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Only a few hours ago life onboard the Crimson Claw had been so wonderful, not only had they added a new member to there family, at long last they had returned home and where all looking forward to some much needed time with there loved ones. But then there prisoners had unexpectedly broken free and taken the Engineering staff hostage in a desperate bid for freedom, the crew's joyful morning shattered in an instant by the sound of the loudly shrieking alarms. Now, with the clock quickly ticking down to the arbitrary deadline the humans had set before the first of there hostages would be executed, an unexpected ray of hope had presented itself. There new ship's slave had somehow managed to make contact just as they where strategizing about there options, this unexpected turn of events more then shocking enough to bring there conversation to a grinding halt as his fearful voice could be herd whispering " nova to the Captain. Mistress? Please, please be there, I need your help!"

With a stunned air of silence filling the room all eyes turned to Kayla, the sounds of fear and panic in her slave's voice ripping at her heart no less painfully then a set of razor sharp claws. Instantly the whole group's Maternal and protective instincts where kicked into overdrive, 10's of thousands of years of instinct and evolution screaming at them to protect the male they had all taken responsibility for. If not for the fact that Major Nightwind and Administress Seabreeze where also present in the room Kayla knew that she would already be whispering tender words of comfort and reassurance to her slave, the vixen momentarily unable to find her voice as she considered just what that act of love might cost them. She knew that everything done here would surely be picked apart by command when this crises was over and if either of there visitors put in there reports that she was loving and affectionate with a human it might very well undermine everything they had done in order to keep him with them. Even worse she knew that if it was brought to commands attention this group actually loved a human it could conceivably even derail the next critical step in there plan to keep him, not something Kayla wanted to risk after everything she and her friends had already done in hopes of making that possible.

Needing a moment to think of what to say the vixen cast her gaze to her white tiger first officer as she asked in a tone of utter confusion " Commander, I thought you disabled the com system to keep the humans from hacking the auxiliary computer?"

As Sasha returned the vixen's confused look it gave Kayla the time she needed to think, her slave needed her, how could she give him anything less then her all after he had bled to earn not only her trust, but her respect as well. She had just decided that Command be dammed, she would do what needed to be done when the white tiger nearly startled her by excitedly gasping "O DEAR GODDESS. I completely forgot that I designed nova's collar with it's own proprietary data channel so it could direct connect to your, Dana's, and the rest of the command staff's com badges in an emergency."

The snow white vixen could have kicked herself for having forgotten that special feature of nova's collar, not after having been the one to suggest it in the first place. She never wanted there boy to be unable to call for help when he really needed it, not like what had happened to them in the shuttle bay control room during drakes ill fated test. Then she felt even more stupid when she realized that they could have remote activated his collar all this time to ease drop on what had been happening, yet another foolish oversight but one that was no one's fault but her own this time. She had just begun mentally running down the other tricks her love had tucked away into there boy's collar when his voice came again, it taking on an even more desperate tone as he all but pleaded "Dear goddess you just have to be there Mistress. P - Please the ship, my Mistress is in danger, I, I, I need you!"

Even if she had not fully thought out what she was going to say the vixen knew she had to respond to her boy this time, one of her paws lifting to make a silencing gesture to everyone in the room, her other paw quickly reaching up to touch her Com-badge as she softly spoke "Nova little one, I'm here! What's your status? Are you alone?"

Much to the vixen's relief the fear and panic in her slave's voice instantly started to subside just at hearing her, his worried voice quickly shifting to one of excitement as he exclaimed "MISTRESS, O THANK THE GODDESS YOUR THERE!!! There ... there are humans ... armed humans all over main engineering and they have taken the crew captive. Please, please you have to send security quickly before someone gets killed, PLEASE!!!"

As much as she tried the artic vixen just could not stop a prideful smile from creeping across her muzzle, one that was in sharp contrast to the shocked expressions on major Nightwind and the Administress's faces. In some small way Kayla could not help but be amused that both of them seamed so surprised that her slave had sided with them against his own kind, the captain herself having expected nothing less from there little blessing. With that much needed boost to her thoroughly aggravated mood the vixen turned her attention back to her slave, her voice coming again with a conscious level of controlled comfort in it as she replied " Yes, yes little one I know. We've been watching for the last few hours and just saw you heading into Dana's office. Tell me my boy, can the other humans see you or hear you talking to me?"

Quickly the slave answered, his eyes lowering reflexively as he realized his Mistress must have just seen him with a weapon in his hand, something that would have gotten him killed with any of his past owners. With fear starting to creep back into his voice and a slight tint of panic building the slave whimpered with a tremble in his tone "N , no Mistress, I .. I'm hiding in the bathroom. I , I, the human in charge gave me an energy weapon, I swear I didn't want to take it but he did not give me a choice. P, please don't be mad at me, Mistress."

As nova had been confessing this Major Nightwind took the opportunity to lean down and speak into Kayla's ear, the red vixen whispering so the slave could not hear her " Captain, quickly before the other humans decide to go looking for your slave. Ask him how many there are, their armaments and defenses, anything he is able to tell us about what they are planning will be immensely valuable."

Kayla's tiny smile quickly faded into an exasperated sigh at that, not only because for the second time in less then a week her slave's life was in danger, but also because he believed she would be displeased with him for merely doing what it took to survive. Of course that feeling of being powerless to protect her slave was also being compounded by this bitch not giving a second thought to using him as a source of information with no concern for his safety, something that would never be tolerated if her boy had been born an Anthro. For Kayla though, it was more of a feeling that she had utterly failed in the primary responsibility that every Anthro female was taught from birth, she had failed to protect a male she had taken as her own less then 24 hours ago. Even if he was human, he was still her male, her weak, small, helpless little male that she was expected to provide a safe and supportive environment to wile protecting from harm at all costs.

Yes, even if in this day and age that was a very old fashion attitude to still have about males it was what Kayla had been raised to believe, her mother having drilled it into her all throughout her childhood along with the elder vixen's disdain of the slave trade. Even worse, her boy was not the only male in danger, there where 2 others being held hostage with him, not ones that personally belonged to her, but ones she was responsible for none the less. Of course this was one of the main reasons it had been so hard for males to gain the right to serve in the military in the first place, it was just so contrary to Anthro culture and morality to allow a male to intentionally put himself in danger. Now that is exactly what major Nightwind was so cold heartedly asking her to do, she wanted to shamelessly use there little blessing as a source of information with no concern for his safety or welfare.

Oddly she could not help but think that if this bitch had even an inkling of the true strategic military importance there boy's potential wealth of knowledge was to the alliance she herself would deem him the most important hostage to be rescued, not to mention what a fleet officer who had read her report on him would have to say about the matter. Of course that officers fained concern for his welfare would only last until she herself could spirit him away to military intelligence HQ, then her furs would be the ones shamelessly interrogating and exploiting him for the embarrassment his life as a slave could cause the human leadership.

" O to the dark pit with all of them" the vixen thought, wile there was nothing she could do about what was happening now, she would allow command to get there claws into there little blessing over her cold dead body. With a quick look to the rest of her command staff Kayla could see looks of concern for there boy (and contempt for the major) on all there faces, the vixen knowing similar thoughts had been running through each of there minds in the paw full of seconds since nova had spoken. With another much heavier sigh Kayla closed her eyes and spoke again, her voice taking on a very reassuring tone as she said " it's ok nova, I understand it was not your choice and I'm not mad at you. Now little one, I need for you to tell me what is going on there, how many humans are there exactly, what weapons do they have and do you have any idea what they're planning?"

Nova's reply to her questions did not come right away, it stretching into a lingering silence that seamed to fill every corner of the room as the boy pulled his knees to his chest and tried very hard to gather his thoughts. When, after several very long moments, the slave did speak again his voice had changed, it carrying a tone that Kayla was simply not familiar enough with humans to recognize as contempt " I counted 10 humans total, Mistress. The first 2 are watching the crew, 2 more are forcing Master Browntip to try and free this ship from the station's docking clamps, 4 others are standing guard on the upper level and the last 2, the leaders, are floating between the others. But, Mistress they are not just regular soldiers, the ... the man in charge told me they're a black ops team. I'm not sure, but I think that means they are Elite special forces and very dangerous......... "

Wile nova was speaking Major Nightwind had already begun taking the information down and relaying it to her teams scattered all over the ship, the red vixen silently cursing under her breath when she realized exactly who her adversaries where. Dealing with normal human soldiers was often hard enough, but she had learned through bitter experience that when it came to there special forces more often then not insanity took the place of logical and rational thinking. Of course that life tended to attract the more mentally unstable types to begin with, it was always easier to be trained as a remorseless killer when you had a very low opinion of sentient life to begin with. Wile contemplating just how much more difficult her job had become, the Major gestured over to Crystal for her to keep watch on the main view screen so nova could be warned if any humans started moving in his direction. She knew that if he was caught talking to them he would be killed for sure, not that she really cared if another human lost his life as long as her fellow fur's where safely extricated from there precarious predicament.

