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** Chapter 53** The third offense Part III

In Canis Major's hangar, things were getting out of control. The massive ship wasn't exempt from failures and the huge hangar that extended almost kilometer and a half wide was now in the shadows. Only the emergency lighting system kept some basic illumination.

The search for Hasky was proving next to impossible for Husky and Fx. They didn't even know what they were doing at that point.

"She's not here!" Husky said in the brink of frustration.

"I think I know were she might be." Fx replied. "I'm afraid she might not even be here in Canis Major.

"What are you saying?"

But all of the sudden, Husky came to a realization; something was missing in that hangar.

"Wait... where is the D.E Cruiser? If I remember correctly, the ship was docked in this hangar weeks ago."

"Exactly, Husky." Fx confirmed his brother's suspicions.

"That cannot be possible! Why would she do something so stupid? Going alone out there in the D.E Cruiser?"

"There is only one way to find out, Husky. Let's go."

Fx had an idea. They ran to the hangar's control center. With luck, the computer would have its basic systems running and they could see a record of ships leaving and arriving at the hangar in the past few hours.

After a long run, they made it to the control room. A couple of Retcans were there trying to keep control of the hangar's systems. They were startled when the two armored Evocanis rushed in.

"Evos! What are you doing?" One of the Retcans said.

"We need to use the computer. Move aside!" Husky replied assertively.

"Wait, Evo! We have everything under control. I would advise that you return to your Sector." The other Retcan tried to persuade Husky and Fx.

"As much as we appreciate your help, this is our ship and we are entitled to do what we think is necessary. Now, move aside!" Fx harshly replied, piercing through the Retcan warrior's eyes with his own glare. Husky didn't even wait for a response. He was already gaining access to the computer.

The Retcans were left speechless. They had no choice but to let the two Evos continue with what they did.

"The computer is working, Fx!" Husky confirmed.

"See if you can access the records." Next to him, Fx watched closely.

"You two belong to the D.E Development team, don't you?" One of the Retcans asked. "There is no other way you could have that armor accessible to you."

Husky and Fx just nodded but kept their eyes on the screen.

"Please tell me that you're not planning on going out there too." The commentary from this Retcan warrior gave Husky and Fx a chilling cold sensation running up their spine. The other Retcan watched his brother in disapproval. He couldn't believe how he could be so reckless on confessing such a thing.

"Who went out?" A furious Husky turned around and confronted the Retcan.

The Retcan couldn't hide the truth anymore. He had to confess.

"The D.E cruiser was heading out to space not seconds before our group gained entrance to Canis Major. We tried to stop them but they didn't respond. We have no idea who had control of the ship or how many were inside."

"We are doing our best to bring them back." The other Retcan said, but he knew that they wouldn't believe him. Zonda's team was overwhelmed in the battlefield, Alpha's team was stuck there in Canis Major's hangar and so far they were ignorant of the situation with the team in R105.

"They are out there, Husky. We have to get to them." Fx looked at Husky right in the eyes. Husky nodded.

A quick look at the hangar, and they knew what they had to do. Far away, sitting in one side of the hangar, there was a fleet of Retcan S-Series fighter ships. These ships were virtually identical to the Wolf500 fighters.

"We need the codes for your ships." Fx went directly to the point. He faced the Retcan warriors fearlessly and direct.

"What? No. Not a chance!" One of the Retcans replied. "We've gone too far. If we do that we would be held responsible for whatever happens to you two."

"Give us the codes!" Husky confronted the Retcans.

"Look. We can ask for a small group to go and get them. But we can't let you do this by yourselves."

"It's our duty! Our brothers are out there, and you know they will have little to no chance against whatever army the machines had brought!" Husky replied furiously.

"What would you two do if you were in our position, Retcan warriors?" Fx tried to reason with them.

"Look..." One of the Retcans stepped in. He had no choice but to confess the situation and how bad it was. "The machines have us outnumbered. We can't risk going out there at this point. We need as much warriors here as we can in the case that the machines manage to breach Canis Major."

"All we can do is wait and hope that the situation shifts on out advantage." The other Retcan said. "I'm sorry, Evos."

The blood of both Evos boiled. Deep inside they knew the Retcans were right, but the rest of their senses told them to do the opposite. In a bizarre and very rare chain of events, Husky charged at the Retcan warriors.

Both Retcan warriors knew how to defend themselves, but the surprise of an Evo attacking them caught them off guard. One of the Retcans fought with Husky, not knowing if to hold back or fight. Soon he realized that the furious Evo was very strong and was as agile as they were.

