FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

**_The Phygos system, located on the Reyman Spiral Galaxy, was the center of the intergalactic four-way war between the Humans, the Scorp, the Darken, and Bendians. It was an extremely mineral rich group of planets that would tip the trading scale should one race gain control of it. The tenuous non-aggression agreements of the two most powerful civilizations, Human and Scorp, had broken when Sergeant Gant of the Union Intelligence Agency and his team infiltrated the Scorp research labs and destroyed their secret military weapon; a weapon that would have upset the balance of power on the field as well as at the bargaining table. The weapon was a genetically engineered fighting machine called a G-Nome, created from captured Union P.O.W.s. With the G-Nome destroyed, the Scorp blamed the Union. War quickly broke out all across the galaxy. The fiercest battles of the conflict lay on the planet Argos.

Unbeknownst to any of the factions, a dormant terror lies beneath Argos, stirring as the sound of battle reaches their ears..._**

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A pair of blue eyes gazed out at the battlefield from the tinted bullet-proof glass that was her visor. The landscape was an alien one, a pair of red moons cast a pale, rusty glow onto the barren and war torn scenery. An occasional explosion thudded in the distance; the orange hues of the resulting fireball sent a shiver down the soldier's spine. Being a Union soldier wasn't all the glory and heroics the military fed the populace. The military made their soldiers pinnacles of stoicism, fighting without feeling or remorse. Killing was their jobs, and they did it well.

Natasha surveyed the battlefield with a look of awe at the sheer destructiveness that they could unleash. Her tail flicked to and fro inside the armor covering it as she waited for her commanding officer to give the squad orders. She looked to each side of her and noticed the fidgety movements of each soldier, how their body language showed what their visors covered: fear. The vixen then glanced behind her towards the towering mechanical harbingers of death called Heavy Armored Weapons Chassis, or HAWCs for short. There was a variety of models, but the one that stood out was the Heavy Assault HAWC: a massive seven story high quadruped that was vaguely similar to a lion. Her eyes scanned the large shoulder mounted ionic laser cannons, impressed by the intimidating look it added to the design.

"Atten-HUT!" echoed the order from the Captain, none other than the legendary Joshua Gant. He was an intimidating canine, standing a good 6'4", 7 inches above her own slender frame. She snapped to attention and saluted her captain.

"SIR!" she barked, echoing her comrades in synchronous tone. Gant gazed at each of his soldiers as he walked down the line, each soldier's image showed in the Captain's reflective gaze. Reaching the end of the line, he finally addressed his troops.

"You are Union Soldiers, trained to protect the interests of the Earth, near or far. As you know, the Scorp have made their move in this area!" he emphasized his words with a paw towards yet another explosion just blossoming against the darkness of the night.

"Even as I speak," he continued, "the Union Soldiers stationed there are fighting tooth and claw to protect the base! Our mission is to bolster their forces and drive the Scorp from the area!" Quick, eager chat spread amongst the squad. "Alright then, file into those HAWCs!" he ordered, making a sweeping gesture towards the machines behind them. "Sergeant Frost, man the Rampage!" he barked, to which Natasha obeyed. She quickly ran towards the Tactical Defense HAWC; a towering thirty foot tall bipedal monstrosity armed with twin ion cannons and dual missile racks. Climbing up the ladder, over the side and into the cockpit, she retracted the ladder and hit the switch to close the cockpit's windshield.

Activating the machine's main power, the sergeant listened to the whirring of the servo motors as it jumped to life, standing up slowly from its kneeling stance. The multiple displays lit up on either side of her, showing information on the HAWC's shields, energy, and throttle. She tested the movements of the Rampage's torso, spinning it side to side. Natasha then loaded the weapons and waited for the green light to show up beside each weapon gauge overhead. Ready to go! She thought as the computer stated that all systems were nominal.

Captain Gant ran over to the twin turreted tank and climbed into the hatch to be joined by two other soldiers. Gant quickly sat in the command seat, accessing the vitals of his team and their locations on the holo-map to his right. "Let's get going! Fall out!" he told them all, watching the symbols that were his team start to move towards their destination.

"Roger, moving out," Natasha replied, pushing the throttle forward a bit. It responded to her actions by steadily walking forward, the terrain underfoot crushed with impunity. She took up position in front of Gant's vehicle and side by side with the massive Lion HAWC. Setting the guidance computer for their destination, she made a mental note of the distance and the speed they were going while listening to the others report their statuses through the comms as though it were relaxing music.