Just as nova had finished describing the types of weapons he had seen on the humans and the improvised explosives they had placed on the 3 HD cores Fire returned with a self satisfied grin on his muzzle, the male fox stepping through the door just in time to hear nova saying " The man in charge seams to think this ship's jump drive can get him home, Mistress. I .. I'm almost sure he has no idea it is broken, and I don't have a clue what he is going to do when he finds out his plan is not going to work. But he .. That man .. " Just for an instant nova paused to draw a shuddering breath, his voice returning with a new level of anger that was so out of character for there sweet and innocent slave that the assembled group was momentarily taken a back by it. For the first time since coming on board this ship nova spoke in a tone of pure, unrestrained rage, the slave all but growling " Mistress, that Bastard told me no matter what happens, he intends to kill his captives just for the fun of it. He.. He is going to play some kind of sick game by pushing the males out of an air lock so he and his men can take bets on how long it takes them to die in vacuum. But, it .. that's not the worse part. The females ... Mistress he is going to let his men take turns raping the females before he murders them to. I ..I can't let them do that. I ... I ... I'll kill him and his friends if I have to ... but there is no way I will let them dishonor my Mistress ... or ... take her life."

As nova had been speaking he reached down and pulled the blaster from his belt pouch, the slave gazing at it intently as he revisited the thought of using it to castrate the human that wanted to kill his Mistress. Strangely his conditioned pain response to touching a weapon was almost completely gone this time, the small amount of pain still radiating up his arm only serving to reinforce the thoughts currently running through his mind. Even odder, for the very first time in his life nova was not debilitated by mind shattering pain for even thinking about using violence or causing harm to someone who was obviously his superior, the boy knowing that if it came down to it he would do whatever it took to protect his owners life. Deep down in his soul nova knew the reason for this, it was not just because he had been conditioned to always put his owners safety and welfare above his own, but because he truly loved her with all of his heart and soul. He knew he would rather die then louse her, the very thought of it utterly unbearable to him.

Back In the command center

A stunned air of silence filled the room as nova told them exactly what the humans intended to do with there males, the depravity of turning murder into some kind of demented game leaving this group of normally strong and confident ladies utterly speechless. Then if that had not been bad enough, on the heals of that already shocking revelation to tell them that there female friends would then be raped before they to where murdered sparked off a yet unfathomed level of rage in the room. Now, now they understood what had motivated such a display of anger from there slave and what had pushed him to the point that he would actually confess his willingness to take a life, something that until this very second none of them would have thought him capable of. As the full implication of this started to sink in an audible growl began to fill the room, several of the more senior officers thinking back to the reports they had read from survivors who had escaped after being captured by humans. With the Anthro society being a Matriarchy, naturally rape among there armed forces was a crime punished as harshly as murder, if not even more so. But as they had learned through bitter experience there testosterone driven furless adversaries seamed to have no such qualms about the treatment of there female prisoners, rape often being used to brake the will of a female and soften her up before the interrogation had even begun.

Wile truthfully both Kayla and the major had suspected in the back of there minds that these humans would kill the crew even once there demands where met, for them to actually be planning to defile those they held helpless for nothing more then there own twisted sexual gratification was nothing short of pure unredeemable evil. In that instant Kayla turned her head and locked eyes with the Major, the look they shared and the tiny flick of the captains ears sealing a silent bargain between them. Yes, the kit gloves had just come off and the red vixen had been granted permission to make sure nova would be the only human walking out of that room alive, all the others would be sent directly to the dark pit for there villainous misdeeds.

But as this pact was silently sealed something else became clear to Kayla, that being there little blessing, her slave, was himself human, the same species as the furless creatures her soldiers would soon have to fight and kill. If he was forced to watch as they died would it cause him to forever fear his new family? Would he understand that there was no other way to protect the crew? Would he ever be able to fully trust them again once he saw death all around him, or would it cause him to see them as no better then his murderous former owners? No, wile she doubted very much that he had the same killer instinct as most of his kind, she realized that he was so much stronger in other, more important ways. If he had been able to come through the life he had and still manage to be such a sweet and loving person, then he would surely be strong enough to move beyond the horrors he was soon to witness. After all even she had to admit that he was not some sheltered and pampered pup like any Anthro male his age would be, with his inner strength and the love of his new family they would help him to move past what was to come, and goddess willing he would never have to be exposed to such horrors again.

Just then the captain flashed back to her slave on his knees, kissing her feet and submitting to her last night, a tiny smile returning to her muzzle as she recalled the joy she felt as she closed her collar around his neck. Then she remembered her own thoughts at the time, of how Dana had gotten herself such a perfect companion, one who would always put her happiness above his own. Now that very same slave would have his owners life in his hands, Kayla knew In that instant that her crews lives could not be in better paws. Still thinking of this the vixen spoke once again, her tone very soft and comforting as she said " I understand little one and I would expect nothing less of you. Now nova I need you to standby wile I gather some information, just weight quietly and I will return as soon as I can."

Kayla did not even weight for her slave to respond before muting her com with a gentle double tap, then she spun around in her chair to face Fire and the Major as she flatly commanded " Now we have a crew member in engineering with a weapon, put those minds of yours to work and think of a strategy he can used to save the others!"

Being rather new to her job and not having any experience with something as delicate and complex as a hostage situation the Administress had chosen to remain in the background and observe until now, this rather short and plump pantheress picking just that moment to brake her self imposed silence with a loudly screeched " WHAT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR BARKING MIND CAPTAIN? You want to put the lives of your crew and the safety of my station in the paws of a slave? A male, human slave? Wile I will admit its little speech just now was compelling, you can't honestly............"

"Administress Seabreeze!!" Kayla shouted cutting the ranting Pantheress off, her tone hard as nails and lacking any kind of respect for someone who was technically her superior officer. With the day she was having the vixen was in no mood to tolerate anything more negative being said about her slave, the fact that this females civilian rank was roughly just above Kayla's own the only thing keeping her from tossing this ignorant bitch off her ship just like she had Drake not half an hour before. Seeing that her shout had definitely gotten the now silent Administress's attention Kayla then continued, her tone braking into a deep and threatening growl as she said " We have a little over 45 minutes until the humans execute the first member of my crew and the only other options available to us mean certain death for most, if not all of them. Personally I don't give a damn about whatever stupidity or prejudices caused you to open your muzzle, but my slave has proven himself worthy of my trust in ways I don't believe someone like you could ever understand. Now, if you don't have anything constructive to add to this conversation, please shut your dammed muzzle or you are welcome to get your tail off my ship."

Even though the captain's tone had not risen above her normal speaking volume the impact of her words could not have been any more powerful if she had screamed them, it leaving the Administress utterly stunned and unable to respond. Thankfully the Major took that opportunity to speak up and get the conversation back on track, the red furred vixen rising to her feet and bluntly stating " Personally I could care less if this slave is Human, Anthro, Hizat or even a Furling, If he can get us into main engineering my team can and will put an end to this. " She then lifted a Data pad and turned her full attention to Kayla as she ask " to that end Captain, tell me what is this slave's capabilities? Does he know enough about ship systems to disable that dammed scatter field or reconnect the main computers interface Crystals? Or if not will he at least be able to cut power to the force fields and unseal the doors so we can make entry?"

Wile at first Kayla was ready to proudly proclaim that there boy had spent years assisting the chief engineer of a star base on her daily rounds the words quickly died on her lips, the fact that it had been Star Base Gamma and the engineer in question was the girlfriend of the butcher something neither of these ladies would ever be allowed to know. Then as she thought about it, the vixen was forced to contemplate just how much there little blessing really did know. True he had been able to identify all the symbols on the schematic of the ships power distribution system with the skill of a trained engineer, but Dana had also made a point of saying he did not seam to understand at all when she attempted to explain how the FTL drive worked to him. Consternated by this conundrum Kayla's ears slicked back as her long pink tongue darted out to lick her lips, the captain grudgingly conceding with a soft sigh "Honestly, I don't know if he would be able to do anything overly complicated. He does have a basic understanding of engineering and ship systems, but it is an untrained, helpers knowledge at best."

