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To Light the Darkness

Phase 1

The time sphere emerged from a vortex of light, expanding once more to massive proportions, and then winking out like popped soap bubble...

I wake up finding myself sprawled out on the floor of the bridge, "Uh...what the hell?" I unsteadily get to my feet; my body feeling like it went through the wringer yet I felt chirper almost as if I was a young man again.

I rest my hands on knees, and then push myself up, as I look around, I see furs where the mostly human bridge crew was supposed to be; I walk up to one of them, a lion morph sprawled out on top of the tactical station, and see the tattered remains of a uniform on his muscular frame as well as on the decking around him but enough remain to identify him as Lt. Com. Victor White, nicknamed "Holler" but I remember him as a tall rangy African who can roar out as loud as a lion, I reach over and shake him awake, saying, "Holler? Holler, can you hear me? Holler, wake up buddy."

He began to stir, powerful muscles rippling as he came back into consciousness, "Oh, my head..." he vaguely looked around, and then his crystal blue eyes fell on me, "Nathan? What in the seven hells happened, boss?"

"I have no idea, Holler, but that's not important right now." "What?! What could be more important than...?"

Then did it register to him what had happened to his body. He jumped up with a roar, I reflexively jump back, the remnants of his uniform falling away to the floor, inadvertently baring himself, as he did so, he jolts wake the rest of the bridge crew, most shaking their heads to clear them, others stretching reflexively as if they woke up from a nap, I also note that of those that I knew to be human have been also transformed barring me, strangely enough, as for the human members of the fleet; I have no doubt that they have been transformed into furs as well.

It didn't take long for order to restore itself, given the fleet's long experience but it wasn't long either before everyone is asking why I wasn't transformed like the rest.

Five hours later, we convene a general council with representatives from every ship of the fleet and their respective departments and crew members, it seems that every human in the fleet, except me, has been transformed into furs, even my best friend, Doc Roger "Leo" Sheffield, the other survivor, besides me, of MRF-35 and surprisingly enough, he is transformed into his nickname Leo, or in other words, he's been turned into a lion and a big one at that, his new doctor's uniform solidly gripping every single contour and curve, making him very attractive to the females present, especially the feline ones as well as the chakats.

Roger, prior the council meeting, had given me a very thorough medical exam that showed nothing out of the ordinary, aside from C-24; Roger also told me that, despite being transformed, the C-24 in his body has remained unaffected by the transformation but it seems that it had a hand in shaping his body, we both agreed to reveal C-24 and its origins during the council but not right away, we didn't want to shock them senseless.

During the meeting which Roger and I chaired, determined by our age, experience and length of active service, we were able to defuse several potential problems that could have torn the fleet apart but when someone brought up the subject of MRF-35, Roger and I knew that it is time to reveal the truth of MRF-35, so we told them the truth of what happened at MRF-35, how an archeological dig on Mars had uncovered the remains of a civilization that had the potential to outstrip the human race in all levels of society and technology but had strangely died out, it wasn't long before it was discovered that all the Martian specimens were perfect, no indication of tumor, diseases, etc., it turned out that the Martians had developed a genome medicine, a chromosome that renders the receiver superhuman, healing is accelerated 50 times faster, reactions and movements are faster, etc., it was dubbed Chromosome-24, for its positioning after the 23rd chromosome of the Martian DNA, however it was discovered too late what the true effects of C-24 are...

Discovered too late by the scientists, researchers and security troops of MRF-35...how the genome turned most of the people residing in MRF-35 into inhuman monsters and the remainder, either fought to the last or were torn apart and consumed by the monsters, only two persons were able to fight their way to link up with rescue forces and activate the base's self-destruct; the two survivors were sworn to silence but quietly awarded for their heroism in the face of sheer overwhelming odds, we also reveal how the contamination or enhancement is done, somewhere within the human DNA lay the soul, or at least the blueprint of one, that determines whether you become superhuman or become a monster that has to be destroyed, it was noted that, strangely enough, the people you least expect to show any sign of toughness become lethal monster but the toughest people end up being superhuman but this wasn't a sure indication.

What we didn't reveal is that the MRF-35 incident was over 40 years ago and had passed on to legend. We decided to determine what has happened to the Galactic Federation during our absence, so we divided the fleet into singles and pairs to covertly gather intelligence with the Stellar Dragon as the flagship as well as renaming ourselves the 1st Fleet, we soon discovered that the Federation has fallen from internal strife and rebellion and rapidly disintegrated.

Reconvening the council, we decided that the best course of action is the re-establishment of the core worlds, meaning Earth, Chakona, Cait, Rakshah, Voxxa, Amazonia and Sirius, since Chakona is a critically strategic system we voted to start from there, many taurs and chakats are worried what could happened to their kith and kin during our long absence and, frankly, so am I...

