FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As with a natural disaster, when weighting for all hell to brake loose there is always that nearly unbearable period of nerve racking calm that, in many ways, is worse then the actual combat itself. This is because you have time to think about everything that could conceivably go wrong, to worry about what you could do differently to avert disaster. But even worse is when the fighting is over, the adrenaline wares off and even though you did all you could someone you care for still loses there life.

They say hindsight is 20/20, but as Kayla sat there in gateway stations medical bay comforting her sobbing chief engineer, the vixen just could not think of anything they could have done differently. Her crew had survived the assault more or less in one piece, but here they sat weighting to see if anything could be done to revive the newest member of there family who had so valiantly sacrificed his life for the mink he loved. Honestly she did not hold out much hope, not after he had been shot nearly half a dozen times at almost point blank range and teleported here without the slightest sign of life remaining in his battered and broken body. Still as the Captain and Dana's friend it was her duty to hold out hope for as long as possible, Kayla drawing a breath to reassure the mink once again when the surgical bay doors opened to admit a numb and drained looking jaguar.

The felines face was soaking wet from both sweat and tears, her head pointed to the floor as if she were afraid to meet there eyes. Nevertheless she could feel every fur in the room staring at her expectantly, weighting for her to either lift the depression that had gripped them all or to deliver the unthinkable news that would shatter the hope barely holding most of them together. For almost 3 full minutes Crystal just stood there, her tail hanging as limp as her ears and her body trembling softly until she finally buried her face in her paws and chocked out in a strangled sob " Captain ... Dana ... I ... I'm so very sorry. I swear we did everything we could, I ... I tried, goddess how I tried."

One hour earlier in the tactical command center onboard The Crimson Claw.

As nova was reconfiguring the power exchanger the Major was hard at work putting the final touches on the computer virus that would soon allow her team to make entry into main engineering. Thanks to the health monitor now giving her full access to the only terminal still connected to the main computer, it had been little more then child's play for the candy apple red vixen to blind the cameras and scanners that could possibly warn the humans of her team's approach. It had even managed to give her the key to figuring out how her adversaries had setup that thrice dammed scattering field, that allowing her and Fire to amend there plan to make use of the teleportors to extract the crew 37 seconds after the assault began. Things where looking better and better all the time, with just a little more luck on there side once the slave was finished this would be over and done with in short order.

With there attentions squarely focused on the tactical terminal neither vulpine noticed when nova went pale and began trembling after looking at the crew, the significance of this event instantly recognized by Kayla, Sasha and Crystal who had been intently tracking his every movement as only predators could. All it took was one look at the murderous and hate filled glares of the crew for them to understand what had just happened, all of them realizing just how much there little blessing must be hurting at that moment. They knew that the utterly traumatized look on his face was not because he was having second thoughts about betraying his own kind or even that he could be caught doing it, no Kayla and her friends knew it was because he feared the crew would never forgive him for his apparent treachery.

Wile she could understand her crews anger and desire to exact revenge on the human who appeared to be betraying them, Kayla also felt disappointed that they had allowed that anger to blind them to what was truly happening. They, as engineers, should know better then anyone that it takes more then an access code and a few seconds of tampering with hardware to gain control of something as well protected as a warship's weapon's systems. If any of them had stopped for just a second and thought it through they would have realized that nova must be getting assistance from someone with a bridge officers clearance, but they had allowed there anger and outrage to blind them to what should be an obvious truth. Still as ashamed for there current actions as she knew they would be once this was over, Kayla also realized just how much harm this could do to there still blossoming relationship with there new ships slave.

Just as the vixen was opening her muzzle to comment Sasha spoke, her tone deep and disapproving as she said " Captain, wile I understand the crews anger, I don't like the looks they are giving our boy. Just look at him, he's petrified and I'm worried that even when this is over it might leave him with a lingering fear of them."

Kayla, now very happy that the Administress had taken her leave fallowing her last tirade, took the white tiger's paw as she whispered " I know commander, I know. As soon as this is over we need to get them all together and explain everything, I have a feeling once they know how he helped save there lives they will find a way to make it up to him."

Just then the human on the screen slapped nova across the face to get his attention, this earning a soft growl from Crystal as he spoke "O thank god! You turned pale and started shaking. What just happened, where'd you go?"

As if confirming what the captain and first officer had just been thinking nova all but whispered " 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."

That ripped at all 3 ladies hearts, mostly because they where the cause of it and even though there had been no other choice it still pained them to know that once again he was hurting as a result of a decision they had made. Yet again Kayla was left to wonder if she was really capable of being a good owner to this human, could she really give him the life she felt he deserved or would every day he spent on her ship only bring the potential for more needless pain and suffering? Thankfully she was not allowed to ponder those disheartening thoughts for long, the vixen completely missing the other humans pledge to protect her slave until her attention was drawn back to the screen by a loud bang and nova shouting " GOT IT, SIR. YOU SHOULD HAVE POWER NOW!"

Hearing that both Fire and The Major's ears shot up tall, neither of them having expected nova to complete the second part of his mission so quickly. "What? Already? Dam if that male doesn't work fast!!" The candy apple red vixen said as she pressed the button on her mobile terminal that would start the 7 minute countdown before they had no choice then to launch the attack or abort and cut power to the weapons array."

"Indeed," Kayla replied as she rose to her feet, " Now it just remains to be seen if stage 3 goes as smoothly." Then she clapped her paws together to get everyone's attention as she momentarily met each of there eyes, the snow white vixen ordering in a commanding tone " Alright, everyone to your stations, we are taking back our ship. Major please join your team, my tactical officer will take charge of the computer end of this operation, I want you there to make sure your troops know exactly what is expected of them." Although she had not explicitly said it, the Major understood Kayla had just reminded her of there arrangement, nova was to be the only human walking out of that room alive. Also by placing the Major in the field it was easier to justify keeping Fire out of harms way, even if he was her new acting head of security she would be dammed if any other males under her command where placed in danger that day. That was often the hard part about allowing males to serve In the armed forces, no matter there rank or the position they held, it was just understood they would never be allowed to endanger themselves.

She then turned to her command staff as she continued " Commander I would like you in teleporter room 1 coordinating the extraction of our crew when the time comes. Doctor, I believe your services would be best utilized in Gateway's Medical facilities to attend to our furs as they arrive."

With sharply trained military discipline all 4 furs snapped to attention as they barked " AYE, CAPTAIN," Then Sasha, Crystal and the major quickly departed leaving Kayla and Fire alone. Once the door was closed Kayla's mask of calm confidence broke, the vixen dropping into a chair as she asked " Be honest with me Fire, what are the chances of our crew coming out of this alive? Please tell me I haven't made a terrible mistake that is going to get them all killed!!"

Fire took a moment to meet the artic vixen's eyes, his expression inscrutable as he simply pointed to the image of nova on the screen moving back to the main terminal in preparation of putting stage 3 into effect. There he sat for several long seconds before drawing a deep breath, the Todd's resolve hardening to crystal clarity as he said " In all honesty Captain, as much as I wish I could tell you otherwise, at this point it all depends on if nova can complete his assignment and get our furs into that containment chamber. Truthfully if you had been able to finish giving him instructions I would feel a whole lot better about his chances. But after what I have seen that human do in the last few days I have faith he will find a way, Faith he will ensure our furs survive and the only casualties will be the ones threatening his new family." In that instant the Todd's mind was drawn back to that moment just a few days ago when nova, beaten, broken and barely clinging to life used the last of his strength to entrust a bloody and crushed data pad to him. Yes, in that instant Fire knew without a doubt that, if anyone could find a way to do the impossible, it would be this slave.