Hearing that the Major's cheeks dropped in a disappointed frown, after the way this Captain and her crew had immediately jumped to there slave's defense she had found herself expecting, well truthfully she did not know exactly what she was expecting, just something, more! Then as the Major's eyes darted to the incoming telemetry from Gateway station's continuous high resolution scans she had one of those rare moments of insight that occurs perhaps once in a lifetime, a moment where several seemingly random pieces of information all fell into place and took her thoughts in a totally unexpected direction. The slave had told them the humans where forcing one of the crew to try and free the ship from gateway's docking clamps, that meant at least one terminal had to still be connected to the main computer. Maybe, just maybe with a little luck she could use that, the beginnings of a plan starting to come together in her mind as she asked " Alright, well then tell me about this collar your slave is wearing. I'm thinking that if we can use it's com as a wireless Data-link, it might be possible to seize control of the terminal regulating the scatter field and force field generators. It is possible that If we can shut those down simultaneously it will not only leave them vulnerable to our Teleporters, but we will also be able to storm the room at the same time."

Not surprisingly it was the second officer who answered this question, Sasha's extensive knowledge from having grown up in a family of professional slave trainers inspiring the white tiger to design a collar for there boy with quite a few tricks tucked away in it. " I'm afraid that's a no go Major. His collar only contains a type 3 transceiver configured with a constant tracking signal intended to inform him, and us, when he was approaching an out of bounds section of the ship. Wile we do trust our slave implicitly, from strictly a security standpoint I felt it was best his collar only be able to link to and download from low security terminals."

"Dimmit!" The vixen thought to herself as she deflated and slumped back in her chair, her half formed plan simply crumbling to dust in her paws with this disheartening proclamation. With that train of thought all but tossed out the air lock she simply dropped her Data pad on the table wile absentmindedly muttering " O Well, I guess I can understand the reasons for that. Still, if you had used even a Type 2 transceiver I could have made it work, I wouldn't have needed full control, just to be able to transmit some specially coded pulses that would trip the safety system and shut the terminal down."

"OOO, Wait!!" Crystal who had been watching the feed from main engineering suddenly said as she turned to face the group, the elder feline's muzzle braking into an excited grin as she asked " What about a Type 1 Transceiver with 30 terabytes of integrated memory and its own independent power source, do you think that would work?"

Surprised by this question from someone who had been mostly silent since her arrival the major turned and gave the pantheress an appraising look, her ears flicking tall as she replied " I don't think so doctor, not for what I had in mind." Then she fell silent for a moment in thought before adding " Well, perhaps if the Transceiver was connected directly to one of the terminal's data ports it could be used to upload a program designed to do something similar. But of course it is a moot point since we have no way of getting one to him, so why do you ask?"

"Because our boy already has one on him." The doctor replied with a ' cat that swallowed the canary ' look on her face, an expression so perfectly suited to her feline features that very few others could have pulled it off convincingly. She then fished her trusty sally from its hip holster and flipped it open to point at the screen as she added " I've had him wearing a portable health monitor since I discharged him from medical yesterday. It's just a standard class D, but it is sending his vital signs in real time to my scanner through a type 1 transceiver on the dedicated data channel reserved for medical use."

The dumbstruck vixen's muzzle just hung open as the doctor spoke, her mind momentarily unable to accept the fact she had just been given the key to her plan on a silver platter. Then as she got to her feet and politely took the doctor's scanner she had to wonder about the circumstances that had brought about this implausible turn of events, the Major thinking to herself that things like this just did not happen in real life. She was still pondering this as she connected the scanner to her mobile tactical computer and downloaded the health monitor's frequency and access codes, the vixen waving fire over at the same time to begin discussing there options. What fallowed over the next few minutes was a whispered conversation that became quite heated at times, the two red foxes reviewing ship schematics, the deployment of there forces and how best to make use of the resources available to them. Wile most of the finer details it seams had been easy to work out, what needed to be done about the explosive devices strapped to the HD cores turned out to be the biggest sticking point, both of them raising there voices a few times before a consensus could be reached.

Now with there hastily constructed plan as good as time and circumstances would allow Fire and the Major turned to face the group, there overly excited expressions quickly replaced by ones more befitting the seriousness of the situation when they realized every eye in the room was on them. Kayla was the one who spoke first, her ears standing tall and muzzle parted in an impatient grin as she asked " Well foxies, care to share your thoughts with the rest of us?"

The two foxes exchanged a look between them before Fire gave a simple nod, the Tod having already made his feelings clear but knowing the Major still had to ask the question. Taking the hint she swallowed softly and locked eyes with the captain as she asked " Firstly Captain, wile I know you have made it perfectly clear that you trust your slave, what I need to know is exactly how far that trust goes. If you have even the slightest doubt I need to know now one way or the other, or intrusting him to complete these critical tasks could end disastrously."

Wile the vixen's tone had remains soft and respectful it also conveyed the deadly seriousness of her statement, the Major's tail reflexively lashing side to side as she already suspected what the answer would be. Surely enough Kayla's reply came without a moments hesitation, her tone hard as nails and carrying the unmistakable tone of finality as she said " Implicitly, Major. I know for a fact that my slave will do anything I tell him to if it means my Chief Engineer, his second owner, comes threw this alive and well. Now that we have that out of the way, I want to know exactly what the two of you have come up with!"

With the formalities taken care of Major Nightwind's muzzle broke into a predatory grin as she replied " Excellent, Captain. Well the first part of this plan will require us to turn over control of your ship's weapons to the humans, Then............ "

" WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! " the Administress screeched unable to believe what she had just herd, her tail instantly starting to lash as she snarled " YOU .. YOU'RE ALL OUT OF YOUR BARKING MINDS!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Back in the Chief Engineers Bathroom

Wile waiting for his Mistress to return nova's rage had quickly faded into freely flowing tears, the boy trembling softly as he tried to fight back a sob he felt building in the back of his throat. Honestly with anger being such a foreign emotion to him he did not like the way it made him feel, a gut wrenching knot forming in the pit of his stomach as he pulled his legs to his chest and began to slowly rock back and forth. With nothing else to do but wait he found his thoughts turning to how wonderful his life had been just this morning, even with his Mistress having clawed him in her sleep the day was still looking to be one of the happiest he could ever remember. He now had truly kind owners, love and the promise of even better days to come, all of witch had been snatched away by these evil men who could very well kill his new Mistress at any given moment. Even worse deep down in his soul nova knew that, even if he found a way to extract his new family from this life threatening danger, being taken back to earth would surely mean a death sentence for him. After his Master's family learned of the cowardly way he had fled the attack that ended his owners life they would never allow him to keep breathing, they would spare no expense in hunting him down just to make sure his death was as slow and painful as humanly possible.

Nova had been so absorbed in these thoughts that at first he did not even notice when the bathroom door opened or when the man wearing his Mistress's uniform stepped inside, his first indication that he was no longer alone coming when he felt a hand gently touching the back of his head. Frightened by the unexpected contact nova looked up with fear in his eyes, the boy visibly shuttering as his years of conditioning compelled him to automatically whimper " I ... I .. I'm sorry, Master. P.. Please don't hurt me."

Having expected this human to strike him at the very least nova was surprised when he was shushed by a gentle finger to his lips, the mans expression one of genuine concern and tenderness as he spoke " Shhhh its ok, I'm not going to hurt you lad. I just got concerned when you didn't come back and decided to come check on you. If I had been able to hear you crying through the door I would not have entered, but now that I am here why don't you tell me what has you so upset? You should be happy, pretty soon we will all be on our way home."

Nova did not miss the fact that this man had touched his arm and tenderly stroked it as he had spoken, an action half way between a lovers touch and that of a father offering his scared child some much needed comfort. This was an action nova was quite familiar with, it instantly telling the slave this man had to be gay, or bi at the very least, and was trying to suttaly make a connection on that level without being to obvious about it. Still he could not bring himself to meet the mans eyes, not because being the target of male affection was uncomfortable or even new to him, but because he knew if this man caught him talking to the Anthro's he would be killed before a single word of explanation could cross his lips. Nova just knew that if he met the mans eyes for even a second he would somehow know that he intended to betray them, this fear so strong that it threaten to completely paralyze the boy.

Still, he had been asked a question and his conditioning to be absolutely obedient compelled him to answer as truthfully as possible, though he felt for sure his new owners would forgive him for lying given the circumstances. So quickly he started thinking of a way to get this man to leave without lying or making it seam like he was rejecting his advances, nova realizing that if this human was attracted to him for whatever reason it might be useful when the time came to save his Mistress or to die trying. " Truthfully Sir, I .. I'm just so very scared. I .. I don't want to die, but even if I somehow make it out of this alive, I no longer have anyone or anything to go back to."