As we approach the Chakas'tra system, our long range sensors begin picking up strange readings coming from Gateway Station, then we realize that technology has declined significantly to a state that only we of the 1st Fleet had the cutting edge of technology; analysis of the readings indicate that with a sensory overlay we could easily fool whoever had taken up residence at Gateway and take it by surprise with superior technique and firepower, to our horror, Gateway has been turned into a slaver's station, as a convoy of over a dozen slaving ships from Raksha came out of warp just outside of their sensor range but easily within ours, we knew that we had to achieve total surprise in order to save the slaves from being executed and to ensure that no one within the star system learned about us too early, so we planned a fast, hard-hitting multi-ship attack with a simultaneous communications jamming and HARM strike from the bombers on the station, the lights, mediums and heavies had the job of taking out the sublight engines of the slaver ships as well as darting them full of coma gas, a specially designed nerve gas that merely renders its victims unconscious for a full 48 hours or until the antidote is applied to the victim but the new Javelin-Lance penetration missile designed to bypass shields and easily penetrate the hull and its protective armor, then it fills the target ship with highly pressurized coma gas designed to rapidly fill the target with coma gas within minutes but given the size of the slaver ships, the ops book required at least three to four JL missiles but judging from the sensor scans of the slaver ships which showed adequate compartmentalization in case of slave revolt, I'd say we need at least six to eight missiles per target but thankfully coma gas was not cumulative in the nervous system of the victim so we weren't worried about side-effects but some species of the Federation showed some worrisome and some amusing side-effects, for example, some chakats exhibited a supercharged libido, of both genders, for around about 12 hours after being revived, not that the chakat volunteers minded at all since all of them went through a wild orgy to 'ease the need', everyone else bar the draconians showed no side-effects at all, the draconians, however, suffered severe higher order thinking disruptions causing them to revert to more primal instinct for over 24 hours as well as sensory disruptions and, in some cases, total loss of muscular control of all muscle groups resulting in death.

However, sensor readings indicate that the slave cargo is mostly feline, specifically Rakshani, Caitians and Wemics, with roughly two dozen morphs of various species tossed in; since the rest of the humans in the fleet except me have been transformed into furs, gaining their trust shouldn't be a problem, of course if they see me, things could become problematic.

Planetary surface ops are what really worries me, with a large non-combatant population and possibly no local resistance groups, the possibility of hostages loomed large in my mind, I decided to utilize the new RDP (Rapid Deployment Pod) Mk.7, large ten-man pods designed to get infantry on the ground before the enemy could possibly react, allowing the troop carriers and the FGV Shieldbearer to reach the surface to envelop and contain enemy forces before they could critically affect the whole battle. Phase 1 of Operation "Wrath of the Federation" proceeded perfectly; the slavers never knew what hit them, Group One composed of the Essex, Enterprise-G, Warhound II, Leo and Olympiad fighter squadrons as well as their mother ships performed flawlessly, as they harpooned the slaver ships, all of them unconscious and incapacitated within 30 seconds of each other, Marine boarding craft already attached and cutting their way into the ships; simultaneously, Group Two composed of the Saber, Goliath, Pensacola, Falklands, Shockwave, Phoenix, Thunder, and Katana along with the fighter groups off all four Panthers neutralized, jammed, and disabled Gateway Station's defenses, communications and internal defenses and troops, at the same time, the Marines aboard the Saber, Goliath, Pensacola, and the Falklands initiated a transporter assault all over the station, with the primary objectives of securing the slave pens and holding cells as well as the control center, reactors, and armory; as it turned out, the slavers in charge of Gateway were either drunk, asleep or exhausted from abusing their slaves, I made it clear that all slavers are to be captured for interrogation, all slaves are to be set free and given medical care as soon as the station is secure from hostile forces, except for emergency cases, which are transported to the nearest Medbay; Group Three composed of the Stellar Dragon, Polaris, Leyte Gulf, Iwo Jima, Fire Star and Frostblade along with our fighter squadrons secured the fleet's rear, ready to respond to any enemy incursions within our AO (Area of Operations).

The eighteen Dragon-IV class spec ops fighters, which were accidentally assigned to the Stellar Dragon, we later discovered caused by a transfer SNAFU, I kept them in reserve as a rapid-response group but noting the success of Groups One and Two, I had them peel off and initiate a photo-recon and sensor-recon of Chakona's surface either cloaked or nape-of-the-earth terrain flying; they report that there were no functional sensor emplacements, passive or otherwise, the population still reside in most of the old towns and villages that many of us still remember but Amistad has been taken over and converted into a slavery center with at least several dozen furs and morphs as well as sixty or so human slavers and their weapons of coercion, several pilots risked closer recon-scans to discover that the chakat species had suffered greatly under the slavers, close bio-analysis showing that their original 150 year lifespan had dropped to at least 100, a significant loss of 33 percent of their long life span, the chakat members of the fleet as well as everyone else who have personally known chakats are extremely pissed, most of all me; via the recon data gathered by the Dragon pilots, I hatched a daring plan to initiate a multi-point infantry attack supported by Heavy and Medium class Battlemechs deployed via reentry drop-pods, they, in turn, will be reinforced by the rest of the battalion as well as eight mobile Marine companies, supported by fifteen squadrons of fighters and bombers, flying close-air-support, while the slavers are preoccupied with the main body, eight squads of eight experienced Hazard Force troopers will beam down directly to the surface, their main objective will be to covertly secure and liberate the slave pens, getting the slaves to safety into the nearby forest; with secondary objectives of capturing of potential intelligence data and sources.