Kayla now much reassured by her tactical officer's faith could not help but smile, her ears standing tall and proud as she whispered "you are absolutely right Fire, that human truly is our little blessing."

A short lift ride later

The Candy apple red vixen stepped off the lift just outside main engineering, her Elite Anti-Terrorism unit, Smash in her red TAAC and six of the claw's security furs all gathered there weighting for her. Given the impending violent altercation it was little surprise that they had all abandoned there standard duty uniforms in favor of class 2 body armor, the attached multi environmental helmets giving them the appearance of demonic living shadows with translucent crimson eyes.

Currently powered down to save energy, the thin light weight semi-metallic material was designed to stop physical attacks up to a hardened knife blade. But once activated it would become 3 times stronger then steel and capable of deflecting not only lethal levels of energy weapon fire, but high caliber projectiles as well. Of course her troops where also equipped with standard combat rated force field belts that would make them all but invincible for the few minutes it would take to put the humans down, in all a very effective combination of technologies that where chiefly responsible for her never having lost a member of her team.

Speaking of force field belts that is exactly what a quite tall and well built lioness with a flaming red main (the Major's second in command) gave her as she arrived. Along with a set of twin custom blasters given to her by the Star Martial they served as the vixen's good luck piece, something she would never even think about going into battle without. After taking a second to strap them on and clip the leg guards into her knife sheaths she looked up to assess what she had to work with, both the team she had trained with for years, as well as the ship's own security force. As distasteful as she found working with new furs on short notice the captain had insisted on splitting her team up and mixing in an equal number of claw security furs, the pretext being that it would allow them to maximize distribution of there forces as well as provide each group with it's own TAAC.

Of course the truth was that neither vixen fully trusted the other's furs, Kayla taking advantage of her grater rank to make sure her crew would be protected as the Major's team did what needed to be done. Wile some elite soldiers might find it insulting to be forced to work with less trained, less skilled furs the major decided not to focus on how much of a hindrance there "HELP" would be, instead concentrating on the fact that they would serve to improve her home field advantage. Yes, with them knowing every nut and bolt on this ship with the familiarity that only someone who called it home could have, she could rely on them to provide her with the tactical support that could make the difference between victory and death.

Hoping to impress upon them that life and death where exactly the stakes they where dealing with she took the time to lock eyes with each of them just as the captain had with her, the candy apple red vixen's tone deep, hard and unforgiving as she said "Eyes and ears ladies, we are now at T minus 6 and counting. Lock and load, we are about to send the daughter of darkness some new souls to show the wickedness of there ways."

That earned a round of enthusiastic cheers from the assembled furs as they moved into formation around the still sealed doors of main engineering, a pair of bears from the major's team preparing to use a set of magnetic pry clamps to force the hatch open as soon as the red force fields where disabled. As they did the vixen reached up and tapped her com badge, her voice still very hard and commanding as she said " Nightwind to team's 2 & 3, report your status, go, no go!!"

In less then a heart beat Bash in her blue Taac answered for her team, the midnight wolfess still panting from the exhausting climb through the ship's service crawl ways in her armored battle suit " Team 2, in position and standing by. Be advised it appears the humans have welded the cat walk hatch way closed with there energy weapons, we are setting charges now."

As soon as the Major acknowledged Bash's transmission Crash in her green Taac reported in, her panting voice showing she was just as exhausted by the climb as she said " Team 3 ... same here. I had to send a Fur back for a more powerful charge, but she is setting it now and we should be good to go in less then 90 seconds."

Perfect the vixen thought to herself, the shaped charges would serve as an added distraction wile she and team one breached the main entrance. Hopefully any humans not killed by the blast would then focus on her team and never see the others coming, not until both team's cross fire started cutting them to pieces. Either way things where only getting better and better, the candy apple red vixen's muzzle parting in a dark grin as she said " Very well, all teams set your weapons to kill, the use of lethal force is now authorized. You all have your priority targets, as soon as these doors are open I want everything in that room without fur neutralized."

No sooner had she said that then Smash turned to glower down at her, the timber of the wolfess's growl slightly distorted by her Taac's external speaker as she said " MAJOR!! I think you are forgetting something, aren't you? Our ship's slave just happens to be human." Like a mother towering disapprovingly over her disobedient child Smash starred the red vixen down, the energy claw's of her battle suit charging up in response to her real one's reflexively unsheathing as she added " I swear by the daughter of judgment I will sharpen my claw's on anyone who makes the mistake of harming that young male, regardless of what rank they hold or whose command they're under!!! "

While some commanding officers would find such threats and insubordinate behavior a challenge to there authority (not to mention a court martial offence,) the major found herself impressed at the fierceness with witch this crew came to there slave's defense, it leaving her to wonder once again what he could have possibly done to earn such unwavering loyalty. With any luck there would be time enough to get answers to her ever building list of questions once this was over, but for now there where more pressing matters at paw. So in order to placate this armored wolfess the major lifted one paw in a gesture of surrender as she replied " O yes, of course, I nearly forgot."

Then with her com still active the major raised her voice so that everyone could hear as she added " Did you hear that teams 2 & 3? There will be a human slave dressed in all pink within the combat zone who is designated a friendly. His tracking signal should have already been uploaded to your tactical HUD's, he is not, repeat not to be targeted under any circumstances, refer to your Taac pilots for more detailed information."

Crash and Bash simply replied "CONFIRMED" before they disconnected, this seaming to be what Smash was weighting for as she then turned and joined the other fur's in a wide arc around the still sealed door's of main engineering. She then started describing there slave in detail to the rest of the major's team as the candy apple red vixen checked in with teams 4 and 5 preparing for the tech end of this operation, both confirming they had finished ages ago and where weighting for the command to begin.

Back in the Tactical command center

After fire had finished locking in the amended computer virus that would serve as the catalyst in there effort to retake the ship, he and Kayla watched in silent anticipation while nova made his request to the human colonel in hopes the man might consent to locking the crew away. Needless to say both vulpines where quite shocked when nova referred to the crew as animals during his plea, the use of such a disrespectful hate term the very last thing they would have expected from there sweet slave. But then again given the fact that they had not been able to tell him what to say before his instructions had been cut short, they could understand that he likely felt the use of such a vile hate term was necessary in order to convince the human in charge. So there they sat holding there breath, there ears tilted forward on the edge of there seats for the few interminable seconds it took the man to make his decision, a simultaneous curse coming to both there lips when he summarily rejected nova's request.

Just as it looked like their hopes of ending this day without the loss of Anthro life had been dashed a ray of hope appeared, the human in Dana's uniform taking that opportunity to speak up in support of nova's idea. Surprised by this turn of events they could only watch as the human leader reconsidered his decision, then against all military logic changed his mind and granted the boy's request.

As nova then showed the man in Dana's uniform the containment chamber Fire cast his gaze to the clock, with less then 4 minutes remaining it looked as if the goddess had decided to finally shine her blessings on them this day. Of Course with their deities often twisted sense of humor they should have known that such miracles rarely come without a price, the cost of their friends lives quickly revealing itself when the human leader announced that Dana was to be left out in the open.

