked with age as Sabre fell to it, clutching his sides. I knew I was no longer in my prime, but I had not realized my body had deteriorated so. His back, legs and arms all burned from exertion, and the arthritis had been growing worse in the past few decades. Zhy stood above him and laughed like Gnolls were known to do as Sabre tried to force his aged and uncooperative body to stand and assume a defensive stance through sheer force of will. A swift kick in his gut from her ended that attempt quickly, what breath he had managed to catch forced out of him by the blow.

"Yooseless old man, not worth my time," she huffed indignantly, spitting on him before striding off, leaving him in a heap in the corner, "better things to do."

As she left and the door shut, a sizzling sound reached Sabre from the other end. A laser welder, she is sealing us in! Once more he tried desperately to catch his breath, using the breathing exercises he learned in his training long ago, along with the mental conditioning tricks to push back the pain. He'd still not managed when he heard a hidden service hatch click almost inaudibly... then open.

"Actually, that was pretty impressive for someone your age," Lia noted, coming out of the hatch and making her way over to help up the now blushing Lupin, "I'm sure my grandpa couldn't have done anywhere near as good."

"There is a bomb," he replied, gesturing to the wall out of a desire to survive and, more so, to stop any conversation about the badly-botched engagement, "I do not have training for dealing with bomb disposal."

"Well, you've asked the right person. Go untie the others and get them out of here, I'll handle it."

Sabre had barely finished untying the Donna and Herbert before Lia had disarmed the bomb.

"Got it!" She triumphantly called, practically bouncing in place as was the norm for Lapinians when excited. "That dumb giggle-dog didn't even make it difficult!"

"As much as I hate to sound unappreciative, where's everyone else?" Donna asked, rubbing a bruise on her forehead as she got to her seat.

"Aria, Dorrin and Gerard are searching the ship for more traps," Lia responded, giving Donna a worried look, "I don't know where Tallia went, she wasn't in engineering, and her tablet thing was lying on the deck abandoned."

"She'd never abandon that," Donna shook her head as she considered the tool, "if I let her she'd have taken it to bed with her."Perhaps not totally serious, but that isn't far from the truth, thought Donna.

Sabre grunted wordlessly in reply, checking his sensors. "Captain?" His eyes widened as what he was seeing, "I can't say for sure, but that looks like a Ragerian ship just docked on the other side of the Gnoll Carrier."

Well, that makes no sense at all, what are Ragerians doing here and why would they associate with Gnolls? The Captain rubbed her eyes, looking at the feed before the Comm station beeped then connected on its own accord.

"Snowlit Dawn bridge crew, I'm not reading any Gnolls on your deck, what's your status?" Came a male voice over intercom system, causing Donna to raise an eyebrow.

"Who are you and how did you force a connection with my ship?" She demanded, already livid after having her ship and now privacy invaded... well more so than it was regularly now that Marla was more-or-less integrated.

"Marla gave me access and who I am isn't important, I'm trying to help you take back your ship. I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear Tallia is alive and well, and with a, ahem... friend."

Friend? Donna raised an eyebrow at the cough from the disembodied voice over the comms, the way he said it sounded... uncertain? He's gotta be hiding something more than his name, guess I'm not in a position to pick my allies though. "Right, where's Marla? She's been oddly silent, and you said she let you in."

"I'm still here." Marla replied, or at least it sounded like her... "I'll explain later, but let's just say we're going to have to work with some very strange fellows to get out of this."

I don't have a way to verify any of this, not good. "So exactly what do we need to do then?" Donna asked, practically flopping back in the command chair.

Meanwhile, in the Galley

Dorrin ducked into the galley behind Gerard; they had been checking for further explosives when Zhy had spotted them and they'd narrowly managed to slip in and seal the door.

"It won't hold..." muttered Gerard as he looked at his pistol, his paw-hand trembling. "I-I don't know if I can..." he gulped before pointing it down at the floor and holding the grip out to Dorrin.

"What am I supposed to do with that?" Dorrin asked incredulously as he eyed the weapon, holding his hands up. "I'm not a soldier or security guard. I've never even fired a real weapon, much less at something alive or intelligent!"

"Because I swore, I'd never kill again, especially not a Gnoll!" Gerard snapped, "I'd rather die, but I won't leave you defenseless. Take the void-damn gun, just... don't point it at anyone you don't want to fry."

Dorrin gulped as he took the pistol. It was heavy and menacing, he wanted to toss it out the nearest airlock... but a slam at the door, which visibly dented the metal quickly changed his mind.

His hand shook as the door burst open, Zhy snarling at him as he pulled the trigger... And blasted a chunk out of the corner of the door frame. "S-shit!" He gasped, pulling the trigger again as she advanced, but the weapon did not fire.

Zhy quickly lunged forward, knocking the weapon from Dorrin's hand with a yelp. She tried to pin him to the table, but he resisted, twisting away as he remembered all the wrestling he'd taken part in in school."Average at best" coach always said, let's see if I can disprove that!

Surprisingly to him, the Gnoll had half a foot's size on him, and was doing her level best to leverage it. He was used to being equal, to or better than most in that realm, and she soon had him pinned in spite of his efforts.

"Yoo good for male," she snarled, pulling a dagger from her belt as Dorrin squirmed frantically, "too bad yoo dea- gaaah!"

She suddenly a silver furred arm wrapped around Zhy's neck and she dropped the dagger, squirming as a figure appeared behind her... another Gnoll, and a shorter one at that.

"Thanks for the distraction, kid." Gerra chuckled with a smirk, "I'll take care of this... trash from here."

Gerard leapt up from behind the counter as Dorrin gazed in shock at the other gnoll, who was dragging Zhy away with her. Dorrin followed, wanting to be ready to do... something, in case Zhy broke free.

"What are you going to do to her?" Gerard half asked and half demanded, eliciting a chuckle from Gerra.

"What any decent Matriarch would do to one who tries to kill those of their own tribe." Gerra snarled, more at Zhy than Gerard, "This does not concern you Gerard, go tend to your wounded crew."

"How do you know my..?" He began, trailing off as he realized she was heading for an airlock, with Zhy thrashing but to no avail. "There has been too much death today, I do not care who or what you are, I cannot allow you to add to it!"

"This piece of filth not only disobeyed some long-standing and clear orders," she growled, tightening her grip om Zhy as they neared the inner hatch, "but plotted to kill your crew for no reason, pin it on you, and attempted to kill Brouh simply because he was in the way. And you want me to spare her???"

"I... I thought..." Gerard froze a moment considering this, as Gerra threw Zhy into the airlock, sealing the inner door. "Wait, no!"

Before he could try and stop her, Gerra had opened the outer door, causing Zhy to fly silently out into the void.

"I hate wasting Gnoll lives..." Gerra muttered, looking downward, then up at Gerard's pained expression, "but this ain't the first time Zhy tried to usurp me, at the cost of the tribe. Gotta say though, I didn't truly believe you were how Uhr he claimed ya were." She snorted, walking past Gerard and Dorrin. "Never thought I'd meet a Leonin I didn't want to kill or shave the mane off of."

Captain's Quarters, several hours later

Donna hugged Tallia close as the door to her quarters, their quarters, closed, leaving them in relative privacy.

"I, I can't believe I almost lost you, my love." Donna whimpered, nuzzling the coyote's ruffled and greasy fur.

"You're such a sap dear," chuckled Tallia, though it had a pained note to it, "but you're right. I... don't know what I'd have done if..."

"No point dwelling on it, everything worked out... hard to believe there's such thing as a reasonable Gnoll Matriarch."Even if her manners, both at the table and otherwise, leave much to be desired. Apparently, Gerra's idea of an apology was to have Dorrin cook a meal for everyone, then give the Captain livestock. "I just wish she'd not 'apologized' in a way that's probably going to make life more difficult for us."

"Harder to believe one of my former students was... is... helping her."

"You never told me about that dear," Donna remarked thoughtfully on that note, "in fact, this is making me even more curious about your time aboard your old Home-ship. I don't think you told me anything before now, other than it was the New Dawn."

"I never fit in well there." Tallia admitted, her ears lowering. "The truth is, Hack was right. I'm a mediocre engineer and an absolutely horrible teacher. He learned, in spite of my lessons."

"No, he's wrong about that," Donna insisted as she looked in Tallia's eyes, "you're a great engineer. When we first met, I was afraid I'd have to sell the Snowlit Dawn for scrap. I'd barely got the thrusters working well enough to land on that Lapinian border station. To you, it was as simple as replacing an illumination rod!"

Tallia smiled genuinely at that, nuzzling Donna. "It was, really. Once you root the OS and bypass the intentionally coded faults, these old Vulpin freighters are rock-solid and easy to fix. Most Yotan could do my job in their sleep."

"Oh shut it, that's an order!" giggled Donna, giving Tallia a surprise kiss... as the comm began to beep.

"What in the void is so damn important!" Demanded Donna as she answered it.

"Nyah! S-sorry Captain." Replied a blushing image of Aria, "b-but we've got an interesting hail. From a Commander Denal Blackpelt, of the Ragerian Regulatory Forces."

"Donna, before you answer that, I need to discuss something with you." Marla interrupted, for the first time since the Gnolls had left.

"Oh alright, Aria tell him I'll be with him in a few minutes."

After Aria nodded and the screen went off Marla spoke up again. "I know your prior trust in me probably seems misplaced now, but... I found out a few things from that other imprint. Unpleasant answers, and ones that left more questions. I know Denal, he's going to want you to hand me over; had this request happened a day ago I'd have been happy to comply but... he'd see to it I never get answers to most or all of my outstanding questions on the state of Rageria."

"And you think you'll find the answers with us?" Donna asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow at her projection.

"I'll have a chance, likely in ways and places we may not expect. Denal would send me to the Imprint Archives for long term preservation. That would mean minimal to no interaction with anybody or any outside systems. I'd be effectively dead once more; I can't have that now," Marla's projection sighed, looking downward, "at least not until I figure out what happened to my youngest son."

"I never took you for a mother..." muttered Tallia, "that must have really sucked for a child, having... oh, never mind."

"Dear, please don't be cruel, she probably saved us, even if her plans blew up spectacularly." Donna nodded, turning back to Marla. "I'm not about to hand you over to some damned Ragerian who shamelessly spies on a private vessel and doesn't lift a finger to help them."

"Thank you Captain," Marla sighed, looking relieved and genuinely pleased for once, "should I connect him now?"

"Yes, go ahead Marla."

The projection of a black-furred Ragerian in a plain, dark gray uniform replaced Marla's. "Good evening, Captain Briskwind. I am Commander Denal Blackpelt of the RRF, but I'm sure you've already been informed of that. No doubt you're quite busy recovering from a Gnoll attack so I'll keep this brief: it has come to our attention that you have one of ours aboard, in the form of an imprint. Naturally, we cannot allow such unauthorized access to our technology and expertise to continue."

"Oh really?" Donna asked, half snickering. "I suppose you have a ship nearby to pick her up? The same one spying on my ship that couldn't be bothered to aid us? You have a better chance of the Leonin going full pacifist and joining the Lapinian Confederacy than of getting me to cooperate with you knowing that. Besides, from what I've heard, you'd not be asking if you were able to force me to give her up."

A scowl made its way across Denal's face. "Given what we've seen I know Marla is seeing this, and I doubt she wants to stay on your... quaint... little vessel. Now that she knows I'm here and offering an exit I doubt you can-"

"That's where you're wrong Denal," Marla interrupted, causing his jaw to drop, "I have no intention of entering long term archival until I find out what happened to Reese."

A look of concern washed over Denal's face at that, as he turned to Marla's projection. "Marla... we may not have seen eye to eye in the past, but you know I'd never lie to you. Trust me when I say learning what your son has become will only bring you pain."

"I must know Denal, especially the reasons why Ragerians are divided? We've been united for thousands of years!"

"Marla I... I can't tell you, especially not over open comms, I-"

Suddenly Denal's figure blurred, and was replaced by a different Ragerian. She was shorter, with cream colored fur and deep blue eyes, and playful smile stretched across her maw.

"Hello there, glad to see Denal wasn't able to bore you to sleep already." The newcomer chuckled, looking directly at Donna and ignoring Marla.

"Who are you?" Asked Marla, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"Ambassador Ellia Longtail... and I'm not here to talk to you, 'General Jorlen.'" Her tone became one of ice whilst addressing Marla, shifting back to warm and inviting as she addressed Donna again. "You see, Captain Briskwind, unlike Denal I actually have a real proposition for you, one which I'm sure you won't wish to turn down."

Chapter 6

Zern System, Planet Huska, 35 years ago

Captain Jerry Briskwind paced about the bridge of the Snowlit Dawn anxiously, drawing occasional uncomfortable glances from his crew - which were, with one exception, all some form of Canid.

"Captain Briskwind!" The exception called from the helm, the well-built Lupin turning to salute his new Captain, holding perfectly as he awaited the return of it. Ancestors, it's really going to take a while for him to adjust to being aboard a civilian ship.

"Sabre, old friend," sighed Jerry, "this isn't a military vessel, you don't need to be so formal."

Sabre blushed, his ears lowering at that. "You are correct sir, but I still feel uncomfortable not showing high respect to my commanding officer."

"Employer," Jerry corrected, but gently, "neither of us are serving a nation... well, at least not officially. Besides, that level of formality among civilian crew attracts... attention, of the wrong kind."

"Very well sir," sighed Sabre, "I will cease saluting, but do not expect me to call you by your first name." Oh well,_thought Jerry, _that'll have to do then. Couldn't bring myself to leave him without a job, especially not after that massive shit sandwich Lupin Command forced on him.

"Will we be launching soon, sir?" asked Sabre a moment later. And there it is, the question I don't want to answer, but will have to.

"Come on Sabre, you know I can't just leave without her."

"May I speak freely, sir?"

"What did I just say about formalities?" Jerry groaned, rubbing his white furred muzzle. "If you have something to say, say it!"

"The Leonin are already in system sir, I have already adapted our course plans several times to evade their approach, and we are already down to a half hour window with the latest adjustments. Unless you would like for us to surrender to them we cannot wait any longer than that to launch."

"I know Sabre... Stan, see if you can reach Vanara, tell her to hurry up."

"I've already been trying a few times Jerry," answered the collie at the communications station towards the rear of the bridge, "she's either ignoring me, or something has happened."

"Unbelievable..." Jerry groaned, shaking his head, "Ok, initiate a direct point to point call with her. Unless she's not able to at all, she'll answer me."

A few moments later, the face of another snow-white husky appeared on the screen, this one was a female. Though the focus of the camera was on her, the background of what appeared to be the lobby of a large ski lodge was visible, the construction reminiscent of a log cabin with modern panoramic windows, showing the clear sky and snow-capped peaks common in many places on Huska.

"Van, please tell me you've finished packing and are on the way to the pad, we need to go n-"

"I'm not leaving, Jerry."

"Look Van, this isn't a joke, the Leonin are in system and our defensive forces are in retreat! Those stories you've heard about how they treat other species? I can tell you they're not exaggerated." He practically growled at her, more out of frustration than anger.

She looked about, both nervously and wistfully. "I know, but I've also heard stories about what they do to abandoned property. If I leave, the resort won't exist when we get back. It's easy for you to leave, your livelihood goes with you, mine doesn't!"

"We'll manage, you can open a resort on another world, the Lapinians-"

"Tend to not care for winter environments, I doubt we'd break even. Nor do the Leonin, which means that they'll leave me more or less alone here."

"Van, what about Donna? What do I tell our daughter?" His eyes began to tear up at this, as did Vanara's. At least Donna came aboard with the rest of the refugees.

"Tell her I love her, and we'll see each other again when this is all over."

Snowlit Dawn, Captain's Cabin, present day

"No!" Gasped Donna as she awoke suddenly, the bed sheets strewn all over. Her clothes from the night before littered the deck of her normally well-kept lodging.

"Same nightmare again, Dear?" Tallia asked from the desk chair she'd moved over to the bed, the concern in her voice offset with exhaustion and mild annoyance. I must have a __woke_ n_ her with my thrashing, again, she's going to be biting people's faces off today."Coffee? Might as well, it's wakeup call time in 17 minutes." The female Yotan offered her a steaming cup, and Donna noticed an empty pot and cup on the desk near the small viewport of the cabin, along with a few new spills and stains. It was a strewn mess of various personal items, data crystals and a dirty shirt from the night before she'd haphazardly tossed over it as she got into bed.I can't believe I let myself do that, dammit!

"Yes love, I'm sorry..." Donna nodded sheepishly with a slight blush as she took the mug, "I'll sleep on the couch tonight, you need to be rested more than I do."

"No, dammit D!" Tallia growled, pounding the table with a fist, sending aloud wooden -thunk- through the room, and nearly sending a class coffee pot and brown stained porcelain mug careening to the floor. "This has been ongoing since that 'Ambassador' Ellia Longtail made her 'offer.' You never told me your mother was..."

"Was what?" Donna snarled as she got up, taking a large swig of the coffee then awkwardly picking up the mess she'd left around the place. "Stuck on some Leonin occupied world barely keeping herself fed, the roof patched and quietly housing their damn nobles when they're taking 'vacations' from their wives? As nice as it sounded, retiring to a remote tropical world was your dream..."

"And I want you to be there for it, not dead or in some Leonin Prison. I'm glad you turned her down." Tallia replied wistfully, Donna could envision her imagining the two of them lying on a sandy beach somewhere, gazing up at the horizon and perhaps a view of a few moons. She had to admit, it was both romantic and appealing.

"I barely hear from mom," she sighed, taking a deep breath then slowly sipping her drink, her focus drawn back to the unpleasant situation as she took the chair from Tallia and moved it back to the desk, "can't directly talk: all the comms are monitored, and even if everything is legal by Leonin law, the Observers love to find excuses to extort people. The last message was delivered 7 months ago and sent over a month prior."

"She was okay then, at least?"

"She... was alive, surviving, but... starting to have health issues." That damned Folf bitch must have seen our correspondence because she _ knew _mom was sick. So what do they do? Try to bribe me with empty promises to get me to do who knows what for them. Disgusting!

"You should talk to Gerard... because without sleep you're going to put us at risk, in fact we're doing that now!" Donna had only just finished drinking as Tallia pulled her from the seat and began nudging her into the corridor, towards Medbay.

Medbay, 2 minutes later

Gerard sat behind his desk terminal in Medbay, staring intently at the screen. In truth, he was not working: he was, in fact, trying to figure out how in the galaxy this game Sabre and Herbert had invited him to worked. Herbert had been trying to convince him for a while, complaining about how he rarely was online when anyone in his party was and thus was limited in what he could do at the moment. It was actually Sabre who had convinced him, mentioning it more casually during the examination after the events a few days ago. "It is a great way to escape your past, present and do something less mundane." he'd said... sure, once I figure how in the nine hells to make the character I want.

A soft ding sounded as the door opened, and the Captain was practically pushed in, Tallia entering behind her and blocking the doorway.

"Can I help you ladies?" Gerard asked, strangely happy to have a diversion from reading pages of game rules as he looked up from his desk right next to the door. It was a small room, barely big enough for essential equipment since this was as small ship, so the desk and terminal were placed right next to the door.

"Oh Tallia is just being over-"

"She's having nightmares, every night, and making us both drink way too much coffee!"

"I'll be frank, I have my own every so often..." He muttered in a combination of sympathy and frustration as he picked up a scanner, directing it towards the captain on the off chance there was some physical ailment causing the issue. I know why I need therapy,_he thought, the Gnolls having brought the past back to the surface and hard; _but what's bothering her I wonder?

"Just give her something to knock her out!" Snarled Tallia, until she saw Donna shaking her head. "S-sorry, I... just haven't had more than an hour of sleep the past couple days due to her waking me up."

Gerard pulled the manifest up on his terminal, the backing of the holographic projection display blocking anyone who was not sitting directly in front of it from reading the projected output - in this case, the manifest of what he had in the medication locker directly behind him. "I would, but we don't have the necessary medication onboard I'm afraid, and it really doesn't fix the issue. I did take a couple courses for counseling and therapy when I was working towards my medical degree; we can try that, if you don't mind telling your woes to a Leonin." He chuckled, intending it to be mild and self-deprecating humor, quickly stopping as he noticed Donna grimace. "Did I say something wrong, Captain?"

"No Gerard," sighed Donna, rubbing her hand over her eyes, "it's just... it involves Leonin. Or at least your Empire to be more specific."

"She doesn't like telling everyone about it," chimed in Tallia again, "so, we need the drugs then? We'll be at a station tomorrow, can probably get whatever you say we need there."

Gerard lowered his ears at that. It hadn't been the first time people kept him distant due to his species, but... he'd never known Donna to be one of them. I wonder what the Empire did to her in the past. She was quite open to letting me aboard once she found out I was a dissident, so I'd just assumed it was the usual grievances... and there are so many, possibly just the aggressive way our government operates? No, this has to be something more, but I can't press her to reveal it. "Yes, I think that will suffice for now, but... you really should see a therapist, if not talk to me."

"Tallia dear, could you please leave?" Donna asked, giving the coyote a soft nuzzle. "Don't take this the wrong way, but... I'd rather not bother you more with this."

The engineer sighed but nodded as she turned towards the door. "I do have work to do, I'll be in engineering."

Donna sat down on the exam bed, against the far corner of the room, waiting for the door to close. This room is soundproof, so this should be as private as possible. Gerard thought, standing up and moving in front of the desk, but staying on the same side of the room to give her space. "It's hard to talk about this to you... do you recall what happened in the Zern system 35 years ago?" Donna asked with a deep sigh, after a somewhat awkward moment of silence.

Gerard blinked, trying to think back to his history classes. "I'm only 34, and I don't remember anything specific about it in... what passed for our history classes. I do recall from early Stellography classes that it was within Imperial space when I was cub."

"I'd just turned 6 when your ki- er, the Leonin Empire, laid their annexation claim on the system. At the time I was living with my mother and had not even been in school for long. I'd just returned home in the afternoon after the announcement - mom owned a ski lodge in the mountains, and I was wondering where all the guests were going in a sudden hurry. I walked in on a long-distance subspace call mom was having with my father. I don't remember everything, but... he was halfway out of the system and had turned around, jettisoning his cargo to make room for refuges."

"I'm sorry," Gerard replied, looking away uncomfortably a moment, forcing himself to meet her eyes again, "I wasn't even aware of any of this, must have been hard to live as a family in interstellar space, I take it that's why you grew up on this ship?"

"Yes... but it was half a family actually;" the Captain sniffed, her own ears drooping, "mom stayed behind."

"What?" Gerard's jaw hung open at that, "why would she do that?"Nine hells, that's just asking for loss and harassment, especially for a canine species!

"She didn't think the Lapinians would be interested in a ski lodge, nor did she think the Leonin would be inclined to go up in the mountains to try and take it from her. I've not seen her since then, and communication has been difficult."

"So... I apologize if this seems insensitive, but what brought this on now?" Gerard asked, stroking his mane under his chin, as he tended to when pondering something.

"Right, guess only Marla and Tallia know about that," she sighed, sagging her shoulders, "it's been a long week, I think a proper briefing is in order after this... after the Gnolls left we got a call from some Ragerian Commander who was trying to get me to turn over Marla."

"Aria told me about that event, and I think the rest of the crew, but I don't understand how that relates to your mother." I don't doubt that Ragerians keep tabs on what the Empire is doing, but why would some ski lodge owner interest them at all?

"Someone else interrupted that call," Donna stared at the floor, "another Ragerian, 'Ambassador Ellia Longtail' was what she called herself. She didn't even want to acknowledge Marla, saying she had some sort of offer for me."

"Interrupting a military commander? If you don't mind me asking, what was the offer?"

"I never found that out, as soon as I said she was listening she asked me how long it had been since I heard from Vanara and asked how she was doing. Vanara is my mom's name, and it's not a particularly common one either; not even among other Huscanid, so I doubt she could have guessed it. She... knew things she shouldn't too; since she was clearly about to blackmail me, I told her to go space herself and cut the transmission." Donna sighed deeply, slumping back against the wall with a shudder.

"Damn..." said Gerard flatly, utterly shocked by the interaction, "Leonin schools really hammered home that Ragerians were the Evil Ones in flesh and fur but... I'd never believed it, especially not after my recent interactions with Marla." Since the pirate attack she'd opened up to him, and even started calling the doctor a friend.

"Well, this 'Ambassador' seems to be. Marla wasn't too surprised, apparently, she figures she's a descendant of someone she knew with that name, who was a known troublemaker. I've not heard anything further from either of the Ragerians who contacted us."