No sooner had he said that then the mans expression of concern dissolved into a look of shear pity, he slowly moving his hand up nova's arm, under his chin and with just one finger lifted the boys head so that he had no other choice but to meet his eyes. Holding that tender gaze for a moment nova found himself strangely compelled to lean forward and give this heavily armed male a kiss, not that he really wanted to, it was more a feeling that it was what the man wanted him to do. Not knowing if his owners would approve of him kissing this human or if they would even be angry at him for doing so was just enough to help him fight off the compulsion to obey, nova instead lowering his eyes again as the human spoke " I find that very hard to believe. If not family, then surely you have a special someone back on earth or one of the colonies that loves and misses you?"

Just for a moment nova's eyes filled with a look of infinite sadness, it immediately fallowed by even stronger tears and the sob he was just no longer able to hold inside. " No, not anymore, Sir. You see my home was Star Base Gamma and when it was destroyed I lost everyone and everything I knew. I ... I guess I was lucky to survive its destruction, but wile I kept my life in many ways that turned out to be a mixed blessing."

As utterly painful as it had been to play that card every single word of it had been true, nova shuttering violently as it brought back memories of that horrific day. Normally he would never willingly subject himself to such pain, but as he had been thinking of what to say it came to him that many others on the slave ship had also been plucked from the doomed station's escape pods. Then as tended to happen when recalling events you really did not want to think about he was reminded of a conversation he had overheard between this man and his friends one night when they thought he was asleep, the gist of witch being that they had been captured when there star ship belatedly responded to the call for help. Having intended to use this to emotionally manipulate the man into leaving the slave found himself slightly pleased to see the human instantly fall silent, his once warm and caring expression quickly being replaced by one of poorly hidden sorrow.

With the loss of the Star Base still being a fresh wound and the personal humiliation of his elite team being captured along side everyone else nova knew his verbal bucket of cold water had struck its intended target perfectly, it leaving the man momentarily lost in his own thoughts and unable to respond. Then after a few moments when the man seamed to shake that off and begin searching for something comforting to say nova took the opportunity to speak, the slave softly whispering " I ... I'm sorry, Sir. I guess I shouldn't have said anything. May .. May I have just a little more time alone to compose myself and wash my face? I will be out shortly, I promise."

Meeting the mans eyes for just a moment was all it took to tell the slave his emotional manipulation had worked exactly as he had hoped, the human's greatly relieved expression telling him that he was moments away from accepting this graceful way out of a very uncomfortable situation. In fact the man's words where nearly redundant when he started tenderly brushing the slave's tears away, a warm smile returning to his lips as he said " Sure thing Lad, in fact you can take all the time you need. We have more then enough bodies out there for now, so when your ready come and find me, Ok?"

Perhaps it was because this man's face was mere inches from his own or the fact that he was tenderly cupping the slave's chin as he spoke, but nova once again felt that strange compulsion to kiss him returning, it quickly becoming much stronger then it had been before. He tried to fight it, tried to push it from his mind but soon it quickly overcame him, nova just no longer able to resist by the time this human had finished speaking. As if no longer in control of his own actions nova then leaned slightly forward and lightly brushed his lips over the mans, a teasing, gentle kiss that was enthusiastically returned almost instantly. Yes, this is definitely what the man wanted, his tongue even pushing past nova's lips to explore further until the kiss finally broke almost a full minute later. Breathless and flustered by this the slave was less then a second from apologizing and asking for forgiveness when a new feeling filled him, a feeling that he needed very much to orally pleasure this man. Goddess ware where these thoughts coming from and why where they so strong? True for most of his life he had been little more then a sex toy required to provide pleasure to his owners at a moments notice, but never before had he been so overwhelmed by needs like this without first having his special conditioning triggered. That was clearly not the case here because he could still think rationally, but at the rate things where going if he did not get this man to leave soon there was a very good chance he might do something he would regret. Taking a deep breath to regain his self control nova slowly drew back his lips and looked at the man, his answer coming in a soft whisper " Yes sir, I will." Then thinking he needed to say something about the kiss he added with a blush " and um, thank you for that ... Kindness, Sir. It was nice."

Thankfully the man just gave him a wink and another soft kiss on the forehead before rising to his feet, then he simply turned and left with a soft smile on his lips and a quite noticeable bulge in his pants that had not been there previously. Silently the slave lessened to the human's foot steps getting lighter and lighter until they reached the door of his Mistress's office, then just to be safe he waited for almost a full minute more before he felt it was safe to talk once again. Then and only then did he reach up to touch the front of his collar, the boy very softly whispering " nova to the Captain. Mistress I don't know if you can hear me, but I don't think I will be allowed to stay in here much longer."

Almost instantly the vixen's voice came in reply, her tone very soft and full of concern as she said " Yes little one, I'm here, I was just waiting until that other human was out of ear shot. Tell me, are you ok? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, Mistress, he didn't hurt me. He was just checking to see what was taking so long." Of course nova omitted the fact that he had kissed the man, if his owner didn't already know that he felt it was best to keep it to himself for the time being.

Wile the vixen was relieved her slave had not been harmed, with time running short she simply did not have the luxury of comforting or reassuring him, as much as she disliked it, she would have to jump directly to giving him his instructions before the others could return. Needing a deep breath to steady herself (and to push down that nagging voice in the back of her mind screaming a male should never be endangered like this) Kayla started the speech she and the major had prepared, her tone taking on an air of power and authority as she spoke " Good, good, I'm glad to hear that my boy. Now nova, I know this will be hard for you to hear, but I need for you to understand exactly what is happening and what the consequences will be if you can not help me to stop it. Wile you where still unconscious the humans issued us an ultimatum and a deadline that is quickly drawing near. They have given us a little less then 32 minutes to disembark the ship and allow them to depart with it or they have threatened to begin executing one of the engineering staff every 10 minutes until we do." Pausing a moment to take a breath and let the full ramification of that sink in, Kayla then added in a tone of voice that nova instantly recognized as that of his owner issuing an order he could not, dare not disobey. " Now that you have told me they intend to kill my crew, even if they get there freedom, I have decided the only course of action is to have security extricate you all by force. What I need from you my boy, is to be my paws and disable the force fields protecting all the doors, only then can my furs gain entry and save you all. I know what I'm asking will not be easy for you, but I have faith in you my sweet little slave, faith that you will help save my crew and make me proud of you."

As the Captain had been speaking Nova rose to his feet and looked at himself in the mirror, the power of her tone causing him to lower his eyes as if she was the reflection staring back at him. When he did his gaze fell upon the blaster he had left sitting on the edge of the sink, it only adding to the enormity of the crushing weight now pressing down on him. He picked up the blaster once again and looked at it, one finger tracing over the top of it as he realized just how bad things must be. If the Captain was turning to him like this then he was truly on his own, no one could help him, and the realization of that was nearly enough to overwhelm him. He was only a slave, a slave who had never before been trusted to do anything but the simplest of tasks, now his owners life was being put in his hands, it leaving him to ponder that the goddess surely does have a twisted sense of humor at times. And that was it, the moment of clarity that crystallized this entire situation in the slave's mind. Even though his owner could not be there to physically help him, he was not alone because she had faith in him, faith that he would save the life of her crew and the mink he loved, the very first person who ever truly opened her heart to him.

With a new level of strength and confidence filling him nova lifted his head and locked eyes with his reflection, his grip tightening on the blaster clutched in his hand as he wiped the tear stains from his cheeks. Without a doubt he new now that this day would end in blood shed one way or the other, but no matter what happened he would make sure his Mistress would survive to have a long and happy life. "Yes, Mistress, I understand. T ..tell me what I have to do to protect my family."

Kayla just smiled warmly in the command center, the vixen having expected nothing less from there little blessing. She then nodded to major Nightwind and took the data pad she had prepared with nova's instructions on it, they all having decided it would be best if she, as his owner, was the only voice he heard giving him these orders." Ok my boy, firstly do you remember that health monitor Crystal placed behind your ear yesterday? I need you to carefully pull it off and hold it in front of your collar, right over my family crest. I am going to be sending it some new instructions and when it is finished it will give you a confirmation tone."

Slightly confused but obedient nova did as he was told, the boy reaching behind his ear and feeling for the small device. Finding it right where he expected he pulled it off and pressed it to the front of his collar with a softly whispered "it is ready, Mistress." As soon as he said that he could hear some small tones first from his collar, then from the device as if they where talking to each other, It lasting for almost 60 seconds until they finished with 3 simultaneous tones.

Kayla weighted until her terminal told her the download was completed before she spoke again, her tone soft and supportive as she said " Very good Nova, now I need you to open the top of your blaster and hold the monitor to it. It will make a few sounds then the lights on top will cycle four times and turn blue." Once again he did as he was told, the slave picking the blaster up off the floor and pressing the small round disk to it. This time it took a little longer for the two devices to "talk" to each other and when it finished not only did they give there confirmation tones, but his collar did as well.