As bitter sweet as this victory now felt Fire knew that the teams in the field would need to know about this development, the Todd reaching out to press a small green button on the tactical terminal which routed the surveillance feed to there HUDS. From the Major's team just out side main engineering, to team 5 stationed in the bowels of the ship, the right eye piece of each multi environmental helmet suddenly changed to display what was happening within the target zone. This meant that each and everyone of them saw as the captives filed one by one into the containment chamber, there helmets built in target acquisition system tagging every warm body in the room with a friend or foe marker. Blue for Anthros ( friends ), Red for humans ( Foes ) and green for non-combatants, the tracking signal from nova's collar masking his life signs in order to set him apart from the rest of his kind.

With precious little time remaining Kayla turned to Fire, her voice quavering with quickly building dread that matched her grim expression as she asked "Is there anything more we can do? Surely there must be someway we can protect just the 2 of them?" Wile the vixen had been counting on the other humans not to turn on nova right away, or for him to be able to take cover when the shooting started, she knew without a doubt that any crew left out in the open when the assault began would instantly fall casualty to the human's final defiance.

This is why Kayla in a very uncharacteristic moment of weakness hesitated, her finger hovering just above the flashing attack button on the tactical terminal. As a ship captain in a time of war it was almost a given that the day would come when she would be required to order one of her crew to there death, but even knowing that she just could not bring herself to extinguish this light and with it the lives of those so dear to her. Just as her eyes started to drift over to the abort switch her still hovering paw was caringly encircled by Fire's, this drawing her gaze up to meet his as he said " Captain I know what you are thinking, but I cant let you do this alone. I care for the grease monkey and her boy just as much as you do, Please allow me to share this burden. "

O how the vixen could have laughed at that, here he believed she was an iron warrior ready to unleash the fury of the dark pit on her enemies, when in truth she had been mere moments from calling the whole operation off. Now with her paw held supportively in this males and the look of absolute confidence on his face she found that she just could not back down, the goddess had spoken, there plan had been sealed with a miracle, now was the time to bring this standoff to it's end.

" Together," Kayla said in nearly a whisper, " We can only prey the fight ends quickly." Then as one there fingers descended on the switch that started the final 90 second countdown.

Back outside main engineering

"It looks like the Chief and her slave will be the only ones left out in the open, quickly we need a way to shield them." Smash said to her 2 partners on a private channel she had opened just between there 3 Taacs.

"I don't think that's possible my love, even if your team charges the room you'll never reach them in time." Bash replied, her mind racing in frantic desperation for a solution.

Crash not being the most technically minded of the group had simply opened her weapons inventory in hopes a solution could be found there. For a moment she even considered shooting them herself on high stun, Maybe, just maybe seeing the pair apparently killed by friendly fire would cause the humans to ignore them for the remainder of the attack. Of course that fleeting idea was disregarded as quickly as it came to her, not only was it highly problematic, but with there new ship's slave still recovering from the beating he took a few days ago she had no idea if a beam powerful enough to stun a fur would kill him or not.

Just as she reached the end of her non-lethal inventory she stopped cold, the final item jumping out at her as if she had been given a second miracle that day. " Smash, please tell me you are equipped with restraint spheres!! I didn't think to load any, but if you launch 2 or 3 at the chief and her slave their over lapping fields should be just strong enough to protect them both for several seconds, at least long enough for you to charge the room and extend your Taac's shield around them."

The restraint sphere, like many of the weapons used by the Anthro civilian peacekeeping forces, was a non-lethal device designed to safely contain a target without doing any permanent harm. This device in particular could be fired at a hostel subject and, when it sensed proximity to a warm body, would incase said target in a force field that neutralized all gravity and friction with in. This of course meant that anyone inside the field would be totally immobilized and unable to harm themselves or others, until reinforcements arrived to deal with them. Wile this would not be a weapon typically carried by soldiers in a time of war it could often be found aboard most star ships for dealing with the occasional crew member who succumb to the stress and long term isolation that came paw in paw with extended space travel. Given the fact that the claw's tactical team also pulled double duty as the ship's security force a large majority of the time, it only made sense that these devices would come as standard equipment on at least one of there Taacs.

"O I knew there was a reason I loved you De' liela, you're a genius." Smash answered, the wolfess already pulling up her weapon control interface in order to chamber the spheres into her launcher. Then as she started calculating the distance to the chief and her slave she added " inform your teams about this change in plans, I'll fire the second these doors are opened."

O how the midnight wolfess wished she could also toss in a couple of flash grenades to disorient her opponents before the shooting started, but as 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. With all the sensitive equipment in the room they had already been forced to abandon the more powerful weapons at there disposal, each of the Taac's high powered gatling canons replaced by powerful unidirectional force field generators. Not only that, but the rest of there teams would have to be very careful about where there shots landed, even with the FTL core's safety field reactivated, one badly placed energy bolt could spell disaster. Still the Mistress's of mayhem had faith in there teams, there smaller weapons being just as good at removing flesh and fur from bone, not to mention the number of hours each had been required to spend in the target range perfecting her marksmanship.

" Confirmed, " Bash and Crash said just as the HUD's in there Taac's Flashed red and the final 90 second count down began.

Inside Main engineering.

There nova stood looking back and forth between his silently crying Mistress and the men gathered around main engineering's control terminal, the boy's own mental clock telling him that he had less then a minute left before all hell broke loose. Thankfully most of the humans had turned there attention to there colonel who was nearly finished locking in the final firing solution that would free them from the stations docking clamps, it allowing him time to think of what he could do to protect the mink he loved. For just a moment he considered charging the group as a distraction, but given the fact that they where a highly trained black ops team and he had never even been in a fight, the distraction would be short lived before they put him down permanently. Goddess how he now wished the captain had not ordered him to " Accidentally " leave his blaster on top of the terminal's control panel, even if he had never before used a weapon, with so many of them gathered in one spot surely he would be able to stun 4 or 5 of them before they returned fire and ended his life. With tears now welling up in his eyes the boy turned back to his Mistress for perhaps the last time and forced down a sob, think, he had to think.

There she sat on her knees, the image of the mink's tail curled protectively around herself, leaning against one of the heavy storage crates as she silently cried her heart out burning itself indelibly into his mind. In that instant he knew that if his owner was going to die he simply did not want to keep living without her, nova prepared to do whatever it took to protect her. Perhaps it was his desperation or divine inspiration, but in a momentary flash of clarity the slave found his attention drawn irresistibly to the two crates currently supporting his Mistress. Wile they had been neatly stacked one on top of the other in the hazmat containment chamber, the male bunny had randomly dropped the twin cases of plasma injectors at roughly a 70 degree angle to each other. That was it, the answer he needed, that it would surely mean his own death utterly irrelevant if it gave the lady he loved even the slightest chance of survival.

With mere seconds remaining until the attack was due to begin nova cast a quick glance to the other humans, the slave deciding it was safe to make his move with all of there attentions squarely focused on the terminal. Quickly he dropped to his knees right beside the mink and used one hand to gently lift her muzzle until there eyes met, the sheer look of sadness in her deep brown orbs causing him pain beyond description. As much as he wanted to just curl his arms comfortingly around her and explain everything there was just no time, nova spurred into action by the colonel yelling " just 15 more seconds men, then we're out of here."