Subsequent waves of transports will ferry down medical and SAR teams to aid the slaves and civilian populations as well as any wounded troops, Longtails requiring medical assistance are to be given major priority; needless to say, the operation is extremely successful, most, if not all the enemy forces, were not expecting such a precise and highly coordinated attacks; the slaves were successfully evaced and collateral damage restricted to buildings and structures; the slavers' weapons were only rated against unarmored flesh not against Ferro-titanium and miniaturized shield systems, against which they were ineffective but not the other way around, the Marines overwhelmed them with superior firepower and technology as well as superior training, readiness and leadership; many taurs greeted the troops heartily with hugs, lick-kisses, the usual sort of stuff, then, to their total surprise, they discover that the fleet's CO, namely me, is a human, given their bad experiences with humans, I'm not surprised of their reflexive distrust of me so not letting their looks bother me, I met with Leo to receive his preliminary report, what I heard wasn't meant to make me happy; poorly designed engines, deliberate destruction of Chakona's native flora and fauna and the misuse of Chakona's natural resources has severely damaged its overall ecosystem and will take centuries just to repair but something, instinct perhaps, inside me told me that I had the power to do just that, to give back the chakats their home back to them; to restore both them and their world to what it was and what they were 350 years before.

Two nights later, during an intense thunderstorm I make my way to the top of a hill near Amistad, wearing nothing more than a pair of demin shorts and Andragos, stopping where I could sense the strongest concentration of planetary magical energy, briefly wondering how I could do so, I unsheathe Andragos from its scabbard and held it up to the sky, then I stab it down into the ground, as I did so the dragon engraving began to shift and shimmer like it's alive, then a flash came from with Andragos, blinding me for several seconds.

As my vision cleared, I find myself surrounded by ten ethereal dragons of various colors, all of them sitting on their rumps, then the tallest one, a silver and gray dragon, stepped forward and addressed me, "Wielder of the Dragon Flame, is it your wish to restore this world and its inhabitants to what they were before 350 years ago?"

"Yes, it is," I state matter-of-factly.

"This ancient spell requires the strength of your heart and the willingness to place the needs of the greater whole over the needs of the self as well as the willingness to make a blood sacrifice to complete the spell, do understand and accept these requirements, wielder?"

"Yes, I do," I answer back but my heart fluttered slightly, surprised at the need for a blood sacrifice.

The dragon smiled at me as if he knew what I was feeling and thinking, waiting for me to make my final decision. I made it, not knowing that this decision will reverb through history, "Let's do it." I say simply.

He nods, then he and his brethren begin to chant in their language yet I seem to understand what they were saying as I stood there watching and waiting, feeling the magic flowing and coalescing as the dragons wove the ancient spell of restoration, fueling the initial stage through the storm's own energy, then as I felt the spell reaching its peak, I place my palms on Andragos' sharp edges and press-pulled downward, causing blood to trickle down the sword and soak into the ground; the instant the first drop touched the earth around the blade, I felt the magic coalesce into a ball of light around me, I instinctively uttering the last and final phrase of the spell, "Inferis-Karjat'liresha Klajeritora'seriak'marshat-restoris-planetas-racetoris'nartova Tris've-gentra-har'sect'va!"

The sphere of magic explodes into a glowing shockwave of unstoppable energy, visible from orbit, but before I could stand, I feel my strength leave me and I end up sprawled on the ground, unconscious...

I wake up and found myself lying on a cot by a window, after several moments of disorientation, I realize that I'm back at Alpha base's Medbay, looking around I see some patients on the nearby cots, mostly chakats with light to medium injuries; feeling some strength returning to my limbs, I slowly got up and off the cot, slowly making my way to its single exit but before I got halfway there, Leo, Snowstorm, two chakats recognizable as Longtails and two orderlies came in through the hatch.

Seeing me on my feet, the group come to a fast stop with Leo grinning and shaking his head, then Snowstorm breaks through and rushes me, sweeping me off my still-weak feet and plants a solid kiss on me and me reciprocating the gesture, followed by whistles and cat-calls by the other patients at our performance; as usual, Snowstorm had top-breath due to the larger lung capacity of hir species, shi grinned toothily as we broke off, I'm grinning just as broadly, then Leo spoke up, grinning broadly, "Well, buddy, I see that you're more or less back on your feet after that insane stunt two days ago but whatever that was its doing a whole world of good for the chakats living here." I grin back and reply, "There's more to it than that, buddy, more to it than that..."

He frowned and arched an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"That 'stunt' I did was a rare and powerful restoration spell, with the help of the dragon spirits bound within Andragos, it should, no, it will restore the planet as well as its population, including the chakats and skunktaurs, to what they were and had 350 years ago."