Just as he was about to ask if it was finished the small room was filled with the sound of the blaster buffering a more powerful charge, the sound only getting higher and higher until it past what a human was capable of hearing. That is when the lights on the top turned blue and went back to normal, the captains voice fallowing it a second later " Perfect nova, Now I need you to pay very close attention to what you must do in the main engine room. Everything will depend on if you are able to complete each of these tasks exactly, so I am going to explain them to you step by step......."

Back in the engine room

After taking a few minutes to check with his men (and to allow his half hard erection to subside) the Human in Dana's uniform made his way over to his commanding officer to report what he had found when he went to see what was taking the boy so long. While the colonel had suspected the young man was weak, to hear that he had broken down in the bathroom all but told him if a fight broke out he would be utterly useless. But then again he had expected the boy would be little more then a distraction for the animals when he gave him the blaster in the first place, just someone to draw their fire while his men did all the real work. He had barely begun to ponder if it was worth it to use the kid for even that much when his second in command then informed him that the boy was also a refugee from star base Gamma and how all of his family had been lost along with the station, this only serving to spark off a new level of rage in the older human.

Having been captured, beaten, drugged and enslaved when his ship had responded to the doomed base's distress call had not allowed him time to properly morn for his fallen brothers in arms, the colonel having pushed his grief to the back of his mind as any good military officer would. But now being confronted with this tragedy again caused those repressed feelings to come bubbling to the surface, his anger driving him to lash out at the first target unfortunate enough to catch his attention. Perhaps it was just bad luck that right at that moment a tool slipped from Mic's paw and skittered across the deck, the sound causing the colonels burning gaze to lock on it and then the deer who had thus far failed to get them free.

In a flash the human lashed out, all of his pain and grief causing him to rip the blaster from his belt, storm over to the deer and violently bring the weapon down across his muzzle with a sickening crunch that sent the male to the deck and sprawled out flat on his back. With all of his anger having been poured into that single hard blow the Colonel was expecting Mic to be knocked unconscious, the fact that he lifted his spinning head a moment later only serving to farther infuriate the human. Without even a seconds pause he added 2 powerful kicks to Mic's ribs as he screamed in a tone of unrestrained rage " I'm fucking sick of your stalling animal, you had your chance to get us free and now you are going to pay." He then cast a hard look to his men and simply ordered "hold that thing."

The two humans that had been guarding Mic up to that point quickly obeyed and pulled him up to his knees, both of them holding him by the shoulders as the colonel walked over to the other hostages and grabbed the female bunny by both of her ears. Kicking and screaming in her gag from the pain of being drug by her ears she was pulled over to her lover and forced to kneel facing him, the colonel pressing his blaster to the side of her head as he darkly smirked " I told you I would spare your whores life if you got us free and you have wasted over 2 hours. Either you have been stalling for time or you lied to me about being able to get those clamps off, either way this bitch is about to pay the price for your failure. Say bye-bye, Bambi."

The human's sadistic smirk only grew into an evil ear to ear grin as Mic pleaded for his lover's life, the deer buck trying to explain it was going to take more time because he did not have full access to the main computer and had to do everything manually. The colonel honestly could care less if the deer only had one button left, he was suffering in a way that only a man who was forced to constantly repress his emotions could and he wanted to make this animal feel that kind of pain as his vengeance on the entire Anthro species.

Mic's pleas where cut short as the human flicked a switch on the side of the blaster, this changing the setting from stun to kill and causing the weapon to emit that high pitched charging tone that he knew would torture the buck with the terrible knowledge of his bunny lovers approaching death. Once again he started to plead, to beg for the man not to kill her, Mic promising to get the clamps off, begging to take her place, anything he could think of, just pleading for the man to let her live.

By the grace of the goddess just as the human started to pull the trigger he was startled by a soft tap on the shoulder, the unexpected contact making him quickly whirl around and level his blaster upon the face of the one who had dared to distract him in his moment of victory. With the force of the impact nova was sent to the deck hard, the humans military training then causing him to point his weapon at the fallen boy's face, the adrenalin from this murderous moment and his transferred rage bringing him within a hairs breath of pulling the trigger. In that moment it felt like the instant a jump drive engaged, time seaming to freeze wile a thousand emotions flashed threw the mans eyes, it very obvious that he was fighting his training and instincts that where telling him to kill the boy on pure reflex.

Wile nova had been receiving the last of his instructions in the bathroom Crystal (who had been watching the unfolding situation on the main view screen) called out when she saw the female bunny being dragged by her ears, the captain having no other choice but to send her boy out to intervene on the crew's behalf before anyone could be killed. With no time to come up with any kind of plan nova thought perhaps he could just act as a distraction, maybe if he was lucky he could even use this as an opportunity to put the first of his tasks into action. Unfortunately he never got a chance to speak before the colonel lashed out and left him half dazed on the deck, nova simply unprepared for the humans speed or finally honed reflexes. When his vision cleared a moment later and focused on the business end of an energy weapon threateningly pointed at his head nova instantly felt his fear returning in force, the boy starting to tremble as he pathetically begged " P.. P.. Please... I.. I .. I'm sorry, Sir." While his distraction might have been planned the boys fear was genuine, the best actor in the universe could not have been more convincing as he just shook, frozen in place with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

Perhaps it was the look of sheer terror on the boy's face, or the fact that he looked as if he expected to be killed at any second but something the colonel could not quite understand compelled him to stand down after a few tense moments, his eyes darting back and forth between the deer, bunny and nova as if mentally calculating his options. Once the human's sharply trained military mind concluded that there was no immediate threat he lowered his blaster, it still pointed in nova's general direction as he harshly snapped " GOD DAM IT LAD, do you have any idea how close I just came to killing you? Only a dammed fool sneaks up on a trained soldier with a weapon in his hand! Honestly I don't know what you could have been thinking but I promise you this, next time you do something that stupid you will not live to regret it, YOU HEAR ME?"

Even with the threat of death no longer hanging over his head it still took nova nearly a full minute to find his voice again, the boy still badly shaking as he stammered " I ... I ... I'm very sorry Sir. I just ... I heard what you were saying to the deer and I thought. I .. I know of a way to get the ship free of those clamps, If .. If you would allow me to help."

Quite obviously not having expected that answer the human was momentarily taken off guard, his expression of anger melting into one of slight amusement as he leaned down to help the boy up. Then as a mocking grin started to part his lips he asked "O is that so? And what may I ask do you think you can do to release the docking clamps that Bambi over there has not already tried in hopes I wouldn't put his fluff ball down?"

Once nova was on his feet he took a moment to wipe the blood from his jaw and massage the ache out of it, his head still spinning and shaky it took him several seconds to remember what the captain had told him to say. " Well, Um, you see. The one that took me as her slave brought me here the other day to show off where she worked. Wile she was doing that I watched wile they where trying to fix some problem with the ships weapons and to do that, they had to transfer tactical control to that station." As he said that Nova lifted one hand to point at the main engineering control terminal, the one the humans where using to regulate the scattering field and the force field generators as he continued " I stayed silent the whole time and just watched the commands they where entering, watching as they fixed the problem. After it was fixed I saw the commands they entered to fire a few test shots, so if you will allow me to try I think I can use what I learned to give you control of the ships weapons. Do .. Do you think that will be helpful, Sir?"

No sooner had nova finished the carefully crafted statement the captain had given him to temp the humans with then Mic, as if briefed on the plan and actually trying to help, suddenly lunged at the slave snarling "YOU FILTHY BACK STABBING TRAITOR, I CAN'T BELIEVE WE TRUSTED YOU!!!" Wile Mic's intent was surely to brake nova's neck before he was able to carry through on what he had just suggested, it also had the unintended consequence of adding genuine credibility to the boys apparent betrayal, the buck's rage no less effective in convincing the humans that every single word was true then if he had succeeded in killing the slave. Fortunately he did not even make it half way to his feet before one of the guards brought him down hard by slamming the butt of his rifle into the back of the deer's head, Mic lapsing into unconsciousness before he even hit the deck.

Having entered dreamland so abruptly Mic would never learn just how fortunate he had been his guard reacted so quickly, by the time he had bounced and landed back on the cold metal deck the colonel had raised his blaster with the full intend of taking the bucks life. Robbed of his victory for the moment and not seeing a point in killing the female without her lover awake to witness it (and suffer the pain of her loss) the human just slipped his weapon back into his pocket and tossed the rabbit on top of her lover, his lips parting in an evil grin as he turned back to the boy and heartlessly joked " Now, as I was about to say before I was so rudely interrupted. Yes, If you can really get me control of the tactical systems It would be very useful. Instead of negotiating with these animals I'll be able to simply blast those clamps off and might even be able to do some damage to the station before we jump." The man then softly chuckled as he added " in fact, if you can pull it off I'll even put you in for a metal of commendation when we get home Lad."