"I don't have any idea what Ragerian psychological profiles look like, but it does sound like a buildup to blackmail. Given Ragerians haven't been seen in the sector for centuries, and there's no way she has influence with the Empire, it's probably safe to say she doesn't have any real power either way. Cutting her off like that was probably the right call." He smiled, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.

"I know Gerard," she sighed, perking up a bit, "but I can't help but worry. Mom's been developing persistent breathing issues as of late and doesn't exactly have access to a qualified doctor."

"I'd offer to help, but there's no way I could get near Leonin space without getting us all arrested and the ship impounded." He began to approach her, now that she was feeling more comfortable, sitting on the other end of the exam bed.

"I know you would Gerard, you're a good soul... I've been trying to save enough for the bribes needed for Imperial Passports and Travel Permits to get her out of there... every time I think I'm close the amount goes up. I... I just..." she sniffed, suddenly hugging Gerard as she started sobbing. "I feel like this is impossible."

"I'll help you pay for it then; we'll get her back Captain." Gerard almost growled in determination at that. I owe her that much.

"You don't have to, b-but it's appreciated. I think that's enough therapy for now, I have work to do." Donna sniffed, slowly putting her mask of composure back as she hit the intercom. "All hands, report to the mess hall for a briefing in 10 minutes."

Meanwhile, in the Mess Hall

Dorrin stirred the pot of oatmeal somewhat nervously, not only had it been a hell of a week - with Gnoll pirates raiding them - but now the Captain had just called a surprise meeting... and he'd still been planning breakfast! If they're gonna force me to hurry up, they can deal with something bland and quick. At least I don't have to deal with "Matriarch" Gerra Razormaw... who in the void thinks it's a good idea to threaten to kidnap you because your cooking is good?!? Must have been all that stuff she kept drinking, I was surprised she managed to walk out!

He shook his head, turning off the stove top just in time to prevent it from burning as the crew began to file in. Herbert was the first down this time.

"Oatmeal? Finally, something I can stomach well!" He smiled as he took a bowl almost before Dorrin had finished filling it, the music in his earbuds just audible from a couple feet away.

"Uh, you're welcome?" Dorrin shrugged, he wished Herbert was a bit better mannered and more personable. He leaned against the counter in the open serving window that directly faced the large plastic mess table, waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.

Aria came in next, her tail swishing in irritation as she looked at what was breakfast for the day, posted on a cheap digital text display panel by the serving window. "Uh... wow, I've really been spoiled, haven't I? This is kinda underwhelming."

"Sorry Aria, this early morning meeting put me on short notice. I'll have something more interesting for dinner."

"Oh you're just fine sweetie." The cat lady leaned forward, giving him a surprise nuzzle, causing the tiger to blush and nearly stumble back. Unlike with Herbert, sometimes he wished she was less social... especially since he could swear she seemed attracted to him for some reason. It wasn't a sentiment he shared, something about her was just mildly off-putting to him.

"Hey, are you kittens going to stop playing long enough to let me get something to eat?" Lia grumbled, finally reaching around Aria to grab a bowl with a huff. Dorrin wasn't sure when she'd entered, but she had an impatient look so she probably showed up shortly after Aria.

"Aria, you're not an asteroid caught in a gravity well," growled Tallia, dark circles visible under her eyes as she shoved her aside, "I need food, git!"

"Who spit in your coffee?" Asked Dorrin, not having it from her this time. "Breakfast isn't usually for another hour, be glad you got something this soon!"

"Yes Tallia, and stow the attitude," the Captain growled as she entered with Gerard behind her, "just because you didn't get much sleep doesn't give you a license to abuse the rest of the crew."

"I see that we are getting along as well as usual." Sabre muttered as he made his way in, still having a slight limp from the fight before. He looked at the oatmeal with disappointment but took it with a grateful nod to Dorrin. "I am sorry you were forced to make something so basic; I was looking forward to more snow rabbit."

"Thanks gramps." replied Dorrin with a smile, giving Sabre a concerned look regarding the limp. Did he see the doctor? What did that Gnoll bitch do to him? "Need help getting around?"

"No, I'll be alright in a few days, your concern is appreciated but unnecessary."

"Ok, now that everyone is here, I have a few announcements." Donna began, tapping her bowl with a spoon to get attention. "It's been a while since we've all been together, so first I would like to officially welcome the newest member of our crew. Marla Jorlen may not have initially chose to become part of it, nor did we choose her; but she has decided she wishes to stay aboard and has proven she can and will be very helpful."

There were a few grumbles as Marla's projection appeared by the table, blushing in surprise. "Captain? I... I don't know what to say, I'd never expected..."

"Then don't say anything," Lia chuckled, "we don't wanna hear ya anyway!" She called out, starting to laugh. "I'm kidding, but we've already got one speech going, that's more than enough."

Donna and everyone else chuckled at that, as she nodded to Marla. "Now, for the less positive part of the announcements: as I'm sure all of you have heard, we were contacted by a Ragerian who wished to take Marla back to their space. She declined for personal reasons, I'll leave it to her whether or not she wishes to discuss those details. What you don't know is..." Donna sighed, shaking her head and closing her eyes, "another Ragerian also contacted us, and she attempted to blackmail me, in a... very personal manner. I'd rather not discuss specifics just yet but... I'm afraid we may get dragged deeper into Ragerian affairs in the future. If you'd rather not, I will not keep anyone here, not even anyone who happens to owe me money." She looked at Dorrin, pain in her eyes. "I'm not going to drag anybody into my personal and private problems."

"Captain..." Dorrin gulped, shuddering a bit, "as I've t-told you, I like this job, and I want to be here, nothing at all has changed."

Sonri System, Hab-Station 8, the next day

"You're sticking around, Aria?" Dorrin asked as they approached the main boarding ramp, which was extended to the docking bay of the station they had just landed on. The polished metal pads a stark contrast against the dingy metal hull of the Snowlit Dawn - all freighters built up a cake of particulate grime whilst in shiftspace, from all the micro-debris atomized from space folding around the craft and blasted across the hull.

"Of course, I know so little about Ragerians and their culture," she chuckled with a grin, responding to him in Tigrin as she usually did, "and Marla seems less than interested explaining Ragerian culture to me. I had to really prod her to get basic language lessons."

"Maybe they're just secretive," he remarked with a shrug as they stepped down the ramp, holding its guard rails, "Lupin kinda are..." and your persistent questions quickly get on people's nerves, you really should know that by now, especially with how you ask about private things in front of people all the time.

"True, but I've found persistence will usually get me answers, eventually. Marla just... shuts me down. It's kinda depressing actually."

"Mmhmm..." replied Dorrin nonchalantly, hoping she'd get the message that he was not at all interested in this conversation, and that he had his own stuff to do. "Didn't you say the Captain wanted you to meet with some prospective clients? I don't think they're going to be in the culinary exchange, which is where I'm going." You know, to find good ingredients to do my job? Why do you insist in continually asking private and personal questions in public! It's so uncomfortable!

Aria looked at her watch, groaning aloud and rolling her eyes. "Damn, I was hoping we could grab a bite and chat for a while before that. Guess that'll have to wait til next time, cutie."

Dorrin bit his lip, shivering at that last remark. He wanted to say, "Get spaced you void damn creep!" but... those Lupin meditation sessions with Sabre really did help him keep a handle on what came out his maw. "I must go now." He instead replied, quickly heading in the direction of his destination, away from his unwanted companion.

A few minutes later he was in something of a crowded, open-air bazaar, or at least as open air as it could be in the habitat ring of a space station. Various merchants loudly hawked their goods, aided visible holographic projectors, and he figured augmented reality ads as well for anyone who had a set of Vulpin implants for it. I hope the rumors of there regularly being Tigrin selling proper ingredients had some basis... ah there's one! Dorrin grinned as he noticed a Tigrin inside a hover truck, with neon signs in both Standard and Tigrin scripts proclaiming fresh meats and seasonings, just what he was looking for!

As he waded carefully and confidently through the crowd, he felt something bump into him hard. Whatever it was didn't quite come up to his shoulder, and he heard a soft, feminine sounding "oof" from his left. The Tigrin turned to see what it was - it was a female Huscanid with cream colored fur, who was now picking herself up and looking up at him then a holographic display at her wrist. "Sorry, I'm late for my transport and... shoot, it just left!" Her ears lowered and her blushing face cast down. "Oh, noo no nooo, it'll cost a lot of my savings to re-book!"

"No apology necessary ma'am," he winced, genuinely feeling sorry for this stranger as he reached down to help her up, "hmm, I do work on a ship, doubt we're going to the same place but... I'll check with the Captain. She always says Huscanids should try to look out for each other."

"Oh you will? Thank you!" She yipped, her tail wagging as she suddenly hugged Dorrin, causing him to blush, and a few passers-by to gawk. "Oh, sorry about that," she chuckled nervously as she let him go, "just not used to such kindness. I'm Ellen by the way, Ellen Tailer."

"Just call me Dorrin for now, I was about to buy some supplies, want to join me?"

"Oh, gladly!"

Docking bay 17, pad 4A

"So, this is the Snowlit Dawn?" Ellen asked as she looked over the freighter and she approached the ramp with Dorrin.

The blocky vessel, which roughly resembled 4 large metal bricks with two crossed metal tubes connecting them together wasn't much to look at. The old Vulpin-made haulage vessel looked like it wouldn't be out of place in a scrapyard, most of the paint was obliterated and the name plaque near the ramp was barely legible. However, as he knew well, it was quite space-worthy; thanks to their rather intense engineer.

"Yes, it may not look like much, but it's my home now." He answered with a nod, gesturing for her to walk up the ramp and into the decontamination chamber.

"Ah Dorrin, back already I see- who's this?" Gerard was waiting on the other side of the plexiglass in the chamber, looking at Ellen with a bemused expression as the door slid shut and the scan beams started flashing over them both.

"Gaaahhh!" Ellen yelped in a mix of surprise, shock and... fear? Dorrin wasn't quite sure, but considering the reputation of the Leonin he couldn't blame her, though he's wished she hadn't literally leapt into his arms like a scared puppy.

"Oh that's just our doctor. Gerard's probably the nicest Leonin I've ever met, you don't need to be afraid of him." Dorrin replied, carefully setting her back down on her feet.

"P-pardon me if I don't just take your word for it," she muttered, giving Gerard a suspicious look, "just get the decontamination over with, and don't even think about looking at anything beneath my clothing!"

"Lady, I'm a professional," Gerard sighed and huffed slightly as he looked at readouts instead of either of them, "and my only concern right now is not letting anything contagious aboard, not the shape of one's body."

"G-good then!" Ellen practically spat at the Leonin. "And don't get any ideas later!"

"Dorrin," he asked a moment later, not responding to Ellen, "does the Captain know about our... guest?"

The Tigrin blushed, realizing he probably should have commed ahead before inviting her aboard. "Uhhh, no. I uh, forgot about that."

"I doubt she'll mind unless she steals something, and by her looks I don't think we have anything aboard this young lady would be interested in." Gerard yawned, swiping aside readouts as he reviewed them, sipping on some sort of beverage in a bottle as he worked.

"And just what is that supposed to mean, puffy neck?" Ellen growled in response to that. "I'm just here for a lift!"

"A 'lift'?" Gerard looked surprised at this, nearly spitting out what he was drinking. "In system?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Hmph, just curious, especially since anywhere else will take a week minimum."

"...excuse me?" Ellen asked, looking surprised and confused. "A week???"

"Yes, last I checked nobody around here had those fancy Ragerian wormhole stations, not that anybody but them knows how to get them operational anyway. Interstellar travel is sort of a slow deal - we don't have cryochambers either; I hope your luggage is sufficient, assuming the Captain takes you as a passenger."

"O-oh..." she blushed, looking sheepish as her ears lowered, "I thought everyone had, uh, cryochambers."

"Not much point when it's just a bare crew," Dorrin explained, gently putting a large paw on her shoulder, "don't worry, I'm sure Donna will help you."

Snowlit Dawn, Mess Hall, sometime later

"What is it with Dorrin bringing strays aboard?" Captain Donna asked with a soft chuckle, following it up with a sigh.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ms. Briskwind," Ellen whimpered, her ears lowering and tail between her legs as her gaze was drawn from the pictures of Donna's old home on Huska hanging on the wall, "it's just that Dorrin said you might give me a lift since I'm Huscanid and..."

"It's 'Captain Briskwind', and I never said I wouldn't, but someone needs to not make promises for others;" Donna interrupted, rolling her eyes, "and unless you're going somewhere in system, you're talking a week aboard my ship, minimum... hardly just 'a lift,' young lady. Honestly, I get the impression interstellar travel isn't something you do often, is it? In fact, how old are you anyway?"

"I-I turned 27 a few months ago, don't treat me like a kid!" Pouted Ellen in response, looking at the deck plates.

"Wasn't implying you were, but this isn't a passenger liner. You also strike me as someone who's been sheltered most if not all her life, are you sure you want to spend a week or more on this dingy old freighter?" Donna raised an eyebrow at her, her arms folded in front of her chest as she looked at Ellen's pristine outfit. Those clothes can't be very old, and I know the look of someone who's never done a day's manual labor in her life. The pads on her fingers fe __lt like frigging velvet when I shook her hand! Her parents are probably loaded... or at least in good financial shape. I doubt she needs my help at all!

"... I don't care, I'm tired of relying on my parents all the time." Ellen finally answered after a long, awkward pause, her eyes had been darting about, no doubt taking in just what kind of state the dining room was in. "And your ship's not dingy, it's rustic, I kinda like that."

"Then you won't mind having duties whilst you're aboard?" Donna asked, still doubtful she wouldn't be complaining the whole way there. "On that note, what skills do you have?"

"Oh uh... n-not at all," Ellen practically jumped at the question, like she was trying to figure out how to answer for some reason, "I uh... was studying Xeno Cultures at the University here, in general. I've, er, not yet decided on what I want my focus to be."

"I'm afraid that we don't have many cultural tasks aboard a freighter... do you know how to clean? Cook? Empty wastebaskets?" Somehow, I doubt she's done much of that either.

"I'm a quick study, I'll do it!"

"Very well, welcome aboard. There's a janitor's closet down the hall and a spare cabin across from it. I don't want to hear any complaints about it either, unless you want to pay a fare.

Mess hall, the next day

Dorrin looked over from preparing a meal to notice Ellen smacking the mop around the floor, or at least that was the best description he had for the haphazard way she flailed it about around the mess hall. Barely wrung out, missing large areas to go back and revisit them moments later. Has this lady truly never done this before? She'd only been aboard for about a day, but it felt like she was nearly useless at performing basic tasks, such things every Tigrin child had been expected to do.

"Ellen, don't take this the wrong way but that is not how you mop a floor."

She stopped, blushing as she looked up at Dorrin. "It... it isn't?" She asked, in a seemingly puzzled and innocent tone. "I've actually never done this before."

"Seriously?" Dorrin facepalmed, wondering what in the galaxy her parents had her do as a child as he stepped out from behind the counter. "First, since these floors are way too wet, I'll need to show you how to properly wring out the mop. Luckily you don't have to use your hands to do it here..."

She grimaced at those words, letting Dorrin take the mop from her and place it in the wringer. "But I'm already doing that, it doesn't work too well!"

"Because you need to twist it a few times first before you squeeze, like so." He twisted it around a couple times, then pulled the handle on the primitive device to squeeze the water, holding it a moment before releasing.

"There, damp but not sopping wet." He handed it back to her, gesturing to the floor with puddles of water covering it. "Now, use long sweeping motions to mop the floor, or in this case to absorb the water."

She nodded, flicking the mop around rapidly, causing water to splatter about them, she gasped and recoiled in shock, but Dorrin was not phased.

"Gaah!" He gasped, sighing as he took her arms and wrists in his hands, stopping her. "You can go too fast, as you can see... do it like this." He gently guided her arms, demonstrating the appropriate technique, noticing just how soft her fur and pads were. She really hasn't done this before, how is that even a thing?

"I'm sorry," Ellen blushed, giving him a bit of a nuzzle before he let go, now continuing the pattern he'd shown her. "My parents, ah... had robots to handle this kind of thing."

Dorrin had heard such things existed, even seen a few on occasion; but the Vulpin had an effective monopoly on cleaning droids in most places, and like most of their technology it was designed to fail or need frequent replacement to allow for maximum profitability. Apparently even Tallia had cannibalized the ship's unit for parts years ago, saying it was a lost cause. "Not a big deal, but wow... your parents must have a lot of money."

"More connections..." she sighed, diligently mopping the floor, this time properly, "they uh... weren't around much a lot of when I was growing up, always working."

"To provide for you no doubt. Mine were the opposite: always had to work for everything and wound up with next to nothing. Figured there had to be something better out in space, so here I am."

"And is it better?" She asked, stopping for a moment and leaning on the mop handle, looking beyond Dorrin to Donna's pictures on the wall. "Because the more I see, what happened to Huska feels more like the rule than the exception."

"It's better than sitting around waiting for someone to come and take advantage again." He sighed, washing his hands and going back to his stew pot. "Donna may be stern and seem cold, calculating even, but she's a genuinely kindhearted person. Heck, she's even agreed to send some of my pay home at cost to her... despite the speciest remarks my dad makes every chance he gets."

"I've ran into my fair share of that," she nodded finishing the rest of the floor, "and I'm glad you're not like that. That's why I'm out here you know - I know there are good people, and I want to help them."

"By missing transports, bumming rides, and needing to be told how to mop a floor?" He asked half-jokingly, with a chuckle.

"It's... hard to explain," she looked away, "and I'm not quite sure how to best explain my goals to you yet. But I will later, I promise."

Meanwhile, in the Captain's Quarters

"Captain Briskwind?" Marla asked, her holographic projection appearing before Donna in her quarters. "Sorry about the interruption, but I need to talk to you about something important, in private."

"Very well," sighed Donna, sitting down and locking the door from her terminal, "what's the problem? Or did you find something you were looking for?"

"Unfortunately, I've not found any leads, in spite of combing the entire local system net... but that's not what this is about. Have you noticed anything... odd, about our new guest?"

"She seems to be a spoiled rich kid who wants a to strike out on her own, but apart from that? No, not really. What are you getting at?" Donna shrugged, she had no idea what this was about and was hoping Marla planned to get to the point quickly.

"Have you noticed how see seems to reply to everything in a way that benefits her the most, as though she can tell how people are feeling at the moment?" Marla's projection folded its arms in front of her, the simulated crisp and neat corners on the simulated sleeves seemingly more realistic that it appeared to Donna that they needed to be.

"We've barely even interacted with her, and what does that have to do with anything?" Donna groaned, suddenly wondering if keeping Marla on the crew was a mistake. "Some people are good at guessing expectations and gauging reactions."

Marla shook her head, looking down. "Not like a Ragerian who's in the same room. It's an ability I lost with my biological body, but we can, uh... read emotions off people. It's sort of like a background whisper, underneath the sound of speech."

"She's clearly Huscanid, she even smells Huscanid after she's worked a while!" Donna stood, walking closer to Marla's projected and semi-translucent form, staring her down.

"Thank you for the extrapolated mental image I didn't need," muttered Marla, rolling her eyes, "but Ragerians have had centuries old tech that can disguise our appearance, tactile feel, voice and even scent as that of another known species. Oh and remember that handshake? Ragerians have telepathic abilities if there is any physical contact."

Donna blinked, thinking back to how eager Ellen had seemed to glad-hand everyone she met. There was suddenly a knot in her stomach as she thought back to her last interaction with a live Ragerian. "Do... do you have any evidence of this?"

"I'm afraid not, the internal sensors aren't detailed enough to see through this kind of disguise, and that's assuming the technology in question hasn't improved in nearly 3 centuries time. Gerard might be able to, if he did a low-level genetic analysis, but he outright refused when I asked him to."

"Considering how she reacted when they met, I can't imagine why..." Donna replied wryly, "and given she's yet to actually do anything suspicious or hostile I don't feel it would be appropriate to order him to. Did you check her story? Maybe the transport she said she had booked and missed, and her University enrollment?"

"Yes, but that all checks out, I'm sending the details to your terminal:" Donna turned back and looked at the records that scrolled over the projection display as she scrutinized the details herself, "Ellen had an economy ticket purchased for Gal-liner 7103z, which actually left dock just before she ran into Dorrin. The destination also matches up with where she asked to go - the Insau Colonies, an independent system on the edge of the Lupin border. The University in system has her down as a graduate student too, top of her class, and she is on leave for a home visit. Again, with Ragerian resources none of this is hard to fake."

"Hmm..." Donna rubbed her muzzle, looking at the records a few more times, trying to spot something that might be off, as she was more familiar with how modern Lapinian records looked as part of her work, "that's an awful lot of effort to fool an inconsequential freighter captain. Plus it's not like the Insau have any Ragerian connections. As I recall, they're the closest Lupin colonized system that chose to become independent centuries ago?" Unlike Huska - they left us hanging out to dry, even if it couldn't have been helped.

"You mean apart from the one who tried to get me to leave with him, and the other that was probably trying to blackmail you? On that note... I ran a comparison - you see, one of the few weaknesses of the technology I described is that the physical form, especially facial features, somewhat resemble the disguised Ragerian. Not useful to those who don't have a frame of reference but... take a look at this."

Marla displayed two images on the display, one of Ellen's face as she entered the airlock... and the other of the "ambassador" who had contacted her with an offer. "Notice the eyes, overall fur color, and her expressions. It's not concrete proof of course, but too much of a coincidence to ignore."

Donna narrowed her eyes at that, then turned back to hold the eyes of Marla's projection. "You're right, it's not proof... but I'll be on my guard."

Mess Hall, the next day

"I can't believe you don't like coffee!" Ellen exclaimed, with a good-natured chuckle as she slid a cup in front of an annoyed looking Sabre.

"One does not need to believe the truth for it to be true." He grumbled, huffing a bit as he looked up at Ellen with almost bleary eyes. "Are you quite certain that there is no tea left?"

"''Fraid so, big guy! Dorrin was digging around for quite a while this morning, trying to find it. Come on, try it, I made it myself, it's a special blend!" She nudged the mug slightly closer to Sabre, almost making its contents slosh out from the slightly chipped porcelain onto the already stained and scratched plastic table.

The wolf gave her a skeptical look and she did her best to give him the "sad puppy eyes" she often wore when she was trying to wheedle someone into talking with her or trying something she'd made. He gave her his typical flat and unamused look in response.

"Are you experiencing an allergic reaction to something, or are you just trying to provoke an emotional reaction from me?" He asked, unimpressed by her attempted manipulation.

"Damned Lupin, you're never any fun!" She finally huffed, about to stomp off with the coffee as Donna entered the room.

"Ms. Tailer, I seem to recall I'd asked you to clean a spill in cargo hold 1 this morning, yet it's still there, and you're in here..." Donna said flatly, looking at the coffee mug she was carrying, "if that isn't taken I'll just pretend you decided to get your Captain some coffee first, like a good crew member."

"O-oh..." Ellen winced and blushed, handing her the mug before hurrying out, "y-yes Captain, I'll get right on it!" She went in the wrong direction at first, before spinning on the freshly polished deck plates with a squeak and nearly slamming into a wall. Still, Ellen righted herself and rushed off in the correct direction with a nervous chuckle.

As soon as she was sure Ellen had left, Donna turned to Sabre, taking a sip of the coffee. "So, what's your impression of that young lady?"

"She is friendly and works better than I would have expected, but... manipulative. She wanted me to try that coffee you are drinking, even after I had explained that I do not like any kind of coffee." The Lupin sighed, getting up and pouring water into a cup from a nearby faucet.

"It's a shame you don't..." Donna took another sip, sitting down next to him once he returned, "this is actually quite good." She looked towards the kitchen curiously. "Where's Dorrin anyway?"

"Lia had requested his presence in Hydroponics, she needed help with the latest harvest. I do hope that it includes more teas, apparently I had forgotten how low our stock was."

"Or you drink too much of it." She gave Sabre a slightly wry grin as he huffed in response to her joke, before putting on a more somber expression and lowering her voice. "Marla thinks Ellen isn't really a Huscanid."

Sabre gave Donna a surprised expression at that, also lowering his voice. "Did the doctor not scan her when she boarded?"

"He did, but Marla says Ragerians have tech that could fool that."

His eyes went wide, darting towards the coffee mug Donna was sipping from. "She thinks she is a Ragerian? That ambassador who tried to influence you? Perhaps you should not be-"

"Drinking this? It was intended for you if I recall. If Marla is right ,she could be the same Ragerian who was trying to use my mother to blackmail me. If there was something dangerous in it, I doubt she'd have let me take it."

