The Hybrid War Part 8
#8 of The Hybrid War Series
Here is Part 8 enjoy the final chapter of the hybrid war series
- * * Stephanie was hit in the arm "Inside" Lynx yelled, a bullet grazed his side, Fox pushed the door open, three crewmen inside looked at her stunned "Sorry gentlemen, we are taking over" she said pulling Stephanie inside, Strawberry took two rounds in her butt "Shit, donkey fuckers" she yelled falling into the room, kicking the door closed "What's happening" Wolfgirl asked "Lock the door, get the Admiral on the horn, we have a problem" Lynx said painfully standing up holding his side "He's here" Fox said "Who?" Stephanie asked, Fox and Lynx's eyes connected "The wolf" he replied, "She's on" Wolfgirl said "Lynx, what's the problem" Elise's voice came over the speakers "Objective secure, but we have been attacked by friendly forces and have causalities" he reported, "What?" she replied? "The wolf is here and his squad, they opened fire on us" Lynx reported "Can you tell all other squads that we are going to plan B", "We can, stand by" Elise said. A few minutes later; "All squad standing by" Elise reported "Ok here we go" Lynx said "Revenge will be yours and ours" he said to Stephanie, All over the ship airlock doors opened sucking everything not secured out into space, hybrid soldiers locked in airtight compartments watched weapons, furniture and people fly past them out into space. The control room door groaned then burst out pulling everyone off their feet, Strawberry dug her fingers into the deck, Laura flew through the air and just managed to catch Strawberry's tail on her way past, Strawberry screamed It felt like her tail was going to be ripped out as she let go with one hand and reached down grabbing Laura's wrist pulling Laura up until she could grab on to Strawberry's combat vest, Stephanie got pinned against a console, Fox tried to reach the airlock controls but she was pulled backwards landing next to Wolfgirl, both hung on for dear life, Lynx was nowhere to be seen. "We're venting atmosphere, sir" an officer said "Close the airlocks re-pressurize the ship" the captain said "Yes, sir" the officer said hitting several buttons. Lynx had been sucked out into the corridor, thanking god he had chosen to keep his claws those many years ago; he began painfully clawing his way back into the control room. Bravo squad weren't so lucky; the decompression pulled them off their feet and along the deck toward the nearest airlock, the wolf managed to dig his claws into the airlock; it suddenly closed, crushing his hands. "The airlocks have closed" Wolfgirl said "their powering engines", "Lynx come in please" Elise's voice came over the speakers again "Elise, how's looking out there" Lynx asked "We lost some of our heavy ships but we're holding firm and you", "we're fine, plan B worked well, we'll should have fire control and the launch bays under control in a few minutes, we've lost about 6%, oh and bravo squad is dead", "A shame they were some good men but at least I still have some people left" a new voice said, hearing this Lynx pulled out his pistol and pointed it at Wolfgirl, Fox covered Stephanie "To insure mission success" Lynx said "Well yes," the voice said "We wanted this great ship for the new hybrid alliance, I hope my sweet Strawberry recovers from her wounds and it would be good to see her again" Lynx locked eyes with Strawberry, he saw fear in her eyes, he had never seen her so afraid before. Lynx walked upto Wolfgirl, she was shaking with fear "Can I trust you pair?" he asked, "Yes you can" Stephanie called out "Good" he said and went to Strawberry, he knelt down and examined her butt "Looks like you won't be having sex for a little while, can you walk?" he asked "Very funny, I'll soon have you in bed again, my stallion" she answered. "Elise, we're going back to plan A," Lynx said "Order the evacuations, we're blowing this sucker up" "We won't allow you to destroy our new ship" the voice said, "Your bark up the wrong tree, Shorty" Lynx said "Shorty?" the voice laughed "Kathleen won't allow you to succeed", "Can you track his signal" Lynx asked Wolfgirl, she nodded "I'm sorry but your men are dead, the explosives are set and we're gonna blow this fucker up", "The ship is moving, fire control has been re-routed to us" Fox said surprised, "I got it, he's on a cruiser 185 kilometres away" Wolfgirl said just as a phone rang, Lynx picked it up "Yes" he said cautiously "Alpha leader, this is delta squad leader, we heard everything, we have the bridge, sadly some of my soldiers turned against me, we're standing by for orders, Echo and Horse squads are making their way aft to help you secure the rear of the ship", "Thank you delta, set course for the main fight, we have fire control, Out" Lynx said then hung up, Lynx sent a silent signal to Elise 'we have the ship; we'll put a few shot past you to make it look like we're the bad guys' 'Ok, standing by to take evasive action' came the replied, Lynx picked up the phone "Delta here, we've cleared the shipyard" he heard "Delta, we're going to put a few shots across the Admiral's nose as a decoy, keep heading for the main fight" Lynx said "Roger, look thanks for warning about venting the ship, it cleared the barricades they set up around the bridge, we owe you one, delta out" Lynx hung up the phone "Put a shot across the Admiral's bow" Lynx said "You got it" Fox said and fired. "All ships take evasive action" Elise yelled as the carrier opened fire "Their gunner must be green, they keep missing us" her tactical officer said, the ship shuddered "Direct hit, mid-deck portside, minimal damage, sealing it off" her operations officer yelled 'oops' Elise thought. Fox looked at her screen as she fired and saw fire erupt of the Admiral's ship "Oops, sorry Admiral" she said, "Load torpedoes" Lynx said "Loading" Wolfgirl said "Ready", "Let's spread them out, target the commander's cruiser as well as any heavy hunter ships" Lynx said "Firing" she said. The torpedoes raced away from the carrier's bow turrets heading for the fight, several fighters broke off to intercept them, Fox's long-range cannon fire kept them from getting close enough to destroy the torpedoes. Commander White watched the torpedoes strike several hunter heavy cruisers, "well done team, now target the Admiral's ship", one torpedo was launched, it raced for the Admiral's ship, the commander smiled, the torpedo missed her ship and headed for his ship, "Sir, incoming torpedo" an officer said "What?" he yelled "evasive action, all batteries fire, fire?" A fighter intercepted the torpedo before his gunners could lock on to it "What the hell are you guys doing over there" he screamed into the radio "Just following order, shorty" a female replied "Who's this?" the commander asked "Oh, how the tables have turned, isn't that what you said, Commander White" the female voice replied The Commander's face went white "Strawberry" he said "This is for shooting me and calling me dirty" the carrier's main guns fired, the command centre went up in flames. "Good shooting Strawberry, fire torpedoes" Lynx yelled, more torpedoes raced away turning the Commander's ship into a burning wreck. The remaining hunter capital ships turned and ran, leaving most of their fighters behind, the bold and stupid ones engaged the hybrids and were destroyed and the smart ones surrendered and were ordered to land on the carrier to be taken prisoner. "We won" Fox said "Not yet, they'll regroup and return to fight again" Strawberry said, "Admiral Darkhorse on the line" Wolfgirl said "Put her through" Lynx said "Admiral, mission successful", "Good work, Commander" Elise said "It's just Lynx" Lynx replied "We'll talk about that when I arrive" Elise said. An hour later on the bridge of the carrier, blood still splattered the walls, evidence of the ferocious battle to take it "Welcome aboard Admiral" Fox said "I have given you all; a rank and everything you need to run our newest warship" Elise said with pride "Admiral, I don't know what to say" Lynx said, Elise held out a bottle of champagne "Just give the ship a name and break this bottle over the handrail, then we'll talk", Lynx looked at his people took the bottle raised it above his head "I name this ship 'TIGERHORSE', may god watch over and protect all those who fly with her" he said loudly then broke the bottle over the rail, People cheered and clapped "I accept your offer, Admiral" he said, she just smiled and handed him a swipe card "VIP suite, when you and your squad are feeling better, go and have a week of fun" she winked to him "And stock up on those pills, that's an order". * * * Five years later; a small ship dropped through the sunny Friesian spring sky towards a landing pad set in the middle of a lovely garden "Mommy, Mommy" the four and half year old little Fox girl yelled running into the house "A shuttle, A shuttle" and with that she raced out to the landing area, Her aunty chased after the little fox pup and scooped her up just short of the landing pad, "You know you shouldn't run onto the landing area when a ship approaches, Crystal" the aunty said to the struggling little fox pup, The shuttle landed and a figure jumped out, the aunty put crystal down and she raced to the newcomer "Daddy" she said latching onto his leg, her tail wagging madly "I've missed you", "I've missed you too, little one" the newcomer said picking up Crystal and lifting her high in the air "Hello, aunty Strawberry" the newcomer said smiling "Welcome back, Lynx, oh you're missing part of your ear" Strawberry said "Come on, Fox will be pleased to see you" The pair walked up to the house "Knock, knock" Lynx called out smiling "Lynx, you're back" Fox yelled running over to hug him, "Hey" Crystal called out being squished in between them, Lynx's smile grew as he put down his daughter and kissed her on the forehead "Yuck" she said rubbing her forehead and then raced off, Lynx chuckled and turned back to Fox, they kissed "I've missed you, my vixen" he said to her, "Look at your ear," she said gently rubbing his ear "How long are you back for?" Fox asked "and you said Laura was coming?" Lynx reached into his pocket and pulled out eight ID tags "Oh, no" Fox said taking the tags from him "Laura will want hers back when she and Stephanie arrive" he said smiling "Who do the other seven belong to?" Strawberry asked, Lynx face went sad "To the brave people who died on this tour of duty including Wolfgirl" he said, Strawberry bowed her head "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for her sacrifice". Just then two children came running in and grabbed on to Lynx's legs, Lynx looked down and smiled, Crystal looked at him with fangs bared, she looked more comical than scary, the other was an equine boy, he was taller than crystal "Hello Buck" Lynx said picking up his daughter "I haven't seen you in ages" Buck ran to Strawberry who picked him up and set him on her knee "You didn't answer Fox's question