"What? Are you sure about this?" One of the Longtails exclaim, completely surprised by my actions and words.

I answer back, "I've never been surer in my life, and besides, after 350 years of neglect and abuse, your kind deserve to have your hopes and dreams...rekindled..." I say as unconsciousness pounces on me like a hunting lion, I barely hear Snowy's words, "I got you, Nathan...I got you..."

After what seemed like an eternity of darkness, I wake up to the sounds of laughter and happy calls of cubs at play, as I turn to look on my right, I notice how fresh and sweet the air tastes, I wonder whether the restoration spell is working overtime or is working at an accelerated pace but either way, my instincts tell me that Chakona and its people are well on their way on the road to recovery; looking over my right shoulder, I see Snowy and several other furs hir age playing with a gaggle of young cubs with several Longtails watching them contentedly, looking around, I realize that I'm lying on my back on a chakat-sized picnic blanket with several cubs cuddled on and around me, using me as a pillow or bedspread, not that I mind.

I slowly stretch, careful not to disturb the cubs, feeling several vertebrae pop back into place, as I reach my maximum stretching distance my outstretched hands encounter an obstacle, and furry to boot, looking up my eyes meets the crystal blue eyes of an adult chakat whose fur closely resembled that of a snow leopard but with tiger stripes on hir legs and arms the color of flame. Grinning up at hir, "Can I help you, shir...?"

She smirks at my comment, "StripPaws and no, not really, unless you need those cubs off of you if you intend to get up..." Shi giggles at the end of hir sentence.

Looking down then looking back up, I say with a grin, "Nah, I've always enjoyed having cubs sleeping on top of me and frankly, this is pretty comfortable, I'm not sure if I want to get up and I'm used to cubs using me as a pillow." I put my hands under my head for further emphasis.

Shi settles down with both handpaws framing my head, it was then that I belatedly realize that shi wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing, happily baring hir 'assets' for all to see; shi glances down and sees me blushing brightly at my ogling of hir firm bosom, then notices the bulge developing on my pants, realizing that I find hir attractive, shi playfully strokes hir breasts then shi surprises me by reaching and picking up the sleeping cub on my chest, the cub automatically questing for a nipple and finding it, began to suckle.

I mock-growl at hir, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Shi grinned broadly, "Your Companion Snowy mentioned that you have a tit-fetish, especially the ones found on a chakat and since my daughter here happened to be napping on top of you, I'd thought of confirming that when you wake up and I'm glad I did too. I've never seen a human so easily aroused by a chakat before..." Hir smile grew even broader.

"Well, to be honest," I answer slowly, "I...I'm kind of turned on by big cats of any sort and chakats are, to me anyway, an exquisite blend of the best traits that I like in a female, even if though technically you are herms."

Shi smiled at my candor, "I wish all humans are like you, Nathan, you have a good heart and an open mind, if you were a chakat though, I'd ravish you in a heartbeat."

"Believe me, there are times that I wish that I am a chakat...or a fur, for that matter..."

"If you did, then why didn't you take the transporter treatment of the olden days?"

"Because of Chromosome 24."

"Chromosome 24?"

"In the simplest terms, it means that I receive a genome treatment that has made me...superhuman..."

"What?" Shi gasps, "How's that possible?"

"Don't believe me?"

"Well, of course, there's no way that is possible..."

"Well, then I guess a demonstration is in order..." I say quietly just as my sixth sense rang alarm bells in my head, I instantly jump up and impose myself between StripPaws and the cubs as several of the missing slavers tore out of the bush and fired their weapons indiscriminately but my body easily absorbed the rounds meant for hir, thankfully the cubs cowered below the line of fire but I knew it would only take a moment to adjust their aim...not on my watch!

I heard StripPaws gasp as several bullets tear into me, barely flinching as they did so, seconds later, my body forces the bullets out, healing rapidly as they go.

I knew my troops need only a few moments to turn the tide but they need someone to distract them...and I'm the only one in the right place and time, so I followed a drainage ditch that leads to their flank, leaving StripPaws and cubs behind more solid cover with instructions not to appear until I call out.

I summon Andragos from its interdimensional pocket and readied myself for battle, peeking out of the ditch, the slavers mostly interested in what in front of them, and then suddenly Andragos gave me a mental alert, I query it mentally, "What is it, Andragos?"

"I am sensing an elemental crystal nearby, Nathan. The crystal of water."

I respond curtly. "What? Where?" I asked as I hurriedly looked around.

"Would you believe right in front of us?"

"Eh?" I respond, completely baffled.

"The chakat 35 meters ahead and to the left of you."

I look up again and made a more thorough sweep, my eyes stopping at the injured form of a tiger patterned, timber wolf colored chakat...and around hir neck is a crystal the color of the ocean!

I thought back at Andragos, "Just as well I was going that way anyway..."

"In case you haven't noticed, the slavers are using 7.62mm-based assault weapons of the AK47 style equipped with drum magazines." Andragos noted.