Both space mammals were pared in strength and ability even though the advantage was slightly on the Retcan due to his experience. The other Retcan didn't know what to do and just watched perplexed as both the Evo and his Retcan brother fought.

"I don't want to hurt you, Evo brother!" the Retcan yelled at Husky.

"Me neither! Now hand out the activation codes!" Husky growled.

The other Retcan saw an opportunity to gain control of the situation, but he has met with the sound of a loaded gun.

"Don't even think about it." Fx held his E.M.P gun pointed at the Retcan. His hand-paws were shaking uncontrollably. His actions went far away from what he knew it was right. "I know what you can do with your hands. I've seen it before. Husky and I were stunned once by your General."

The Retcan stood motionless; glancing at the very end of the gun's barrel.

"Enough!" The Retcan who fought Husky yelled. He quitted his fighting stance and held both of his arms slightly in the air. "We are not here to fight you. We are here to fight our enemy. All we want is for both of our species to come out safe and alive from this attack. You know how much we love you Evos, and we know how much you love us. There is no need for this, I submit."

Fearing of what could come out from that moment of confusing frustration, the Retcan decided to comply. He slowly reached for his ComPod without taking his eyes from Husky and Fx.

"Put the gun down, Evo. We have taught you how to make proper use of that defense tool. You know better than that. Here," His words hit hard on Fx who immediately noticed how wrong he had done and lowered his E.M.P. The Retcan immediately transferred the codes to the Husky and Fx's ComPods.

"Now, before you go. Tell me what are you trying to do?" The Retcan asked.

"We are not stupid, Retcan. We don't intend to fight out there, that's suicidal. We just want to bring whoever is in the D.E cruiser back home." Husky replied.

"Very well, Evos." The Retcan replied. "Do that and return. You are strong. Maybe more than what I would've thought. But you're intelligent too and know what's best in this situation."

"We will inform Major Alpha. Now go!" said the other Retcan.

Both Evos ran back to the hangar directly to the ships. Alpha's team was too busy giving the massive group of Evos indications on what to do if the ship was breached and if a battle would become inevitable. They understood that persuading them to go back to their sectors would be impossible to this point. Those Evos were now part of the Retcan army.

"You think Luke's codes will work with the hangar gate?" Fx asked Husky while they ran to the ships. Thankfully, no one noticed them.

"I hope so! We are taking a maintenance hatch so we don't catch no one's attention."

The Hangar in Canis Major was a true engineering and architecture prowess. Not only was the hangar about thirty times bigger than a D.E Cruiser ship, but its complex access system made it incredibly safe.

Standing almost 80 meters tall, and shy of 100 meters wide, the massive main gate was an intimidating scene. Behind it, a tunnel that reached almost quarter mile was divided by five other gates of the same size. These separated four decompression tunnels which finally led to Canis Major's exit.

Husky and Fx weren't going to take the main gate. There were various maintenance gates next to the main gate which were much smaller; almost unnoticeable in comparison with the massive scale of the rest of the hangar. Those maintenance gates connect to the decompression tunnel and to another series of small gates.

"Now Husky!" Fx advised his brother. With no eyes on them the finally sneaked their way to the ships.

Inputting the codes given by the Retcans, two of the ships unlocked and immediately they jumped in. They were lucky; a few steps from them stood a maintenance gate. By the time they noticed the ships taking off, it would be too late to catch them.

"B-10; that's the gate behind us. Try Luke's code. The gate should open." Fx said quickly. Both ships hatches were still open and both Fx and Husky sat in the cockpit trying to gain access to the gate's controls through their ComPods.

"Nothing!" Husky yelled frustrated. The ComPod wasn't even able to connect to the gate's controls. Where they doing something wrong?

"Let me try it." Fx said. But his attempts also failed. Luke's codes either weren't working with the hangar gates, or they might've been a failure in the systems.

"Darn it! What do we do now?" Husky elbowed the ship's cockpit furiously. Was there truly nothing they could do?

Suddenly, when all hopes were lost, the small gate behind them started opening. They didn't do anything. It just opened. But how?

"You did it!" Husky said.

"Wait, I didn't do anything!" Fx replied perplexed.

"Are you two planning on going alone?" A very familiar voice spoke to them. "While I'm shocked to see you two here already sitting in those S Series fighters, I'm not that surprised that you are actually planning to go out there."

A couple of meters away from them, a large figure stood. A large Evo as black as darkness itself smiled while he held a ComPod in his hand-paw, pointing at the gate.

"Hemi was a lot of help. If I didn't talk to him before coming here, I would be stuck like you guys. The opening codes for the hangar were changed by K9, and Hemi was the only one who knew them."