Obviously startled by the deer's violent outburst Nova, who had taken a few steps back to avoid getting hurt, just nodded softly to the colonel, the boy taking a few breaths to calm himself before cutting a wide birth around the rabbit doe who was now giving him a look as if she wanted very much to finish the task her lover had started. Once clear of pouncing distance he walked the few steps over to the terminal as the guards drug both furs back to where the others where being held, the colonel asking him as they walked "You know I have to ask, Why didn't you tell me you where an engineer before when I first told you the deer was trying to get those clamps off?"

That not being a question Nova was told to expect he had to think quickly in order to come up with a truthful answer, one that would satisfy this human and at the same time get him to change the subject. So with a small breath the boy lowered his eyes as he answered " To tell the truth I'm not, Sir. But I was very fortunate that I was allowed to assist the chief of station operations on star base Gamma, Lieutenant Commander O'Malley, On her daily rounds for almost 5 years. She was a very brilliant woman with a real gift for machines and I learned a lot watching her fix broken systems all over the station. So now when I see people working on things I like to watch and study what they are doing, I've found it is a very good way of learning, at least for me."

As Nova was speaking he kneeled down and pulled the cover off of the lower half of the control terminal, his targets being the primary and secondary security lockout modules he was told he would have to disable before the program on his health monitor could be uploaded, and the auxiliary data port he would have to connect the device to. Once he had located them from the captain's detailed description he looked up to the lead human, a soft smile on his face as he asked "Sir? May I please have the tool kit on the table behind you, I will have to bypass a few components in order to give you access."

As if not giving a second thought to the slave's motives the human just gave an approving nod and turned to retrieve Mic's tool kit, this providing nova with the momentary distraction he needed to quickly insert the health monitor he had hidden between his fingers into the terminals auxiliary data port. Thanks to the slight of hand and basic magic tricks his first Mistress had insisted he learn for entertaining her guest's children by the time the colonel had set the kit down next to him the boy's hands had already moved back to start releasing the clips holding the primary module in place, the human completely oblivious to nova's treacherous actions. Once that first obstacle was removed nova then retrieved a long phallic shaped tool from the kit, the boy switching it on and passing it over the secondary security module a few times ( not having a clue what it did ) until the light beside the Data port changed from red to blue. This he had been told meant that the port was now active and the computer virus could be uploaded, he only needed to finish one last step to complete this first part of the plan.

Nova then replaced the cover and rose to look over the terminal control panel, this perhaps being the hardest part since he was not able to read the Anthro's language. This meant that he had to go strictly by the color of the buttons he was told to press, the boys fingers finding them on the lower left hand side of the panel as he tapped red, red, blue, red, yellow, blue, green. Just as the Captain had told him this switched the display to a large circle that cycled 6 times before the tactical display came up, this earning a cheer from the humans but more importantly telling nova the captain was now in full control of this terminal, and threw it, soon the main computer. " Got it, Sir!"

Back in the conference room

Everyone had frozen dead in place when the human colonel had slammed his blaster into the side of there slave's face, none of them even daring to draw a breath in the few tense moments it looked as if they might have just sent there boy to his death. Fortunately they had thought ahead and muted the com line on there end before sending nova out to intervene on the crews behalf, for if they had not there collective sigh of relief when the colonel lowered his weapon again would have been clear even to a human's poor sense of hearing. This had been the Major's idea, not only the intervention, but leaving the slaves com active as well to help them better monitor the unfolding situation and so nova could give them key words to tell them when he completed each stage of his assignment.

Kayla had barely a moment to begin regretting her decision to use her slave like this when Mic then lunged at him, the sight of yet another male she was responsible for nearly getting his head split open by the human guards caused her to release a savage growl of anger as she sank her razor sharp claws into the back of the chair she had been leaning on. Lesbian or not, before the deer had even hit the deck Kayla had yanked her paws back, the vixen shredding this unfortunate chair much like 10s of thousands of years of tradition and instinct where screaming at her to do to the humans that where now hurting her males. Thankfully Sasha had been there to calm down her captain before she did anything rash, the white tiger able to see the wheels turning in her loves eyes and put a stop to the vixen's thoughts before the order to abort could leave her lips.

Once those few tense minutes had passed it was just a matter of waiting until nova activated the program stored on his health monitor, the command staff intently watching even his smallest movements in a gaze befitting such an assembled group of predators. They watched as he replaced the cover on the bottom of the terminal, Major Nightwind's nimble fingers instantly starting the override program the moment nova released control to her. With Fire's help the candy apple red vixen then started setting up a timed series of instructions critical to the upcoming attack, a grin parting her well groomed muzzle in the knowledge that the rest of her team where making similar preparations all over the ship.

Surely enough as soon as the Major cut power to the safety field around the HD Fluid storage tank the Engineering crew that had been stationed there started ripping it's plumbing system apart, this small group of dock rats quickly rerouting the pipes to a set of ominous looking cylinders they had already installed nearby. As this was happening Smash had just arrived at the entrance to main engineering with her newly modified TAAC, both Bash and Crash arriving moments later to take up positions on either side of the upper catwalk hatchways.

Now anyone who has ever served on a starship will tell you, Main Engineering is just about the last place anyone wants to get into a firefight. Even if your enemy does not turn their weapons on the FTL drive or HD cores, all it takes is one stray shot with the safety shields down to blow you all to the dark pit. Given this, all 3 Mistresses of Mayhem had replaced there high velocity particle beam cannons with specialized versions of there unidirectional force field generators, this intended to allow them to protect the rest of their assigned strike teams as they charged into the room. Yes as much as the 3 ladies wanted there fair share of the human's hides it was just to risky to let them use such powerful weapons of mass devastation in the proximity of systems critical to ship operations. They would just have to settle for the marksmanship of the others using hand blasters and rifles, weapons just as lethal when it came to separating flesh and fur from bone, but without the power necessary to damage anything that could endanger the rest of the ship.

As these preparations where underway a 3rd and final team had just taken position two decks above main engineering, there job being to bypass the emergency venting system In order to completely evacuate the drive's radioactive plasma. Unfortunately with the pressures and energy flow involved this simple task was compounded by the fact that they would have to wait until the core was completely powered down before they could act, if not they risked doing even more damage then the humans where capable of. This meant for the first few seconds of the assault there was a real risk that a human could turn his blaster on the FTL core and flood the room with 30000 degree radioactive plasma.

With all of her teams now reporting back that they where ready major Nightwind looked up from her terminal and gave Kayla a wide grin, her tail wagging in excitement as she announced " Looks like everything is running on schedule Captain, by the time your slave completes stage 2 all should be ready and standing bye for your command."

Kayla just looked up and gave a soft nod as she distractedly answered "Understood Major." She then looked back to the screen she and Sasha had been looking at just a moment ago, the white tigers finger tracing over the image of a past out Mic and an obviously injured bunny who was trying to get any signs of life she could by nudging him with her nose. As Sasha lifted her head and met the captains eyes Kayla Instantly knew what she was thinking, the vixen whispering before her love could speak " I know love, I know. He just saved both there lives and I wish that could be enough. But .. we need him to finish this and then, Goddess willing, we will never have to put him in such danger again."

" I know love, I know. But it's still not right to use a male like this, even if he is a slave." Sasha whispered back, her ears drooping to show her disapproval of this whole plan. Even though she knew Kayla felt the same way she still felt it just had to be said, the white tiger opening her muzzle to speak again when she was cut off by Crystal Announcing from next to the main view screen " Captain, Looks like our boy is moving to the power exchanger now."

Back In Main Engineering

Wile the humans had been overjoyed to have weapon's control at first, there excitement had been short-lived after a quick review told them the torpedoes had been depleted and for some reason the energy weapons where not charging. The human colonel spent a good 5 minutes trying everything he knew to bring the auto charge function online before turning his gaze back to nova, a look of disappointed aggravation plastered across his face as he grumbled "Very good work Lad, but it looks like the animals beat you to the punch and cut the power feeds, the ship's blasters are all but useless. O well, looks like we will just have to go back to our original plan. I tell you what as a reward you get to pick the animal we execute first, I'll even let you be the one to send it to hell."