"I will be frank," he replied, settling down a bit, and looking around the corner out the still open door to the hall to ensure nobody was listening in, "she does not seem the least bit harmful in intent to me. I perceive her as a spoiled, naive, and manipulative but good-natured youth, not a calculating villain. Furthermore, if she is actually a Huscanid it would be most inappropriate to treat her like a spy."

"Don't I know it," Donna groaned, "the last thing I need is to have to explain to wealthy and likely influential parents, ones who could very well make our lives more difficult, that I did something to their daughter because the ship's AI mistakenly thought she was a Ragerian spy."

"Is there something I can do to help confirm her identity, Captain?"

"I can't think of anything specific, just keep your eyes and ears open."

"They always are, Captain. Now if you will excuse me, I believe I have an idea."

Sabre's quarters, about half an hour later

Sabre entered his quarters, flipping the hard privacy switch he'd asked Tallia to install under the guise of having a way to avoid being bothered by Marla. In truth, it was only one reason - he'd had a couple close calls with the Quantum Pair Communicator nearly being visible to Donna on an impromptu video call. Those were urgent calls, and necessary, but I do not want to create difficulty for Donna... and discovering I am an active agent will do that. Besides, this is not a large ship, it is easy enough to knock on my door.

The lights dimmed slightly as the switch was flipped, a visible cue to let him know that all terminals, cameras and listening ports had been powered down on the hardware level. The Lupin grimaced a bit as he took the device out of a bulk tea tin, the irony that it was something he was now out of not wasted on him. He grumbled to himself again as he set the tin behind what was left of his fancy tea set - it seemed that no matter how careful he was, something kept happening to parts of it.

- [(CmdrSBlackpaw0834B) Command, there has been an urgent development. Marla Jorlen believes a temporary crewmate we took on may be a Ragerian in disguise. Requesting assistance in identification and confirmation if possible.] -

He almost groaned as he typed this in and hit send. Will they think that I have lost my mind? It seems ridiculous that a Ragerian would try to become crew on this ship, especially to get a ride one system over. It was almost an hour before he got a reply.

- [(MajIScythe3524A) I hope this is not a false lead, my aide had to awaken me from transport stasis. Send images and all data you have on the suspected spy.] -

Transport stasis? For an Alpha to leave the home system is most unusual. At least they are taking this seriously. He inserted a data crystal with Marla's findings, which he'd requested from her under the guise that he was going to double check them himself. In truth he had, but his real hope was that Lupin Intelligence would know more than he could find.

- [(MajIScythe3524A) Received and reviewing, stand by.] -

After almost 3 hours, which felt like an eternity, the familiar high-pitched whine told him that she'd responded.

- [(MajIScythe3524A) Jorlen is half correct. She is a Ragerian, but she is not a spy. Do not advise your Captain or any of the crew of this.] -

- [(CmdrSBlackpaw0834B) She appears similar to a Ragerian who seemed to be planning to blackmail my Captain. I expect this is classified, but I cannot keep such a thing secret in good conscience without further justification.] -

He was toeing the line here, and he knew it; but the well-being of the Snowlit Dawn was too important to him, even if it meant kissing his once chance at being exonerated goodbye. He feared the worst as the next reply was received.

- [(MajIScythe3524A) So... Ambassador Longtail is choosing to involve your Captain Briskwind in this I see. You are correct that this is classified, but I cannot stop Ellia from saying things. Am I correct that you are on course to Insau?] -

- [(CmdrSBlackpaw0834B) Yes, am I correct in guessing you have a diplomatic envoy awaiting or on the way there?] -

- [(MajIScythe3524A) I can neither confirm nor deny this, but it is absolutely critical Ambassador Longtail reaches Insau safely. So long as that happens, do with this information as you will.] -

A few minutes later

"I can't even remember the last time I was in here," noted Donna as she entered Sabre's quarters, looking over the plain and neat room and he flipped the switch to turn off the data streams again, "and I really need to ask Tallia to set up one of those in our quarters. So, what is it you don't want anyone to know?" She asked as she sat in the single chair he had next to his small, empty personal desk.

"The first part is something you and Marla already suspect: Ellen Tailer is really a Ragerian, specifically Ambassador Ellia Longtail." Sabre looked away, down towards his desk as he told her this.

Donna nearly fell into the chair she'd been taking a seat in on hearing that, not out of surprise of the confirmation at this point, but that Sabre could have proof for it. "How did you prove that? I mean, I know you're resourceful but..."

"That is the part which cannot leave this room. You see..." Sabre paused for a moment, a look of guilt and shame on his face, "shortly after Marla was... installed... I was contacted by Lupin Command. They reactivated me and ordered me to spy on Marla and any other Ragerians we might encounter. Major Scythe was able to confirm her identity."

"I thought you were an outcast, someone who couldn't even be acknowledged to exist. And how in the void did you get such an order without Marla noticing?" She glared at Sabre intently, admittedly more out of curiosity at how such a thing was possible than being angry with him.Marla's tied into all ship systems, he can't have just received something encrypted. I __f he had_ , either Aria or Marla would surely have said something_ to me.

The dark furred Lupin recoiled slightly, once again looking down towards the floor. "I cannot reveal that. Furthermore, please understand that I did not initially inform you to avoid complications it may bring to your own life... ones I am afraid we may not be able to avoid at this point. The confirmation came with an order attached - apparently the Lupin Government wishes this 'Ambassador Longtail' to reach Insau without issue or delay."

"Wonderful..." groaned the Captain, slapping a wall panel in irritation, "I'm just about wishing I'd gone on thinking she was just a spoiled rich kid, now I can't even shove her into an escape pod!"

"That would be contrary to my orders, and invoke the ire of Lupin Command, so I would not recommend such." He smiled slightly, starting to look back up at Donna.

"I know Sabre..." she hugged him, the wolf reacting in surprise for a moment before gently returning it, "I know you'd never do anything to hurt me or my crew. Just be careful, your own people screwed you over once before because it was too inconvenient not to, I'm afraid they may do the same in the future."

"Honestly, that is only one interpretation of it. Technically, I did bring it upon myself by disobeying orders. That said, it was worth it, and I would be a lesser person for not getting to see you grow up."

"Flatterer..." she chuckled, releasing him from the hug, starting to growl, "but what are we to do with the 'Ambassador'? Not only do we not have a VIP suite, but I don't believe she deserves any special privileges, not after what she's pulled."

"I agree, in fact, perhaps we shall vindicate Marla's suspicions and your annoyance by revealing her publicly during dinner?" Sabre had a rather satisfied and smug grin on his face at this suggestion.

"Sabre, sometimes I absolutely love how you think."

Meanwhile, in the Mess Hall

"Oh Dorrin," Ellen sighed as she took the bowl of stew he handed her, "giving me the first serving? You're so sweet!" The Huscanid gave him a surprise kiss on his cheek, causing him to blush lightly beneath his fur.

"You've earned it, I don't think I've ever seen the ship looking quite so clean." He looked away, realizing he needed to get food ready for everyone else as he stopped leaning over the kitchen counter and returned to looking at the stew pot on the stove top.

"Do Ragerian ambassadors normally flirt with freighter cooks?" The Captain asked, a hint of amusement in her voice. Dorrin stopped and turned to look in shock. Ragerian ambassador? The hells?

"Well... what?!?" Ellen blurted, giving Donna an incredulous look, as well as Sabre who was behind her. "Is this some kind of joke?"

"No 'Ambassador Longtail,'" replied Sabre with a low growl, "it is not, I have received confirmation of your identity from... certain sources..."

"Drop the act," Donna growled, moving towards Ellen as she backed into a corner, "either we can do this the easy way, or I'll have Sabre drag you to Med-bay for a full genetic scan."

"D-damn," Ellen sniffed, suddenly standing up straight, and giving the two an annoyed look, "just when I'm starting to have fun, that uptight bitch Scythe had to send her lapdog to ruin it."

Dorrin's mouth hung open as he watched, noticing Ellen's fur shimmer, then flicker and... shift? That was what it appeared to be doing at least. Her face, fur and tail seemed to be reshaping, expanding and contracting slightly... until the Huscanid lady was a Ragerian one, with similar colored fur.

"I knew it!" Marla called out triumphantly over the loudspeaker. "Wait... did she say someone is a lapdog to Scythe, as in that Lupin Alpha?"

"That's right 'General'," Ellia sneered, "Sabre has been spying on you for the Lupin, and you never even noticed!"

A screech-like cry, similar to the sound a fennec would make, came from the speakers, and Ellia began to respond with similar sounds, her ears pinned back and teeth visible.

"Uh..." Aria muttered as she entered, ears twitching, "I still don't know much Ragerian but wow! They're pissed!"

"CUT THIS OUT OR I'LL HAVE LIA STUFF A GAG IN YOUR MAW AND TALLIA TURN OFF ALL THE SPEAKERS!" Donna howled aloud as everyone else who hadn't been covering their ears began to. Still, the Captain slapped the dining table hard with her palm to emphasis this, just as Ellia and Marla both fell silent. "As for you, 'Ambassador'... you're lucky I'm not stuffing you in an escape pod right now, with all your lies and prior attempts to blackmail me."

"What? None of what I told anyone here was a lie," Ellia gasped in shock, gesturing to her chest, "and I wasn't trying to blackmail you. In fact, your mother indirectly works for me... she's just not completely aware of it!"

Donna's maw hung open at that, she was about to respond but Marla beat her to it.

"How about your age?" Marla questioned snidely, her projection appearing in the room.

"I am 27." Ellia responded flatly, causing Marla's virtual mouth to slide agape with a look of horror.

"Since when are we letting pubescent children be ambassadors?!?"

"Since no one else would take a critically important and essential role!" Ellia huffed at Marla, turning back to Donna with lowered ears. "Captain I... I'm sorry about the miscommunication, and deceiving you... but I genuinely have not lied to you. I suspect Scythe told Sabre I need to make it to Insau safely. More specifically, I needed to do it without drawing the wrong attention, and there's a reason I want you to be there for the talks."

"Talks?" Donna asked incredulously, still looking skeptical and exasperated. "Do I look like a diplomat or head of state, young lady?"

"No, which is exactly why Scythe needs to meet you and your crew. This sector's leadership needs a wake-up call, and to see what life is really like for normal people."

"Don't tell me you're enough of a comet-brain to think high level talks in our mess hall is a good idea." Tallia grumbled from the background, having snuck in and trying to get some stew without being noticed before making the remark. "I'm sure a Lupin Alpha will absolutely love the decor of this fine establishment!"

"Call me what you want, I've gotten results where others have refused to bother." Ellia sniffed, holding her nose up in defiance at the derision she was getting.

"Good grief," Donna groaned, shaking her head and also getting some stew, "we can discuss how and what my ship is used for in this... mess... later. Just remember Ellia, I'm holding you to your original agreement. You will continue to keep this ship clean."

"Then you'll be pleased to find I never go back on my agreements."

Chapter 7

Snowlit Dawn, 1 day from Insau

Ellia Longtail dragged her soreness-wracked body into the mess hall and practically flopped into one of the less than comfortable folding chairs that were sat out. Since the captain had discovered her identity a couple days before she'd been driven to work particularly hard by Donna and Tallia; the latter of which she sensed took an almost sadistic pleasure in making her as miserable as possible - and it was working well to make her wish she'd not even bothered to undertake this mission. Last time I saw that bitch, she dumped her coffee on the floor and tracked it all over the halls after insisting I "clean it up". Order give me strength and patience so I can open their short-sighted eyes!

"Ellia? Are you ok?" Asked the normally bubbly voice of Aria with a concerned note, and one which Ellia could sense was genuine. The Felin moved closer, giving her a more thorough look over.

"I'll be fine if Tallia doesn't make more messes for me." She sighed, looking longingly towards a coffee dispenser that was on the counter. Dorrin, the one person she wanted to talk to, was not behind the counter, which was unusual.

Noticing her gaze, Aria smiled a bit, standing and moving towards the counter. "I could get you some coffee, if you'll answer a few questions for me."

"Oh, I can sense you want more than a few questions answered." The ambassador chuckled but nodded in agreement. "But answering cultural questions is part of my job, after all."

"So, why are you here?" Aria asked, starting to pour the coffee into the mug, "and what would you like in your coffee?"

"Milk and sugar, just a bit of each," Ellia replied, getting the easy question out of the way before grinning and deciding to have a little fun with this line of questioning, "and that question could mean many things. Individual Ragerians do not agree completely on their specific place in the universe."

"I would like to understand Ragerian philosophy," Aria responded with a genuine nod, "but that's not what I meant. Why did you want to travel to the edge of Lupin space to meet with a species that, last time I checked, wanted nothing more to do with yours?"

"That's a good question..." she began, her mind racing 20 different directions to think about how to best phrase her intentions, and how much she should reveal or not, "do you recall my response to... Marla... about me being so unusually young for what I'm doing?" Almost called her "old witch" again, probably not a good idea, given how attached the crew is to her now.

"Yes, that you were the only one willing to do it," Aria gave her a confused look, "but that doesn't answer my question at all."

"They're related, and I can sense you were going to bring it up at some point, so I figured I'd answer both at once." Ellia sighed, taking a deep breath after she sipped some of the coffee she'd been handed.And by the Order I hope I don't mis-communicate this. "Until recently, since the war ended and we retreated to our home space, my people began following a policy that consisted largely of isolationism: observation of your species, and discrete, minimal interference to prevent the gain of additional technologies some deemed you were 'not ready' for." She paused to take another sip, and gauge Aria's reaction.

"And you do not agree with this policy?" The Felin asked, her tail swishing with interest behind her.

"Not completely, there are intents I agree with: the spirit of the policy is to allow younger species to grow on their own and learn to live with each other in the process. However it has, and continues to, fail to prevent abuse by the more aggressive and unscrupulous powers; which, by the way, have still managed to acquire and reverse engineer dangerous technology in spite of Denal's efforts."

"Like the Otterians we helped recover prototype engineering nanites from the Vulpin?" Asked Aria.

"Oh no, those he managed to get back cleanly after you left. I'm actually not supposed to know that, nor are you, so please don't repeat it to anyone." Ellia waved her hand dismissively at that, then set her gaze hard on Aria. "What I'm talking about is far more dangerous, far reaching, and potentially devastating, to all species in this sector, maybe even beyond. If-!"

Ellia gasped in surprise and stopped speaking suddenly as she noticed Donna standing in the now open doorway. "Go on." She said flatly, with a nod to Ellia.

"It's going to anger Scythe to no end I told you first, perhaps even at all..." Ellia started cautiously, taking a deep breath before continuing, "but you deserve to know as much as she does, perhaps more. The short of it is, the Leonin have figured out how to get a salvaged Nexus Port working."

"That's impossible!" Marla declared with certainty, her projection appearing in the room, with her arms folded as she leered at Ellia. "I'm sure they're trying , but there's just no feasible way they could do that. Wormhole technology is extremely complex, operators spend decades in intensive training before they can even get near them, and that doesn't even get into the health and safety considerations, or fine experience required to do more than open a microscopic singularity to send a radio or optical burst transmission."

"That's pretty much exactly how Denal responded when I brought the evidence to him..." sighed Ellia, shaking her head, "and yet they've already used it to move a convoy of ship from one end of their empire to the other."

"I would like to see your evidence then," snorted Marla, her projection looking away from her, before blinking and seeming deep in thought as Ellia took out a small tablet and punched in something,

"This is..." Marla's look turned from one of mild contemplation, to discomfort, then outright horror, "b-by the Order, this is... this is a nightmare!"

"I'm a bit surprised it bothers you so much," Ellia sniffed, "they've probably only killed just under the number of people you did in your attempt to 'defend' a Lupin colony world during the war to figure out how to operate it."

"I'm getting tired of explaining myself about that," began Marla with a growl, looking down with her ears back, "but... if nothing is done, there will be many more deaths from this, especially if I'm interpreting these plans correctly. How did you manage to acquire these classified Leonin files?"

"I have people, let's leave it at that; but I take it you understand my intentions completely now?"

"None of us who aren't computers could see that data." Donna growled in response, looking at Ellia intently.

"I'm sure your best friend Marla will be happy to share it with you." Ellia spat, barely keeping her temper and frustration in check. If she wants me to make things convenient, she can show a little respect! Besides, I prefer plausible deniability. Technically there aren't any rules preventing me from sharing that with other Ragerians," Ellia grinned at that, but only for a moment before returning to a completely serious scowl, "but she really should let you see that, in my opinion..."

"I transferred it to your private files, maximum encryption," explained Marla, "the Standard translated copy anyway. You're planning on giving this to Scythe? Because I see a Lupin translation as well, and... you're telling everyone aren't you?"

"Every government authority that is directly threatened by this, but it's not like I'm broadcasting it on open comms." Ellia rolled her eyes at that statement. "Really, I may be young, but I'm not a total idiot. Look it over, and maybe you'll reconsider your opinions of me."

Meanwhile, aboard Lupin Stealth Transport 2138E

Major Illoria Scythe paced about the small private cabin of the stealth transport she was aboard. Like most Lupin vessels it cramped for the significant size of her species - this was actually intentional, since as subterranean dwellers the Lupin were actually more comfortable in areas with perceptible depth than those that were open space. Even the small viewport was closed off, meant as an emergency means for checking the area or signaling to a nearby vessel should sensors and communications go down. She almost wished she was facing problems with such concrete and obvious courses of action, instead of her current situation.

How can the Council continue to be so blind? They think the home-world is untouchable, that no one could or would dare to invade us. Fools! I verified the data from the Ragerians as genuine, we need to act on it! Scythe growled inwardly, looking over the data her agents had already confirmed, since at this point it would actually be dangerous to put herself back into stasis for such a short period. The shortest duration stasis pods could be safely used was 3 full days. No less than 5 was usually the recommendation of most doctors, as too quickly slowing and resuming bodily functions at that interval actually caused stress believed to more than triple the aging one would have normally experienced in that time frame; and that wasn't even getting into any comorbidity that could become lethal. As such, she was stuck awake for the duration of the day before the meeting, and out of habit looking for something constructive to do with herself. Unlike many other societies, no one became an Alpha by wealth, influence, or familial ties. No, Alphas were made, not born; Scythe took great pride in the decades of hard work it took for her to rise to the top Beta candidates pool and be one of the chosen few to ascend to the highest caste of Lupin society. However, it wasn't just an expectation that one would continue to be outstanding once they made Alpha... it was an absolute requirement, they were held to the highest standards of anyone in just about any society she was aware of, including a ridged code of ethics; one she had, out of necessity, started to skirt when it came to her newest agent. If only I could avoid using a disgraced outcast for key intel, even if he is one who did not deserve the weight placed unjustly upon his back.

Scythe sighed as she received another message from Sabre, one that gave her a massive headache: apparently not only was the Ragerians' under-qualified (in her estimation) ambassador sharing her evidence with more than the Lupin, but she'd even indirectly told the crew of the freighter Sabre was on... and had unilaterally decided that was to be their meeting place. She stopped pacing, pressing her head against the metal wall with a soft clunk as she squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force her dismay and irritation down. "By the ancestors, I swear Ambassador Longtail is trying to put me in an early grave!"

The door slid open, revealing a more russet-furred Lupin wearing a uniformed vest with markings that designated him as a Beta-Class 1st Lieutenant with the Lupin Intelligence Forces. "Major, is there a problem?" Her aide asked, coming to a crisp salute and otherwise remaining perfectly still.

"At ease, Lt Chase." She sighed, returning the salute, not having meant to alert her aide. "Have we yet reached Insau?"

"Affirmative, ma'am," he replied, relaxing slightly but still remaining in a rigid posture before her, "unfortunately I am also here to report that our provisions are running low. Fortunately, the Steel Claw has reached the edge of the system and will provide refueling for the return trip, but it will not be possible to use the transport as a berth as planned. Has the ambassador yet provided instructions as to where the meeting shall take place?"

"Indirectly," she answered with a small grimace, the Snowlit Dawn was certainly not the kind of place appropriate for a Lupin Alpha to stay, especially not one as high profile as her, "I will transmit the profile of the vessel we will be rendezvousing with to your terminal, alert me as soon as it arrives in system."

Back aboard the Snowlit Dawn, one hour later...

Gerard hastily made his way from Medbay to his cabin, one of the larger rooms aboard, but only by the virtue that he was sharing it with another crewmate. The decor belonged to Lia, whom he'd grown accustomed to sharing lodgings with since she'd rescued him from his own people. For a Lapinian she had somewhat unusual tastes: more than a few ornamental (but functional) weapons of various kinds, sized or modified - likely at likely a considerable cost - for the shorter and unassuming stature of her species. The only thing that was specifically for his benefit in the room was the much larger and more durable bed. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he recalled his first night aboard, when the old fold-down bunk creaked and snapped off the wall under the weight of two people snoozing on it - one much larger and more massive than it was ever rated for. His people tended to break things like this after all, unintentionally, or... he scowled, his mind drawn back to the situation of the present.

Heh, _ my own people. By blood alone, certainly not choice, especially now.He could feel bile creeping up his throat as he looked down at the larger tablet he carried, more out of functional need from having big hands than a desire for something "nicer." The original Leonin text of the classified military files Marla had chosen to share with him automatically scrolling across the display._Classified under the penalty of death. Hah, already sentenced to that _twice now , what's to dissuade me?_ In truth this was the 3rd time he'd read it, but now the dry gallows humor he'd first employed rang completely hollow. He knew exactly what this meant for everyone who lived in known space, and likely beyond.Nobody is getting out of this unscathed, Lupin Prime may be the only target listed in this data, but it won't be the last. Maybe they'll leave the Vulpin be, for now, but it's only a matter of time before they too are invaded. He slumped onto the bed, just as Lia entered the room.

"Hey Gerard," she began, swaying her hips as she entered, "what's the deal with everyone? Suddenly you all seem so..." Her swagger quickly vanished as he held out his tablet where she could see it and switched to the Standard translation. "Oh... fuck this!" She finally groaned after reading for a few minutes. "I left the Merchant Marine to get away from the political rake-twirling, and here we are right back in it!" She threw the tablet on the bed, causing it to bounce towards the wall. Gerard barely managed to swipe it back from out of the air moments before it would have struck the metal wall panels and shattered, or at least cracked badly.

"Lia, darling," he sighed, setting the tablet aside in a small corner alcove that doubled as a wireless charger for electronics, "this isn't something we can just 'get away' from. Stay ahead of a while, maybe, but... hells, I'm not even sure Ragerian space, wherever in the void that it, will stay safe." He wrapped a large arm around the almost spindly frame of the sulking Lapinian sitting next to him, carefully pulling her into a hug. "Whatever happens, I'm here for you."

"Likewise, you big sappy oaf!" She muttered with a more amused than annoyed tone, giving him a grin. "Hey, maybe I can get that off to my old contacts, scare them into taking serious action instead of dancing around Leonin incursions as usual?"

"One can only hope."

Elsewhere on the ship

"May I come in?" Ellia Longtail asked a stone-faced Sabre from his half-open door. He groaned as he watched her attempt to quiver like a lost pup that had wandered into some stranger's abode after smelling food.

"I am not the Lupin ambassador," he sighed, shaking his head as he looked over at the tea tin he'd quickly hidden his com device in, "nor do I truly have the ear of any Alphas." Or for that matter, even my own family. At this he closed the door, locking himself in.

"Dammit Commander Blackpaw," she half yelled and half squeaked, from the camera at the door he saw her lowering her ears and stamping her foot, a small tear in the right leg of her pants - likely from trying to clean one of the tighter spaces onboard - now showing bare fur underneath, "I have something that I'm going to say to you regardless, do you want me to do it privately or shout it down the halls for everyone to hear. I know you have a way to block out Marla!"

I do not envy Scythe now... he thought, shaking his head as he hit the button to open the door for her. "Enter and say what you have to; just do not expect me to respond or do anything for you."

Once she entered, he closed the door and flipped the switch that would prevent Marla, or anyone else from listening in, just as Ellia abruptly hugged him. He recoiled in surprise, trying to gently push her away.

{You don't deserve any of this,} he heard echoing into his mind, feeling even more uncomfortable now, {all you did was try and help people, people who needed it, and for your efforts you were disowned by your own people. I... I've rarely felt such emotional damage before.}

"Ambassador, please..." Sabre half growled, not wanting to use enough force to harm one he'd been ordered to ensure the safety of, and yet wanting very much to be away from her, "this is not your problem, nor are you able to help me. Should you not be focused on your mission?" And have you no manners?