Unable to speak wile looking at his owner's tear stained face, nova instead brought his mouth to her ear, his voice dropping to a tone so soft no human could have heard it as he whispered " O my Mistress, I can only guess how much you must hate me right now, but just know that no matter what happens I won't allow any harm to come to you."

This it seems was enough to get a reaction out of her, Dana pulling her head back and fixing him with an infuriated stair as if to say "HOW DARE YOU PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT ME NOW, YOU BACK STABING BASTARD."

Seeing this and knowing that their was literally no time left nova reached out and took a firm grip around the minks shoulders, pulling her back to him as he added " Please Mistress, help is about to burst through that door, guns blazing, at any second. The others are safe and there is only one way left for me to protect you, I only pray in time you will find it in your heart to forgive me. I will wait for the day we meet again in a better place, farewell my love, my heart, my soul, goodbye my Mistress."

Then in one last show of his love nova pressed a kiss to his owners lips, one that lasted for the briefest of seconds, but long enough for everything to come together in Dana's mind. Even with her access code there was no way he could have overridden the weapon's system lockouts so easily, not only that, but he had also just managed to have her staff locked in a room capable of keeping them alive even if main engineering was flooded with highly radioactive drive plasma. O what a fool she had been, she had allowed herself to lose faith in the male she loved, even after he had already proven himself through blood and pain, she had believed the worst about him when she should have known better.

As their lips separated and Dana met her slave's eye's for the last time the full impact of his words sank in, not only had he just vowed to protect her, but he had also given what sounded like a final goodbye. Dear goddess he intended to sacrifice himself for her, no, she couldn't allow him to do that. Not only was it a females roll in Anthro society to protect her male at all costs, as his owner it was her responsibility to make sure he survived even if she did not. Franticly her ears started to flick in the Anthro equivalent of a head shake as an alarm blared somewhere off in the distance, Dana wishing desperately she could brake the tape binding her muzzle so she could order him to stop. Unfortunately her efforts to dissuade him proved utterly useless, for less then two seconds after the kiss ended nova took a tight grip on both the mink's shoulders and forced her down hard to the deck. Doubled over with her knees pressed to her breasts and nova now laying on top of her there was nothing more Dana could do, an ear shattering series of explosions moments later hurling her once again into unconsciousness.

Moments earlier on the other side of Main Engineering.

The blasters had been less then a second from fire ready when without warning the ship's FTL core entered emergency shutdown, this not only stealing away there source of power, but also disabling the scattering field that had protected the humans thus far. Seeing his ultimate victory stolen away at the last moment the colonel cursed as his fist slammed into the control panel, his face distorted in an expression of unfettered rage at the sheer injustice of this turn of fate. Of course with his military discipline the mans rage was quickly pushed to the back of his mind, the Colonel knowing that unless he could get the power back on in less then 40 seconds he and his men would be vulnerable to the animals teleporters. With lightening speed the colonel's fingers flew across the control panel attempting to restart the core, this proving to be impossible when he discovered the laser fusion initiator had been completely de-polarized.

"WHAT THE HELL!!!" he shouted at seeing that, wile he was no expert in Anthro technology, he knew enough about FTL drives in general to know that it would take a massive power serge to damage such a critically important engine component. What ever had happened their would be time to figure it out later, the most important thing at the moment was to get the scattering field back up before he and his men found themselves back in chains, or worse.

Just as the colonel was considering cross connecting the ships HD cells to regain the power he needed the main terminal then flashed an intruder alert screen, the FTL cores safety field instantly reactivating as the three transparent metal cylinders around the cells descended and locked back into place. This could only mean one thing, it vocalized by the man in Dana's uniform cursing " FUCK, we've been hacked!! But how, we cut all the connections to the main computer?"

" How the HELL should I know?" the colonel snapped back, "Where the fuck is that boy, I need to regain control of this terminal or where all as good as dead!!"

In response to the colonel's question everyone, including him, turned just in time to see nova on his knees kissing the lone animal chosen to remain as there human shield. Like a bolt of lightening it came to all of them exactly what was happening, somehow that traitorous little bastard had restored the animal's access to the main computer. Infuriated by the sight of this and the knowledge that he had been so easily deceived the colonel snatched up the closest weapon at hand, the one nova had " Accidentally " left on top of the control panel, and leveled it at the pair with murderous intent. Driven by rage beyond description and with his vision clouded in a red haze the man never even stopped for a second to consider the boy's blaster might have been left behind for a reason. This laps in judgment would prove to be a fatal one, for the second he pulled the weapon's trigger, it's already primed power cell over loaded and detonated in his hand. Needless to say the explosion removed the man's arm up to the elbow as he was sent flying into the terminal, his body becoming imbedded in the screen as the shockwave similarly sundered the humans unfortunate enough to be closest to there leader. Distracted by the sudden violent death of 4 of there comrades the rest of the humans failed to notice the force fields protecting the doors power down, the first sign they where no longer in place coming as both upper catwalk hatchways where breached by simultaneous deafening explosions.

Just outside Main Engineering

Major Nightwind's tongue ran nervously over the back of her teeth in anticipation of the coming battle, the vixen's twin custom blasters clutched tightly in her paws as she relentlessly stalked her pray on the feed from Main Engineering. As the seconds ticked down her fingers lovingly caressed the triggers of her weapons, predator instincts at there peek, adrenalin and emotions perching the vixen on a perilous knife edge somewhere between fear and sexual excitement. Nevertheless her highly trained military mind was hard at work calculating attack strategies, witch humans would need to be eliminated first, witch where the most likely to take cover and most importantly, who if anyone was most probable to make a run at the hostages when it became evident that all was lost. Then as fate would have it, no sooner had she selected the first human to fell, the final 90 second countdown flashed on her HUD. This was it, the signal she had been eagerly weighting for. Without a moments hesitation her thumb claws pressed the small red buttons on the back of her blasters, this custom option building up a charge so powerful it fell just short of burning out the weapon's lensing crystals.

Now wile the major was not one for inspirational speeches, in this case she felt that with the immanent loss of life, her troops deserved something to help them focus on the task ahead. Fortunately she was spared the task of having to come up with something eloquent on the fly, Smash instead breaking into the tactical channel with a commandingly barked " EYES AND EARS LADIES, CHANGE IN PLANS. The Chief and her slave are still In the target zone, so as soon as we breach this door I'm gunna hit them both with a set of restraint spheres. That won't protect them for long, so the new priority is to charge the room and extend your personal force fields around them. Mark there position as rally point alpha and set your shields for phalanx protocol."

Wile not overly thrilled Smash had gone over her head the Major had to agree that the wolf's strategy was sound, it being the only reason she allowed such an appalling laps in military protocol to pass unchallenged, that and the fact only seconds remained before the attack began. In those last few seconds the candy apple red vixen was shocked to hear nova's farewell to his Mistress, this heart felt act of devotion enough to finally get it through her head why the crew cared so much for this unusual human. Just as had happened with Dana several days ago, in that moment nova earned an upgrade from human to male in the vixen's eyes, it accompanied by a deeply ingrained protective instinct that all Anthro females had carried for countless generations. Empowered by this realization the Major was instantly thrown into a blind rage at the sight of the human colonel drawing a weapon on the pair, her anger only compounded when the terminal's destruction ended the surveillance feed from main engineering. Moments later the lethal red force field sealing the entrance dissolved and cleared there path, the Major's muzzle parting in a savage snarl as she shouted " ALL TEAMS, GO, GO, GO!!!!" As if it where nothing more then a carefully choreograph dance they had performed a thousand times before, all 5 teams spread across the ship instantly sprung into action.