"Oh I can't stand this shitty music!" Jack groaned to the others who shared his fate as passengers inside the Heavy Assault HAWC. The music was designed to soothe the soldiers, but it always sounded like elevator music to him.He received glares and the occasional eye roll from his comrades.

"Deal with it! Ya don't hear us complaining about it, do ya?" a large tiger said, head over his lap and arms folded around his torso. He glanced up at Jack to observe his indignant reaction with a smirk.

"I'll be sure to remember that, Mike. When this all goes to hell, I think I'll leave you to the Scorp for dissection!" Jack retorted, leaning back and flipping off the feline. Mike just laughed and smacked the wolf with his tail. The response was a growl and an attempt to bite to the offending appendage.

"Quit fucking around you two!" Sergeant Ed Biaz growled, looking to each of them before scratching his head fur. "You think you got it bad, Garret? Look at this shit!" the lion exclaimed, pointing to his mane, which had been shaved down to an eighth inch or so. He leaned back and sighed, caressing his damaged pride with a wince.

"It's quiet... Too quiet," Jim observed, fiddling with his pulse rifle a little. Despite the fact he was several times the bulk of any other soldier there; he seemed to be the only one worrying about it.

Mike smirked at the comment, getting a roll of the eyes by Jack. The wolf knew what was coming; it was all too obvious the tiger couldn't resist a chance to poke fun at someone. "Ya know, for a giant muscle bound rhino, you sure are a pussy," Mike said in a nonchalant way; as if it was an innocent comment.

Jack laughed with the others and then checked the monitor above them. It displayed what the pilot saw, thanks to a camera mounted in the cockpit. He watched it for a few seconds before saying, "If it wasn't for the live entertainment, I would go nuts!"

A few chuckled at that comment but most ignored it, lost in thought about the upcoming battle. One in particular was Tara, a mostly solitary coyote who usually remained silent. Many rumors about her had been circulated due to both boredom and a keen interest in her. She had never really spoken except to acknowledge officers and commands. Tara's usual mannerisms added an air of mystery to her, which only served to spark more interest in her.

"Hey, you okay over there?" Jack asked the coyote, observing her far away expression. Tara only nodded and shifted her gaze towards the monitor. "Suit yourself," Jack mumbled, also watching the screen. They were just approaching the outskirts of the base when something caught his eyes. "Hey Sarge, check it out!" he said, pointing an object on the screen.

Sergeant Biaz opened an eye to glance at the screen. "What is it, private?" he asked. Ed couldn't make out what Jack was pointing at so he slowly got up and went over to the screen, scrutinizing the object. "It looks like one of our guard towers," he said passively.

"And is it me or is it aiming for us?" Jack suddenly asked, noticing the turret turn towards them. The sergeant quickly opened his comm to the pilot and asked, "What's that tower's IFF code?" The wolf nervously watched the pilot screen as the data on the monitor came up. It was the same code as the squad, but it didn't cure the lupine's uneasiness.

Tara glanced up at the commotion and saw that the turret in question was now charging up its GUASS ion cannons. "It's about to fire!" she yelled, receiving startled glances for both what she had said and the fact she had spoken at all. The screen lit up bright blue as the turret fired. The twin iridescent blue beams of super heated plasma struck the Lion's muzzle full force, causing an explosion that rocked the HAWC. The two standing soldiers were sent crashing to the ground as the cargo bay was thrown into darkness.

Frost watched in horror as the head of the Heavy Assault HAWC exploded in a burst of blue electricity and red flames. "Take cover! That turret is hostile and armed with heavy ions!" she yelled into the comm, though it was not needed. Everyone realized something was wrong as the massive machine took one more step and then buckled, crashing headlong into the ground.

"Cover the passengers! Take out that turret!" Gant barked, jumping out of the tank and running towards the fallen mech. He ducked behind the hull; glancing around the side as the rest of the convoy fought with the turret. Gant attempted to find a way to open the hatch located on the underbelly, but the HAWC had fallen flat. He opened a line with his team and hoped they would reply, "Anyone alive in there?!"

Tara slowly came to inside of the Lion, raising the restraining bars off of herself and hesitatingly standing up. She grabbed her helmet and quickly shoved it on. Immediately she was bombarded by frantic battle chatter to which she changed frequencies. A single voice was heard then, equally frantic yet concerned. "Anyone alive in there?!" the voice said, to which she acknowledged her survival. "This is Captain Gant! How many of you are alive in there?" he asked.