"Yeah, I know, heavy punch and good range, sucks in accuracy when fired at full-auto, good for spraying large dispersed crowds but not so good when trying to hit fast-moving targets." I answer back as I rapidly formulate my attack options and approaches, choosing the one allowing both rapid attack and defense, I charge out of the ditch with a battle roar, catching their attention in a hurry.

The one thing about the human psyche is that anyone with a great big close quarter weapon automatically become a priority one threat than a person with a sniper rifle because of the closeness and proximity required by the weapon in question meant that the wielder will more than make sure that you're dead with a swipe, thrust, stab or slash.

The slavers incoherently reacted as I charge them, moving like the wind as I silently invoke the Wind spell: "Aero Speed", a spell designed to give the user super speed but combined with my already enchanced speed meant that I'm just a blur to most eyes; by now I had covered most of the distance between the ditch and the slavers, as they turned to cover my expected path, I instantly cut to the left and leaped at an angle, landing next to the injured chakat, judging from the way shi's lying on the ground and from the lack of any critical injuries, I'd say that shi was mostly in cover when the slavers attacked, taking a few hits on hir forepaws and/or hindpaws, slipped and slid down the natural depression, saving hir from further injuries.

Looking hir over, I ask hir, "Are you all right, shir?"

"Yes, but I took some hits on my thighs and on my waist, nothing serious though..."

"If you don't mind my asking, where did you get that crystal pendant?" I ask, deciding to go straight to the point.

"It was given to me by my grandsire, Farsight of House Blackpaw; hy was a Skunktaur with the rare ability for foretelling the future but hy had difficulty doing it accurately but there was one prediction that hy was one hundred percent about..."

"It was regarding that crystal, wasn't it?" I ventured.

"Yes, when hy held this crystal, hy had a very clear sense about this: "A human, wielding the ancient Flame of the Dragon, will come seeking this crystal to wield its ancient power for good; sleeping within this human lies a spirit of ancient strength and power but it will not awaken until four of the five crystals have been found and will his power be unleashed and the galaxy will be in awe of his heritage..."

My eyebrow shot up in surprise of the accuracy of the prediction, then several rounds buried themselves in the dirt just above us, snapping us back to reality, I look at hir and held out my hand and received the crystal of water from hir, I hold Andragos half way out and slap the crystal into its slot at the pommel of the sword, glowing as it locked home.

Feeling a new presence in my mind and new elemental power flowing into me, I quickly assimilated the techniques, fighting styles and spells associated with the water element, then leaping high, I land and instantly charge the slavers, my stance literally flowing like water as I felt my body shift its weight like my body was really made of water, as the slavers saw that it was only one person charging them, they quickly rallied and concentrated their fire on me but, with the fluidity of water, I deftly dodge, avoid and deflect their shells away from me, then sensing a nearby underground river beneath the slavers' position, I gesture and summon a powerful blast of water from right under them, shattering their formation; a thought hit me as I did so, if they fear losing their freedom and livelihood, why not make them face a more primal form of fear, the dragon fear...

I rotate and twist Andragos into position in front of my face and mentally summoned the water dragon spirit whom I will merge with...the sword shrank as my body grew, becoming reptilian as my soft skin transforms into heavily armored scales, my feet and hands becoming huge paws equipped with equally large and very sharp talons, my legs and arms bulging out with new muscles and stretching out to fit my new body, my neck stretching out into a long serpentine neck, complete with sharp spines, two broad leathery wings emerge from my back attached to my shoulder/wing muscles, my face stretching to accommodate my muzzle, loaded with enough long razor-sharp teeth to make a shark pause, my eyes shift from round pupils to more elliptical slits, irises shifting their color to a more lighter hue of blue, a small diamond of pure white scales appears on my torso marking where the sword's power is focused...I look up as my transformation finished, belatedly realizing how big this particular form is...I towered at over 80 feet!

Looking back down, I realize how ridiculously easy it's going to be...the slavers had dropped their weapons in shock and some had peed in their pants, I grin broadly and most just faint upon see my formidable dentition, the sort that will easily rip a human in two in one bite.

I snort in amusement, as two squad of Marines surround them and took them into custody, several of them sending grins and thumbs up at me, I nod back, then my sensitive hearing overheard something odd, "Aunt Snowy, isn't your Companion male?" a cub asked Snowy as well as hir perplexed answer, "Yeah, he is, why?"

"Then why that big lizard smells like herm?"

"What?"

"What?" I thought to myself in shock, as I roll onto my back and checked under my tail, and to my utter surprise, I discover that...I am a dragon herm!

Looking further up my body, my gaze falls up an impressive set of breasts, I blink in surprise then felt a grin work its way on to my mouth, no wonder some of my troops were looking me over, I frown slightly, this was not something I expected...but in a way I could learn few things in this particular situation, I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and concentrated to modify my size down to something more manageable like...7.5 feet of scaly dragon, opening my eyes again, I found myself shrunk down to more or less the height I wanted.