"Anubis!?" Both Fx and Husky were surprised to see their best friend standing in front of them wearing an armor.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you everything on the way. Right now we have to make sure to bring back K9 and the D.E cruiser. We are the only ones that can do this. Now that I've helped you with the gate, could you do me a favor and share those activation codes for this ship?" Anubis, in his well known playful mood said as he leaned in an S Series Fighter that was docked next to the other two.

"Wait, did you just said K9 is in the D.E Cruiser?" Husky asked. Apparently, their friend knew more than they did.

"Listen. We have no time. I promise I'll tell you later. Now, give me the code and let's get out of here guys!"

Anubis was right. There was no time to loose. Husky immediately passed on the codes and Anubis managed to activate a ship. Soon, the three Evos made their way out the maintenance tunnel, to the unknown. To that point, their self-imposed mission was really unclear. They knew it wouldn't be as simple as convincing K9, and possible Hasky to return to Canis Major.

Back in R105, things were even worse.

"Commander Titan, we have a problem..."

The well organized Retcan defense squad was slowly being overwhelmed by the number of spheres being thrown at them. Soon, thousands made it to R105 and Canis Major. But the worst situation was in R105 since the majority of Machine Spheres were landing in the Retcan ship's hull and then crawling in swarms to the main entrance of the hangar.

"Those things are coming for us first..." Titan was left in charge of R105 while Captain Silver decided to fight for her ship. But the situation was getting out of hand. With their shield down and their external defenses nullified due to the failure in their systems, R105 was now an easy target for the enemy.

"They want to destroy us first. They know we are a serious threat for them so they are taking advantage of our current crisis." Titan's voice was sounding weak. He knew that this situation could possibly lead to their defeat and total destruction.

"What do we do, Titan?" An extremely worried Cobalt asked. Her fear was now clearly noticeable due to her erratic behavior. The once safe R105 now seemed as vulnerable as Canis Major was decades ago.

"Doko," Titan spoke to his friend and also Engineering Scientist colleague. "How long until the systems are restored?"

"We are working as hard as we can, Titan. Canis Major is reaching a critical overload do to the stress we are putting to its old systems."

"We need to find what did this and reverse the damage." Titan replied.

"Titan, the Evocanis have taken care of the virus. It was a small machine device that was dropped in Canis Major's main computer. But that's not the problem; the problem is that the damage has already been done and who knows how long it might take us to fix it."

"For the sake of this ship and Canis Major, we need the systems restored as soon as possible."

Titan was doing as much as he could, but leading R105 and trying to solve the problem with the systems at the same time was proving to be impossible. The system backup was ready to run, but the problem was that there was no computer to run it in. Everything was fried due to the virus.

At the hangar, team Beta awaited instructions. The hangar was dark and many failures in the lighting system made the situation even tenser. Their fear was that if the machines made it through the hangar gate and managed to breach it, the airlock might fail and they could all be sucked into space.

Retcan warriors were starting to loose their confidence. But it was not their fault but because the way the machines acted so fast and without hesitation. The lack of communication systems made it even harder. But there was one Retcan who wouldn't let the machines infuse fear in R105. She would give every ounce of her energy and her life to lead her brothers to victory, no matter the circumstances.

"We have to hold and trust our brothers that are fighting out there right now!" Standing on top of a fighter ship a Retcan stood. Different than others, her glistening silver armor shined a light of hope in the warriors that a few minutes ago were starting to loose their confidence. "No matter what happens, we stay and fight!"

Her furious glare infused the strength that they needed. She would be there with them until the end.

"We have defeated them before, and this time it won't be different. Trust your brother, your sister next to you; trust your warrior training, your sword, your fang, your claws and together we will drive out these monsters to oblivion! Retcans and Evocanis will rise victorious once again!"

The fear soon turned into battle cries. Silver led her crew; her ship once again.

But their attention on Silver was soon diverted. It was unclear of what they heard. Soon everyone made silence and paid close attention to that sound; that sound that didn't belong in that place.

"The moment has come; sooner than what I expected." Silver uttered as she jumped down from the small ship she was on.

A guttural thump made itself harder in presence as thousands of Retcans watched carefully the hangar gates. This was the origin of that nerve wrecking sound.

"You are a great leader, Silver." A deep voice said next to her. Shadow, the veteran warrior stood by her side, ready for battle. "It has always been a pleasure being under your command."

A slight smirk was visible for a fraction of a second in Silver's muzzle. She glanced at her friend briefly too. But her attention was at the huge gate far away.

"Are you sure you don't want to go inside, Shadow?" She asked.