Tara looked around and immediately regretted it. The scene in around her was not a pretty one: most of the soldiers lay limp in their seats, necks broken from the jolt of impact. The tiger that was known as Mike was impaled by a stalactite that had broken through the underbelly and pierced the back of the once proud feline, erupting out of his chest in a gruesome manner. She walked over to Sergeant Biaz and leaned him up. The coyote gasped and reflexively dropped him as she got a look at his face: it had been caved in by the impact of hitting one of the restraint bars.

She finally came to the last soldier she hadn't checked: the wolf named Jack Sheridan. She turned him over and prepped herself for the worst. He let out a whimper as she turned him, to which she was grateful. She shook him a little, hoping to wake him quicker. "Come on, Jack! Wake up!" she told him, her voice wavering as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

"Wha...?" he finally asked as he tried to sit up but gave a loud whine and fell back. The wolf leaned his head forward to see a piece of metal lodged in his abdomen which drew a stream of blood that pooled around him. "Fuck," he whispered, grabbing the metal and attempting to yank it out. He gave a near howl of pain and passed out, much to the alarm of Tara.

"Captain, there are only two of us left... only two..." she said, her voice trailing as she slumped and began to cry. Her sobs echoed the pain and suffering of seeing the dead lay all round her in horrific positions. "What... do I do... sir?" she asked her NCO, picking up a stray helmet and staring at it, oblivious to the battle around her.

Gant leaned against the HAWC. He now recognized the voice as belonging to

Tara yet he had never heard her like this. He looked up into the stars, knowing all too well of the pain she felt. "I know it's hard, but you have to take whoever's left and get out of there. If you don't, you'll both die," he explained, hoping she would listen. He then ran out towards the turret, relying on his comrades to distract the gunner.

He pulled out his pulse rifle and dove to the ground as an ion blast barely missed his head. He quickly loaded an EMP grenade into the grenade chamber under the muzzle and pulled the trigger, watching as if in slow motion the canister left the muzzle and headed towards the base of the cylindrical defensive structure. The round collided with the structure and released its contents. A group of three Scorp warriors emerged from the entrance of the turret, firing EMP grenades at any HAWCs that came to close. Gant began firing at the soldiers, hitting one in the chest plate. The struck alien let out a trilling screech as it fell lifelessly to the ground, fluorescent green ichor oozing from the smoking wound. The other two scrambled behind the disabled GAUSS turret to avoid the ion fire from the Union convoy.

"Surround and finish them off!" Frost ordered as they positioned themselves around the two remaining enemies. The Scorp let loose a volley of panic driven fire that went nowhere near the Union vehicles. A shell from the tank finished the infantry off without a problem. Glancing to her radar, her victorious smile was quickly driven off her muzzle. A group of three enemy HAWCs were on their way to intercept the Union force. "We got company!" she shouted as her mech swerved to meet the incoming forces.

Tara dragged the bleeding wolf through the cargo bay and into the body of the Lion, glancing behind her occasionally to avoid obstacles. She was worried about the bleeding that didn't seem to stop coming from the wound in Jack. "Stay with me Jack, I'll get you out of here!" she said more to herself than to the wounded soldier she pulled. As she neared the entrance of the cockpit, smoke became thicker and thicker. Tara pulled Jack's helmet on for him, waiting for it to seal before proceeding through the smoke.

She kicked open the door before looking out to see that the only resemblance to a cockpit was the coagulated slag that made up the floor. With a whimper, she proceeded through the remainder of the HAWC's head and jumped down onto the left paw. She turned and moved the wolf into her arms. She yelped in surprise at his weight and struggled to hold him while she slid down the side.

Gant glanced back towards the battle with alarm as the enemy HAWCs engaged his own forces. Come on, Tara! We can't stay here much longer! He thought grimly. No sooner had that been thought then a coughing canine came out of the fallen Lion carrying an injured soldier. "Thank god," he breathed, getting up and rushing towards the two survivors. "What's wrong with him?" the Captain asked.

"He's badly wounded! He has shrapnel imbedded in his abdomen, he tried to pull it out, but he passed out from the pain," she explained, a little more calm than earlier. She could feel the adrenaline leaving her body, leaving an emptiness behind she attributed to what she had just witnessed.

Gant examined the wound for a time, then took Tara's paw and placed it over the wound. "Keep pressure on it to staunch the bleeding, I'll try to find something to wrap the wound with," he explained before getting up and heading into the wreckage. He rushed through the smoke and occasional small fire before he made it to the cargo bay and understood why the coyote was so distressed. He peeled his eyes away from the scene to look for a medical kit anywhere on the walls. Gant swore when he discovered none. When he finally made it back out he shook his head to her.