She suddenly released Sabre with a gasp, blushing slightly. "Apologies, Ragerians don't just read emotions, they are also indirectly impacted those around us. I-I was just..."

"I see." He replied after she had paused for a moment, though he didn't understand what her intentions were at all. "But what point and purpose did you have for invading my thoughts?"

"We call it re-balancing," she explained, looking over at his somewhat sparse desk, "when Ragerians are troubled, we uh... how to explain this?" She tapped a finger under her muzzle as she paced around the room. "We link our minds and allow inverse emotions to flow from each other. It helps keep us rational and prevents depression from crippling us. And you... you seriously need it; it's been gnawing at you for an extremely long time. I can't tell exactly how long, but far too long to be healthy."

"I appreciate the gesture," he sighed, shaking his head as he sat down in his chair once again, "but..."

"Look dammit," she growled, taking his hand suddenly, "you're throwing my emotional balance off in a bad way. If I don't do this, I'm liable to snap at Scythe on your behalf. Now, do you want to chance that, or will you let me re-balance for both our sakes?"

"Very well," Sabre grumbled looking away from Ellia, "what do you need me to do?"

"Just close your eyes," she instructed, grasping his hand more firmly, "relax, and let your emotions go."

Sabre muttered something inaudible in Lupin, rolling his eyes with a groan as he did so, suddenly noticing it felt as though all the depression, self-loathing, rejection and righteous fury that had been boiling beneath the surface was being sucked out of him.

What felt like scant moments later there was a loud knock at the door, and a familiar impatient clopping of hooves outside the door. "Ah!" Ellia gasped, blushing as both of them opened their eyes. "Do, uh, do you want me to get that or...?"

Sabre got up and opened the door, revealing a rather irritated looking Herbert. "Hey S, what gives? We were supposed to start SoS an hour ago!"

"Last I checked I had an hour before..." He looked at the time display on his terminal and frowned with a shocked blush. Whatever Ellia had done it had eaten up over 2 hours. "Apologies, we can start now."

"SoS?" Ellia asked, her ears perking up suddenly. "Oh, Swords of Spacetime! Do you need a healer? I'm currently looking for a party to join!"

"Huh?" Herbert blinked as he looked at her in surprise, "I don't know, I'm level 21 and S here is 35. We're already pushing it by inviting the doc as a level 1, so I don't think we can handle another noob."

"Ellen Tailer is a level 29 cleric!" She sighed, rolling her eyes at the shocked looks Herbert was giving her. "What? Do you think just because I'm a young Ragerian means I can't possibly have experience with a Lupin game?"

"I knew that name was familiar! You're the reason Harold Lightninghooves lost more than half his credits!" Herbert whinnied accusingly, pointing a finger at Ellia. "All because 'Ellen' decided to lose her clothing and get us chased halfway around the system!"

"He could have loaned her a spare outfit!" Ellia groaned, shaking her head, "you make it sound like she wanted to be naked!"

"Last time he did that, it changed from white and gray to pink and green!" Herbert neighed, throwing his hands up in irritation. "And with how she flirts with people all the time what am I supposed to expect?"

"Come on, he's a bard, but he insists on wearing such plain outfits. Ellen just wanted to spruce it up a bit with some enchantment magic, plus it would have given a small boost to defensive stats. And oh, let's see, if you'd bothered asking her, or her player... you'd have found out that she lost the outfit because she stepped in the way of an acid arrow. Meant for Harold. After trying to warn him to take cover from an assassin. Five times." She flicked her ears, sticking a finger out with every point she made.

Herbert sucked in a breath, leaning forward and holding a finger up, about to make a point of his own, before lowering it and sighing with a sheepish look. "I... I didn't... hey E, I'm sorry that I didn't bother asking. Any chance you still want to join our party?"

"Do I not have any say in this?" Grumbled a fairly annoyed Sabre, his ears pinned down because he'd been relegated to the background and forced to observe their bickering. "I think she should share her character card and go through the standard party approval process. If her level is as advanced as she claims, she is surely familiar with how to do so."

"Only done it like 8 times already." She muttered but nodded. "Sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a summit to prepare for."

Captain's Cabin, a few minutes later

The Captain looked at an old clock in her quarters as she sighed, checking against her terminal's time in case it slipped ahead again - it had not. She had requested Ambassador Longtail meet her here several minutes ago, and she didn't appreciate being left to wait. The door finally slid open, with Ellia on the other end.

"Sorry I'm late, Captain," the Ragerian blushed, looking around nervously, "I, uh... was a bit sidetracked by a personal issue, one which took more time than I'd expected."

"Whatever," replied Donna dismissively, waving her hand then beckoning her to sit in an old wooden chair near her desk, "I think we got off on the wrong paw, so to speak, but there are some questions I need answered about my mother. Like what exactly it is she... does for you? And how exactly do you mean to help her with her medical issues?"

"For the latter, the correct question would be how have I helped her. I saw to it she received reconstructive nanites to correct the damage caused to her lungs by the recent fires and atmospheric pollution the Leonin have caused on Huska over the last few decades." Ellia looked straight at her, a hint of sadness to her seemingly genuine smile. "Honestly, I wish I could do the same for all your people, but it is exceedingly hard to sneak in even small amounts of Ragerian technology under the noses of the Leonin, however incompetent and corrupt they may be."

"If that's true," Donna began, feeling both suspicious of Ellia and (assuming her honesty) conflicted at the way she and her girlfriend had been treating the ambassador, "and I do want to see evidence of it, then I appreciate your efforts." At that Donna's eyes narrowed at the ambassador. "That still doesn't answer my first question though."

"You never take anything at face value, do you Captain?" She chuckled slightly then sighed. "I can't blame you, if I'd been through a fraction of what you have, I'd have trust issues too."

"I don't have trust issues, I just don't hand it out blindly," Donna replied dryly, rolling her eyes, "now, how about answering my question, or is there some reason you cannot or will not?" Void damn politicians, they're all the same.

"Honestly, there's a mix of both." Just like that, all the humor, warmth and good nature in Ellia's voice was gone, replaced by ... irritation? It seemed deeper than that to Donna, but she couldn't place what it was, or whom it was towards, other than Ellia didn't seem to be annoyed with her. "I cannot give you answers I don't know, and a lot of what I do know is... quite sensitive. As in it could get far more people than your mother killed if the wrong people found out."

What in the void kind of cloak and dagger snowdrift has mom gotten herself into? Thought the Captain, setting down her mug of coffee awkwardly. She wasn't getting the answers she wanted at all from this, and yet at the same time it was getting harder and harder to stay mad at Ellia. She hated to admit it, but it was cathartic to have the Ragerian as a scapegoat - just pin the problems on her and blame no one else... only now she was feeling more and more like someone who was going out of her way to try and solve other people's problems.

"Seems Sabre isn't the only one who needs an emotional re-balance..." Ellia mused casually at her, "somehow I doubt you'd let me help you with that."

"If that means poking around in my head, I'll pass." Donna groaned, breaking eye contact with Ellia as she pretended to read from her terminal.

"Shame, it would make everything a lot easier for both of us... did you enjoy the coffee?"

"What?" Donna looked back up at her absolutely astonished that she was choosing to ask that kind of question at a time like this. Ragerians really are kooky.

"The coffee I gave you the other day, which I'd made for Sabre," Ellia clarified unnecessarily, "what did you think of it?"

"It's... it was alright, nothing special." Donna lied as she looked back at the display in front of her, wanting to end the conversation without directly shutting her down before she felt worse about how she'd been treating Ellia.

"Captain," she snickered, wagging a finger in the air, "I'm surprised Marla hasn't explained this to you yet, but you can't lie to a Ragerian in person and expect it to work. You may as well be wearing a shirt boldly proclaiming your emotional state as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, I can tell you're not comfortable discussing this further, so I'll get to my last point. That was Ragerian Coffee, and I have more should you want it." Ellia stood and headed for the door. "Good night, Captain, I'm sorry I couldn't put you more at ease."

The next morning...

Scythe grimaced as she watched the Snowlit Dawn drop to conventional thrust near her transport. Some said Lupin ships looked blocky and unattractive, but Scythe thought even the most utilitarian Lupin design looked extravagant compared to the ancient hauler of Vulpin make. Ancestors help me, this is going to be insufferable. She groaned inwardly as she activated the com system, hailing the freighter.

"Why hello Ambassador Scythe," came an oddly bubbly Felin voice, "we're preparing for you now, go ahead and attach to our starboard airlock!"

"It is Major ," she corrected flatly, " Alpha class." At this she nodded to her aide at the helm, who maneuvered towards the airlock, starting to extend a docking tube and clamps towards the now stationary freighter. "I wish to keep this as brief as possible, however we shall need to spend at least one night aboard so my transport can refuel. Please ensure appropriate lodging and meals are available."

"Accom- er..." the voice had turned nervous at the mention of that, "well the food isn't an issue, our cook is well versed in Lupin cuisine, but regarding rooms..."

"I am confident your Captain can arrange something. Scythe out."

In the crew section of the Snowlit Dawn

"That Alpha-bitch wants what?!" Donna shouted in disbelief as she put on her business suit - probably the only formal wear she had that would fit her as an adult. Tallia, still in her typical overalls and grease-stained shirt just chuckled and shook her head.

"Apparently they expended more resources than expected getting here and she's going to need a cabin..." Aria explained, pausing a moment, "actually, maybe more. Looks like she's got two troops with her as an honor guard."

"I could throw down some emergency cots in Cargo Bay 2, since it's not at capacity..." Tallia growled as she looked at her tablet, the last part sounding like an accusation.

"That would suffice for the honor guard," replied Sabre with a nod, just outside the door of the Captain's cabin, "but one does not bunk an Alpha with common troops. It would be seen as an insult at best."

"Well, whadda ya want me to do, big guy?!" Tallia glowered, slapping her rugged tablet roughly to her belt clip. "This ain't a luxury liner, and I'm not a void damn magician! Far as I'm concerned, she can sleep with Ellia!"

"That is even more inappropriate..." Sabre shuddered at the thought, blushing, "for cultural reasons I cannot explain in polite company. I... will allow her to use my quarters, my seat on the bridge shall suffice as a bed for the time being."

"I really don't get you, Sabre;" Tallia rolled her eyes at him, "they kick you out of your home system, and you just hand one of them your only private space? Nobody I can think of would put up with that bio-waste."

"It's their way dear," explained Donna before Sabre could reply, "I'm not an expert but as you'll recall I grew up with Sabre, he still feels like my uncle... so I understand a bit about Lupin culture... what I could pry from him anyway. Are you sure you'll be alright with this, Sabre?"

"Because it was painful," he replied with a sad smile, "Scythe would have been a pup when I was exiled so I have no personal feelings against her nor she any against me. She will, however, be culturally obligated to ignore or rebuke me. As such I shall remain out of the way as much as possible during her visit. Her honor guard should behave similarly, they should simply not acknowledge my existence unless I threaten Scythe, or she orders action taken against me."

"Disgusting!" The higher pitched and almost shrill voice of Ellia came from the hall. "Not only is she forcing you to do her dirty work, but she won't even acknowledge you?" The ambassador rounded the bend in the corridor she'd evidently been waiting on the other side of. She was wearing a shimmering, flowing dress, with what appeared to be strands of copper and gold interwoven within what seemed to be a form of silk. The hem of it ended just above her ankles and was inlaid with what appeared to be alternating starburst patterns of emeralds, sapphires and rubies, along with a few rainbow-colored gems that were unfamiliar. Her paws wore open toed white slippers with what appeared to be real platinum trim. On her neck was a silver necklace with several sizable purple gemstones.

"Ambassador..." Sabre's voice caught in his throat as he eyed her lavish outfit, "you have to understand this is how Lupin culture works. And your outfit is-"

"Oh, this thing?" She waved dismissively at it as if it were just a rag she'd thrown on, "I just had this simple but elegant dinner outfit refactored before I headed out. You think Scythe won't take me seriously with such a basic outfit?"

Sabre's jaw practically dropped, whilst Donna and Tallia looked stunned. At first Donna thought this was clearly a joke and she'd picked the most lavish thing she owned to wear to such an important function... then she realized the dumbfounded, confused look Ellia was wearing at their reaction. She was serious, this apparently was a Ragerian's idea of a simple dinner outfit.

"Holy hull-breach..." Tallia finally broke the silence, pulling up her tablet and taking some scans. "Real silk, gold, copper, platinum, silver and various gemstones - some unidentifiable and none of them are plastic or glass! What Vulpin markets are you trying to bankrupt?"

"What are you talking about?" Ellia asked, giving the engineer a confused look. "None of that stuff is hard to find or manufacture for us, why wouldn't anyone be able to enjoy it?"

Tallia liked her lips as she moved closer to look at the gemstones adorning the necklace. "If they're so common, can I have one?"

Ellia pushed her away with an annoyed look. "First you make my life a living hell, and now you want a gift? I think not."

Donna gave Tallia an annoyed and disapproving look, opening her mouth to speak, just as the intercom dinged again.

"Captain," came the voice of Gerard, "please come to the starboard airlock, our guests have arrived."

Airlock 1

"Stay away from us, Leonin!" One of Scythe's black uniformed honor guards growled, the white collar and linings being the only thing making his jet-black fur stand out. "We do not require medical attention!"

"Bio-screening is a universal practice, isn't it?" Replied Gerard, looking towards Scythe instead of the guard. "The scans will only take a moment to confirm you're not carrying potentially dangerous microbes. As the ship's doctor I would be negligent to not check anyone who boards."

"Silence, Pack Sargent Blackpaw," Scythe growled, causing the mouthy soldier to go ridged and shut his maw firmly, "he is correct, such diligence reflects well on him as a professional, as well as his Captain and crew as a whole. Carry on, Doctor."

"Of course... aaand - you're clear!" At this he pressed the button to cycle the airlock, just as Donna rounded the corner.

Scythe's honor guard stepped forward in front of Scythe. Though the other gray furred one was the crisp image of professionalism and military bearing, the black furred one gave the crew a sour look and slight snarl. "Get back and allow the Major to pass!"

"I am quite capable of giving orders," Scythe chastised, giving him a glare that caused him to shrink back slightly, "was I in error when I selected you for this duty?"

"No ma'am!" The dark furred Lupin replied clearly, standing ramrod straight at attention. "I will not presume to speak for you during your presence from now on."

"Very good, Pack Sargent." Scythe flatly replied, glaring through him for a few moments before turning to face Donna. "Captain Briskwind, have you prepared quarters for us?"

"They're being prepared as we speak. Would you like to eat first? Our chef has already prepared a meal I expect you'll enjoy."

"That would prove a, erm..." Scythe paused, as if considering her response, "pleasant surprise. We shall follow you to your dining area."

Meanwhile, in the mess hall...

Dorrin carefully prepared the snow rabbit steaks, carefully but quickly turning them, knowing how easily they tended to burn. There, done... she'd better appreciate all this effort.

Just as he was setting them on the plates the captain entered, along with Scythe, who was flanked by her honor guard.

"Snow rabbit, prepared by a Tigrin?" Scythe regarded Dorrin and the food as though both were completely beneath her. "I suppose I shall try to not be insulted by the attempt if it proves poor."

He stifled a growl at the slight, silently gritting his teeth as he went to hand her a plate... only to have the black furred Lupin in her honor guard grab it, running a scanner over the entire meal for a few moments before handing it to Scythe, but not before giving Dorrin a look of disgust.Who spit in his tea this morning? Once he'd done the same to the meals for rest of the group they moved over to the table.

"My, you're just the most kind, grateful, cuddly and caring Lupin I've ever met!" Ellia chuckled wryly as she entered, and the honor guard stared at her outfit.

Scythe merely sighed and rolled her eyes. "We are not here to befriend the crew of some run-down freighter that does not even operate in Lupin space. And you look ridiculous in that needlessly decadent outfit. Precisely what are you trying to prove with such wasteful attire?"

"What is it with everyone having issues with my basic, formal dining attire?" Ellia groaned, still looking surprised at this kind of reaction. "Is the whole sector really this resource poor? You know, I could always remove it if it bothers you. ~" She grinned, chuckling at her last remark.

Scythe just facepalmed, looking down at her meal. "Perhaps we should just start eating..." She muttered, starting to cut into the snow rabbit and taking a bite. Her ears perked and suddenly she was eagerly munching down on the food.

"Yes, it does look and smell good," replied Ellia, sitting across from Scythe, and drawing dagger-looks from the Sargent, "I think Sabre showed Dorrin how to cook it, he's quite a valued member of this crew."

Scythe suddenly stopped eating, dropping the fork on the plate at the mention of Sabre. The Sargent narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth for a barely perceptible moment.

"Do not mention... that one." Scythe finally responded in well-practiced tone of forced neutrality and disinterest. "He is... no longer Lupin."

"Oh really?" Ellia chuckled between bites, sounding almost nervous. "Then what do you think he is now, a Ragerian? Should I be taking him back to the home-world?"

"The. Major. Said. Not. To. Mention. Him!" Growled the Pack Sargent, getting him a few looks from everyone in the room, including Scythe as he reached over and grabbed Ellia's hand, forcing her to stop eating.

"What in the Order's grace is your malfunct-? Oh..." She suddenly stopped, a troubled expression coming over her face as she withdrew her hand and stood up. "I-I had no idea. Excuse me Major, I'm not feeling well."

An hour later...

Dorrin stormed out of the mess hall as soon as he'd finished cleaning up. It was all he could do to avoid giving Scythe a rude gesture in response to her backhanded and lukewarm praise of his cooking. "More than adequately prepared..." H __mph! Damn Lupin bitch, I'll bet that was the best damn snow rabbit she's ever had. And whatever her rabid guard did to Ellia... u_ nacceptable!_

"Marla," he called out, barely keeping his voice level, "where's Ellia?"

"She's in your quarters, lover boy." There was unusual disdain at that coming from the voice over the intercom; of course, Dorrin couldn't care less whether or not a technologically embodied ghost of some old Ragerian approved of his relationships.

"Thank you, but unless you want me to call you old witch don't call me that again."

"As you wish, Dorrin, but regardless of what you may think this is coming from genuine concern to your well-being. You're the only reason I still exist in any meaningful fashion, and for that I consider you an ally, if not a friend."

Dorrin stopped, turning towards her projection that had just appeared in front of him. "Seriously? I... I don't know how to respond to that. Still, what I do with my personal time is my choice, please don't try to force the issue."

"Alright, but there are things about our culture you're not aware of." She sighed, rubbing her holographic face with holographic fingers. "Don't make assumptions and ask me questions if you have them."

"Hmmm..." he began walking towards his room before pausing again, "what do you think that reaction from Ellia was about?"

"That's hard to say..." Marla rubbed under her muzzle in consideration, "as you're now quite aware, flesh and blood Ragerians can read emotions in a room, and thoughts when in physical contact. My best guess would be she experienced something traumatic that guard was thinking... wait. Did you catch his last name?"

"I'm pretty sure no one said what his name was."

"Oh right," she nodded, "you wouldn't have heard that, since it happened in the airlock. Scythe called him Pack Sargent Blackpaw , who else with that surname do we know?"

Were it not attached firmly to his face, Dorrin's jaw would have been resting on the floor. "Sabre?!? He... you think that's, what, his son? He never told me anything about having children or a family!"

"Probably because he didn't want you to be even more angry at the Lupin than you are already. Anyway, as far as any socially acceptable Lupin would be concerned, he no longer exists. Scythe was not exaggerating that remark."

"Thank you, Marla," Dorrin nodded as he turned and started to leave, "I know exactly what to do now."

On the bridge, 20 minutes later...

"Dorrin," replied Sabre with a smile as the door to the bridge slid open, keeping his eyes on his console, "I appreciate your initiative, but I am not hungry at this time."

"But you are tired," Ellia responded, causing Sabre's ears to twitch, and him to spin his seat around, "and apparently your son is part of Scythe's honor guard. I... I'm sorry, I didn't intend for anything like this to happen. I thought maybe I could convince Scythe to..."

"To do what?" Sabre asked flatly, startling Ellia. "Even assuming she could just revoke my exile by decree - which she cannot - she would not be able to change thousands of years of culture and traditions in an instant." He sighed, giving her a soft, but pained smile. "Ambassador, sometimes your good nature is outmatched by your naivete. That said... she had promised to have my status reviewed once I have completed my... assignment. That could potentially result in the banishment being lifted, but it is unlikely I will ever be truly accepted by my family again. Even if Lupin society will once more tolerate my presence."

"And... and you're just... okay with that?" Ellia shivered a bit, gazing deep into his eyes. "I don't understand that at all. There... is something you need to know about your son. He uh... he indirectly and unintentionally shared his thoughts with me - against my will at that, he grabbed my hand during dinner!"

Sabre frowned at that, a growing growl dispelled by her last remark, replaced by a whine. "I would have never allowed him to think such a thing was acceptable had I been part of his life. He was a newborn pup when I was exiled. I do wish to know more about him, even if he will not speak to or acknowledge me. If he is an Alpha's honor guard that would mean he is a high performing Gamma in the Lupin Defense Forces. Did you catch what his rank is?"

"Pack Sargent. And uh..." Ellia shifted uncomfortably, her own ears lowering, "I'm afraid he doesn't just want nothing to do with you, I-I think he wants to kill you."

Captain's Office

"Unbelievable..." Captain Briskwind groaned as she watched the conversation between Sabre and Ellia on the bridge, again.

"You have not known Ambassador Longtail for much time, have you?" Scythe, who had elected to stand instead of taking the offered seat in the small office, asked the Captain. It appears to be an heirloom,_she had thought at the time, _and it is questionable if it can support my mass for any sustained amount of use. "She is always trying some... unnecessary stunt, thinking she can prove a point or get someone to change. Is it unfortunate that you and your crew got caught up in one which may carry actual danger."

"Are you saying that you believe your 'Pack Sargent' may actually intend to murder my First Officer and Navigator?" Donna snapped, her eyes fiery as slammed her hands on her desk and leered at Scythe. "Because this is my ship, and my crew are my family. I don't give two shits about rank or tradition, anyone who threatens my family gets a one-way trip out an airlock!"

Scythe just stood there, unflinching and unblinking, waiting until she was certain the Captain had finished speaking. Does she truly think she can intimidate me? I cannot fault her dedication and fire, but I have faced Leonin assassins and special ops squads. This __simply does not phase me, nor will anything she is likely to do in the future. "I have ordered my honor guard not to interact with anyone absent my explicit approval, unless the mission parameters require it. We have no intention of being in the same room as... your First Officer, so this should prevent any incidents. Should my guard violate my orders they will be severely punished, is that satisfactory, Captain Briskwind?"

Donna held up a finger, opening her maw to say something... before withdrawing it. "I suppose that's all I can reasonably expect. But I'm not exaggerating, I will personally show anyone who harms my crew to the nearest exit, regardless of if there is a ship or void outside it."

"Then you may wish to consider that vigilante action against Lupin citizens, especially active-duty military, will not be tolerated." The Major replied in a cool, dispassionate tone, as if she was reading a passage from a book of regulations. "There will already be consequences of your presence; I am attempting to minimize them to your benefit, you would be wise to not take any rash actions."I truly hope they do not refuse to sign the NDA we will have to send everyone aboard. This part of the job always feels so distasteful. Before Donna could respond, Scythe turned crisply and exited the room, leaving the Captain to fume.

Dorrin's Cabin

Dorrin anxiously paced about his quarters in a small circle... smaller than he'd normally have had since Ellia had just moved her bag of stuff into it - she'd insisted on giving Sabre her quarters, right after explaining her outburst to Dorrin... as well as explaining that yes, Scythe absolutely loved his Snow Rabbit and she responded the way she did because it was culturally unacceptable for a Lupin Alpha to appear partial by offering more than lukewarm praise of anything. So damn uptight, how do they stay sane?

Just then, Ellia returned to her quarters, jumping into his arms and hugging him. He tried to remind himself that her outfit wasn't actually valuable to Ragerians as he hugged her through it gingerly. I still can't believe your people wear such things!

{I still can't believe everyone in this sector uses money for basic needs when, even on a system-based scale, most places are more than capable of meeting their population's basic needs... and then some.}

"You do have a point..." he leaned forward, giving her a gentle nuzzle, "are you going to be alright, after...?"

"I'll be fine, believe it or not I've actually experienced far more intense emotions and thoughts than those of one Pack Sargent Dagger Blackpaw." She chuckled in response, but it was dry, grim and humorless; nothing like the warm laughter he'd heard from her shortly after they'd met. "Honestly, knowing your Captain, not to mention Lia, I'd be more afraid for Sabre's son than for Sabre himself. Did you know that Lia is banned from Lupin space because she beat one or their special forces troopers half to death, for a perceived insult that was actually a compliment?"