Above and below Main Engineering

Team 4 having perhaps the simplest task of this operation pulled the emergency vents on both engine pods a heart beat after the FTL core shut down, this draining away it's deadly radioactive plasma into storage containers that had been purposefully positioned precisely along the ship's engine pods. Simultaneously in the bowels of the ship Team 5 put there newly altered plumbing into effect, 2 of them taking hold of a large valve and yanking with all there might. This released a massive burst of compressed air up the pipes with an intolerably loud roar, it fallowed a second later by the sound of liquid being forcibly drained into the second of 3 cylinders they had installed. With the pin point timing of there tasks completed all the engineers then returned there attention to the tactical channel, each whispering a silent prayer to the goddess as the first explosions rang out.

Speaking of explosions that would be teams 2 & 3 making entry, there Taac's unidirectional force field generators protecting them from the shockwave as their shaped charges reduced the upper catwalk hatches into little more then flying shrapnel. Thankfully the FTL core's safety field protected it from the mangled chunks of red hot metal, if not the residual radiation would have surely been released as the core was shredded like Swiss cheese. Unfortunately for them, the 4 humans on the catwalk didn't fair so well, the 2 closest to the explosions killed instantly, the other 2 faring only slightly better.

Already in a state of disarray by the loss of there leader, the remaining humans turned and began firing wildly at the destroyed hatches, all of them assuming that the animals would come flooding through at any second. Fortunately this was exactly what the major had expected, for as soon as they turned from the door, she and her team made there move. A set of bears, one black, the other white, both slapped a set of magnetic clamps on either side of the doors, both pulling with adrenalin fueled strength as the devices magnetic field's repulsed one another to quickly pry the heavily reinforced bulk heads apart.

Not willing to weight any longer then absolutely necessary, Smash lifted her arm and fired a burst of 3 restraint sphere's the second a big enough gap opened, each launched at a slightly different angle in hopes they would all hit simultaneously. Regrettably one of the humans who had narrowly survived the first explosion chose just that moment to regain consciousness, his head turned toward the door allowing him to see the 3 bright silver orbs flying in his direction. Of course not being familiar with Anthro tech he immediately assumed the worst, his blaster still clutched in his hand as he screamed " GRENADES!!!"

As they had been trained half the humans continued firing at the catwalk as the rest turned back to the door, 2 of them trying desperately to shoot down the spheres as the rest concentrated there fire through the ever expanding gap. First one and then two spheres where blown apart as they where hit, the third taking a grazing shot but enough to alter it's trajectory so that it fell well short of it's intended targets and then bounced over them. Ironically when the orb did come to rest it was against the chest of the man in Dana's uniform, it's translucent green force field instantly springing to life all around him. Tragically wile the spheres meant to protect the chief and her slave ended up instead protecting a human, tracking them had also caused the others line of sight to fall on nova who was trying desperately to shield his Mistress. Given everything that had transpired in the last few moments it was understandable that the boy's treachery had been pushed out of there minds in favor of more immediate threats. But now, seeing him still actively aiding there enemy, was absolutely the last straw.

" KILL THAT SON OF A BITCH," one of the humans screamed just as the first wave of return blaster fire cut him down, two others responding as one to end the life of there betrayer.

To team one's horror, as soon as the door had been forced open just enough for the first of them to slip through, there worst fear of this whole operation was realized. Two humans, one on the cat walk and another on the ground, started shooting at Dana and her slave. In that instant time seamed to slow as the Major saw nova's small furless body take 3 direct impacts, then twice more as a pair of beams stitched an unforgiving path of death across the top of the crates they where using for cover, the slaves back and the tip of Dana's exposed tail. With smoke rising off the tip of the mink's scorched tail and her slaves charred back, the Major as first through the door, lifted both her supercharged blasters and fired into the chest of the human who had been shooting from ground level. Now wile this did of course permanently remove the human as a threat, it was not a quick and neat death like you would expect from watching most science fiction movies or tv shows. He didn't simply fall over dead as the twin energy pulses entered his body, nor did he have just a neat little hole burned into his clothes. No, because the Major had cranked up the power on her blasters in anticipation of having to shoot through obstacles, the human's chest exploded in a spray of blood and gore that literally coated everyone and everything around him.

As an unintended consequence of this no one noticed as a massive burst of compressed air was injected into the 3 HD cells surrounding the FTL core, this not only draining away the fluid, but also nullifying the humans last option for destroying the ship. Also just to make doubly sure the improvised explosive devices attached to the HD cells would be rendered completely harmless, a second burst of gas was sent into the now empty cells, liquid nitrogen this time to freeze them and the bombs solid.

At this point any semblance of a plan broke down as the Major's team charged the room and began mowing down the blood soaked humans, team's 2 and 3 dealing with the remaining pair on the catwalk by catching them both in an inescapable cross fire. Wile this was happening a Teleporter field appeared around Dana and her slave, the extraction had begun and hopefully there was something that could be done for them aboard Gateway. But as the seconds ticked by and they did not fade from sight it dawned on the Major that something was wrong, a Teleport normally only took 5.35 seconds to complete and this one had been going on for well over that. That is when her vision drifted to the mission clock displayed on the bottom right of her HUD, it showing her that only 24 seconds had passed since the scatter field was been disabled. DEAR GODDESS NO, somefur had jumped the gun.

Momentarily distracted by this realization the Major did not see as the last human decided to make a suicide run at her, the man setting one of his blasters to over load and tossing it at the TAAC like a grenade as he ran at the candy apple red vixen firing continuously. No sooner had she lifted her blasters to fire back then the small explosion did the work of killing the man for her, it powerful enough to knock most of team one off there feet and send several chunks of shrapnel flying back at him. Unfortunately with his hand locked in a death grip around the weapon it did not stop discharging as he fell, it's beam scorching a line into the deck, up the wall and across the main power exchanger before finally running out of power. With all available energy having been diverted to reestablish the FTL core's safety field none had been left to protect the exchanger, this proving to be a fatal flaw in the plan as this last act of defiance from the humans resulted in it's destruction.

Before anyone could even think about reacting blinding blue bolts of plasma energy shot out from the remains of the exchanger, these baby lightening bolts scorching everything in proximity. Thankfully this was only the remaining power that had been buffered in the ship's weapons array, the capacitors only lasting a few seconds, but more then enough to push everyfur's force field belt to there absolute maximum limits. When the lightening did stop nearly every human body had been thoroughly cooked, burned and scorched beyond recognition, most of main engineering not having fared much better.

The Major, still alive but dazed, just laid on the deck breathing to regain her equilibrium, the vixen about to move when belatedly her HUD flashed a warning that the extraction mark had been reached. She turned her head just in time to see the Teleporter field around the Chief and her slave shut down, then a moment later the mink was spirited away, her slave, still and motionless as a rag doll, left behind. For a moment she could not comprehend why he would not have been extracted with the rest of the crew, then it dawned on her, the Teleporter needed life signs to lock on to. If ... If he was still here, That .. that meant she had failed ... a life .. a precious male life ... had been lost. In that instant the tactical channel was filled with a collective howl of anguish, a heart crushing sound fueled by ancient instinct and inconceivable loss, then all was silent.