I look around and see Snowy running towards me on all fours, hir facial expression stuck between happiness and fear for me, from what I could sense with my dragon telepathy, I flex my wings slightly as I thoroughly bend, twist, contort and flex my body every way that I could think of as I attempted to find the limits of my water dragon form, strangely I'm not the least bit bothered by my lack clothing, from what I've learned from Andragos, the dragons of both genders don't wear anything except for items that indicate their rank or status in the formal hierarchy as well as their social standings, the drakes mostly wearing gauntlets, wristlets and armlets while dragonesses mostly wearing tail bracelets, anklets and dragon-sized circlets with the occasional necklaces but more often than not, dragonesses usually have a gem or gems magically attached to their foreheads to indicate their family's wealth and power; usually though dragonesses are judged by their sleekness, the luster of their scales and their age, other physical characteristics are secondary but dragon herms have been known to occasionally hatch except they're extremely rare and very sought after by many a clan, even a low ranking family can have its status increased by hatching a dragon herm.

I'm guessing that I've been instilled with that disregard for clothing, not that I'm complaining, nor Snowy or the chakats as they tentatively approach me but I couldn't help but notice the gleam in Snowy's eyes, I've seen that gleam before when shi was 'on a mate-hunt' but I've never been on the receiving end before, now I suddenly felt like prey but I sent a thought message at Snowy, giving hir fair warning of my lewd plans with hir tonight, with StripPaws in a threesome...

That stopped hir in hir tracks but the look shi's giving me tells me all I needed to know, I simply smile back and wink, shi grins broadly and goes off to find StripPaws while I continue my stretching as the chakats gathered around me and watched in awe, and a bit of attraction, at my sleek form.

After 20 minutes of contorting my body every which way, I stop and stretched out on my back, wings spread for balance, lying there soaking in both the attention and sunlight, then the next thing I know, several furballs, all of them cubs, are curling around me with two actually snuggling on top of my broad tail, then an odd thought hit me, "Can chakat milk affect me too?" I shook my head at the idea, "No way, chakat milk couldn't possibly affect me like it would other chakats...could it? Only one way to find out...and I sure hope I know what I'm getting myself into..."

I twist my neck around, looking for a lactating chakat, and then I felt six limbs wrap themselves around my neck, looking down and around I find StripPaws holding on to my long neck, a playful grin on hir face and I could help but smile back, without baring my formidable dentition.

Shi twists hirself to the underside of my neck and promptly slid down to rest hir lower body on my stomach, hir hand-paws starting to gently caress my breasts, hir arms around my neck-base; I began to purr enjoying the sensations I'm getting but I growl out, "Strip, cut ooo that mmm out...pleeeease...?"

The last part I groan out via thought-speech but I forgot to limit it to Strip and me, instead I practically broadcasted it for a radius of up to 5 meters, meaning everyone inside that radius heard and felt my arousal, the furs grinning at each other and enjoyed the feelings I'm broadcasting while Strip continued hir torture, of course, making love out in public was not something I wanted to think about, so with a mental flick, I used my new water elemental power to create a watery dome around and over me and Strip, adding plenty of rippling to ensure plenty of privacy, then just before the dome sealed Snowy leapt over and through to land next to Strip and me. However, that didn't mean that shi didn't get wet, hir legs and lower belly are totally drenched, I couldn't resist the temptation to offer licking hir dry with my tongue, this was something shi never expected from me so shi giddily accepted, I gesture hir to roll over and started with hir fore legs and worked my way down to hir belly and sheath, my long rough tongue a teasing contrast to hir soft fur, by then shi's fully aroused, hir maleness fully erect and throbbing for attention, I wrap my tongue around it and began to gently stroke it up and down, it wasn't long until shi climaxed, spill hir seed on my tongue; to my dragonic taste buds, it's deliciously sweet, I swallow, relishing the taste.

I'm just as equally aroused, my maleness fully erect at a surprising 16 inches, Strip, further adding to my torture, began rubbing hir pussy against my cock while continuing to caress my breasts, my nipples fully erect as shi teasingly lick each one, this is something I never felt before and utterly enjoyed it, I vowed to myself to use this dragon-form every chance I get whenever I'm here on Chakona especially when I'm with my chakat friends and enjoy its bisexual nature to the utmost.

Without preamble, Strip uses hir tail and guides me into hir, the two of us purring deeply as we mate, then I notice Snowy positioning to mount me just behind Strip, I growl deeply as shi enters my virgin pussy, finally realizing why herms enjoy sex so much, having the best of both world, the sensations one feels are incredible; it wasn't long until I climaxed on both ends as I spurt my seed into Strip's warm tunnel and Snowy came inside me, I roar, more like bellow, in absolute ecstasy as I underwent my first dual orgasm.

By now, I should have shifted back into my human form but seems that when it comes to certain matters like sex, I seem to be able to maintain the dragon-form longer than I normally would; it seems that I was right, as I finally settle down from my dual climax and with my two chakat lovers cuddling happily by my side, as I begin to shift back to my human form which didn't take long, surprisingly though my human mind still buzzed with the afterglow, so I didn't notice that I wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing on my frame until my mind registered the sudden feeling of soft fur against naked flesh, I gulp in delayed realization, then I realize that I have a furry blanket on top of me, composed of two resting chakats, I reach up and tap Snowy on the nose, catching hir attention, "Uh, Snowy, could you do me a favor and have Leo beam me down a pair of shorts or something? I can't exactly get up and walk around in the buff now, can I?"