This little snag had been an essential part of the plan, with the auto charge function disabled the humans would have to allow nova into the main power exchanger in order to rout the power manually. Once they made the catastrophic mistake of allowing him access to it, he would then be able to put stage 2 into effect, sealing all of there fates. So with a nervous look on his face the boy lowered his eyes as he all but whispered "If it's just a matter of power I can always root it manually if you like, Sir." As he said this nova pointed to the main power exchanger just in front and to the left of the FTL core as he continued " I won't be able to power them all, but I should be able to give you one, maybe two of the ship's main weapons, will that be enough Sir?"

Once again the human gave nova an appraising look as if evaluating him or perhaps his motives, the Colonel's blaster slowly turning back and forth in his hand for several long moments before he finally said " Very well. We still have about 15 minutes before the dead line I gave the animals, so that's how long you have to try." Then the mans face split into an evil ear to ear grin as he added " Who knows, maybe if you are skilled enough you'll spare us from having to stink up the place with the smell of burning fur."

While of course this sickening joke earned a dark chuckle from all of the humans, it caused the slave to once again think about using his blaster to castrate this bastard, the only thing stopping him being the fact it would ruin the plan his Mistress had charged him with setting in motion. So with a great deal of effort nova simply forced a small smile on his face as he walked over to the power exchanger, his Mistress would be avenged soon enough once his tasks where completed. As he did he could not help but catch the nod the colonel gave to his second in command, the man in Dana's uniform quickly moving to keep an eye on what the slave was doing. "So they don't trust me completely after all " he thought, "oh well, in just a few more minutes It really wont matter."

Deciding to use there leaders mistrust to his advantage, nova flashed the man in his Mistress's uniform a warm smile (playing the helpless little boy that he seamed to be attracted to) as he asked for help prying the magnetically sealed panel free. Truthfully he did need the help, his still weaken condition making the task a bit beyond his current level of strength. Once it was off it took nova a few minutes of looking through the lights and cables to locate the junction his owner had told him he would need to reconfigure, the man at his side taking note of his look of uncertainty as he asked " You look confused Lad, whatcha looking for?"

Nova had to admit to himself that, even though his owner had told him exactly what to look for, the mass of wires and cables where still very confusing to his untrained eyes, the boy softly answering as he finally found what he was searching for "The backup force field power supply, Sir. Since the safety fields around the FTL drive are disabled, I figure I can use that energy to power the ships weapons without compromising other systems. I just have to be very careful not to disconnect the wrong thing, I wouldn't want to accidentally shut down the force fields you have protecting the doors." Witch of course was true, the computer would take care of the doors, nova had bigger fish to fry.

As nova had been speaking he also began rearranging the connections to accomplish exactly what he had just explained, but at the same time he also created a shunt between the weapons system and the FTL drive safety field generators. By cross connecting them with the backup power feeds as soon as the computer disabled the force fields protecting the doors all of there energy, along with the power buffered in the weapons, would then be diverted and automatically used to reestablish the safety field around the FTL core until it's deadly contents could be harmlessly vented into space. Given the fact that the man in his Mistress's uniform made no attempt to stop him, or gave even the slightest sign of disapproval, nova assumed that the human must know even less about ship systems then he did.

Even with his basic knowledge and the Captains instructions it still took nova a good 10 minutes to complete the alterations, some of witch he was not completely sure about but since nothing exploded or shorted-out he could only hope he had done it all correctly. Once it was finished nova made perhaps the worse mistake of his life, he turned his head to sneak a peak at his Mistress and her friends in hopes that they had realized what his true intentions where. What he saw staring back at him instantly made the slave's blood run cold, not the happy faces he had learned to associate with this group but instead pure, unadulterated rage and hatred. There looks of revulsion and disgust stabbed at him and burned deeply into his soul, a look that conveyed a level of contempt for his very existence he had not seen since the last time he met his former Master's eyes. But worst of all was the look Dana was giving him. Not a look of rage or even of anger, but a look of complete and total heartbreak. If not for her muzzle being taped shut he was sure she would be openly sobbing, the fact that her cheek fur was already soaking wet enough to convince him that she believed he had utterly betrayed her.

He, he had to look away, her eyes inflicting a new level of pain on him that he had never felt before. It was not a pain of body or even of mind, but the pain of a broken heart and the loss of love, the love he had never once truly felt until this lady in fur had opened her heart to him. In that moment a new fear gripped his mind and formed a knot in the pit of his stomach, a fear that if he failed in his mission his Mistress, his new family would return to the goddess never knowing the truth, that she would reject him even in the after life for having thrown away the love she had so freely given him. No, he could no more allow that to happen then he could allow the humans to violate his love, his Mistress. No matter what she would survive this even if he did not, she would know the truth of this at the very least and hopefully she would find it in her heart to forgive him.

"Lad? Lad what's wrong? Come on, snap out of it!" The human wearing Dana's uniform said as he shook nova a little more forcefully this time, a look of concern on his face as he drew his hand back to give the boy a not to gentle slap across the face. This it seems is what it took to pull nova out of his thoughts, the human breathing a small sigh of relief when the boy touched his cheek and looked up at him. That was when nova realized a few small tears had escaped his eyes and that he had momentarily lost his connection to the real world, this confirmed by the man softly asking "O thank god! You turned pale and started shaking. What just happened, where'd you go?"

Still lightly trembling nova had to take several deep breaths and blink to dispel the mental image of the minks eyes still burning into him, accusing him, punishing him with her tears. Needing something else to focus on he lifted his eyes to the man that had just spoken and could see how concerned he was, a look of tenderness that in some small way offered the comfort nova desperately needed in that moment. For just a second he considered excepting that comfort and telling the man what had upset him, but then he realized that as kind as this man was being, if he suspected for even a second that he truly cared for the Anthros he would be killed as surely as if they knew he was actively betraying them. No, he needed to come up with an answer that would not require him to lie, but at the same time would be truthful enough to satisfy the man without giving away his true feelings. Still trying to think nova cast a quick glance back to the Anthros just long enough for the man to see him do it, then with a visible shudder turned back and sniffled in a trembling voice " It .. It's there eyes, Sir. The way there looking at me, I .. I just cant bear it. It ... it's the hate in there eyes, it hurts in a way I cant even describe."

Seeing just how deeply the Anthros where affecting this boy the man curled a comforting arm around him in a half hug as he whispered " I know Lad, I know, but once you get the weapons working we can blast our way out of here and you'll never have to see them ever again. Until then, I give you my word I won't let any of them hurt you." Goddess how it hurt to realize that he really did need this mans protection at the moment, with the engineering crew believing him to be a traitor there was a real possibility one of them might kill him if they got the chance. Then as the sheer absurdity of that conundrum struck him nova could not hold back a giggle, this man was protecting him so that he could complete the preparations that would result in the humans being captured or killed. Could there possibly be any better definition of delicious irony?

After a moment for that thought to clear his mind nova gave the man a nod and a softly whispered " Thank you," before reaching back into the exchanger to activate it's new configuration. With just a few final key taps the control terminal on the other side of the room then emitted a confirmation tone and the currently displayed tactical screen lit up, an indicator appearing to show that the weapons where indeed charging. Seeing this nova turned his gaze to the human in charge and raised his voice just enough to be herd as he said "GOT IT, SIR. YOU SHOULD HAVE POWER NOW!"

It took the lead human only a few seconds to verify that yes, the weapons were now charging, this earning another round of cheers from the humans and even more hateful looks from the bound furs. The captain had told Nova that while yes his actions would indeed charge the weapons, with the power demands they required it would take longer to reach fire ready then the humans would be allowed. As nova replaced the panel and used his blaster to lock it back in place with a not so gentle whack he could see that his owner was right. While the power indicators had begun to rise they where doing it very, very slowly, slowly enough that he still had time for the 3rd and final stage of the plan if only he could think of a way to pull it off. This stage had been the biggest question mark of the whole plan, while not essential to making the assault work, if he could pull it off it would minimize if not guarantee zero crew casualties. With the necessary steps now complete and needing to put some distance between himself and the Anthro's glaring at him Nova then walked back over to the control terminal, the boy setting his blaster down on top of it as he tapped a few keys to display the weapon's charging rate. He had barely a moment to think about how to approach the next subject when the human colonel muttered something about needing better batteries, then turned his attention to the boy as he asked " well, I see you got it working, but at this rate it will take much, much to long. I don't suppose there's anything more you can do about that Lad?"

This question nova had been prepared for and knew exactly how to answer, the boy touching an icon of the ship on the display screen as he said " Yes, Sir. Right now all the power is flowing to the lateral, ventral and starboard weapons arrays. If you want all of them it will take about 35 to 40 minutes to fully charge, or I can divert all the power to just one of them and have it ready for you in a little under 8 minutes." The slave knew that the mans answer really did not matter, the captain had told him that exactly 7 minutes after either button was pressed the attack would begin.