In the Tactical Command Center

The Captain and Fire had watched intently as the seconds ticked down until the attack began, there paws still interlaced and eyes glued to the screen as nova whispered his final goodbye to his Mistress. Given how males where encouraged to express there emotions in Anthro society it came as little surprise that this heart rending moment brought a tear to the Todd's eyes, but even Kayla, (The tuff and scary captain) found herself fighting not to do the same. Then just as there thoughts started to turn to how badly this could end, they saw the humans turn to look at Dana and her slave. Then as the human leader grabbed a random weapon and pointed it at the pair Fire's free paw lashed out like a snake and stabbed the flashing detonation key on the tactical terminal, this relaying a signal through nova's collar to his already primed blaster.

Momentarily elated at having protected the pair and ending the enemy leader's life, there exuberance was quickly replaced by anger and frustration as the remains of his corpse smashed through the terminal ending the surveillance feed for Main Engineering. In hindsight Fire would always kick himself for not having thought to switch the screen over to the view from Smashes Taac after that, but as the subsequent explosions began to ring out, he and the Captain could only sit there helplessly lessoning to the Tactical channel. Before they new it, the feed from nova's collar was interrupted by a teleporter field incasing him, the collar automatically suspending all functions and switching to it's battery backup until the translocation was complete. This was unfortunately a side effect of running HD fluid through a teleporter, if was not deactivated exposure to the matter stream was known to cause some very nasty, if not deadly, side effects. But when the audio from his collar did not resume after a few seconds both there eyes drifted to the mission clock, there fears realized as it told them not enough time had passed.

How anyfur had managed to get a lock on them through the remains of the still dissipating scatter field was a question that could be answered later, right now whoever was doing this had to be stopped before Dana and her slave where resigned to Teleporter oblivion. As if sensing his Captain's thoughts Fire had just started to reach for his com badge to order the teleporter units to stand down when suddenly the signal from nova's collar resumed, a momentary silence after that shattered by the sound of another teleporter beam activating and a howl of anguish everyfur dreaded hearing. The fact that this howl was coming from both the tactical channel as well as Kayla's own com badge was more then enough to tell them that nova had been left behind, something that would only have been done if the Teleporter teams did not have life signs to lock on to.

Dreading confirmation of this Kayla's eyes drifted ever so slowly over to the tactical terminal, it indeed showing nova's tracking signal still coming from main engineering, while the rest of her crew had been safely extracted to gateway. Now the tuff as nails captain broke down, a sob coming to her lips as she realized the young male she had opened her heart to had been lost. Fire instantly responded to this and curled his arms around her, the Todd trying his very best to be supportive as he whispered " it's ok, I feel the loss as well Kayla. I had hoped my daughter would grow up with that human in her life, I honestly couldn't think of a better big brother for her. At least we can take comfort in the fact his sacrifice had meaning, just look at the terminal, Dana is alive and well. I think in the end that is all that really mattered to him and now his soul can return to the goddess in peace."

As grateful as she was to have the support of an understanding friend in that moment, there was really nothing anyfur could do or say to relieve the feelings of guilt crushing the vixen's heart. She had failed this day on so many levels, failed to safe guard her crew, her ship and the young male who had entrusted his very life to her. How could she have ever believed she was capable of caring for and protecting a slave, even if it was in title alone, she was that boys owner and she had practically ordered him to his death. Even if she where stripped of her command and tossed into a dark collar for the rest of her life it would never be enough, how could she ever face her friends and loved ones again with that innocent young male's blood staining her soul. " The only reason that sweet boy lost his life is because I failed him, Fire. Not only him, but I failed all of you, what ever possessed me to believe I was fit to own a slave, I'm not even fit to command this ship..........."

((( SMACK )))

Shocked more then hurt by the hard slap across her muzzle Kayla just looked up at the now standing Fire, his lips pulled back to bear his teeth as he growled " NO ONE SPEAKS THAT WAY ABOUT MY CAPTAIN, NOT EVEN YOU, YOU HEAR ME? " Then a little more softly he added " I won't stand for you denigrating or berating yourself Kayla. Not only are you fit to command this ship, but you are the best officer it has been my privilege to serve with. There is no way you could have known any of this was going to happen. As for nova, you did not order him to his death, you simply chose the best option available to you, as any female in your position would have done. It was just the will of the goddess that things turned out this way, his death was noble and honorable, so don't you dare go muddying it with your self doubt, YOUR SLAVE deserves better."

Perhaps it was because she just needed that kick in the tail to get her going again, but instead of feeling angered by this male challenging her, instead she felt very comforted and reenergized. Yes, she was the CAPTAIN and her crew still needed her. Drawing on this new inner strength Kayla had just opened her muzzle to respond to Fire's not so gentle persuasion, when her com badge emitted another standby/disconnect tone, it immediately fallowed by someone on the Tactical channel shouting " Major, Major LOOK, Somefur just teleported that human out!!!"

A few seconds later, 5.35 seconds to be precise, nova's com signal resumed, the first voice heard being that of an unknown female as she shouted "DOCTOR THERE'S ANOTHER ONE, BUT, IT'S A HUMAN!!!!"

Less then a heart beat later a very familiar voice responded, Crystal this time, with a horrified gasp " DEAR GODDESS NO, NOVA..................... Get that male on the table NOW, everyone else is stable enough to wait." Then just as Kayla's paw had reached her own com badge to un-mute the connection so that she could demand to know what was happening, her and Fire's ear's where both assaulted with the most terrible of sounds, a blood curdling scream of horror, loss and grief. Both of them knew there was only one fur such a heart rending sound could be coming from, Dana.

" Crystal? .......... Crystal what's happening? ......... Is he alive? ......... By the Dark pit answer me!!" Kayla demanded as she shouted into her com badge, the lack of response only serving to turn her trepidation into righteous anger.

"She can't hear you Captain, medical facility protocol remember? All transmissions are jammed to avoid interfering with medical equipment, I don't even know how his collar is still transmitting." Fire gently reminded, the Todd having returned to his normally subservient manner now that anger was no longer called for.

"Someone sedate that mink before she has a stroke. Nurse get me a cardiac stimulator, we have to get his heart beating again before there is irreversible brain damage. Melinda check his spine, use the scans we took the other day as a reference." Crystal shouted once again through the com, her tone one of more desperation then anger, a fact that didn't bode well given how normally confident and in control there fair doctor always was.

"I'm going to gateway, you have the ship, Fire." Kayla stated in a commanding tone that would broach no argument, then she turned and bolted out the door as fast as her legs could carry her. Hope, there was still hope.

Aboard Gateway station

All paws had been called in to deal with the claw's crew as they arrived, along with the assistance of Crystal, Melinda and 2 other medical crews on loan from star ships currently docked with the station, they where certainly not lacking able bodies to deal with the injured furs. In fact this had allowed them to devote an entire trauma team to Mic as the worst injured, all the others getting several doctor's and nurses to attend to them until nova's arrival. Wile all of the others injuries had placed them in more or less the walking wounded category no chances where being taken, each receiving full body scans to check for internal injuries as well as generous amounts of pain suppressants to make them as comfortable as possible. With all this activity it took the group at large a moment to notice the tell tail sound of a teleporter beam arriving, that changing in a flash as one of the nurses yelled "DOCTOR THERE'S ANOTHER ONE, BUT, IT'S A HUMAN!!!!"