"You know the answer, Silver. Although I know my body is weak now, I will give everything for this ship. It is my duty." The wise Retcan replied.

"I won't object on that, my old friend."

Silver took out her ComPod and gave what could be her last order.

"Titan, if you can hear me, seal the hangar from the rest of the ship now!"

"Silver..." A hesitant Titan responded behind static.

"It's an order, Commander!"

"... Understood, Captain." A broken voice replied. He knew there was no choice.

A massive metallic door started closing behind them.

"Titan, whatever happens today, please, take care of Bo..." Silver didn't wait for a response and ended communications. The moment had come, and contrary to what Silver said earlier, there was a possibility that many would loose their lives that day.

The thumping sound soon turned into a heavy vibration that could be felt throughout the huge hangar. Movement was now seen in the gates as the massive doors seemed to be bulging at some portions.

The sound of weapons being readied echoed in the hangar too. The Retcan warriors that stood there were ready to confront what could be their last battle.

"Divert all the energy to the airlock, Cobalt!" At the command bridge, Titan yelled. They couldn't avoid the machines entering the ship now, but at least they could try and keep the oxygen from escaping.

A bulge in the hangar gate soon started glowing red. The machines had made it through the depressurizing chambers and were now just one step from breaching R105. Scorching smelted metal now flowed from a gap that was opening in the gate. The machines had made the impossible.

"Keep them out as long as you can!" Silver yelled to her warriors. Hundreds of Retcans opened fire to the gate, trying as much as they could to aim at the gap to stop the machines from gaining entrance.

Retcans used lethal force ballistic weapons. A type of weapon that Retcans dreaded much, but they had in case of emergency. If they used their E.M.P or plasma-based rifles and guns, that might've disrupt the airlock shield and let the vacuum of space drain all the oxygen and kill them.

"We should've used the pressurized armors, Captain!" Shadow yelled as he fired constantly at the gap.

"Too late for that. Keep firing!" Silver yelled back.

How could they've known that their atmosphere would be compromised? All they could do now was to hold the machines for as long as they could.

But they noticed that although they were keeping whatever was at the other side out, they were also making the gap bigger. Soon, the other side of the gate was visible.

"Hold your fire!" Silver ordered. She was holding a smoking rifle in her hands.

The Retcan army obeyed and all of them stood in silence, watching carefully at the gap. There was apparently no activity around.

"They... retreated?" One of the Retcans said.

"Cowards; I knew it!" Another replied.

"Silence everyone!" Shadow ordered. Next to him, Silver checked with a female Retcan warrior. They both paid close attention to an Eco Scanner. Something wasn't right.

"No, Captain... I'm afraid they are not gone." Tech, the Retcan warrior that was part of the comet exploration said nervously as she noticed a signal in the Eco Scanner. "They are giving... space for something."

"What is it? I can't seem to make out anything of these images!" Silver said frustrated. But Tech understood the Scanner better than the Captain.

"I don't know, Captain... But it's big." Her words were frightening. The young female warrior looked at the gap, signaling that whatever the machines were bringing into their ship was very close.

And so it happened...

"Get away from the gate!" Silver yelled. A flashback of the time they saved the Evocanis from the machines made her remember the methods the machines used to breach in a ship.

An immense tremor shook the hangar and R105 to its very core. Most Retcans fell on the ground confused of what that might've caused such an impact. A huge blast of hot air gushed through the hangar gate when its doors were destroyed by the force of the impact. Huge shards of a steel and Lanthracit alloy of which the doors were made of flew above the Retcans heads, landing on the floor and in some of the ships with destructive force.

The gate was gone. In its place, a massive black capsule of some sort was embedded into R105's structure.

Frightened and still in shock by the event, Retcans slowly drove their attention to this capsule. This was the same type of ship they used to breach Canis Major and invade it. Same type of ship also used to abduct many Evocanis. The machines had come with everything they had.

Time felt so slow while one by one, the Retcans regained their posture.

"Enemy on sight!" One of the Retcan warriors yelled.

From the machine ship, a hatch opened. Hundreds if not thousands of those assassin machines crawled out of it. They swarmed through the walls and ceiling of the hangar, quickly closing in the Retcan army. Their horrible humanoid blank masks staring directly to their eyes, it was clear that they were there with only one purpose.

"We defeated them once and we can defeat them again! I pray that these machines can feel pain and fear, for this day we will show them the rage of Lusceonis' finest warriors! For R105! For Canis Major!" Silver yelled. She dropped her rifle, unsheathed her dual Lanthracit blades and with the furry of a thousand Retcan warriors she charged fearless into the swarm of machines. That day was R105's turn to fight for their right to exist.