Shi grins broadly as shi also realized my predicament, shi reached up to tap hir wrist-comm and call for a beam down when Strip stopped hir, whispering quietly; deciding to get lost while I still can, I gather my remaining stamina and shifted into my wind dragon form, a long sinuous variant of my water dragon form, albeit female only; I smirk at the two then, with a fast, hard flap of my enormous wings, I leap into the air and easily ride the warm thermals and updrafts of the atmosphere.

Sighing happily at the quiet of the atmosphere, I relax and let my mind drift away...I wake up with a start, finding it darker and cooler, I realize that I had fallen asleep up here but my thick scales had kept me warm from the chill of the upper atmosphere; I turn around and swept my wings back for a fast dive, I flare my wings at the last second, slowing down to land with a muffled thump by my tent in Alpha Base, looking around cautiously, I stick my nose into the air and checked for Snowy's and Strip's scent, not picking up any, I shift down to my human form and practically leapt into my warm tent, at the same moment, my hands encounter fur, did I realize that I walked right into a trap, as several pairs of paws pin me down on the sleeping bag, two feline muzzles rub against me, a quick shift of my nose tells me that its both Snowy and StripPaws, the scent of arousal coming from them is overwhelming inside the medium sized tent, at the same time, I've instinctively shifted into my water dragon form, keeping it at a flexible 6 feet.

I purr happily as eight or so soft paws feel me over, this time Snowy made it obvious that shi's going to be on the receiving end and StripPaws on the pitching end, needless to say that we didn't get much sleep that night.

I wake up to find myself in the middle of two warm, furry bodies and two furry tails wrapped around my waist and each other, I try to get up but two, or rather four pairs of limbs keep me down as they slowly wake up as well; I find myself pressed between their breasts, a very pleasant fetish for me, and gave them both a hug around the neck, they hug back with all six limbs, I never get tired of that.

I pull on a robe and made my way to the communal showers, it turned out that it was still early and everyone is still asleep aside from the guards and sentries, so we took advantage of the available hot water in the tanks, taking our time as we cleaned off residue from last night's activities.

Slowly, in ones or twos, the base came to life as both military and civilian personnel wake up...

Roar

...in their own individual way, I notice that the roar came from the barracks, looking out the nearby window, I see two broadly grinning cubs run out at full speed, diving and hiding behind a parked ATV, chasing after them and skidding to a stop in front of it was...Thunder, a lion-morph with a roar like thunder and a smile a mile wide, his face and chest is coated with a thick green substance of some kind, dripping in clumps to the ground and in nothing but his fur.

I could hear the whole barracks laugh heartily at his predicament; I chuckle along with them as he belatedly realized that he had charged out after the cubs without a stitch of clothing, he blushed through his fur and ran back into the barracks for his clothes, tail between his legs. The cubs jump up and tied something just above the foot of the door and laid a tarp full of...something in front of it and went back into hiding. The door opened and Thunder came charging back out, only to trip and land face first onto the tarp, it was then that I recognized what it was filled of...whipped cream and lots of it, the green stuff is probably some form of gelatin, softened to a jell-like state, smeared all over his fur and left to harden, no doubt a major shock to Thunder when he woke up and knew who had played the prank.

I finish my shower, dried myself on the blowers, wrapping my robe around me and headed back to my tent for a change of clothes; I had just finished changing when Snowy and StripPaws padded into the tent, wearing only towels, they open a medium-sized saddle bag and pulled out a change of clothes, Snowy opting to wear her usual Fleet top with rank insignia, Strip a skimpy blue bikini top.

They both give me a snuggle-hug and pad out the tent with me in trail, we made our way to the mess hall where friends and fellow warriors alike heartily greet us good morning, some have a glint in their eyes saying that last night's activities did not go unnoticed, I merely grin back, grabbed a tray and gathered my breakfast from the buffet line, comprised of bacon, scrambled eggs, some cheese, toast, herb butter, cereals, fruits, milk and tea but what bothered me was the amounts of food I took, normally I'd just be somewhat hungry now I'm positively ravenous, as I ate I realized that every time I shifted to dragon form or used elemental magic I drain both my physical and mental stamina though it seem I can draw extra energy during sex to maintain my form but it was obvious that the more crystals I find, the more intense the physical and mental wear on my human body even with the enhancements of C-24 and unless I undergo some radical physio-mental alteration, I might utterly consume my life force just doing a powerful spell of some kind or shifting into a more powerful form of dragon; then I hear the voices of the dragon spirits bound to Andragos, 'Do not worry, chosen one. When you have found the earth crystal, your true form will be revealed and you never fear for a lack of stamina from that moment on, also when you attain your true form, three of your four destined mates will be there, waiting for you, the fourth will not reveal herself until you have gained full control and mastery of the fifth crystal, then will your true destiny reveal itself to you.'