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he replied somberly, trying not to think too deeply on just how dangerous that would make their live-wire security officer, "but it can't possibly be good for your mission. Are the Lupin even doing... a** nything** about this threat?"

"On a broad scale? Nope." Ellia groaned, releasing Dorrin from the hug and flopping on the bunk. "Their Council still doesn't want to believe anything that comes from Ragerians or their affiliates. Guess I can't blame them, we did somewhat hold them back in the early years, something I have come to understand was probably a mistake. The only good news is Scythe believes us, even if she's got a massive stick up her tail regarding just about everything. I'm trying to get her to commit to meeting with some of my allies but... well, you've met Matriarch Razormaw, who's already been screaming at her over comms for unrelated erm... grievances. Putting them in the same room would probably not go well. She is a bit more receptive towards meeting with the Yotan, but still has to do more 'paperwork'."

"It's something," he sighed, sitting down next to her on the bed, "I never thought I'd have cared about this kind of 'make the galaxy better' stuff but... if you're being as honest with me as it feels, I think-!" His remark was cut off with a loud thunk and groan from the hall outside. Ellia shot upright as he stood, both of them rushing out to see what had happened.

Ellia gasped audibly as she exited the room. Scythe was on her back, looking particularly shocked, with Sabre lying unconscious atop her.

"Ambassador, get back in your quarters, we were attacked!" Scythe announced as she lifted Sabre off of her and quickly got to her feet. She had pulled a dart of some sort from Sabre's back, eyeing it with disgust. "I am quite certain this was meant for me."

"I uh..." Ellia froze for a moment, before giving Scythe a defiant look, putting one hand on her hip and rooting around for something in a pocket with the other, "I'm not going to cower in Dorrin's quarters, I'm going to help!"

"G-gramps..." Dorrin had rushed over, looking into Sabre's face, "no... we, we need to get him to Gerard!"

Scythe nodded, hoisting him over her shoulder with minimal effort. "He saved my life, I cannot overlook that, which way?"

"Oh, now you care?" Ellia groaned, still fumbling with her pockets as Dorrin led them down the corridor to the med-bay. "Urgh, perhaps this outfit was a mistake... Order's grace, please don't tell me I left it in my bag!"

"Left what?" Dorrin asked, visibly confused as Scythe pushed past him into the med-bay, plopping Sabre down on an exam bed as Gerard stood, rubbing his glasses off and blinking.

"What in the nine hells?" The doctor gasped, rushing towards Sabre with his scanner. "Definite signs of toxin, seems specific to Lupin physiology... damn, I'm not equipped for this!"

"Aha, got it!" Ellia yipped triumphantly, waving a needle-less auto injector, which she handed to Gerard, "This should help, even if your stasis chamber is ineffective as it looks."

Gerard blinked, giving it a dumbfounded look as she handed it to him. "Is... is this what I think it is?"

"If you think it's Ragerian medical nanites programmed with automatic trauma and stabilization protocols, then yes, it is. If Denal knew you were holding that he'd screech so loud you could hear him across the galaxy. Now, are you going to use it or stand there like an idiot?"

Gerard quickly pressed it to Sabre's neck after the confirmation, a soft hiss indicating it had dispensed its payload. "How do I check its progress?" He asked, still looking at his scanner. "Wow, it's... those protocols definitely work, his heart rate has stabilized and he's breathing almost normally but... seems more like the toxin is suppressed than gone."

"I'm probably not the best person to ask about this tech buuut..." Ellia swiped the scanner from his hands as she spoke, inputting something as he glared at her, "there, that's the status interface. I'm not a Doctor, but as I understand it, they can only operate on basic protocols without a controller unit. Ragerians with an AIS have one implanted to regulate it and provide basic health maintenance and adjustment. There are also more advanced controller units which qualified medical professionals can use for custom treatment."

"Uh... thank you ambassador," Gerard replied, looking the interface in a confused manner, "but this is in Ragerian."

"Well of course it is, give me a moment!" Marla exclaimed, before the display flashed as it was translated into Standard. "There, you should be able to use that."

"Wow, this is... this is a lot of data." Gerard wiped his forehead, scrolling through it. "And he's stable for now but this definitely has not cured him, I can see that much. Can somebody help me move him into the stasis chamber? We need to buy more time."

Dorrin and Scythe nodded, helping get him into the pod as Gerard began the pseudo-stasis process and the lid closed over him. "I don't suppose anyone has a sample of whatever was used on him?" Gerard asked, looking towards Scythe, who nodded and held up the dart.

"I doubt I can synthesize an antidote, but it may give me a better idea how long we... nine hells!" He froze as he scanned the dart, then rushed to the intercom and paged Lia's channel. "Lia, get the ship into lock-down, now! There's a Leonin assassin aboard!"

Chapter 8

Cargo Bay 4, shortly after the assassination attempt

"I am a Lupin, not a Gnoll!" Pack Sargent Blackpaw snarled at Lia as she forced him against the deck of the cargo hold. "Why would I try to kill my own Alpha???"

"You never hit her, did you?" Lia noted, tightening a zip-tie around his wrists behind his back. "And we all know how you feel about your father, puppy! Oh, and don't get any ideas, wolf boy. These are carbon filament reinforced zip ties. You'll just break those fancy claw implants I know you've got!" Not sure how this guy got tied to the Leonin, Lia thought to herself as she dragged him towards a makeshift cell in the same bay, but hey, I've been overdue an easy solution!

"I'm twice your age, runt, and I do have an alibi..." Blackpaw grunted, "just ask your pilot with a lack of manners, and that Felin who speaks perfect Lupin."

Oh, here we go, does he really think I'm that stupid? "I will, and you should know that I know Herb personally, he won't dare lie to me. So what's he going to tell me, eh rabbit eater?"

"I yelled at him for playing his poor excuse for music far too loudly as he was rooting around in one of those crates," the Lupin grumbled, "of course, he probably will only remember the part where I pinned him to the wall, yanked out his earbuds and demanded he turn them down or turn them off. Then that kitty, think her name was 'Area' or something, showed up and yelled at me in shockingly perfect Lupin. I... may have added a few words to her vocabulary."

Actually, that's pretty believable... Lia groaned inwardly, fiddling with her tied back ears before responding. "We'll see, but it makes little difference. Because if you didn't do it, we have an assassin aboard, and the last thing the Captain wants is someone ensuring her First Officer never wakes up."

"Just because I want to do something does not mean I will." The Sargent spat, renewing his glare at Lia, "I am my Alpha's honor guard, I am duty bound to protect her with my life. This is not the time to keep me tied up in a cargo bay!"

"Maybe you should have been doing that instead of arguing with Herb?" She jabbed him verbally as she left the cargo bay.

Meanwhile, in the med-bay

"Marla, how long does Sabre have?" Gerard's eyes look glazed as he scanned the deluge of raw data from the medical nanites that he'd injected into the Lupin. I feel completely out of my depth, like I've been given just enough rope to hang myself. I guess those controller units must d __o a looot of data manipulation, because this is rawer_ than the field rations!_

"Ah yes, the glorious work of being an impromptu medical diagnostics system, exactly what I trained for ages ago!" Came the response from the ship's speakers. If sarcasm was a sauce, we'd have enough for several weeks from that one. "Look, I'm half guessing here, but probably a few days at most. We need to get him to a proper medical facility."

"You mean a Ragerian medical facility?" Gerard asked, rubbing his forehead. "I get the impression he wouldn't fare much if any better even if we were in a hospital on a developed world."

"The Yotan could help." Ellia offered, poking her head in from the hall. Nine hells, I when I said for everyone to get out I didn't mean to loiter at the door!

"My people could shove him in a better stasis pod so he lasts for months or years, but we're not exactly on speaking terms." Tallia grunted as she examined the pod in question. "Not much I can do to improve the performance on this one, whoever bought this ship initially picked the cheapest medical package there was... over a century ago."

"The New Dawn has a full Ragerian-style medical center now, including some of our best xeno-physicians; and they should be arriving outside the system soon, that was supposed to be my drop-off point after this mission."

There was a clang as Tallia dropped the tool she'd been using, after a moment she picked it up, moving over towards Ellia and pointing it in her face. "Ambassador, you're full of it! And don't even suggest such a bullshit move to Donna!" At that she stormed off, grumbling.

"Interesting..." Ellia murmured with a grin, rubbing her paws, "verrrry interesting." The ambassador left with a chuckle and an unusual spring in her step.

Corridor near a Cargo Bay

"Lia, I've found something that's... inconvenient for your theory that Dagger Blackpaw is the would-be assassin." Marla had appeared in the corridor right after Lia had left the cargo bay, where she had restrained the Lupin in question.

"Of course you did..." she grumbled, rubbing her face, "well, out with it, what did you find that corroborates his story?"

"Actually, it less corroborates anything than provides another likely suspect. Though a number of cameras picked today to malfunction, at first just in the cargo bays, when those came back online I found one of the crates we took aboard at our last stop was open and seemingly empty. It looks like we have a stowaway."

"Oh mulch..." grumbled the rabbit as she stomped across the deck plates, "truly nothing can be easy, can it? Did you find out what the other honor guard was doing? I don't trust either of them!"

"I figured you'd ask as much. Corporal Shadowtrail accompanied Scythe to Captain Briskwind's quarters for a meeting with her, then stood guard outside. Shortly after she entered, he rushed off to the nearest restroom just before the cameras cut. When the cameras resumed, Shadowtrailcame out of there just as the assassin was passing in the hall and herushed after him. The assassin escaped his reach in the next section, which was still experiencing camera malfunctions."

That does it, I'm going to threaten to break Tallia's jaw if she doesn't fix those void damned crappy cameras! Lia thought, rubbing under her maw; the engineer had always made a point of the cameras not being particularly critical, as they had a trusted crew on a fairly small ship. Boarders could quickly take control of much of it before they could check cameras themselves, and she had not expected to be hosting dignitaries, so she hadn't pressed the Yotanon that point."Well, at least that means we can rule him out. I'm still going to keep Sabre's son restrained for now, if nothing else it's one less body to keep track of. I know I don't say this kind of thing often, but thanks Marla."

Captain's Quarters, half an hour later

"Just don't listen to her, dear!" Tallia shouted for the 5th time, to a rather perplexed looking Donna.

"Listen to her about what?" The Huscanid asked, tilting her head to the side, feeling more confused than irritated now. Ancestors, what is her deal? Ellia hasn't even approached me thus far with any suggestions about Sabre, and she seems to genuinely want to help.

"She can't possibly be telling the truth about the New Dawn arriving outside the system soon, we'd have seen it on sensors!" The coyote engineer exclaimed, pacing around the room rapidly.

"Ragerians can make wormholes, dear," Donna sighed, shaking her head as she moved closer to Tallia and wrapped an arm around her, "she hasn't really lied to us and apparently wants to help. Sabre is like a grandfather to me, if something can be done, I'm going to do it."

"Dammit D," she yipped, trembling slightly, "you... you don't understand the circumstances under which I left! I stole that shuttle I had, the one I used for parts to fix up this ship!"

"That's odd," Ellia chuckled as she entered through the open door, "because I just contacted Sandra and all she is said she has really missed you, as have the rest of your family. You wouldn't deny your niece a hug, would you?"

"Don't you know you're supposed to knock before entering an occupied private space?" Donna groaned, rolling her eyes as she stopped hugging Tallia and turned to face the ambassador. Gotta admit though, she has a point, I'd give anything to see my family again.

Tallia shuddered, stammering unintelligible syllables at Ellia, seemingly unable to put together an argument.

"Shouldn't you give them a chance, love?" The Captain asked, giving Tallia a nuzzle and wrapping her arm around her once again. "The one thing I regret the most was how much I tried to push my father away... until I lost him."

"F-fine!" Tallia snapped pulling away from Donna, and poking Ellia under her maw with a wrench, "But you'd better not be lying about this, and don't expect me to enjoy this 'reunion.'"

On the Bridge

"Captain Briskwind," Scythe growled, glaring at Donna as she marched onto the bridge, "I was just informed that you have set a course out of Insau, towards Lapinian space. This is highly irregular!" The Lupin Alpha pointed a claw-tipped finger accusingly at the Captain but stood out of reach of anyone in the room.

"I'm taking Sabre to a place where he can get the best treatment," Donna replied flatly with a glare back, turning to face the Alpha, "I thought I made it perfectly clear that my crew is my family, and they always come first. If you wish to leave, you'll need to arrange your own transportation."

"I merely wished to know where the ship is going and why. I am not aware of any appropriate facilities on this course, and certainly not ones that can be reached in a week."

"Well, they're kinda coming to us, actually." Ellia explained as she got up from what was normally Sabre's station. "They uh... can't just jump into the system, you'll understand why when they arrive."

"This will likely not end well." Scythe grumbled, turning and leaving the bridge. "You should have just landed on Insau 2, a planet that at least has full stasis facilities and experience with Lupin physiology."

"I get the impression she doesn't trust my judgment..." Ellia grumbled once the door had closed, crossing her arms.

"Gee E, why might that be?" Herbert asked sarcastically. "It's not as if you recklessly endangered all of us or anything... oh wait, you sorta did!"

"Actually, I get the impression the assassin would have attacked regardless of where this took place." Marla explained as she appeared on the bridge, with a much more serious and analytical tone, one fitting of her previous work as a General. "The medical bay you have may be an antique, but Gerard's sensor equipment is pretty decent, and his records are both thorough and show no evidence of tampering. Whomever it is, they're not part of the regular crew."

"Lia has already detained Sabre's son," said Donna, "seems to me he's the most likely to be responsible." I wish I was more confident in this assessment, the Captain thought to herself silently.

"Not unless he's figured out how to be in two places at once," neighed Herb, "he was yellin' at me and Aria when the alert went off."

"Of course, our cameras picked just the wrong time to malfunction;" Marla groaned, "my old instincts, or what's left of them, tell me that's not coincidental. E specially with one of the cargo crates we picked up found to be open and empty, Tallia is trying to look into it now, but I've not found anything conclusive. Ambassador, I'd advise you to not go anywhere alone."

Just great, thought Donna, even _ more _mess to deal with!

"Alright then, I'll go see what Dorrin is up to, this is getting tedious." Ellia replied with a yawn, stretching as she also left the bridge.

"Is she really going to do the opposite of what I just recommended because she doesn't like me?" Marla asked as she turned to Donna with a look between confusion and irritation.

"That seems to be how she operates," replied the Captain with a shrug, "at least it's a small ship, and Dorrin will be bringing us food anytime now. Still, a possible stowaway is... concerning. See if you can make the cameras more reliable and let the crew know to carry sidearms if they are alone."

Corridor to the Bridge

Dorrin carefully balanced several bowls full of his stew as he headed towards the bridge. He'd already given some to Gerard, Lia and Tallia; plus, Scythe had just politely declined the bowl he'd prepared for her... why he didn't know. Still, he just knew Ellia would love it and couldn't wait to see her again, talking with her really helped get his mind off the current crisis.

"AAAGH, HELP!" Dorrin nearly dropped all the bowls as he leapt on hearing Ellia's scream down the corridor. Going up the flight of stairs he saw a dark blur looming over her. Oh no you fucking don't! He thought as he tossed a bowl at the figure. "Take that you asshole, pick on someone your own size!"

"AAAAARRRRGGGHH!" The figure let out a distorted snarl, the scalding liquid causing him to grasp at his arm and side as he kicked open a vent shaft, sliding in like butter.

"Oh... Dorrin!" Ellia whimpered, tears in her eyes as she hugged him. He barely managed to keep from dropping the remaining bowls. "He was... he was trying to... going to..."

"Sorry to ask E, but could you please hold this a moment?" He handed her the tray as she looked at him dumbfounded, once he was sure she had it he ran to an intercom, hitting it firmly. "Lia, I barely stopped the assassin from striking again, bridge corridor; he escaped into the vent!"

"What did I tell you?" Marla chastised Ellia as she appeared. "Bastard works fast, the cameras all went down seconds before it appeared, and came back right after it escaped."

Just then Lia rushed in, her floppy ears hanging unusually loose. "Can't even freshen up without somebody trying to kill someone else, can I?" She grumbled, looking into the vent. "Damn, fast too. Let me guess, the cameras failed at just the wrong time?" Marla nodded in response at this.

"I was afraid of that," Lia groaned, "and that means that whelp I tied up in the cargo bay isn't him." She gestured to her tablet feed where Sabre's son sat with a sour look. "He's exactly where I left-!"

"Ellia, get back in here," Donna shouted down the corridor from the bridge, "we've got some friends of yours inbound!"

Bridge

"I didn't ask the Yotan to send anyone!" Ellia exclaimed as she rushed back onto the bridge.

"Well, this is definitely a Yotan ship," replied Aria, "they're approaching fast and requested you over comms."

"Put them on," Donna ordered with a nod before Ellia could respond. A moment later a face similar to, but younger looking than Tallia appeared in the holographic display; the younger Yotan had a much cheerier disposition to her, however.

"Hey Ellia, just what in the holy hull-breach are you trying to do, get yourself killed?" The Yotan asked matter-of-factly with a soft chuckle, practically grinning. "That's supposed to be my job!"

"Nice to see you too, Sandra, but I didn't ask for a pickup." Ellia groaned slightly, rolling her eyes at Sandra's joke. "Let me guess, your Captain decided I needed a babysitter again?

"Your words, not his," she smirked with a wink before flattening her smile, "but that's only part of it. We have one of the StarLife Doctors aboard, the main reason we were sent was to get him here to help stabilize the, ahem, victim. I came as additional support... and to see my long-lost auntie."

"As much as we appreciate the help, we can't slow down to dock." Donna explained, shaking her head. "If we cut the shift field now the drive will overheat, and we'll be stuck out here for days. Plus Sabre doesn't have that long, Tallia can't get the old stasis chamber working any better."

"Pfft, auntie always was a mediocre engineer..." Sandra replied, rolling her eyes, "but even she knows how to sync shift fields. Can you get her on the line?"

"Something tells me I'm going to regret this but..." Donna pushed a button on her console, bringing a projection of engineering up next to Sandra.

"Hey auntie!" The younger coyote yipped, as Tallia dropped a wrench, then blushed. "How come you never comm me?"

"Ahem..." Donna cleared her throat, "you said something about syncing shift fields and needing my engineer for it, so we could get another doctor aboard?"

Tallia's growing low growl quickly turned to a whine, as her face went slightly pale. "Shift-sync docking? Really Sandra??? Do you have any idea what the state of our drive is? It's basically held together on rubber bands and good wishes!"

"Come on Auntie, you've done it before with worse!" Sandra replied confidently, then winced under Tallia's glare. "Ok, maybe not worse, but about as bad!"

"It's a sound procedure," Marla chimed in, appearing in engineering next to Tallia, "just have to harmonize the shift fields as they overlap and merge. Heck, we helped the Yotan develop it since it's impossible to use a single shift field generator on something as huge as home-ship. I'll be happy to assist with it!"

"Marla, fuck you very much!" Tallia snarled, giving the projection the finger before turning back to Sandra, who had her arms folded. "Fine niece, you win, but don't go crying if we both get torn apart at the subatomic level!"

Airlock 1

Gerard stood outside the airlock, scanner in hand and dressed in a full medical gown. Tallia and the Captain also stood nearby, the former looking as though she'd been dragged there by the latter.

"Full medical attire?" Asked Tallia, giving Gerard a confused look. "What, trying to impress a Ragerian Doctor?"

"No," he replied, rolling his eyes, "I just don't want weapons to get pointed at me. They already know there's a Leonin agent aboard and I don't want them to mistake me for it."

The door on the external end of the airlock opened, and two Yotan entered it, both in tan single piece uniforms, though they wore olive green field jackets overtop them. They both had some kind of energy rifle slung over their shoulders and against their back. One of them was clearly Sandra, who smiled and waved at Tallia... in response, Tallia shook her head and groaned.

"You could try to be more inviting, dear!" Donna grumbled with a slight nudge, as Gerard started taking his scans.

"That won't be necessary, young lad," came a gentle male voice from behind the two Yotan, "all three of us have fully functional AIS units, and I have already ensured no contagious microbes are present in our bodies. Your effort is appreciated, however."

The Yotan soldiers stepped aside, letting a robed Ragerian with somewhat ginger colored fur step forward. "I am Doctor Brightden, on special assignment from StarLife, I take it you are the physician aboard?"

"Yes uh..." Gerard lowered his ears sheepishly as he put away his scanner and cycled the airlock, "the patient is in our Med-Bay, this way. I don't think our stasis pod can keep him alive much longer."

The doctor stepped forward, taking out what appeared to be a monocle of some sort and putting it over one eye as the group walked along with him. "Indeed, some preliminary data was shared with me on his condition. We are fortunate the ambassador chose to share her emergency nanites. Unfortunately, I do not have a proper diagnostics and treatment unit with me. It would have taken days to unpack and set up, so I didn't see a point in bringing it along." As they reached the Med-Bay, Brightden examined the facilities, rubbing his forehead with a sigh. "As such we must make do with what the Order has provided us. Would you mind giving me some privacy with the patient so I can make a detailed assessment of my own?"

Gerard nodded, a bewildered look on his face. "All I ask is you let me know what you do for treatment or if you need my help."

"Of course," he replied with a smile, though he was already examining... something... about Sabre. "And I'll likely take you up on that offer."

Mess Hall, one hour later

"I tell ya Dag, I have never had snow rabbit go through me so quick! Should have known a Tigrin would mess it up." The gray furred Lupin laughed heartily, getting a glare from Dorrin, who was behind the counter.

"I thought it was excellent! And if it made you sick, why did you not ask me to relieve you, Mal," The Dagger Blackpaw grumbled in response, "you know, like you did the last time your stomach betrayed you on Alphis 4?"

The gray furred Lupin blushed deeply, rolling his eyes. "I did not want to owe you again, bad enough you had to drag me all the way to the evac shuttle after that!"

"You still managed to take out several of the Gnolls in spite of it, and I told you trying an outdated Leonin ration they had in storage was foolish!" Dagger shook his head, and smacked Mal on his back.

"Are you not on duty?" Scythe growled at them with an incredulous glare. "Cut the chatter, I am already filing a demerit for each of you in my report, do not make me add another." The two saluted and went back to silently eating as she began to do the same.

Gerard poked at the leftover snow rabbit on his plate with a sigh, looking up to see Scythe eating her own meal. "I don't understand..." he remarked aloud, "you'll eat a meal with me even when my people threaten your own?"

"Because you are not Leonin." She replied simply, not even looking up at the Doctor.

"Then what am I?" Gerard chuckled at the absurdity of this remark. "Am I a Lapinian in your eyes? Because there are many biological issues with that assessment."

"As a species is the sum of its members, and governments the sum of their leaders, one is the sum of their deeds." Scythe explained, setting her meal aside.

This is... an unusual way of looking at things... Gerard thought, rubbing behind his mane before responding. "That still dies not tell me why you think I am not Leonin; also, what do you think I am?"

"Your actions, intentions and philosophical disposition are contrary to those of your species, hence my conclusion that you are not Leonin in any sense but the biological... and certainly not politically." She paused, stroking under her muzzle. "As for what you are, of that I am not yet certain."

Doctor Brightden entered, sitting down at the table with them and taking a fruit which looked like an oddly round apple out of a pocket in his robes. Scythe looked him over, scrutinizing his choice of food. "Can I help you with something, young lady?" He asked once he noticed she was staring.

"I am hardly young," scoffed Scythe, almost chuckling, "and should you not be monitoring your patient?"

"Oh, but I am!" He grinned, gesturing to the monocle over one eye. "In fact, I've actually bought us quite a bit more time by adjusting the operational parameters of the nanites. Also, my scans tell me you are in your 40s, which is quite young my dear... at least by Ragerian standards."

"You look like you're not much older than Ellia," Gerard interjected, looking Brightden over as the Ragerian started munching on the fruit, "but I've heard your kind do live a long time."

"I am almost 150 years old," he laughed, setting down his small meal, "so I'm sorry, but you all seem so very young to those of us who are considered true Ragerian adults. Actually, I'm still fairly young for my people, most of us live to around 600 years. I will say that the Ambassador is actually unusually mature for her age, even if she probably lacks the experience we would prefer for such a position." He turned to Scythe after this remark. "Do you have some relation or affiliation to the patient? I would like to disclose what treatment has been performed in detail, and get specific approval and guidance if possible."