before, how long are you back for" Strawberry asked "That's the thing, the fleet is the space dock for five weeks, conducting repairs, refitting and rearming" Lynx said "the Admiral has something special planned for the us, I don't know what it is yet", "So you're going away again, daddy" Crystal said with tears starting to run down her cheeks, he held her close "I'm not going anywhere for a little while, sweetheart, daddy's ship is not ready to go yet" he said, Lynx's PDA beeped, Fox came over and took the little pup out of his arms, Lynx read the message 'captain, our orders are here, marked for captain's eyes only, will deliver them to you when we arrive, Cmdr Laura' "Fox, our orders are here, Laura will be bring them with her, anything to eat, I'm starving" Lynx said. Thirty minutes later Laura and Stephanie arrived; Laura saluted Lynx and handed him a sealed folder marked 'captain's eyes only', Lynx walked into their bedroom and locked the door, Fox put Crystal down, "Fox, it's been a long time, how are you" Laura said giving Fox a big hug "Not bad, Laura, congratulations on making commander, I'm sure your parents are proud" Fox replied "Thanks, Lynx is a good captain, I can't wait to get back to my little one" Laura said "It is good to see you too, Stephanie" Fox said, Stephanie just bowed her head "And you as well, thank you for inviting me, it was nice of you" Stephanie replied, Crystal walked upto Laura and punched her in the leg, Laura looked down at the little Fox then picked her up, Crystal beared her fangs again, Laura beared her fangs then laughed, Lynx returned. "I have reviewed our orders" he said, "The ship will be ready in 74 hours*, sir" Laura said (* 74 hours was the quickest the shipyard could get the Tigerhorse ready for operations again outside of combat conditions Under combat conditions, the Tigerhorse would the shipyard's highest priority; rearming her and at the same time repairing as much of her battle damage as they could before she was required to return to battle) Laura bounced Crystal on her hip "Not necessary commander, due to our efforts on our last mission, we have received some R&R then we will be going on patrol" he said "What system" Fox asked but knew she shouldn't of asked "The Friesian system, this system" he said smiling, everyone's faces lit up "For how long" Laura asked "With the hunters in full retreat, Command cannot find us anything else to do; we're on patrol for the next eight to ten months maybe longer" he said "oh, before I forget your tags are on the table, Commander" Laura's hand went to her throat, a surprised expression crossed her face as she discovered her tags were gone, she went over to the table and picked up her tags and put them around Crystal's neck, Stephanie also went over to the table and picked up Wolfgirl's tags, she looked at them then placed them around her neck "Stephanie" Lynx said "Sorry sir, she was my best friend after all, I have a responsibility to return her personal items to her family" Stephanie said "Please extend my condolences to her family" he said, she nodded, waved goodbye and walked back to her ship. Everyone sat down at the table "What happens now" Strawberry asked "Well, the fleet will remain in orbit, fighters will do standard CAP (combat air patrol) runs throughout the system," Lynx said "I'll have one week on the Tigerhorse, Laura will take the next week and stephanie will take the following week then it will be my turn again, I know how badly Laura wants to get back to her son", Laura smiled, "I really did miss you and Strawberry up there" he said to Fox "and the little ones", he patted both Buck and Crystal's heads "It is really interesting that Crystal, Buck and Laura's little one, all have the same father" Strawberry said, Lynx went red "It wasn't easy for me and Laura to be away from everyone but we will be here for a while longer" Lynx replied, Crystal burped and everyone started laughing That evening, Lynx lay outside on the ground looking up at the sky lit by the setting Friesian sun, feeling a warm spring breeze blowing from the east, the intoxicating smell of wild flowers filled the air, Fox walked up and lay down next to him, he took her hand "What are you looking at, honey" she asked "Of all the space that I've have flown through and of all the worlds I have walked on, this sky is the most beautiful I have ever seen" he kissed her hand "and do you know why that is" he asked, Fox climbed on top of him and shook her head "Because you are here to make it beautiful, nowhere have I felt more" he paused looking into her eyes "more at home" he smiled and she smiled back, As he pushed himself up to kiss her, time slowed to a stop as they kissed, he felt like he was in heaven until Fox pushed him down "Do you have any pills left" she asked, Lynx reached into his pocket and pulled out two "I have waited so long for you to return, now I have you here, I'm feeling very frisky" she said running her finger down from his cheek to his chest, Lynx need no further invitations, Lynx pulled her down and kissed her again, "You pair making up for lost time out there" Strawberry called out "Don't forget to pencil me and Laura down for some action too" Laura and Strawberry both laughed "I really shouldn't" he whispered to Fox "I'll kick you into next week if you don't" Strawberry called out again, Lynx and Fox smiled as he scooped her up and carried her into the house as the Friesian sun disappeared below the horizon. THE END