Tara cast her eyes back down to the fallen soldier and continued to put pressure on his puncture wound. "Come on, Jack! Wake up, PLEASE!" she begged, new tears beginning to form, which slowly trailed down the fur of her cheeks to splash against the metallic armor covering the wolf's muzzle.

With a groan, Jack came back from his near comatose state. "Where am I?" were his first words, still woozy and disoriented. He took off the smoke covered helmet and rubbed his eyes a little. As his vision cleared, he felt something wet hit his forehead like small raindrops. He looked up and saw Tara shedding tears over him for some reason. The soldier then followed her arm down with his eyes, resting on the paw that sat over his injury. "I'm not dead just yet!" he exclaimed, giving a weak smile. The smile quickly turned into a grimace and sharply inhaled as pain emanated from his injury.

Tara placed one of Jack's paws over the one she had on his wound. "Put some pressure on it to make it stop bleeding," she told him. "We're still in the battle and I have to go help. Stay here!" And with that, she left the lupine to himself. The wolf placed his Pulse Rifle into his lap and awaited the return of his comrades.

"Shields low, reduce speed to compensate," the AI told Natasha calmly. "I know, shut up!" she retorted as another volley of plasma struck her HAWC. She glanced at the holographic shields display. Shit, they're almost gone! She frantically thought. The Union convoy was engaging the three Scorp HAWCs with ferocity, but losses were unavoidable. A Union Sentry HAWC lay on the ground in flames, the cockpit covered with bullet holes and blood from the recipient.

The vixen was dueling with the enemy Tactical Defense HAWC, trading laser fire and rocket barrages. The enemy vehicle had come to be known as the Predator due to its appearance; like that of the Tyrannosaurus Rex from Ancient Earth.

The Predator suddenly ran at her, leaping forward and knocking her down. Screaming as the 4 story high vehicle crashed backwards with the mech above her digging into the chest area with its talons, Natasha braced for impact. The crash knocked the wind out of her and broke her right wrist. The Predator pushed its advantage and pointed its short arms at the Rampage's cockpit, unleashing a barrage of laser fire.

"Somebody get it off me!" she screamed, thrashing her HAWC around to try to shake the Scorp off. She charged her main ion cannons and fired them near point blank at the Predator's feet, knocking them backwards with an ear-splitting screech as they tore through the abused metal underfoot.

Her malicious grin quickly turned into an agape mouth as she realized what she had done. The swept feet of the Scorp Assault HAWC caused it to fall forward; right on top of the mech below. The vixen watched in an adrenaline induced state of slow motion as the enemy collapsed onto her, crushing the cockpit with the force of the impact.

"Sir, the corporal... she's..." the voice over the comm didn't finish and Gant feared the worst. He signaled the tank to pick him and he climbed up and into the cockpit. "Get out of the way!" he growled at the gunner and took his position, putting on the gunner's helmet. The display inside the helmet lit up, showing everything from the camera on top of the turret. He targeted the Scorp vehicle slowly getting up off of the crushed Assault HAWC and fired a guided missile at it. The visor switched the small camera on the missile and he guided it into the cockpit of the Scorp vehicle.

As the entire head of the reptilian looking HAWC exploded, it fell over on its side with a loud crash that shook the ground. Gant growled as he realized there were still two enemies left. A voice came on over the comm, gruff and commanding, "Captain Gant, this is Senior Airman Briggs. We are coming in for a run. Get your troops out of there!"

"You heard the man! Move it!" he barked, the tank reversing as four more enemy HAWCs approached. The group retreated as a squadron of Dragoon bombers flew overhead, their sleek profiles barely noticeable. The group of 5 spacecraft soared upward as they deployed plasma bombs from their bays and into the enemy. The massive set of white and blue explosions made the canine squint, even through the helmet. "Christ, that was bright!" he commented, vision covered in a greenish-blue haze.

A lone Scorp soldier leaned up from behind a patch of boulders and brush and aimed his rocket launcher at the tank. He began to squeeze the trigger but suddenly stopped. The reptilian slumped forward onto the cold, hard surface of the rock, the newly formed hole in his head already causing a river of green alien blood to flow down the rock's surface and pool below. The body soon sank into the puddle and a pair of armored boots stepped near the body. Tara glared at the body in hate before turning and heading to the tank. She rapped on the hull in a set pattern before the back opened up, revealing the small cargo bay. The coyote felt a sudden fear at seeing it; the images of her dead comrades rising to the surface and filling her mind with the horror and pain of... "Hurry up and get in!" Gant commanded, his voice snapping her out of the nightmarish reverie. With a shudder, she climbed in, strapping herself into one of the seats as the hatch closed and enveloped her in the dim red light of the cargo hold.