"We are not related, and affiliation is... complicated." Scythe replied with a slight grimace, getting up to excuse herself. "The most appropriate contact for such inquiries would be Captain Briskwind. Now if you will excuse me, I have reports to prepare."

"Thank you and have a good day!" The Ragerian Doctor called out as she and her honor guard left, then shrugged as he turned back to Gerard. "Are all Lupin this uptight and uncomfortable when discussing health matters?"

"Probably not," Gerard replied, "as I understand it there are conflicting cultural values at play in this scenario. I don't think I'm qualified to explain them, actually."

"Fair enough," Brightden nodded, "since you are this vessal's physician, I should let you know that even if we can neutralize the toxin, the patient has already sustained significant organ damage. With the level of genetic degradation present due to natural aging and lifestyle strain, it is unlikely he will live more than a couple years at best... unless..."

"Unless what, Doctor?" Gerard asked, his own ears lowered. "Captain Briskwind and I would try just about anything to save him!"

"Genuine response, fascinating..." the orange furred Ragerian muttered to himself, seemingly distracted, "keep in mind what I am about to say, whilst technically possible, has never been tested on his species. Furthermore, it would be in violation of the Ragerian Technological Dissemination Control Act unless specific conditions are met. Conditions that involve specific loyalties to Ragerian society and values as well as a degree of monitoring and commitment. Do not take this the wrong way, I dislike political messes and entanglements but... well, when your Empire decided to steal and weaponize Ragerian technology we had to start being more careful." He sighed, shaking his head, "StarLife is supposed to be above this nonsense..."

"You're... I'm guessing here but you're saying he needs one of your artificial immune systems?" Gerard asked, as even an educated guess was still an uncertainty.

"Pretty much, though he technically has part of one already: medical nanites are controlled by an implant connected to the core of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. For Ragerians, this is normally done a couple years after birth. It is less effective when done later in life, as damage has been done already, and calibration with the existing immune system is troublesome after a certain point... but it is very much doable. We have tested on volunteers from... uh, another species than yours or his, but cannot say without a doubt how well it will work for a Lupin."

"So... what exactly are these 'Ragerian Values'?" Gerard asked, not sure he was liking the direction this was going.

"The ones relevant to being granted 'limited custodianship' of sensitive technologies, or in a more holistic sense?" Asked Brightden, shifting a bit in his seat. "Because what I am describing only requires one to accept and abide by those relevant to that responsibility, and only in regard to the technologies provided. Ellia isn't about to force anyone to become a Ragerian Citizen; but she will require advanced implants, such as an AIS controller, to be handled in what we would consider a responsible manner."

"That... sounds much more acceptable than I was expecting." Gerard let out long breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "Please, continue."

"This is something of an oversimplification, but in essence we very strongly believe that life in general is sacred and sapient life is particularly so. Because of that, science and technology we develop are specifically meant to further their overall preservation, integrity, and improvement. Logically, since any technology can be used in a destructive manner, one must carefully consider applications, usage and deployment to ensure it is used as constructively as possible, avoiding destructive potential whenever, wherever and however we can."

"So, we just have to agree not to weaponize it? I doubt that will be an issue for Sabre, but I feel like there's more to it."

"There is, and that's where monitoring comes into the picture. You see, it is just as important that someone who is not bound by these values is not able to glean information that could allow them to duplicate it for their own purposes. Intentionally sharing it without approval is a flat-out violation of course... Ellia is only able to use the nanites on him because of our ability to control the circumstances in this case, but negligence to prevent its acquisition by the use of subterfuge is also frowned upon and may also have negative consequences. It's probably the single largest reason Ragerians have remained almost completely unseen in your sector since the war, and why StarLife has not been able to do much of our work, until now."

"Right... well honesty I think this is getting into more of a conversation for the Captain... just what is StarLife anyway, some sort of medical research association?"

"Yes and no." Brightden took a bite of the fruit, then chewed and swallowed before explaining further. "Whilst we are all medical scientists of some kind, we do not explicitly focus on research. That, whilst being complementary and a sacred call its own, is not our mission."

"I've noticed you seem about as likely to use seemingly religious phrasing as you are scientific. Like calling medical research a 'sacred call,' which was not at all what I had expected. Leonin propaganda makes out Ragerians to be 'evil ones' who have no spiritual understanding, of course I knew it was not the case... but you are not at all what I had expected from a Ragerian Doctor."

"Tell me then, young man, what did you expect?" Brightden smiled amicably towards Gerard, listening intently.

"Honestly? A stuck-up smart-ass who wouldn't give me the current timestamp and either refused to acknowledge my presence or used every moment to prove me wrong and lord their assumingly superior knowledge over my own."

The Ragerian burst out laughing, drawing the attention of Dorrin from the kitchen for the first time. "Oh, my dear lad, that sums up about just what I would have expected from a Leonin Doctor! I am pleased that my expectations were also subverted in this case."

"I suppose I am as well, but what is StarLife's mission?"

"Simply put, we exist to medically help those who need it the most, but are in a position where they have the least access to it. I believe the closest organization to what we are that you'd be familiar with is the Lapinian Frontier Medical Corps. However, we have more differences than just our origin. For starters, we aren't formally tied to a government - and additionally, we are a religious, not secular, organization."

"I was starting to suspected that," Gerard replied with a frown, shifting uncomfortable in his seat, "and I hope you do not intend to attempt to convert us, tell us that we are lesser or wrong, or use differing faith values as a basis to determine who is deserving of treatment."

"Oh, no no no..." Brightden shook his head vigorously, "the Order Beneath the Disorder does not teach or command us to evangelize or judge individual personal beliefs, at least not as far as they remain personal. We are, however, called to preserve, improve and benefit sapient lives. As I said before, practicing medicine itself is a sacred calling for us."

"So that is what this 'Order' I've heard Ellia and Marla refer to is then..." Gerard thought aloud, more to himself than Brightden, but the Ragerian Doctor nodded anyway. "From what you have said, it sounds very different from the gods the Leonin worship... well, most Leonin, present company is very much excluded."

"Perhaps we can this discuss more in detail then... once your patient has been fully treated?"

"Yes... I think I would appreciate a better understanding of your philosophical values."

Captain's Quarters

"J-just a few years!!!" Donna practically shouted as she slammed her hands in the desk in front of her, more in frustration than anger. "Can't you do something more? I thought your technology was borderline magical!"

"I see he's far more than just crew to you..." Brightden sighed, still wincing from her outburst, "and that depends on what resources I have access to for this. As I explained to your doctor already, it's complicated."

"Especially for me..." Ellia groaned, shaking her head, "do you have any idea how much custom coding, monitoring and paperwork it took to deploy treatment for just your mother? That's not even looking at what other precautions I had to take sending it into Leonin space, at least that isn't a problem in this case."

"And what exactly is it you want for keeping Sabre alive? This feels like extortion, again!" She snarled, then broke down sobbing visibly. "You void damn bitch! This would have never happened had you not insisted on using my ship for your stupid games!"

Both Ragerians gave each other uncomfortable looks, pausing for a moment before saying anything.

"Captain Briskwind," Ellia finally broke the silence, "I truly am sorry for all of this, none of it was my intention at all. I want nothing more than to see that Sabre gets the best treatment for this available. If it were up to me, I would have it happen on our home world, or at least on one of our developed colonies. Unfortunately, I do not make our technological policy laws: Denal Blackpelt had far more to do with that, and he will do everything in his power to enforce them. There is a way we can do this, but you probably won't like it, furthermore it will ultimately be Sabre's decision, not yours."

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE!" Donna practically howled, stomping over and pinning Ellia against the wall. "IF YOU WANT ANYTHING MORE FROM ME AND MY SHIP, HE HAD BETTER LIVE!"

"Uh..." Doctor Brightden winced, "C-Captain, I need Ellia to sign off on something relating to this, could you please remove yourself from her so we can expedite this, and I can get back to tending to Sabre?"

Donna breathed heavily before moving away from a panicked looking Ellia, flopping unceremoniously into her seat behind the desk. "Then go, and get the hell out of my office!" She demanded, holding her face between her hands as soon as they both left.

Corridor

Sandra shivered slightly at the cold (for her) temperature as she moved down the halls of the freighter, her rifle ready but pointed down towards the deck. "Where in the void is the other honor guard?" She muttered aloud, the question not for anyone in particular.

"Corporal Shadowtrail went to the bathroom then stopped answering his comms. If that bastard got him... I will strangle that assassin myself!" Grumbled Pack Sargent Blackpaw as he exited one of the cargo holds. After Sandra had verified that he was 100% Lupin and not an inserted agent she'd requested his release to help her with the search of the ship for the assassin, who almost certainly a stowaway, disguised with who knew what.

Disguised is too inaccurate a word... Sandra thought as she peered into a crawlspace, no, with the genetic manipulation they do to their agents whoever replaced him could practically become anyone they wished, in addition to whatever they're using to mess with the cameras.

Just then, Ellia came down the hall from the Captain's office, trembling and looking distracted. "Hey ambassador, what gives?" Sandra called out, rushing closer, "I told you to call me if you needed to go somewhere... what's the matter?"

"I don't want to talk about it..." Ellia muttered, her eyes still downcast to the floor, "just take me back to the room I'm sharing with Dorrin."

Dorrin's Quarters

Dorrin hugged Ellia close as she sobbed. Had it not been for her contact telepathy it would have probably taken forever to get her to tell him what happened when she met with the Captain... at least coherently. She thinks it's all her fault and she's been inconsolable for hours. Sabre is the one who chose to risk it for that bitch of an Alpha, she didn't make him do it.

{You... you seriously don't see how bad what I did was? Just to try and make a point?}

E... you couldn't have known this specific situation would arise. You're trying to help people overall. Why can't you just help Sabre with a.. whatever the heck you call that thing?

{AIS, artificial immune system. It's something that can be very easily abused in the wrong hands.} She was still sniffing and looking away as they held each other close, but no longer crying as much. {It's a moot point for now, Sabre has to survive and agree to the conditions, not Captain Briskwind.}

What kind of sick bastard decides it's okay to rob someone of their future because they think it's too risky to let them have life saving technology since they're another species?

At that, Ellia looked directly into his eyes, her emotions uncertain. "My adoptive father, Denal Blackpelt."

Captain's Quarters

After several hours of sulking, sobbing, and banging on a bulkhead that was far more dented than before Donna finally took a series of deep breaths, and stood. Pull yourself together, what would daddy think, seeing you like this? Her console showed serval messages, a number from Ellia, and others from her crew. The last thing Donna wanted was to read any of them right now - they most assuredly contained bad news and she knew the least thing could cause her to once again fly off the handle! Instead, she decided she'd just go to the mess hall and get coffee... or make it herself if Dorrin didn't have it ready.That always makes my head feel clearer after all. If anyone gets in the way or asks me something, I'll just tell them to come back later.

As soon as the Captain stepped out she knew something was wrong. The door to the bridge was slightly ajar, and the scent of ozone hung in the air.Either something major burnt out or... She poked her head in, to see a shrouded figure standing over Herbert, who laid on the deck plates just short of the intercom and alarm controls. Its back was turned as it moved towards the helm.

"Hands up, asshole!" Donna shouted, drawing a stun pistol she made a point of keeping on her person. In retrospect, that had probably been a mistake, as the figure whirled around and charged towards her as she fired.

"Captain Briskwind? Captain Briskwind!" Someone was shouting for Donna, but her head was throbbing, and her vision swam as she tried to open her eyes and sit up. "Oh, thank the Order, she's still with us!"

"I could have told you that much," Marla stated blithely, sounding distant, "since the whole crew have biometric monitor patches they usually wear. Well except Herbert, he forgets his every other day."

"Urgh, what happened?" Donna forced herself to groan, she'd hit something... or something had hit her? It was all hazy and she barely remembered having left her cabin. "Wait... Herbert! Is he alright?"

"The assassin stunned him," a different voice replied, sounding a bit like Tallia but not quite, "your pilot's sleeping it off, I'm a bit more worried about you, honestly. Can you see how many fingers I'm holding up?"

Donna blinked several times, clearing a bloody haze from around one eye and wiping more off her maw with a sleeve as she tried to look at the two leaning over her. One was Ellia, the other was... what did she say her name was, Sally? She was Tallia's niece, that much she remembered, and she was holding up two fingers at her.

"Two," she eventually responded as she tried to stand, only managing to by steadying herself with an arm on the nearby wall, "where'd that asshole go?"

"The ambassador got him!" The coyote replied with a grin, then scowling as she gestured to the body of Corporal Shadowtrail on the deck.

"More like you got him," Ellia grumbled, "I just came in to apologize and found him beating the crap out of you, so I jumped on his back. We flailed about until Sandra here was able to shoot him without hurting me."

"Urgh, are we still on course?" Donna asked, rubbing her head.

"Herb locked the controls before he got stunned," Marla answered, "so yes, we are. You need a doctor, I've summoned both of them down here."

"You know, there are better ways to treat that sort of damage..." Brightden muttered as Gerard bandaged Donna's wounds, "I have plenty of spare nanites, they work very quickly."

"And be forced to sign some contract just to ensure my health? No thanks." Donna growled and glared at the Ragerian, causing him to almost jump.

"Oh no, that wouldn't be necessary in this case," Brightden started to explain, trailing off as Donna growled louder, "you see basic regeneration of tissue your body already does naturally would just be temporarily en-enhanced... oh very well, why does nobody even want to be helped in this sector?!"

"Self-reliance is very appealing," Gerard replied, "and it's safe to say you've left a bad taste in Donna's mouth. Anyway, it looks like the 'Corporal' isn't even a Lupin, or a male for that matter. Female Leonin agents who are genetically modified to replace those with sensitive access to leak data and assassinate key targets is a pretty standard practice. I'll bet Scythe is going to be livid."

"What? But I've not provided anything for her to consume orally, what do you mean 'bad taste'?"

"It's a figure of speech," explained Sandra, "anyway we're almost to the New Dawn, somebody needs to unlock the helm. If there is a stow-away, the New Dawn's sensors should be able to tell us after they get here."

"Give me a moment," Donna grumbled, forcing herself to move to Herbert's chair and enter her codes.

"You could have just let me do that for you, Captain." Marla huffed, appearing on the bridge and shaking her head.

"No, I've had more than enough Ragerian meddling already!" She snapped, throwing her hands up. "Everyone get the hell off my bridge! ...except you Gerard, you're doing something useful."

An hour and a half later

The Captain sighed as she made her way to her cabin, it felt like it took ages for Herbert to wake up, then Gerard had to prod him for half an hour before he finally said her pilot was cleared to resume his duties. She was fed up, tired and wanted to throttle someone if all this didn't help Sabre. And he'd better live at least another decade! Damned greedy Ragerians, hoarding their knowledge to themselves!

The door slid open to reveal Ellia sitting in her guest chair, as Dorrin reheated a bowl of stew. "Coffee?" the ambassador offered a large mug as she stood, and Donna's jaw almost hit the floor.

"Who let you in here?!?" She finally growled, grabbing the mug roughly and guzzling it down.

"I did," Dorrin replied, "I figured you'd not want to go all the way to the mess tonight and that you'd want a proper meal, so I asked Ellia to help me get that set up."

"Oh, really...?" Donna gave him a sour look as he handed her a steaming bowl.

"Actually, I also wanted to apologize for this whole mess again and let you know of a policy change I ran by Brightden:" Ellia admitted with a sigh, "I fully authorized Sabre for an AIS implant, mainly because the doctor feels he has the best chance of survival with one, and because Dorrin asked me to." She then turned to Dorrin with a frown, "And when you meet Denal I'm sure we're both going to regret that move. I sent a copy of this authorization to your terminal; in case you still think I'm going to lie to you."

Donna blinked, then checked her terminal, then looked back at Ellia and checked it again.

"I really don't understand why everyone in this sector has so many trust issues..." Ellia sighed, shaking her head, "anyway, enjoy your coffee, this has been an exhausting day and I'd like to get some rest before we arrive at the New Dawn."

Back on the Bridge

"So, Herb, ever seen a Yotan Home-Ship?" Aria asked with a grin as she leaned over her console, once again Herbert felt like she was eyeing him as if he were a meal... she seemed to have a way of doing that.

Herbert groaned, rubbing his face. Doc said I was fine, but I sure as hay don't feel it... just wanna get this over with! "Naw A, but I've heard they're big and that means I'll need to be careful, so can you please stop bugging me?"

"Yeesh," she replied, shaking her head as they dropped out of shift to empty space, "fine... hm, they're not here. We're a bit early, I've always wondered what a wormhole looked like, guess we'll find out."

Herbert snorted, trying to bury his focus in the output of his console, before jerking his head back at the warnings as he started moving the the previously stationary ship in reverse. "Gravity fields all over, what in the hell is this? It's like a dwarf planet is forming!"

Before them on the screen a swath of empty space shimmered, and an impossibly massive, long, and cylindrical vessel slid forward through it.

"Looks a lot like the one I was on briefly." Aria remarked, sounding relaxed as Herb's teeth chattered. "The front of the ship opens into cavernous layers of docking bays, plenty of which are big enough for this ship. The thing is the size of a planetoid and has an unusual gravitational field, so this will be challenging."

"Th-they have traffic control to tell me what to do, right?"

"Of course they do Herb, they just sent us that, sending it to your console."

The Equin forced his hands to steady as he checked the course they'd sent him, mentally doing half the math to confirm that the Snowlit Dawn could actually follow it with the gravitational forces that... thing... was giving off. In all this felt like someone was giving him a standard planetary approach and having him almost ram it at the end. It's fine, she said they have a huge set of internal docking bays... sheesh, how would they manage something like that? I don't even want to think about how the artificial gravity would work!

After triple-checking the plotted course, his math, and theirs he sighed as he made a few adjustments and punched it in, engaging the autopilot.

Mess Hall

"Sandra, for the last time, I'm not coming back," Tallia growled, slamming her coffee cup on the table hard enough she was surprised it didn't crack or shatter, "I don't care if the world you found is absolute paradise!"

"Projections show an 80-90% match once terraformation has completed, with the help of the Ragerians that can be done in a decade or two." Sandra sighed, eating the stew Dorrin had provided. "The threshold for automatically accepting a world was 70% with key indicators being good, we've not found anything else close since we lost our home-world!"

"And you've actually seen this planet," asked Tallia skeptically as she finished her own meal, "or did some Ragerian just wave a bunch of numbers, graphs and images in front of you that you took at face value?"

"First off yes, I have seen it," Sandra rolled her eyes in response, "and secondly, it wasn't just any Ragerian! Hack has done more for the New Dawn in a couple years than you have in a lifetime, there's a reason he was appointed Captain."

Tallia had been on her way to return her bowl to the counter and at this she completely dropped it, and the plastic vessel bounced on the metal floor loudly. "Sandra, you know how I feel about that smart-ass, if he's the Captain then I have no plans of coming aboard."

Sandra grinned at that before shaking her head. "You're a little late to do something about it now, we're already docking with the New Dawn."

"Fuck," exclaimed Tallia, now pacing nervously, "I uh, I need to perform a ton of maintenance right away actually, I uh won't be able to leave engineering for a while. Yeah, yeah that's it."

"Suit yourself," replied Sandra with a shrug, "he did say to tell you he's not exactly holding the theft of that shuttle against you, but that he already has a duty roster and quarters lined up since you still had about a year of mandatory service left before you'd have gone into cryo. Also, you'd have to run any maintenance plans for this freighter by him once the ship has docked. You know the rules, auntie."

Unknown Location

Sabre opened his eyes to nothing but bright light. He squinted and grunted as he tried to stand... just to find nothing of substance on or around him. It seemed he was floating in an endless, colorless void.Ancestors... am I with the Ancestors now?

"Not quite..." came a calm, mid-pitched voice from behind him, whether it was male or female he could not tell, "you are only nearly dead, and outside your physical body." A seemingly androgynous Ragerian with pure white fur and silver robes floated around and in front of him, fixing the Lupin with a compassionate but intent gaze.

"Who are you and what have you done to me, Ragerian?" Sabre demanded roughly, baring his teeth a bit.

"I have done nothing to you, Sabre Blackpaw," he replied with a soft sigh, "and I'm not actually a Ragerian, but they are my children. I am appearing to you now because I can, and I must."

For the moment, Sabre was speechless. Like most Lupin he believed the ancestors lived on and guided their descendants... was the same true of Ragerians, perhaps? "Who and what are you then? And why are you appearing to me?"

"I am the Order Beneath the Disorder," came the reply, "and what I am... is difficult to explain accurately in a way you would understand. Consider me an observer, guide to sapient life, and one who makes corrections of last resort to the universe as a whole. As for why I am appearing to a Lupin... your actions or inaction will play a key role in the survival of several species, yours included."

Chapter 9

Yotan Homeship New Dawn, Trauma Center 1298B

Captain Donna Briskwind paced rapidly in the sparsely decorated waiting room, panting every so often at the elevated temperature the Yotan seemed to think was normal... and this was in a common area of the ship that had been kept cooler for the comfort of other species! No wonder Tallia is always stealing the bedsheets at night... need to see if she's alright, she's been muted since we docked, but that'll have to wait till _I know what the deal is with Sabre._Brightden had frantically called for the stasis pod to be moved immediately to their trauma centers - apparently, they had those throughout the supermassive vessel to ensure life-saving care was accessible to anyone who needed it. "He's almost gone from this universe" was the somber reply of the normally cheerful Ragerian Doctor... who had at least invited their ship's doctor to assist with the lifesaving procedures.

It felt like an eternity before Brightden drug himself into the small lounge, his monocle hanging from the side of his face by its ear clip. "Captain Briskwind, I am pleased to report that the patient is stable and appears to be tolerating the AIS implant well at this time. Fortunately, we were able to resuscitate him before damage to his critical organs became irreversible. He is being monitored by Gerard and the New Dawn's general medical staff. As for his long-term outlook, I cannot elaborate further at this time. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find a cool cabin and a soft bunk to collapse in. The nurse will let you know when he's able to receive visitors."

Donna didn't even know what to say in response... not that she had a chance, Brightden quickly left the room without another word to her. "Thanks..." she finally muttered well after he'd already left.

"I'll relay that to him when he's capable of properly processing that sentiment." She heard the sound of a male voice over the speakers in the room, one which was unfamiliar to her. Donna looked around in confusion, trying to identify who had just spoken. "Don't bother, I'm not physically here, as there are no projectors in this room, but I'm virtually all over this ship. Kinda disorienting really, but you get used to it eventually. Oh right, where are my manners? I'm the active imprint on the New Dawn, and currently the ship's Acting Captain."

"Wait, so you're another brain on a storage drive, like Marla? And just the A cting Captain?"

"That's a crude but not inaccurate way of putting it, yes. My original biological form is the 'real' Captain, but he's currently indisposed. I've been sharing some information with Marla as well; somewhat surprised she wants to be on such a limited vessel, but I digress. There are a few subjects we need to have discussions on, some of which would probably best be done in a more private setting. Have you yet received directions to and access codes for your guest quarters?" Donna noticed that the tone of his voice sounded Ragerian, his accent was Yotan.

"Yes, I've not had a chance to look at it, but Sandra sent it to my tablet. Uh... what should I call you? New Dawn?"

"Just call me Hack. From what I've heard from Ellia, I think we're going to be working together, directly or indirectly, very soon."

Guest Quarters

Major Illoria Scythe blinked then stared in disbelief at her tablet, showing a secure up-link to long range Lupin Comms Network. She had been expecting at least some resistance once she had filed advocacy paperwork for former Commander Blackpaw and a request for expedited review - something even a Beta-ranked Over-Clerk could have demanded 5 kinds of supporting evidence for before accepting, in spite of any ranking Scythe had... but it had been immediately accepted, and it took only a few hours for her to receive this reply.

> Major Illoria Scythe (Alpha Class), your request to revoke banishment on Commander Sabre Blackpaw (Beta Class) has been hereby granted. Effective immediately he is no longer barred from Lupin Society and is officially back on the active duty-roster, with all prior honors and no demerits - until the completion of the mission assigned.

> On completion of this assignment, sans any unanticipated needs at your discretion, he is to receive a formal and honorable discharge at Gamma Class. The class decision was made due to insufficient military-relevant, class-appropriate actions within the prior decade as per subsection...