Unsure if this was one of the escaped slaves that had survived the fight, or one that belonged to a member of the crew, it was understandable that none of the medical staff made a move toward him, each hesitant to place her own life at risk helping someone who might turn around and kill her if given the chance. That moment of indecision was quickly brought to a screeching halt as Crystal looked up from working on the male bunnies ears, her muzzle braking into an expression of sheer horror as she screamed "DEAR GODDESS NO, NOVA!!!" Then as she dropped the dermal regenerator she had been holding and bolted over to him with her trusty sally in paw the others where spurred into action, just the sight of the elder jaguar charging across the room enough to tell them all this little male was no threat. In fact the feline's order to get him on the operating table was nearly redundant by the time she gave it, four of them already having taken hold of his arms and legs while 2 others where elevating and preparing the table for working on someone little bigger then an average Anthro adolescent.

No sooner had they placed the limp and motionless human stomach down on the table to better assess his injuries, then there ears where forced flat to all there skulls by a terrified and grief stricken scream, the still disoriented Dana having just taken notice that her slave had arrived. For a moment the mink could only sit there on one of the examination beds staring at her love, the sight and scent of scorched flesh and crisscrossing blaster burns all down his back and legs robbing her of all the fantasies she had dreamed for there future together, just as they had stolen away his life. Then as Crystal began passing her trusty Sally over the boys mangled flesh Dana leaped off the bed with unnatural strength and speed, the mink making it half way across the room before she was intercepted and restrained by 3 nurses, the smaller bunnies trying desperately to prevent her from interfering with the doctors as they began what already seamed to be the impossible task of reviving him.

Out of the corner of her eye Crystal saw as Dana slammed her fist into one of the nurses jaw in an attempt to brake free, the jaguar simply unable to stop and deal with this hysterical mink as sally started showing her just how much damage had been done. Not only wasn't nova breathing, but all of his vital organs had started shutting down. Add to that the fact 2 of the energy bolts had penetrated deep into his spine and a third had completely destroyed his left lung, even if she could get his body functioning again it would be days, maybe even weeks before the young male could survive without life support. Thankfully there was one spot of good news, his heart seamed to be in fairly good condition and his brain had been more or less untouched, there was just nothing left to connect them. " Priorities girl, priorities, " Crystal told herself. "First get his heart and the remaining lung functional to prevent brain damage, then work from there."

Out loud this time the feline shouted " Someone sedate that mink before she has a stroke. Nurse get me a cardiac stimulator, we have to get his heart beating again before there is irreversible brain damage. Melinda check his spine, use the scans we took the other day as a reference." Like a general commanding her troops the jaguar took charge, every fur instantly falling in line and performing there assigned tasks, even other doctor's who actually outranked her. As a famous human physician once said "There can only be one top dog in the operating room," and if she had anything to say about it that was going to be her, at least until there beloved slave was saved.

In a small act of revenge the nurse that Dana had punched in the muzzle was the one who carried out Crystal's order and gratefully sedated the mink, the rather large dose of drugs hitting her almost as powerfully as an energy weapon set to stun. Now half dazed it was fairly easy for the nurses to set Dana back on her bed, the rest of her staff looking on in ever growing confusion and smoldering anger. To that point they had all remained silent, but now the male bunny who had been summarily abandoned by Crystal in the middle of his treatment found himself no longer able to hold his tongue, his tone one of annoyance and resentment as he spat "I don't even know why they are trying to save that filthy traitor's life. He tried to kill us all, if there's any justice left in the universe they should just let him di............. "

((( CRACK )))

It took the lapine a moment to realize why the side of his head now hurt and why he was laying on the floor looking up at a set of bared teeth, his anger quickly replaced by fear as Dana snarled " Shut your dammed muzzle you barking idiot. He ... he gave his life for me ... for you .. For all of us.... He ...he ... he..." Unable to focus her thoughts through the drugs and emotional exhaustion the mink just broke down into racking sobs as her strength failed her, two of the nurses pulling her off the male bunny and setting her back on the bed as she became completely incoherent.

Unable to focus on the extremely delicate task before her with the sound of Dana's piteous wailing, the doctor looked up once again as the emergency cardiac stimulators where calibrated for humans, her voice strained and tense as she ordered " Get them all out of here, we need to concentrate." As ordered the nurses quickly wheeled the engineering crew into one of the recovery areas, all of them now thoroughly confused by there boss's continuing defense of her slave.

Now with the silence she needed Crystal connected each of the power leads and looked over to the stations chief medical officer, the gray furred mouse showing her centuries of experience as she skillfully manipulated her surgical instruments inside the young males chest. " BY THE PIT," she growled, " this lung is completely destroyed, we'll have to replace it." Then talking more to herself she added " If I remember correctly humans can survive with only one lung, so we just seal off the bronchial tube and sever the nerves. NURSE GET ME A TISSUE FUSER AND COLLECT A BLOOD SAMPLE TO START SYNTHESIZING REPLACEMENT ORGANS."

Having heard her counter parts vocalized thoughts Crystal reached out and snatched up an injector of Triox, a hyper oxygenated fluid designed to saturate red blood cells and injected it directly into the boys heart before activating the stimulators. With a sigh of relief nova's heart started to beat, a slow and weak action, but just enough to circulate the desperately needed blood and its life giving oxygen. With only a second lost she then turned to her medical student and harshly inquired " Melinda how's his spine, any chance of repairing it?"

As she spoke Melinda, out of sheer desperation attempted something that would have been utterly insane in any other situation, the bunny injecting nanites all along nova's spine, in-between each of his vertebra. " Honestly I don't know, Doctor. The blaster energy has caused his central nervous system to shut down in a last ditch effort to protect his brain. I'm going to try bridging the scorched tissue with nanites to get the critical pathways functional for now, but given all this damage it will be a miracle if I can even get the impulses flowing again."

Just like using that many nanites in the brain, if not perfectly controlled, the microscopic devices would do more harm then good, even possibly killing a subject outright. Then as Crystal was pondering just how bad things where, the gray furred mouse physician just had to go and add "We have an even more pressing problem I'm afraid. With no impulses getting to his internal organs they have all shut down and are starting to die. We need to get this human on full life support within the next few minutes or we're going to lose him."

As the trio of physicians and there assistants set about connecting all manner of mechanical support mechanisms to there patient a door on the other side of the room burst open, a pure white vixen, panting so hard she had to stop and breathe, exhaustedly staggering in. It had been a long and hard run from her ship to gateway's hospital level for Kayla, the Captain unwilling to call for a teleport if it meant disconnecting her com from nova's collar. But as she crossed the hospitals threshold that is exactly what happened, her com badge shutting down due to the room's electromagnetic shielding. Of course the loss of this life line was irrelevant now that she had arrived, Kayla grabbing a passing nurse in an iron grip as she growled " Nurse ...PANT ..I want a ...PANT... report ...Pant ...NOW!!! How is my ...PANT... slave? Is he ...PANT... alive?"