I cock my head slightly in puzzlement, eating quietly at the same time, 'What do you guys mean by that?'

All I got was a very cryptic reply, 'You'll understand soon enough, chosen one, you'll understand soon enough...for now though, you must secure the core worlds and restore order back to the galaxy, renew old alliances, and find new allies to help you decide the fate of the galaxy but not in the near future nor in the distant future. And not necessarily in that order.'

For the next two months, with Chakona as our base-of-operations, the 1st Fleet rapidly spreads out and secures the Caitian, Rakshani, Voxxan, and Terran sectors with little or no resistance, with Earth being the only one to put up some moderate resistance due to the higher concentrations of recuperating slavers and pirates but they couldn't react fast enough when an entire Federal Fleet emerged from slipstream, advanced teams of cloaked Dragon scouts made sure of any noncombatants that were still on the ships and having found none, cleared the fleet in for the strike then made recon runs on the surface, noting the concentrations of both furries and humans alike, a quartet of fighters was flying over Australian and New Zealand when they detected weapons fire, the wing leader opted to investigate, upon doing so detected still-active Federal IFF transponders, realizing that they may have found a still-active military base or bases still loyal to the Galactic Federation, communicating their findings, the fleet took a geo-stationary orbit above Australia and New Zealand while making contact with the base or bases below, it turns that they are still indeed loyal to the Federation but hadn't expected the Stellar Dragon battle group to be their rescuers, having thought us lost with all hands.

We dropped in reinforcements, allowing the beleaguered defenders to sweep away their foes; overall it took us two weeks longer than planned to capture and secure the planet but being that it was the original capital of the Federation, we had to be thorough. Then we broadcasted on all open channels the rebirth of the Galactic Federation, inviting old friends and allies to join us once again; and to our surprise, many did exactly just that...

A month of refitting and resupplying soon added twelve new ships to the 1st Fleet, thanks to the skillfully hidden shipyards and ordnance manufacturing facilities by its previous commander, we were able to get an early start in rebuilding the Federal Navy and Space Forces, for the Army we had to start from the ground up, luckily the plans and schematics for the equipment and weapons are still preserved in the ship data banks plus the fact that we still several of the best scientists and technicians aboard the Stellar Dragon; as soon as we finished our refit and resupply, we left the infant 2nd and 3rd Fleets to protect Earth, Chakona, Cait, Raksha and Voxxa while we head and secure the two remaining core worlds, Sirius, which turned out to be abandoned due to severe radiation contamination, and Amazonia, there we discover a major slave-gathering operation in progress, to further complicate things, there are four antiquated but still powerful alpha-series Saber-class heavy destroyers hovering over them like hawks but they had spread themselves out too thinly to be of any use.

Polaris engaged two at once, easily taking them down, the other two attempted to delay us while allow the slaver fleet to break out of Amazonia's gravity well, unfortunately for them, we had a blocking force on station on the far side of the planet which promptly appeared ahead of the slaver fleet and darted their ships full of coma gas; inside an hour, we have full local space superiority and proceeded to secure the planet, there we were greeted by the local who apparently had fiercely resisted slaver incursions since the fall of the Federation, I let my crews enjoy the festivities but stayed behind aboard the Dragon, feeling rather tired, resting in my couch facing the view port, probably my past exhaustion finally catching up with me I mused to myself as I drift off into sleep, then for what seemed like seconds of slumber I felt a warm weight curled up by my side, a quick shift and sniff told me who it was and slipped backed into slumber.

It was upon the eve of our ninth month since our temporal jump to this dark era of our history and the beginning of our quest to rebuild the Galactic Federation when a vision of an M-class planet and its stellar coordinates came to me, leaving Leo in charge of the Fleet and a copy of my destination's coordinates, I left aboard my personal VF19X Mk.3 Stellar Guardian, its cargo bay packed with everything I might need in, including the power suit I'd acquired back in MRF-35 but unknown to Leo, I've been able to create and upload into the suit new configurations and battle forms, all based from objects and icons from my teenage past, and, with some help from my dragons, install a micro-fusion power array to ensure that I don't run of charge at a bad time plus a new covert configuration for the suit itself, allowing it to break apart and slide unnoticed into 'stored' position in a pouch at the small of my back which in turn is attached to a plain looking belt but really is a shock-proof, water-proof, fire-proof utility belt/transporter buffer/power core array accessible only by me or by the top members of my crew with a touch of magical shielding just in case.

As I enter the turbulent realm that is slipstream, my mind wonders at what I might find at my destination and how I might be able to blend in and locate the crystal of the earth, glancing down at my armament panel, I ready the two Dumbfire rockets containing four mini-sats that will act as my deep-space relay and link back to the Federation.

Little did I know how love, adventure, intrigue, danger, suspense, plenty of trouble, magic, combat and sex is going to factor heavily on this particular mission...Boy, this is one mission I'm going to utterly enjoy, though I didn't know it yet...