She closed the file with a sigh of relief and satisfaction. I am shocked this went through so well and easily. Sabre will surely understand why he will not be permitted to retain his class post-service... She'd just received notice from Ellia that he was awake, so she exited the private quarters she's been assigned, grimacing at the hot, dry air outside the threshold. She was tempted to unbutton her uniform top, reducing the insulation it added to that of her thick winter fur coat... but shook her head and turned to where her honor guard was standing. Pack Sargent Dagger Blackpaw, who also had a full winter coat of dark fur beneath his Lupin dress uniform has his maw open and tongue hanging out as he panted heavily. Scythe cleared her throat with a grunt, causing his eyes to go wide as he abruptly came to attention, pulling his tongue in and snapping his maw shut with an audible click.

"At ease Pack Sargent," she spoke, looking him over, "I know you wish to make Beta, so as unpleasant as this environment may be you must learn to not show weakness. I have some information you will find relevant." She handed him the tablet, which he quickly read, a slight flush visible around Dagger's eyes where his dark fur was thinner.

"Major," he gulped, trying not to pant with every word, "this... is this... authentic, ma'am?"

"Do you really think I would give you a falsified document, Pack Sargent?" She replied deadpan, with a look of mild irritation. "Admittedly, I too was skeptical that anything of this nature could have processed with such speed on home-world, but I have verified with all relevant agencies using 5 different challenge codes. It is completely legitimate, let us go see Commander Blackpaw. He undoubtedly deserves to hear this news from both of us."

Recovery Room 2123

A cleaning droid clicked and whirred along the smooth ivory-like floor of the recovery ward... until it bumped into Dorrin's paw in the floor. He looked down at it with annoyance as it seemed to zip away, as though it had been frightened by the young Tigrin. Shaking his head, he looked back toward Sabre's bed, the dark but graying furred Lupin was still fast asleep. He'd refused to leave his side at any point since they'd taken him aboard the New Dawn, much to the chagrin of Brightden. He was sure that had Gerard not requested his "assistance" with some unspecified tasks the nurses would have eventually harassed him till he left... Or called for security to extract him. He doubted the puny looking Yotan working there could have actually forced him to go anywhere after all. Nothing in the void is going to keep me from watching over you, Gramps. Aw frost, here comes the uptight bitch...

Both Scythe and her escort entered the room, the one who happened to also be Sabre's son... who previously thought the universe would be better without the old codger. Scythe had her typical resting bitch face but... what was his name, Digger or something? He had a conflicted and embarrassed look.

"He's sleeping," Dorrin growled towards them, "why don't you find some actually bad food to complain about? Besides, I thought he didn't exist to you."

Dogger... wait no, it was Dagger, started to say something, but Scythe held up her hand. "Your name is Dorrin, correct? Are you able to read Lupin by any chance?"

The Tigrin was a bit taken aback at this but nodded in response as Dagger scoffed. "A bit, mostly from cookbooks. What's it to ya, Lieutenant?"

"It is Major," she corrected sternly, "I am assuming that was merely an error in your recollection and not an attempt to insult my capabilities or accomplishments. Still, I understand you are somewhat close with Commander Blackpaw, so this may interest you as well." She held the tablet out, which Dorrin scrutinized, his ears raising in surprise.

"I, I can't be reading this correctly," he stumbled over his thoughts as he handed it back to her, "because it looks like it says he's reactivated and no longer exiled!"

"That is exactly what is says. I wanted to give Commander Blackpaw the news personally, but I am a very busy officer, and I do not wish to wake him as he recovers. I cannot order you to do this, as you are not in my chain of command, but would you be willing to present him with this and notify me when he awakes?"

"Oh, now you care about him? Only after he nearly dies saving you??? I'll give him this, but you can take a long walk in the deep jungle! You don't deserve Sabre, and you void damn 'Alphas' need to pull your collective heads out of-!" Dorrin almost jumped as Sabre gently placed a hand on Dorrin's arm, evidently far more awake than he'd looked.

"Dorrin, you need not be so disrespectful on my behalf," Sabre chuckled with uncharacteristic energy as he sat up, "though I must admit I find this situation somewhat amusing. May I see that, please? Admittedly, I heard your entire conversation, but would like to see the message for myself."

Dorrin handed him the tablet as Scythe once again wore an impassive look, and Dagger tried to look unphased... but wasn't doing a good job of it. Once Sabre finished reading the message he turned to Scythe. "I do hope you will forgive my failure to salute, Major. I am afraid my age started to show over a decade ago."

"You are undergoing experimental medical treatment, Commander," she replied with a hint of a smile, "I am adjusting my expectations accordingly. I do hope you have not forgotten how to file formal reports to Lupin Command."

"I will need to be updated on the current command structure of course, but no, I still remember how to do it. In fact, I insisted on using the format for my reports to Captain Briskwind... to her mild irritation. Dorrin, would you go tell Ambassador Longtail I am awake, please?"

"Wait, you wanna see the ambassador?" Dorrin couldn't hide the absolute shock in his face, Sabre had pretty much avoided Ellia most of the time she was aboard. "I'd have thought you'd want to speak to the Captain."

"I do, Dorrin," he replied with a sigh, "but there is something I need to discuss with Ellia before that."

"You do not wish to speak to your son?" Scythe asked flatly, with raised eyebrows.

"I was under the impression he did not wish to speak to me before now, and he is likely still sorting out emotions. It has been decades, and now everything has changed." He turned to Dagger, who was looking at the deck. "And I would prefer to speak with you in private, son."

Dining Facility 14

A nozzle marked in Standard and Yotan as "Coffee" sputtered out a thick, sludge-like syrup into a dull colored metal mug held by Ellia. On both sides from the handle it had a barely visible relief of the massive Yotan Homeship she was aboard, with what she recognized as Yotan for "New Dawn" etched below it. The mug had a beauty to it, she thought, even though it was of a strictly utilitarian variety like most things Yotan... but whatever the Order-Neglected substance she had just dispensed into it did not!

"You're supposed to add water from the tap on your right," Sandra advised with a slight chuckle, pointing towards it, "to your preference in taste. You don't want to drink coffee concentrate straight up like that."

Coffee concentrate? That's blasphemous! Ellia grumbled inwardly before turning to Sandra with a nearly full mug of concentrated coffee. "I don't suppose you want to take some?"

"Better than wasting it." Sandra shrugged, then held her cup under Ellia's and waited for her to pour half of it out. "You're still going to find that really strong, most of us don't even fill it a quarter of the way before adding water."

Definitely heresy. Ellia thought as she added water and picked up a metal spoon to stir it with, surprised that it now looked like a normal, if overly strong cup of freshly brewed black coffee. "So, where's the rest of the stuff for it?"

Sandra shrugged, giving her a curious look. "Rest of what stuff? The food? That's in the bins in the next row."

"No, like milk, sugar, and other sweetening or flavoring agents!" Ellia wanted to throw her hands up in frustration, she'd never liked her coffee black, even though that's how her adoptive father Denal Blackpelt always took it.

"Huh, so that's what I've seen added to it elsewhere..." Sandra took a sip before going to the next row and opening a bin, revealing what appeared to be some kind of square shaped blocks in foil wrappers, which she took one of, "we're used to not having that stuff available to throw around willy-nilly, you know. If you're not used to it black, I'd recommend the enhanced water dispenser. You can elect to have caffeine added to that, along with any other vitamins and minerals of your choice."

The ambassador eyed, the cup warily. She didn't want to waste it, much less insult the Yotan by doing so, but doubted she could force it down her maw... then she noticed Tallia at a nearby table, sitting with her face in her hands.

"Hey, Tallia," she began, forcing herself not to recoil she approached when the Snowlit Dawn's engineer's head snapped over and gave her a death glare, "I uh, brought you a peace offering, coffee?"

Tallia gave her a suspicious look, sniffing at the mug. "Industrial strength, good." Tallia took it from a surprised and relieved Ellia, quickly taking a swig. "Perhaps you can be more tolerable than I'd given you credit for, but I'm not in the mood to talk now. Later, maybe." Tallia gave Ellia a shooing motion as she sipped and looked at her tablet, just as Dorrin wandered into the huge dining hall.

Ellia smiled pleasantly as she approached Dorrin, here was someone she actually wanted to talk to. And maybe I can talk him into cooking me something too, along with _ proper _ coffee.

Just before she had opened her mouth to say something, heavy laughter drifted in from one of the larger entrances. Both Ellia and Dorrin turned to see a group of 5 entering, all wearing olive drab colored flight suits, adorned with one of the various patches used by the many wings of fighter pilots who called the New Dawn home. Ellia knew a couple of the people in that mixed bag: Colonel Markus Treeline, the tan furred Ragerian who commanded the wing, led them into the room. Most of the noise was being caused by the two Gnoll ladies following at the rear - she didn't personally know them, just that they were two of the best pilots in Gerra's tribe, which she had assigned to the New Dawn as a gesture of goodwill. But in the center of the group... *Thompson* Ellia groaned inwardly as she picked out the shorter, snow white furred Vulpin, whose yellow eyes promptly locked with hers, offering a cheeky smile and wink for the briefest of moments. Though Ellia was often called "trouble" by her peers, Thompson was on an entirely different level... only rounded out by the much more level-headed Tigrin that had initially showed up with him, and appeared to be perpetually by his side. Today was no exception to this, and Ellia felt even more embarrassed that she didn't remember his name now that Dorrin was present. Looking back over towards her boyfriend, Ellia noticed Dorrin's maw was hanging slightly open as he looked straight at the other Tigrin. "Saril?" Was all he managed to say.

"Wait," Ellia asked in a low voice as the squad began to get food and drinks, and she led Dorrin with her to a table near the far side of the room, "you know him?"

"You know how I'd asked if you could help find out what happened to an old friend I'd lost track of when you had a chance?" Dorrin asked, keeping his voice quiet as well. "That's him, Saril. How in the wilds did he wind up here?"

"All I know is he showed up with Thompson," the ambassador replied with an embarrassed blush, "I'm afraid I don't have time to get to know everyone and... well, he's always with... that guy."

Dorrin grimaced and shook his head at that. "Thompson is that Vulpin? What in the thicket happened to him?! The Saril I knew would never have had anything to do with one of... them!"

"I thought my boyfriend said he wasn't specist..." Ellia sighed and lowered her ears, sounding pained and disappointed in him... which hurt Dorrin almost as much. "I don't mind Thompson is a Vulpin, he's probably the only trustworthy one I've met so far, but... he insists on flirting with me, even though I've told him, in no uncertain terms-!"

"That I'm not your type, fair lady? You're just playing hard to get! Is this seat taken, kid?"

Dorrin was about ready to give that presumptuous fox some free dental work, but Ellia quickly grabbed and hugged his arm before he could react.

"Oh, hello Thompson, have you met Dorrin? He's my new boyfriend!" Ellia grinned, giving Dorrin a genuinely affectionate nuzzle, but he got the impression she was also trying to get Thompson to lay off.

"Icebox, quit being creepy with the ambassa-!" Saril had just jogged over after Thompson... whom Dorrin supposed must be Icebox, and then stopped and stared at his old friend. For a moment, Saril's mouth hung open as he looked between Ellia, Dorrin and Thompson... then he started laughing aloud as he spread his arms wide and pounced. "Dorrin! It's great to see you man, where've you been?" He tried to hug Dorrin, grabbing Ellia in the process, who cleared her throat sternly. At that he let them go with a blush. "S-sorry ambassador, ma'am. Dorrin's just a good friend I though had died, or worse."

"I don't see why that's a problem, given Ragerians aren't monogamous!" Thompson interrupted with a cheery grin. "Plenty of room for you, me, and Darrin!"

"It's Dorrin!" Ellia, Dorrin and Saril shouted at once in response, but the Vulpin barely recoiled. Meanwhile, barking laughter from the two Gnoll pilots made them all realize that most everyone in the room as staring at this point.

"Oh, that's right!" Dorrin remembered why he'd been sent to get Ellia in the first place, and perfect timing, this is turning humiliating fast!"Ellia, there's an important patient that has requested a meeting with you."

"Ah you mean... oh yes, I know who you mean. So sorry we can't continue this conversation everyone. Dorrin needs to, ah, escort me to a VIP that needs my expertise. Bye!"

At that she and Dorrin quickly rushed out before Thompson could get a word in edgewise.

Recovery Room 2123

"So, Sabre," Ellia began with a grin after Dagger let her, and only her, into the room, "or should I say, recently reactivated Commander Blackpaw... how are you feeling now?"

"I do not recall telling you of this, how is it you know?" Sabre gave the ambassador a puzzled and suspicious look.

"Actually, the Acting Captain of the New Dawn told me," Ellia sighed, "after it was picked up by monitoring equipment in the room you're in now. Are you going to answer my question?"

"I feel better than I have in 20 or 30 years, and honestly I want to just get up and go back to the Snowlit Dawn," he grumbled before lowering his voice, "can you disable that, for what we are about to discuss?"

Ellia blinked, not having expected a response of that nature, but she supposed if he had something to say to her as Ambassador it could be considered sensitive. "I... just sent the ship a mental request for privacy, and it was enabled. What's on your mind, Sabre?"

"Well... whilst they were doing... whatever that experimental procedure was on me, I had an unusual dream;" Sabre began, not directly looking at her, "at least, I think it was a dream. I saw a Ragerian with white fur wearing silver robes, I could not tell its gender. It called itself... something like 'the Order Beneath the Disorder.'"

Ellia gasped softly at that, her eyes going wide in reaction. He... he's seen it too? Is he just making this up? No, how could he know, and why would he want to? "Wh-what did it tell you?" she stumbled over her words for a moment before managing to ask shakily.

"I..." Sabre paused for a long moment before looking Ellia straight in her eyes, "I want to know who this 'Order Beneath the Disorder' is to Ragerians before I say any more."

Brightden had just entered from the back, as Sabre began to ask this, heading over with a smile.

"Ah, I see you're awake... and interested in our religion now? What a surprising turn of events, but a welcome one! The Order, as we call it more succinctly, is our spiritual guide as a species. Not all of us worship it, but its tenets and teachings are the cornerstone of Ragerian Society! May I ask why you are so interested?"

Sabre seemed to wince slightly at this emotional outburst and sudden intrusion but remained calm and forced a smile. "Doctor, I appreciate that you saved my life, but I wish this conversation to remain private to myself and the ambassador. Would you kindly step out for a few minutes?"

"Of course, Mr Blackpaw," The doctor sighed in what seemed to be more disappointment than annoyance, "I will be in the next room. Ambassador Longtail, please let me know when you are finished, I have medical matters to discuss with him when you are done speaking." At this he left the way he came, the door sliding shut behind him.

"Well, you probably just got a better answer than I was going to give you..." Ellia replied once the doctor had left, "Brightden is with StarLife, a religious organization that is dedicated to the Order's teachings, specifically those that promote improving health and quality of life for all sapients. Are you going to tell me what it said to you? I sense you believe what you are saying, and it does not communicate directly with Ragerians often, so this must have been something very important."

There was a long pause before Sabre finally replied, "... that my actions or inaction would directly impact the survival of several species, and that one of them is the Lupin. I also saw images before I awoke, they were not easy to make sense of, but... you were in several of them, and I believe I am supposed to trust and support something you are doing."

Outside the Recovery Room

The mildly uncomfortable vinyl seat creaked beneath Dorrin's weight. He had been turned away by that damned honor guard, who said that Sabre only wanted to speak to Ellia. I can't believe Gramps is willing to suck up the same people who exiled him... well maybe not the exact same people, but where were they for him the past decades? He snorted to himself in annoyance as the door to the waiting room opened and Saril entering, followed closely by the two Gnolls from before.

"What happened to the little screecher?" Dorrin asked with a puzzled look, Saril looked like he was about to respond, but the shorter of the hyenas answered first. "He said he was hot, and you said you was wantin' to talk tah Stripes witout 'im, so we put 'im in a nice cool room ta chill!" The two snickered as if this was some sort of in-joke, or possibly a regular hazing activity for their Vulpin comrade.

"...Stripes?" Dorrin finally asked Saril, with a look if incredulity, "Do you really let these punks call you that?" The question triggered violent cackling from the Gnolls, which seemed to last for ages, and well past Saril's response.

"You... don't get to pick your call-sign, Dorrin. It's not so bad, I've been called much worse ya know, and these ladies aren't trying to get me to steal anything, nor is my commanding officer. This is far better than the station; besides, it's better than having Princess or Creampuff as a nickname!" Saril gestured towards each of them as he revealed their call-signs, designating the shorter as Princess and the taller as Creampuff. They quickly stopped laughing, giving Stripes looks just short of murderous... before bursting into jovial laughter once more. This seemed to be a regular occurrence for the two.

"But... what are you doing here?" Dorrin asked after their laughter died down, "I got away from the goons that attacked us, wound up in a cargo crate, and got hired by a freighter captain to pay off damage I caused to her cargo, how did you get out of that mess?"

"I got dragged off to a cell, tried and convicted for a ton of stuff I didn't do - or only was barely involved with, then shipped off to a Lapinian penal colony. Luckily I wound up sharing a cell with Icebox and Princess, we broke out together." Oh joy, do I really wanna know any more about this?

"Stripes is the only sane one in that bunch..." Creampuff grumbled and grunted, "I've no idea how those two tit-heads managed to escape, but after they did the Matriarch stuck me with them..."

"And ya luv every second wit both 'ov us!" Princess snickered, ruffling the fur on Creampuff's head, then turned to Dorrin, "Yoo work freight? Whatcha do, shove 'round crates fer yer capt'n?"

"Uh..." Dorrin scratched his head, wondering just why he was talking to Gnolls again, not to mention that this time they seemed to be acting friendly... "actually, I cook most of the meals for the crew, and guests." He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to discuss the Gnoll guests they'd had a while back. That crazy Matriarch Razormaw said she was considering tying me up and dragging me off with her! She did save the ship prior, and was pretty drunk at the time, but void damn!

"Wish we had that," grumbled Creampuff, "all this Yotan processed shit gets boring fast, and the real meals prepared on occasion are usually bland... unless we're lucky enough to get the dining hall where one of the Gnoll guys is on Kitchen Duty!"

"Oh yeah, Dorrin loves cooking and is great at it!" Saril grinned, his mouth practically watering, "maybe your Captain wouldn't mind us joining you for a meal or something?"

"I'd ask, but Captain Briskwind said they ordered everyone off for mandatory inspection and servicing of the ship... I'm just hoping no one steals my supplies."

"If dey do, I'll get 'em back!" Growled Princess, cracking her knuckles. "Jus let me know."

"Anyway, I'm guessing that you're not on a Lapinian ship," Saril observed, "and I'm pretty sure there aren't really any Tigrin ships outside our home system. Please tell me this isn't a Vulpin ship." Dorrin could hear the genuine concern in Saril's voice, apparently his closeness to Icebox didn't extend to the rest of the Vulpin species.

"It isn't - the crew is actually a mix. Captain Briskwind is Huscanid, but we've got a Yotan engineer, a Felin, Lupin, Leonin and even a Lapinian and a Equin... those two have separate meals prepared of course."

All three of the others looked shocked at that list, and the Gnolls suspicious as soon as a Lupin was mentioned.

"You must really be cooking well," Saril finally replied, breaking the silence, "to keep them from trying to kill each other."

"Actually, none of them, erm, fit in the regular pens, if you get my meaning." Dorrin tried to explain, without saying something that might make one of his crewmates mad. "For instance the Lapinian is our Security Chief... and she's taken down Gnolls, Lupin and Leonin in the past." And me... he added silently.

"Havta challenge 'er to a duel..." Princess said with a cocky grin, but in a more playful than hostile tone.

"What's the Leonin do," asked Creampuff with a chuckle, "talk to stations on comms and scare them into giving discounted docking fees?"

"No, actually Gerard is the doctor, and a really good one! And Lia, our Lapinian Security Chief, is his girlfriend."

Creampuff chuckled at first, seeming to find the idea of a Leonin Doctor being any good amusing, then went wide eyed in shock. "How?? No, seriously, how??? How does he not break her bones when they-?"

"When we what?" Lia asked, tapping her paw from the doorway, "Dress the salad? Gerard is a pussycat, and I'm not that fragile. And what was that about a duel I heard?" Lia had a dangerous gleam in her eyes as they settled on Princess, who smirked back at her.

"Wanna see whut a tough Lapinian can do! Unless yer too much uv a widdle boi!"

"Oh, it's on!" Lia laughed, her large front rabbit teeth on prominent display, "Take me to a training room, and I'll show you what we can do."

"Urgh, I guess I'll referee this, as usual, " Creampuff grumbled as she followed the other ladies out, "why do I get the feeling I'm gonna be scraping one or both of these tit-headed idiots off the mat?"

"Because you know Princess, and I know Dorrin doesn't make shit up!" Saril called out as they left before the door hissed shut.

"Finally," Dorrin sighed, now alone with Saril, "I thought I'd never get a chance to speak to you in private. Are you... do you really want to be here, Saril?"

"I know this is hard to believe, but yes, I do. And I trust everyone in my wing with my life, including Icebox."

"I know you always wanted to go on an adventure, but... this just seems like so much so soon!" Dorrin rubbed his face, then stepped forward and hugged Saril. "I just left because I didn't want to be barely surviving, if that, as a farmer all my life. I knew better than to buy into any of the Vulpin 'labor and save' schemes, but... Captain Briskwind is a good person, and so are the rest of her crew. And she's even gone to great lengths to try and help my family, not that my specist fuck of a father appreciates it."

"No, I'm sure he wouldn't," Saril sighed, "how did you meet Ambassador Longtail anyway? She gives off the same 'atop an unclimbable mountain' vibe every other Ragerian does. Not that they're cruel cheats like some other species, but they're just so disconnected, like they've always had everything and can't understand why people here don't."

"She was... actually disguised as a Huscanid passenger who missed her transport, bound for Insau. Marla found out what she really was along the way, and... oh I almost forgot about her, she's a Ragerian imprint I rescued from a wreck who's now the ship's AI. She's... different, but she feels obligated to me and the crew now, I think."

"And here I was thinking you had the less eventful story between now and when we last were together. I'd better go make sure Icebox isn't damaging something in whatever cooler he was stuffed in, feels like I'm babysitting preteens between him and Princess. I'll send my new contact data, message me later?"

"Of course, Saril."

Guest Quarters

The recessed, slate colored door slid aside into the wall as Tallia entered the guest quarters she and Donna had been provided. The room was sparse and small, a fold away table had been opened out from the wall, and Donna sat in a nearby booth seat with her tablet. Had Tallia not known that the seating booth reconfigured into a bed when she desired, she'd have found the lack of one in the room shocking.

"...You look like shit," Donna remarked with concern as she gestured to the seating across from her, "what are they having you do?"

Tallia flopped into the seat, running a hand through her still damp fur, and realizing she probably looked like a drowned rat due to how quickly she left the showers... last thing she wanted was to get dragged into a conversation with more Yotan in her former home. "I uh, needed a shower after inspecting the waste treatment facilities. I knew that remark Sandra made about the Captain not being mad at me was a load of space debris."

"I can't say I care for lodging here, or the aesthetics..." Donna muttered, getting up and taking a brush out of a nearby bag she's brought with her, helping the coyote straighten out her messy fur, "but it doesn't seem like that bad of a place to live, or even grow up. Why did you want to leave so badly?"

"I... wanted to do better," Tallia sighed, shaking her head and lowering her ears, "it felt like just existing for the sake of existing to me. Most of the entertainment in the archives felt stale, so... I put my skills to use pirating Vulpin media streams as a teenager. Homeships never stay in one system, and often avoid directly entering Vulpin space when possible, so I wasn't afraid of the repo squads they normally send after people who do that."

"I know people who've dealt with them after purchasing such media from a 3rd party," Donna replied with a shudder, "don't tell me you started selling them..."

"Oh no," Tallia chuckled bleakly, "I wasn't that greedy... at least not then. I was a bored and somewhat naive teenager looking for something fun that didn't involve dating or group interaction; never did like hanging out with others. Anyway, it was my first real look at the more... extravagant... things this galaxy has to offer. I knew the stories were all a load of engine wash, but I also knew that the luxury depicted, amazing worlds, open spaces on faraway planets did really exist. That's when I started fantasizing of making a home on a tropical island on some distant water world and just... relaxing, living life without all the hassles and obligations."

"And later you added me to that dream..." Donna considered aloud with a nod, "but what pushed you to steal a shuttle later in life? You clearly didn't leave as soon as you became an adult."

"I wanted to, and I requested to leave many times, but each request was denied: 'lacks necessary experience for an independent long term expedition', 'resources requested and required too critical to spare', 'project is of no benefit to the ship or the Yotan people as a whole'... and then this bratty little 18 year old folf comes along, requesting a ship and supplies to go investigate some cryptic coordinates, and what happens? They say, 'oh sure, take it and whatever stuff you can cram in'. I was furious!"