When his vision finally returned to completely normal, he surveyed the damage. The enemy had been completely annihilated; all that remained of them was a large expanse of craters. Gant surveyed the losses. He had lost three HAWCs and at least 10 soldiers. He let out a sad, sorrowful sigh at these losses. "Swing around, we need to get Jack!" Tara told the pilot.

Jack sat there with rifle in his trembling right paw, his other pressed against the hole in his armor. He looked ahead and saw a squad of infantry advancing on the fallen Lion HAWC, followed by a Scorp Cruiser. The HAWC was the reason for the Scorp's nickname; as it resembled the old Earth arachnid of the same name. "Oh shit, this is just fucking perfect!" he groaned, raising his rifle and firing a shot at the group, striking one of the soldiers in the leg. The wounded reptilian trilled and fell, clutching the bullet hole in his leg.

The others quickly spread out and crouched to reduce their hit surface, returning fire at the lone wounded soldier. The enemy bullets ricocheted off the hull of the downed mech, causing the wolf to cringe. Well, if I go down, I'm taking some of these bastards with me! Jack resolved, firing at the group without aiming much. Most of his shots went wild, but a few scored. One reptilian alien fell silently with a quarter-sized hole in its helmet. Another collapsed; a hole in its neck spurting iridescent green blood.

The wolf sat there, shooting with abandon at the menace that loomed before him. "Come on! You want some of this?! Get it! Fuck you!" he screamed, firing until his pulse rifle clicked. Dropping the rifle, he pulled out his emergency laser pistol. A quick flip of an on switch and the toggling of the safety signaled the arming of the weapon. He raised it and fired at the group. "Your aim is a shitty as your faces!" he taunted, crying out as a bullet hit the metal an inch above the wolf's head.

A cloud bank that had been threatening to cover the area in darkness carried out its warning, muffling the light of the two moons. The brighter of the two illuminated the clouds and turned them blood red, giving the battlefield a dimly sanguine look.

How ironic that I would die in a land where the ground itself seems colored by the blood spilled in this war. The Union soldier though grimly, a bullet burying itself in his left shoulder as if to emphasize his thoughts. "Fucking useless crap armor! I wish I could request my body be thrown at the development team of this shit!" he growled, firing a shot at the group before yet another shot bored through his armor and into his abdomen, a ping noise behind him indicating it exited. Jack let out a soft grunt in pain, trying furiously to put the pain aside. A shaky paw tried to raise the metal object in his grasp, but it seemed impossibly heavy. He opened up the comm to his team, "This is Private... gnh... First Class Jack Garret. Scorp are already here, don't bother coming for me." He closed the comm as the enemy stopped firing.

Vision slowly dimming and focus loosening, he watched as a soldier walked up to him and removed the lupine's helmet. The creature had leaned in almost face to face. It cocked its head as it scrutinized him and when it was satisfied with its examination; it put the barrel of its weapon to Jack's head. The last thing he saw was his own reflection in the metallic green visor of his enemy before the creature pulled the trigger and splattered the contents of the wolf's head across the hull behind him.

The sky darkened further as storm clouds rolled in, enveloping the land in almost utter darkness. A crack of thunder and lightning illuminated the two by the fallen transport, the light reflecting off the blood sprayed hull.

The Scorp warrior let out a loud roar in victory; then ran a claw across the hull to pick up some of the blood and smeared a dash down one side of its chest, joining several others like it. Movement by a craggy outcrop of rocks made the warrior turn his head, rifle aimed at the spot. The soldier narrowed his eyes, slowly making his way towards the outcrop.

The reptilian kicked a rock into the rock pile, finding nothing stirring from his actions. As it neared the area, a single piece of stone chinked off the helmet. As the warrior looked up, a shadowy figure leapt onto the vulnerable soldier. With a deft swipe of a forelimb, the attacker beheaded the soldier, receiving a spray of green ichor in return. The remaining soldiers opened fire on the creature, the rounds missing in their fear and panic.

The creature scaled the wall to avoid fire, its jointed feet clinging with ease, distracting the soldiers from the others slowly emerging from the ground. A sword-like forelimb shot from below the land; impaling itself into a leg before dragging the now screaming Scorp underground. The earth underneath the Scorpion HAWC crumbled away, the heavy mech falling down into the darkness.

A plume of fire burst from the hole as the mech exploded, illuminating the soldiers. Surrounding them were what had to be hundreds of the insectoids, slowly closing in on the group. The fire died away and darkness closed in on the group. A few shots were fired before several thuds and screams sounded out into the night.