Needless to say the wild look in the Captain's eyes and the aggressively predatory way in witch she demanded information was more then enough to strike fear into the female deer's heart, her natural pray instincts to flea kicking into overdrive as she squeaked " I.. I.. I.. I'm treating the furs, Ma'am. I .. I.. don't know about the human."

"Their doing all they can child, now please release that nurse, your claw's are hurting her." Kayla whipped around to see Eshara sitting on the floor behind her, the mare's head hung in sorrow and her cheek fur stained with tears born of pain mere words could never describe. Before the vixen could respond her ship's guiding light looked up, her eyes puffy and red as she whispered " I'm sorry, but I don't think I can stand the feeling of another fur's pain and fear today."

Instantly realizing how much grief and agony the Priestess must be absorbing through her empathic gift Kayla's paw instantly released the frightened doe, her head lowering in shame as she apologized to both of them. " No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I just, I thought our sweet boy was dead, then some fur teleported him here. I just, I need to know .. one way or the other."

Still unnerved by her encounter with this demonic vixen the doe quickly fled as Kayla slumped bonelessly against the wall and laid her head on the priestess's shoulder, the artic vixen not even getting a chance to start her self-pity again before Eshara said " please don't child, I can already feel your guilt. Its not your fault and others need you to be strong for them right now." The mare then lifted one paw and pointed at a door across the room, her voice taking on an even sadder tone as she whispered "Your crew is in there, Captain. As much as I wish I could go in and comfort them, I need time to prepare myself, I have a terrible feeling i will need all my strength for Dana in the very near future."

"DEAR GODDESS NO, HIS NEURAL OUT PUT IS DROPPING. NURSE 60cc ARITHRAZEN, QUICKLY BEFORE IT HITS THE DANGER ZONE!!!" was the last thing Kayla herd as she numbly walked through the door, her own tears stinging at the corners of her eyes. No, she could not cry, Eshara was right her crew needed there fierce and mighty Captain to give them hope, even if she no longer had any herself.

Inside she found Dana curled into a ball on one of the beds just rocking back and forth mumbling " It should have been me, It should have been me, it should have been me...." over and over again. Beside her bed stood both the male and female bunnies softly petting and stroking her, a nurse kneeling behind them still treating the tip of the mink's scorched tail. Seeing this drew Kayla's attention to all the various bandages and patches of shaved fur around the room, a testament to the fact none of the crew had escaped injury in some form or another. It truly had been a miracle her furs survived, and to think all it cost them was the life of an innocent.

Finally having taken notice of her commanding officers arrival the female bunny was the first to speak, her ears held in a temporary splint from when the lead human had dragged her by them and broken them." Captain!! O thank the goddess you're here, I think the chief has snapped, we can't get through to her."

Not feeling all that emotionally strong at the moment all Kayla could think to do was walk over to the bed and tenderly take Dana by the cheeks, her tone one of support and reassurance as she growled " Don't you dare give up on him Dana, our little blessing is not dead yet." It might have been the physical contact or the pronouncement that her slave was still alive, but instantly Dana stopped chanting and locked gazes with the vixen, hope filling her eyes as Kayla continued " The best and brightest medical minds on this station are out there right now giving him there all. You know Crystal, she will not give up wile there is the smallest spark of life in him, so don't you go losing faith either."

Wile grateful it had snapped there boss out of her downward spiral this pronouncement drew a skeptical look from the rest of the engineering crew, the male bunny having to bite his own tongue so as not to say something that might get him knocked on his tail again. Instead it was his twin who voiced her friends thoughts, her skepticism still evident in her voice as she carefully asked " Captain, with all due respect, would you mind explaining why that slave's life is so important? I mean, I used to care about him to, but he betrayed us, he helped the other humans who where trying to kill us."

"It was you, you gave him my codes and told him to help them. He tried to tell me, but I didn't understand." Dana gasped, her eyes still glazed over from the drugs.

"Yes, through his collar." Kayla answered, her eyes still locked with Dana's as if they where the only ones in the room. Then still speaking more to Dana then anyone else Kayla started explaining exactly what had happened, everything she had instructed nova to do and how things had gone once they where all locked in the hazmat chamber.

By the time she finished there was not a dry eye in the room, a palpable feeling of crushing guilt and shame having descended on every fur. "Dear goddess what have I done," the male bunny sniffled. "What I said to him, what I would have done if I had gotten my paws on him....." Now he understood why the chief had knocked him on his tail for saying nova should have been left to die, the bunnies tears freely flowing as he crumbled to the ground.

After that the room grew somber and silent save for the soft sounds of grief stricken sniffles and racking sobs, no fur having the energy or will to speak as they descended into there own thoughts. And there they stayed waiting for any news, their ears perking up each time the door opened only to fall again as none of the medical staff had anything new for them. First 5, then 10 and finally 30 minutes past before the door opened again, it admitting a numb and drained looking jaguar.

The felines face was soaking wet from both sweat and tears, her head pointed to the floor as if she was afraid to meet there eyes. Nevertheless she could feel every fur in the room staring at her expectantly, weighting for her to either lift the depression that had gripped them all or to deliver the unthinkable news that would shatter the hope barely holding most of them together. For almost 3 full minutes Crystal just stood there, her tail hanging as limp as her ears and her body trembling softly until she finally buried her face in her paws and chocked out in a strangled sob " Captain ... Dana ... I ... I'm so very sorry. I swear we did everything we could, I ... I tried, goddess how I tried."

Even though she had spoken the words it just did not seem to register on the faces of the Crimson Claw's crew, every fur's eye's still fixed on her as if waiting for her to continue. Perhaps it was the sedative wearing off or the shock of Crystal's pronouncement but Dana was the first to react, the mink bolting off her bed and out the door knocking the exhausted feline from her feet as she was shoved out of the way. With her own tears now freely flowing Crystal didn't even try to get up, the jaguar simply waving a paw to forestall the others who had started to chase after Dana "Just let her go, she'll need time with him to say goodbye." The feline then shuttered violently as the shame of her failure washed over her, not only hadn't she been able to keep there new ship's slave alive, she hadn't even been able to preserve enough of his brain functions to give Dana the closure of creating an emergency holographic echo for the mink to say goodbye to. In the end It was like nova had just given up on life, no matter what she tried his brain function had continued to dwindle until there was nothing left to save.

In the surgical bay

It had only taken Dana a few short sprints to reach the operating table, the mink stopping short at the sight of nova laying there still and motionless. Still connected to his pale and lifeless body, the numerous support devices had all fallen silent, abandoned by there operators in respect for the life they had failed to save. For a moment Dana just could not bring herself to believe her senses, the lingering scent of scorched flesh filling her nose seaming as unreal as the sight before her. Tentatively she extended a shaking paw and slowly ran it over his back, the sensitive pads running across the burns left by the weapon's fire he had shielded her from.

No, No, No, It was like some horrible nightmare, how could the goddess be so cruel as to bring such a perfect soul mate to her, only to then take him away before their life together could really begin. Distraught and grief stricken Dana curled her arms around her slave and pulled him close to her, the mink weeping uncontrollably as she tenderly rocked him and screamed out her pain. " Why my goddess, Why? I would have spent my life making him so happy, What did I do to make you take him from me?"

THE END?