Donna jumped as Tallia slammed the table with a fist and ground her teeth, before continuing. "So, I began volunteering for duties in the shuttle bay, and quietly began stockpiling rations in an old shuttle that we didn't have the resources to maintain, jury-rigged it to fly, and then skipped the ship during a bulk supply run. That's around when I met you."

"Yeah, I remember that well..." Donna replied nostalgically in response, her eyes growing distant with the memory, "would you believe that Sabre is the one who talked me into hiring you for doing the repairs? I don't think I'd have given you much more than a warm bed for the night and credits or cargo for the parts you brought... if he hadn't convinced me that Yotan have a well-deserved reputation as miracle workers in engineering."

"He did?" Tallia gave her a somewhat shocked and bewildered look - she'd always been certain that it had been the other way around, and Donna had talked the only other crewmate she had left at the time into not tossing her out on her tail. "The guy watched me with one or both eyes for over a month, and it only took me a week to get the Snowlit Dawn space-worthy again!"

"Because I asked him to, dear." Donna chuckled, giving Tallia a pleasant and genuine smile. "Let's just say you flirting with me on day one set off a lot of alarms in my head. I asked him to watch you because... well, you know he's practically immune to most emotional manipulation, especially of the flirtatious kind."

"Whilst we're baring our souls, I suppose I ought to admit that I initially didn't have noble intentions towards you either." Tallia sighed, lowering her ears. "Yeah, I fixed your ship and worked as your engineer, in addition to the extra 'dating', but I had planned to use the Snowlit Dawn as a stepping-stone for something better. I was kinda hoping to find an Indie world with deep enough pockets and sunk costs in Vulpin tech where I could offer my services at the highest rate possible... I never expected that I'd fall in love with you after fooling around."

Donna got up and hugged her close, nuzzling the coyote. "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I think you too. We'll find a way to retire somewhere nice, even if it isn't quite a tropical paradise."

A sudden beep startled the two, with both checking the nearby display.

-[Hack: Hey there ladies! I know you've got privacy mode on, but can we talk for a moment? Something has come up, and since it involves Captain Briskwind's relatives and crew I figured you may want to pause whatever you're doing to hear it. Hope I'm not interrupting anything special!]-

"Urgh, he just would interrupt our moment," Tallia groaned, looking to Donna, "this is probably about your mother, so go ahead."

Donna pressed the button to disable privacy mode, and a holographic projection of a Ragerian with short brown hair appeared, wearing what looked like a formal Yotan uniform in its typical olive coloring. "Sorry about the sudden interruption, and I'm sorry you got stuck in the waste treatment facility, Tallia. I actually had you assigned to do some refits to bring some... non-regulation vessels up to military spec; but somebody on that team refused to work with you and had the Duty Officer change it behind my back at the last minute. They're going to be taking the rest of that shift they gave you whilst you're here. Oh, sorry, I'm rambling again. Donna, it seems your mother suddenly decided she doesn't trust our judgment in extraction teams and has demanded that you and your crew are at least involved. I can only imagine just who gave her that idea..." Hack gave Donna a pointed glare, folding his arms in front of him over his chest, a look Tallia remembered him giving her often when she docked his grades for turning in work that didn't match the assignment. Back then it was almost cute, but now - as an adult that was slightly taller than them both, in uniform, and in a clear position of authority... it was slightly unnerving.

Donna's white furred face flushed at that, but she didn't reply. "Anyway," Hack continued with a shrug, apparently satisfied with her reaction, "I'm fortunately quite good at solving new and interesting problems people drop in my lap, so I'm working on a contingency plan. The Snowlit Dawn is most definitely not getting a military spec upgrade from the Ragerians. Especially since Denal Blackpelt just docked and wants to talk to Captain Briskwind, Ambassador Longtail, and Commander Blackpaw regarding a few incidents. Unfortunately for him, there were some... discrepancies in the security scans, and malfunctions at several of our checkpoints, specifically all the ones he needs to use to get a direct path to any of you." Hack gave them both a mischievous grin and knowing wink as he continued. "Tech is just great 'til it doesn't work, isn't it? I'd love to chat more and answer questions, but I'm pretty tied up with all these glitches. I'm sure you, Ambassador Longtail, and Commander Blackpaw can give Denal the answers he needs to hear, bye!"

The projection vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Donna turned to Tallia. "Has he always been like this?"

"Yes, he has, but I'm pretty sure that was a message within a message, and it doesn't mean what it sounds like it means. Maybe Ellia can tell us, it's not the first time he's tried being tricky like that; he's annoyingly good at it and learned how to slip things past me."

Corridors

Dorrin gave Ellia a sidelong glance as they made their way through the meandering residential corridors of the New Dawn. She had been uncharacteristically quiet after talking with Sabre, and he couldn't help but wonder what was said and if anything was wrong. "I'll say more in private" was the full extent of what he could get out of his girlfriend as they wandered the halls... which now that he thought about it seemed to be designed for far more people than were aboard.

"Hey E," he asked as he stopped walking, "this ship and everything in it is huge, but it feels like there's barely anybody here... did they go somewhere?"

Ellia blinked, the distracted look her face wore sharpening after a moment. "Oh, hmm... the Home-ships were designed to save the entire population of the old Yotan home-world, and needed to carry a lot. Even though most were expected to stay in stasis, the ship is designed to function mid to long term with the whole population awake, albeit non-ideally; but that's just part of what you're seeing. Since they now have a suitable new world being terraformed in Ragerian space, almost all of the civilian population has relocated to nearby habitats, stations and even Rageria itself."

"Good for them," Dorrin grunted with a nod as they resumed walking, "are we almost there? My legs are getting sore."

"Since I bothered to ask for directions after we walked in circles for half an hour? Absolutely," She snickered, but there was a hint of annoyance in the remark, "here it is."

"Could have fooled me," he grumbled, looking at the monochrome patterned glyphs on the door panels and walls, "all these doors and halls look completely the same!"

"Agreed," Ellia sighed, shaking her head as they opened the door, revealing a small and seemingly empty room, "I've been here a couple times, each time I've had to get directions. Apparently Yotan color perception is weak, but their eyes perceive minute pattern variations well, hence very little color and a lot of tiny pattern differences on the maps and signage."

"Uh," Dorrin looked around nervously, "where's the bed?"

Ellia tapped on a wall panel and a bed folded out, the large mattress seemingly unrolling and inflating. "Yotan are big on space efficiency. Don't worry, I got us a bunk sized for 'larger couples'!" She gave him a teasing poke on the nose, then flopped down on the bed, which could easily fit them both.

"So, uh... about your conversation?" Dorrin asked, getting the impression she was stalling in the hopes he'd forget to ask her.

"It's complicated..." She replied, shaking her head and lowering her ears, "especially to word in a way that doesn't make me sound crazy or like some zealot. How do Tigrin view religion anyway? You've never mentioned it."

"That's because it's something deeply personal and different for each of us," Dorrin explained, wondering where she was going with this. "Personally, I pay little attention to the ancient legends. I see them as a combination of historical figures and convenient explanations for something that wasn't understood."

"Well, Ragerians have a fairly universal religion built around one entity, which I'm sure you've heard of."

"The Order Beneath the Disorder?"

"Yes. And ironically it's one that usually doesn't concern itself with individuals on a personal level... only directly interacting when the fate of a species is in jeopardy... and for that tie-in I've told you what I'm doing out here, but not the full reason why."

"Then what is that reason, E?"

"Because it told me if I don't , there will be multiple extinction level events, and Sabre was told something similar."

"E, I know this is something you clearly believe." Dorrin responded slowly, wanting to actually word this diplomatically, unlike his default mode of responding. "I don't have a problem with that, and I'm sure you wouldn't throw lives away trying to do this... but what about yourself? I don't want you putting yourself at risk just because you think it'll save some species. Please, tell me you won't do that."

"I... I don't intend to, Dorrin." She whispered as they hugged close. Just as Dorrin started to relax... the doorbell rang.

"We're having private time," Growled Dorrin as he stomped over to the door and opened it, "fuck o-! Fff..." His curse trailed off as he saw Captain Briskwind was standing on the other side of the door.

"That's a fine way to greet your Captain," Donna sighed, rolling her eyes as she stepped in, "and you're not the only one who had private time interrupted tonight. Hack just told me that Denal is aboard, and something else that didn't exactly make sense."

Ellia groaned, getting up from the bed. "Of course he shows up now, what else did Hack say? He has a way of saying stuff that is technically correct but has a different meaning or implication than expected."

"That's what Tallia said, Hack was saying something about convenient malfunctions delaying Denal, and Ragerians never giving my ship a military overhaul, as well as that I'd uh... be going along to get my mother."

"Now why would you need to do that?" Ellia snorted, narrowing her eyes at Donna. Dorrin couldn't tell but he got the impression she was picking up on something the Captain didn't want to say aloud.

"You'd have to ask my mom," Donna growled, deflecting the question, "and he also said that Denal wanted to speak to us and Sabre, but he's sure we can answer his questions."

"Then be very glad Hack is the one who authorized the AIS installation as an emergency lifesaving measure. Denal still isn't going to be easy to deal with, even if the way this was handled isn't something he can fault anyone for. Hack is Ragerian, but not a citizen: because of how our tech databases and logistics are handled he was able to make copies of, study and improve upon our tech for the past decade... but there's no practical way to make him answer to Ragerian Law, especially since he's the top military leadership for the Yotan now, and their elected leadership are quite satisfied with what he's doing." Ellia shook her head then grinned. "So in short, no matter what Denal says about Sabre's treatment, he can pound snow. As far as your ship goes... well, something tells me you're going find he's had his engineers do more than inspect it."

Recovery Room 2123

Sabre's reflection gazed back at him from a polished metal surface, he glanced back over at Dr Brightden, who was still humming to himself and seemingly gazing at an empty patch of wall. "Doctor, this is the third time I have asked, but may I return to my duties after this 'examination'?" Which feels more like an examination of Yotan architecture... if this is how Ragerian medical professionals normally behave, I hope I do not have to see them often after this.

"Hm?" Brightden suddenly spun, his eyes coming in and out of focus on Sabre's face. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry lad, there is much data for me to catch up on regarding your condition, which I missed whilst I was taking a nap. I do not like giving answers to a question that I have to change a few moments later... mmm yes, we've reversed a great deal of cellular entropy, sadly not quite as much as I'd hoped. I'm afraid that you can only expect to be fit for your duties for another two and a half centuries, give or take a decade or two, assuming no major outside events or developments of course."

"Excuse me?" Sabre sucked in a breath, that estimate would put his age at more than double what the longest known living Lupin had achieved... and this guy was seeing it as a failure? "That is, well... far longer than I had ever reasonably expected to live. Are you using some sort of implant to review this data?"

"Pardon?" Brightden appeared confused for a moment, his thick tail puffing up slightly before he blinked and his eyes went out of focus once again, "Oh, that explains it, average life expectancy of 120 years? By the Order, how do your people get anything done? And yes, I use my monocle as an overlay for additional visual output. There are options for more immersive feedback, but the adjustment needed before and after using them would make it impossible for me to respond to emergencies."

"We have an excellent work ethic," Sabre chuckled, now finding the Ragerian slightly less baffling and even a bit amusing, "so, are you saying that I may return to my duties now?"

"He most certainly may not!" Came a clipped voice from across the room, also carrying a Ragerian accent. Sabre turned to see a uniformed, dark furred Ragerian approach Brightden, who almost jumped in shock at this interruption. Before the doctor could respond, the new arrival continued. "Doctor, is the patient in stable condition for basic questioning?"

"We are in the midst of a physical examination. Commander Blackpelt, need I remind you that interruption of essential medical care is a violation of-!"

"The Ragerian Technological Control Act gives me authority to-!"

"This is not a Ragerian vessel, nor is it in Ragerian space." A different voice sounded in the room, seemingly from nobody at all, "Furthermore, as the Acting Captain of this vessel I have not authorized any sort of interrogation, especially not in a space dedicated to medical treatment. Commander Denal Blackpelt, you will exit this room and submit a request for any official business you have to conduct through the proper channels. I would prefer not to have security escort you out."

"This isn't over," Commander Blackpelt stifled a low growl, turning to Sabre as he spoke, "you will be speaking with me in the near future."

"I think Sabre's superiors and I need to have a chat with you first," replied the same voice again, "as I think we can better answer many of your questions... without harassing a recovering patient."

Briefing Room

Captain Briskwind couldn't help but feel incredibly out of place in this meeting room, given its other occupants were a Ragerian Ambassador, a Lupin Alpha-class Major, a number of Yotan guards and a hologram of a Ragerian who evidently was this ship's captain and in charge of what military forces the Yotan had. What am I doing here? I have no military or political connections, and all I have to my name is a beat up, economy model freighter! Still, Hack had been insistent that she was present for this meeting, and given that her ship was docked aboard his... station? It really did feel like a station... regardless, she wasn't about to try fighting this, even if it felt pointless for her to be here.

The doors at the entrance slid open and Denal Blackpelt marched in. Donna recognized him from when he had tried to pressure her into giving up Marla... who had turned, in her estimation, from an unbearable annoyance to an indispensable ally quite quickly.

"Commander Blackpelt," Hack began, "I do believe you know everyone at this table. Did you want some refreshments before we start?"

"I'll be 'refreshed' once my business here is concluded." He replied flatly and tersely as he sat, immediately turning to Scythe. "Major, I understand one of your officers was given an advanced Ragerian treatment that was not properly authorized by my government. As such, I will require certain assurances regarding-!"

"Ahem!" Hack cleared his virtual throat and turned to Denal. "Per my last message, the procedure was authorized by me, as Acting Captain of the New Dawn, per emergency regulation 2-12-7 regarding lifesaving experimental medical care. Furthermore, the implant was entirely produced using Yotan acquired materials, labor and facilities; ergo, I fail to see how the Ragerians have any jurisdiction whatsoever over this matter. Did you not receive any of the relevant details I sent? I would be happy to resend it to clarify-!"

"No, you Order-cursed rogue, I do not need to see that message again!" Denal almost screeched, cutting Hack off. For his part the projection seemed unphased.

"Then I believe we should consider this part of the matter closed, shouldn't we?"

"I still demand to question Commander Blackpaw about his involvement in recent incidents!"

"As his current assignment is atypical, and not under my direct control, it would be inappropriate for me to authorize that." Scythe responded with a barely hidden grin. "Captain Donna Briskwind is his current commanding officer, direct this inquiry to her."

Denal grimaced as he turned to Donna. "Do I have permission?"

"You have permission to jump in the nearest snowdrift," Donna chuckled, then growled, "do not harass my crew." Captain Briskwind barely hid her grin as she thought Ok, that was totally worth it.

"Very well," the dark furred Ragerian grumbled, grinding his teeth as he continued glaring at Donna, "let's discuss how you recklessly endangered my adoptive daughter with this... 'mission'."

"Father," Ellia spoke up for the first time - she had been grinning initially as she watched the meeting unfold, but this accusation had caused it to fade, "I am here of my own accord. Furthermore, this is my own mission, you cannot blame-!"

"You were nearly killed by a Leonin assassin, thanks to this... Lupin!" He pointed accusingly at Donna, who gave him an annoyed glare right back.

"Commander Blackpelt, you appear to be confused as to the facts of what occurred," Scythe began, as dispassionately as ever, "allow me to provide corrections. Your daughter requested the meeting with me herself, no others were involved that I was aware of at that time. I, in accordance with Lupin tradition and military protocol, brought two of my most trusted soldiers as Honor Guards. I will admit I had not expected she would make such a... unique choice for where this meeting would be hosted, nor had I any indication that one of my honor guards had been replaced by an assassin sent to eliminate me. Ambassador Longtail was not the intended target, I was."

Before Denal could respond, Hack spoke up again. "I must admit, I find it interesting that the stealth ship which was following the Snowlit Dawn failed to take any action to assist or warn Ambassador Longtail. In fact, I'm familiar with the capabilities of its sensors - perhaps I'm wrong, but they'd have known immediately that a genetically altered Leonin was present, wouldn't they? Perhaps you should be having this discussion with them, instead of provoking the real victims?"

Denal lowered his ears and shrank back, as Ellia gave him a sour look and both Scythe and Donna looked like they wanted to murder him. My thoughts exactly!

"Ellia Longtail isn't mature enough for any of this!" Denal blurted, pounding the table.

"That is quite an interesting assessment," Scythe demurred, "given that you appear to be the only one in the room behaving like a spoiled pup!"

At that, cackling laughter echoed from the doorway as everyone turned to see Matriarch Gerra Razormaw entering. "Sorry I'm late, this place is a damned maze! And by the goddesses, I thought Lupin didn't have a sense of humor!"

Denal blinked as he turned to see the arriving Gnoll, then stood, holding his nose up as he marched out of the meeting, giving her a wide berth. "Bye Denny!" Gerra called out as he left.

"Major, you realize you just called a 300-year-old Ragerian officer a child, right?" Asked Ellia.

"It was an accurate observation." Scythe replied flatly, no emotion visible on her face.

"It would appear that this meeting has already concluded..." Hack observed, "all the better, we've wasted enough of Captain Briskwind's time. I think she'd like to see what we've done with her ship."

Aboard the Snowlit Dawn

Tallia couldn't keep her maw from hanging open as she looked around the Snowlit Dawn's engine room. The messy patches of improvised cables, bypasses, ad-hock upgrades and systems that were held together by little more than her ingenuity were... all gone. In fact, if she didn't know any better, she'd think someone had taken part of a Yotan ship and replaced most of their old Vulpin equipment. "Maybe they did..." she finally thought aloud.

"One thing they did do was replace the half dead civilian computer core with... you know, I don't know for sure what model this thing is, but it's better than Ragerian systems I was used to." Marla sounded incredibly satisfied, so too was Tallia, though she was sure something would come up that would make her unhappy.

"...where the fuck are my tools!" Tallia finally blurted, realizing they weren't where she left them. Honestly, considering she left them all over in random places that she just happened to remember, it's not like she should have been surprised.

"Oh sorry," came a familiar, nasally voice from an open crawlspace, "I didn't have everything I needed, so I borrowed them."

"Brouh? What are you doing here?" Tallia asked, "Weren't you, uh... working for someone else?"

"Huh? Ow!" The Gnoll yelped as he tried to climb out, bumping his head on the edge of the crawlspace. "Oh, you mean Matriarch Razormaw? After our conversation I decided to put in for a transfer to the New Dawn. Not sure how the Yotan lady who took my place is doing, but I'm loving it here! Even if some things go a bit over my head at times."

"Oh, uh right... glad I... helped?" It felt strange to find she'd done something that somebody liked, usually her advice made people angry.

"Is... this actually my ship," Donna asked as she walked in, "or did they just completely replace it when we weren't looking?"

"Oh no," Hack's voice came from the speakers as his projection appeared, "still a bit basic, but it should more than suit your needs for the foreseeable future. I do some of my best work with old designs, a lot of the new stuff is too focused to do much more with it, especially if it's Vulpin made. At its core this is just a Ragerian light supply ship they made a cheap copy of: I just brought it up to the correct specs... and made a few adjustments. This is the kind of side project that keeps me sane."

"What kind of adjustments?" Donna asked, looking at ship data on her tablet. "If I'm going to be getting my mom on this ship, I need to know what I'm working with."

"I'll send you the information, but I think you'll be more than satisfied, I know your crazy security chief will be."

Corridors of the New Dawn

Dorrin had been pacing outside the medical bay, again, for what had felt like over an hour. In reality, it had been barely more than half an hour since Sabre had asked Dorrin to wait outside his room whilst he had a private conversation with his son. Yeah, his son who wanted to kill him before today... Gramps is too damn generous! He growled and grumbled at these thoughts, deciding that Sabre could call on him when he was ready and stepping back out to head for the nearest dining hall. The 'food' here barely qualifies, but I'm sta __r_ ving._ A few turns down the hall, he stopped just short of running into someone.

"Whatever in the Order's name you are," the dark furred male Ragerian he'd stopped less than an inch from responded, "you ought to use your eyes and mind and watch where you're going!"

"I was..." Dorrin stifled a growl as he looked down, not wanting to anger a Ragerian who'd probably complain to Ellia, "but I didn't see you until just now, sorry about that."

"Hmph!" The man folded his arms, holding his nose in the air and not making eye contact, "I suppose at least you have some manners; do you know where in this accursed labyrinth the docking bays are?"

"I uh, think I remember..." Dorrin rubbed his muzzle, the Ragerian looked familiar somehow, but he couldn't quite place it, he knew he wasn't part of the New Dawn's crew though... "I don't have anything better to do I guess, want me to show you?"

"Better than asking the crew of this ship!" He grumbled, "Lead on, boy."

Boy? Dorrin curled his lip at being called that but then remembered what Ellia said about how Ragerians saw anyone under 100 as young. He led him wordlessly, not sure he wanted to start a conversation given the foul mood this guy seemed to be in.

The officer - or he guessed he was one by the uniform, began grumbling in Ragerian as he walked behind him. Most of it was unintelligible, but Dorrin had picked up some from Ellia, so he got bits and pieces. "Foolhardy shortsighted rogue!" "Arrogant child races!" "Savage giggle-dogs!" "How can my daughter be friends with... these kinds?!" These were just a few excerpts, and even without context Dorrin found himself suppressing the urge to stop and slap this man, who was reminding him slightly of his own father.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Dorrin asked instead, still walking ahead.

"Oh? No," replied the uniformed Ragerian unconvincingly, "I'm just thinking aloud, don't pay any attention."

"You sound very distressed..." Dorrin observed, not comfortable telling this person he was understanding some of what he was saying, "I'm happy to listen if you want to talk, though I'm not sure I can give much advice."

"I honestly doubt you have ever had a daughter," replied the man, shaking his head, "much less one playing a very dangerous game with what are akin to pups brandishing firearms. That's all I have to say about it."

"Sometimes people are better at handling themselves than you'd think they are," Dorrin observed, "maybe she understands what she's doing better than you think she does."

They reached the docking bay and the Ragerian stopped, looking Dorrin in his eyes for the fist time. "I hope you're right, boy. I suppose introductions are in order, though I rarely do so with non-Ragerians. Commander Denal Blackpelt, Ragerian Regulatory Forces: Division 3, and it was nice chatting with you."

Somewhere on Planet Huska, Zern System

Vanara Briskwind was mindful to keep her gait slow and seemingly pained as she closed the lodge's office for the evening. I have to keep upwith my cover story, got sick for a bit now I'm slowly recovering..._she thought as she locked the door to the office, _if they get suspicious, who knows what the Leonin will do! In truth this was pretty damn hard, a day or two after she received treatment she felt at least a decade younger... but now that she knew the source of both the treatment and resources, taking chances was to invite disaster. Laughter and clinking glasses echoed from the lounge, which had stayed open 24/7 after the Leonin takeover; she had to pay the bills, after all, and few Leonin were interested in skiing. Some Leonin noble was having a party, and if all they wound up doing in there was getting drunk... well, it would be the tamest party of the decade.Damn, I remember when I could toss handsy guests out in a snowdrift without a second thought, she sighed to herself, quickening the pace a bit, at least at my age, I no longer draw their eyes.

Vanara made her way to an old, barely functional freight elevator, closing the gate before riding it down to the basement; she used to have a suite reserved for her family up top... but not since the Leonin came what felt like a lifetime ago. No, a quiet, unassuming room in the basement was both safer, and meant she could keep more of them appeased enough to mostly leave her and the staff alone. Of course, she knew that didn't mean privacy truly existed anymore: the Empire explicitly monitored all non-Leonin residents at all times, and moving or sabotaging their equipment would mean she'd disappear into a reeducation camp in short order. Still... the stuff they used wasn't very good, and she knew some tricks to defeat it, something that she'd absolutely need to do tonight. The aging Huscanid put on an old music recording, one of the few the Leonin had not found fault with - which usually meant no lyrics, and then turned the shower on. At that, she snuck into a hidden walk-in closet, which she'd soundproofed for this very purpose... within were what "unauthorized" keepsakes she had managed to hide. She looked at a trifold of the old Huskan flag in a wooden case on the wall - an innocuous decoration that alone would land her in an interrogation room, and a penal colony if she didn't have enough to bribe the interrogator. "The things I do for my people." She sighed, before tilting it in a few seemingly random directions, causing what appeared to be a wall panel to slide open, revealing a dusty quantum comms terminal. One message displayed: "Requested conditions accepted with one additional requirement, prepare for extraction."