In response to this question the man just reached out himself and touched the blinking section on the top of the icon, a smile slowly growing across his lips as the computer confirmed all the power was now indeed being sent there. " I think the quicker the better Lad. Shame, I was hoping to take a chunk out of this station before we made our escape."

Seeing that the colonel seamed very pleased with himself and knowing that he was quickly running out of time nova decided it was now or never, the boy taking a small breath as he whispered "Sir, I know I don't have a right to ask this, but may I please make a personal request?"

Indeed in a much better mood then he had been only a few minutes ago the colonel gave a simple nod as he said " Your right, you don't have a right to ask. But given the fact you where able to do what none of us could, I think you have earned the privilege. Make your request young man and I will consider it."

Up to this point nova's actions had been guided by the instructions the captain had given him, but he had now reached the point they had been cut short so that he could prevent Mic and his bunny lover from being killed. Not knowing what to say, or how to say it, the slave took a few moments to just breath and think, nova carefully considering how to phrase his request. It was when he looked up to the Colonel and the man in his Mistress's uniform that it came to him, the boy not liking the idea at all but if he had judged these people correctly it might just be enough to convince them. So with a deep breath to steady himself nova stepped very close to the colonel and looked over his shoulder at the bound furs on the floor behind him, there now murderous glares causing him to visibly shudder as he softly whispered " Sir, It .. It's the way those .. those .. Animals are looking at me, I just can't bear it anymore. I know they are hostages and all, but would it be possible to lock them in one of the storage closets or something so I don't have to see the hate in there eyes anymore, please?" To say that nova felt completely horrible about calling his owners "Animals" would have been perhaps the understatement of the decade, having been called that himself repeatedly by first The Butcher, then Captain Carnes and even Master Ash he knew just how bad of an insult it was. Still he knew it was the best, if not only way to get his point across, but he would never the less expect to be punished harshly for it when this was over and they where all safe again.

The colonel being a stereotypical military type and thoroughly heterosexual was more then a little uncomfortable by nova's proximity and his blatant show of emotion, it serving to help push him slightly off balance and work in the slave's favor. Still, wile considering the boy's request, the colonel's expression changed to one of uncertainty, his eyes glancing at first to the boy, then to his prisoners as he replied " Well I'm not sure about that Lad, we might need them as human shields if there friends attempt to brake in or cause trouble."

That icy feeling of terror began to return and form a knot in the pit of nova's stomach as it appeared he had just failed to ensure his Mistress's safety, the boy desperately trying to think of something before time ran out. He was just considering using his blaster to make himself a big enough threat to draw the humans fire during the first few seconds of the attack when the man in Dana's uniform spoke, his voice sounding much more confident then his superior as he said " Actually boss, I think that might be a good idea. If you remember we cut power to life support on every deck except this one, so once we blast the station umbilical's off every Animal onboard will run out of air in less then an hour. Without light, heat and gravity I don't believe they will be much of a threat, but we would not want this lot causing trouble wile we are powering up the jump drive."

Then the human leaned in a little closer and lowered his voice so that only the 3 of them would hear as he added " Besides, don't you think our little friend here has earned some peace of mind Sir? After what that cat on the transport put him through and what he must have had to endure the last few days on this ship I can fully understand him not wanting to have anything to do with those animals if he can avoid it." Of course this human had ulterior motives in siding with nova, not only because of the sexual attraction he felt, but also because of the look he had seen on the boy's face just a few minutes ago. That more then anything is what convinced him that this group must have abused the boy in much the same way the cat on the other ship had, it being the main reason he had sided with nova more out of pity then out of sound military thinking.

Nova at hearing this hoped against hope that the Colonel would relent, the boy whispering a silent prayer to the goddess for the life of the mink he loved. At the same time he glanced back worriedly to the Anthros to play on the humans misconception that they where what he was truly afraid of, it seaming to work as the colonel's features softened. Thankfully that was the case, the man wile not entirely sure why, gave a small sigh of resignation as he said " Ok, I see your point. Have the Lad show you the storage closet he is talking about and if it looks like it will make a fitting holding cell toss the animals in." Then he turned to nova and used one hand to lift his head as he added " And you Lad, I'm not going to have a man under my command who is afraid of those creatures. So after we jump you are going to be the one to space Bambi over there, maybe after you see that animal flopping about like a fish in vacuum it will show you exactly who the superior species is, you hear me?"

As horrified as nova was to hear that, the fact that it was not going to happen was enough for him to bite back the bile building in the back of his throat, the boy just lowering his eyes as he whispered " Yes, Sir. I understand." Then as soon as the Colonel released him nova turned and led the human in his Mistress's uniform over to the apparent storage closet, the slave's blaster "Accidentally" left on top of the control panel as he did.

Once again nova cut a wide birth around the bound Anthros, some of witch where now deeply snarling at him and looking as if they where ready to maul him to death at there first opportunity, but all of them with a murderous look in there eyes that would haunt the slave's nightmares until his dieing day. Not able to look at them anymore nova just shut his eyes until he reached the door next to Dana's office, a single key tap opening it to reveal a small room who's walls where lined with a dark material obviously meant to contain leaking radiation from damaged engine components. A very fitting holding cell the man in Dana's uniform thought and if things got hot, a good fall back position to make a final stand if it came down to it. Satisfied he looked back to his commanding officer and lifted a hand to get his attention as he shouted " Looks like a hazmat containment chamber Colonel, we just need to yank out 2 crates of plasma injectors and it should keep the fur balls out of our hair nicely."

The colonel, who had already begun aligning the targeting scanners and plotting a firing solution on the station clamps, just gave a nod as he distractedly grumbled " Very well, get one of the animals to do it then toss them in, I want you and the Lad to start charging the shields, we still have to make it out of this system to get clear of the anti-jump field." Then before an Anthro could even be picked for that task the colonel added as if an after thought " O but leave that mink where it is, it's the highest ranked animal and I might need it if the station's weapons lock-on or if they send ships after us."

If not for the fact the human in Dana's uniform had walked over and started cutting the tape binding the male rabbits paws he would have surely seen nova's momentary look of shock and horror, the boy shuddering violently as his mind started to race. Why, Why of everyone that bastard could have picked to leave out In the open and in danger did he have to choose Dana. It, it was like some kind of cruel joke, he had been so close to making sure his Mistress would be safe only to have his hope snatched away at the very last second. If the human had chosen any of the others nova would have still been heart broken to see them hurt, but he knew he would survive it. At that point there was little more Nova could do except take a few steps back to get clear of the infuriated Rabbit's striking distance as he dragged both of the storage containers out of the small room, the boy lowering his eyes submissively so he did not have to see his Masters hate-filled glare. Sooner then the slave would have liked the bunny had completed his task and the Anthro's one by one filed into the small room under the watchful eyes of there guards, the male bunny weighting until last so he could drag the still unconscious Mic in behind him. Unfortunately the slave did lift his eyes when he herd the sound of the bunnies paws being re-bound, his reward for that mistake being a savage growl from the male as he snapped the tape on his muzzle and snarled " If it's the last thing I do I will see to it that you pay for this with your life, TRAITOR!"

Instead of binding the rabbet's muzzle again the man in Dana's uniform simply slammed his blaster into the side of it as he spat " you're the one who is going to die ANIMAL. I'd do it myself right here and now but I'll save that pleasure for when we have enough time to make you regret those words."

Nova, badly shaken by that altercation, violently shuttered as his hand shot up to close the door before the human could strike the bunny again. Then as the captain had told him just before his instructions had been cut short nova quickly touched the small black button on the bottom of the panel to lock the door, it sealing with a barely audible click. Of course the human did not realize that nova had just set an emergency protocol on the lock that would not allow the door to be opened without a special access code, it meaning the humans would have to spend a good five minutes cutting through the door with a blaster to be able to harm there captives again.

As soon as the door was locked nova turned his head back to the colonel and, biting back tears, shouted " It's done, Sir." Truthfully he was speaking to the captain through the open com-link in his collar, this being the verbal signal he had been given to let her know that all of his tasks where now completed. With only 90 seconds left until the shooting began all he could do was cast his gaze back to the mink he loved, the sight of her leaning against the storage containers and openly weeping burning itself into his mind. In that very instant nova came to a decision, if his Mistress was going to die he did not want to keep living without her. With his blaster on the other side of the room and the colonel expecting him to start work on the shields there was one and only one option left to him, that it would surely mean his death utterly irrelevant if it gave his Mistress even the slightest chance of survival.

To be concluded..........