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When Carlos awoke to his alarm, he found it hard to believe that it had only been a day. So much had happened over the past few days, it seemed way more chaotic than it normally was with jobs, even though they had been travelling faster and further than most of their jobs. If Anderson were to hear about it, the job would have been terminated. But still, it was time to push on. They were only half done. Now would be time to finish the rest.

Dressing into his gear, he knocked on Taylor's door to see whether he was awake. To his surprise, Taylor was already ready to go. "Would you look at that?" he remarked. "I was just about to go and call on you!"

Carlos smiled. Some things just never changed with Taylor, and that competitive spirit was one of them. "Well then, shall we go?" Carlos chuckled, offering a paw jokingly.

Taylor of course brushed it off. "We're not going to a marriage ceremony, Jarrod. We've still got a schedule to follow."

The bill of the two didn't amount to much when they checked out, Carlos paying promptly and receiving a smile from the fox at the front desk, waving as they headed off. "Please, do stop by again!"

It had felt like an age since Taylor had seen their ship. He could've sworn that he saw the light amount of dust gathering on it, but Carlos could only act confused when he asked. "Dust, what dust? My eyes aren't that sharp, you know!"

A quick system check later, and for anything lost, and they were ready to go. Carlos began to start the systems up, preparing for take off. Carlos took a look at the flight path, and it seemed like it would be a quiet journey the rest of the way. With the stocks that they had, they would be able to live out in the remote of space for a few more jumps. It would be a while before they found themselves at the star system of Arcturus.

The automatic systems were a bit irritating to Taylor, but he let Carlos handle them, as they exited the bay doors. "-Safe distance attained. FTL jump may now be authorised.-"

"So Taylor, ready for this?"

"Pfft, do you really need to ask about that? Course I'm ready!"

The ship began to rumble as the hypercharge drive began to whirl into action, and once more did the stars begin to blur as they accelerated. Leaving the Deep Space colonies far behind, their ship shot deep through space, and they would soon find themselves in the quiet, with no ships passing through, planets or stars. The dark matter converter hadn't fully worked during their first jump, but being operational now was a relief.

Arriving, Carlos near had himself thrown, realising all too late that he hadn't put on his safety restraints. Taylor laughed when Carlos found himself upside down, trying to cling to something that he clearly couldn't. Carlos laughed as well after he had recovered. Such a moment went down as something to gossip about among all the other drivers of their company, but at the moment, all Taylor did was to help the wolf up to his feet, and make a medical assessment that Carlos was not severely injured as a result.

"So, not much out here, is there?" asked Carlos as he settled back in his seat.

"Not really. Just another 24 hours before we can jump again. This part of space is particularly empty. One of many that the Independence Alliance could be resting in. That being said, we probably don't need to worry about it for the moment."

"Well, that just bodes well for us, doesn't it?" joked Carlos. "In all seriousness though, is there anything we should take precautions against?"

"Aside from the nebula we're now approaching, we should be pretty well off."

The nebulae were well known in years past, due to their magnificent appearance among the stars. People had continually taken pictures and observations, but it was only recently that they could actually travel to them for direct observation. Alternatively, they were known for the fact it could also leave any ships passing through without any sign of where they were in the galaxy.

"We should probably adjust course then?"

"I've already done that. The computer should take only a few moments before it goes."

The force as their ship lurched forward made Carlos yip gently. "Consider that payback," smiled Taylor.

"Oh, I'll find a way to take it back to you, just you wait..." mumbled Carlos. "Now that we're headed clear of that, anything else?"

"Not from the looks of things. How's communication?"

"Typical. Out of range of the nearest long distance transmitters and receivers. Dead space."

"Sounds unpleasant--"

"--but perfectly normal," said Taylor. "Not like cities, remember. Space isn't packed full of built stuff. We're still too small as a civilisation for that."

"You didn't have to remind me Taylor. I'm just used to the fact there used to be long-distance beacons wherever we went, and the lack of them is just... unsettling to me."

"We've done this before these past few days... What's different now?" asked Taylor.

Carlos shrugged the feeling off. "Just my intuition. I feel like I'm trying to prepare for an attack that I shouldn't be worrying about."

"Possibly, but we don't really know. Chance is a very unpredictable thing. If I said that there was a one in a thousand chance of us being attacked, you'd know what I was talking about. But what about if you forget those odds, and are attacked anyway? Could you possibly know that the chances were just that?"

"But the world isn't about random numbers and statistics. Symptoms, not causations."

"Fair point."

As they flew through the local sector, Carlos wondered if such a time could come to tell Taylor what he had thought of him. Regardless of the recent events, he had noticed that he had been thinking of him plenty more during the trip. He wasn't entirely sure on how to proceed. A draw of luck perhaps, but it was so much more than that. There were many variables in play.

In the end, the wolf decided that such a subject would probably have to wait until he could steel himself to breach the topic. "We should get some rest, before we make our next jump." Taylor agreed. There was little to say or do anyway out in the middle of nowhere. The lights in the bridge were dimmed, but as they drifted off, Carlos felt a warmth around his paw.

---

Taylor stood up, knowing that he would eventually have to do it. Exiting his hotel room, he made his way out and into the main sectors. During the night hours, there were substantially less people around than during the day, despite there being no particular day or night cycle to follow. He could suppose that was just merely for convenience, so that people could structure their days and weeks, months and years.

Robert had been waiting for him just outside, and he tried to smile when he greeted. "Hey Taylor."

"Hey Robert."

They began to walk. At first, small discussion was placed first, trivial details they knew that really didn't matter, but was thrown in just to delay the more important topic at hand. They passed through to a park, and Robert stopped by a bench. Taylor followed suit.

"So, I should apologise, for not being honest with you."

Taylor sighed. "I'm sorry for being such an ass."

"As much as I'd wanted to be with you, I knew that you wouldn't be able to come with me. It would have been way too convenient. And we all know--"

"--that life never lets you live convenient." Taylor finished. "It'd make the perfect romance. And there's no such thing as perfect."

"Yeah, but we continue to hope anyway." Robert took Taylor's paw with one of his own, and though Taylor almost drew back, he did not. "I want to know if you can forgive me for what I did to you, that time and ever since."

Taylor squeezed the paw of childhood friend, and looked him into his eyes. "I can... I have."

With that, Robert pulled Taylor into a hug. Time seemed to slow to a standstill, and the weasel did not want the moment to end. It was there, that there was nothing, just Taylor and him, after so many years of separation, of sorrow and pain. It finally drew to a close.

"So, you're leaving when the daylight hours come?"

Taylor nodded slowly. "Yeah, I'm only here for this night."

"Come on then. I'll take you back."

They slowly made their way back to The Comet hotel in silence. Taylor felt as if a weight had been removed, his body lighter than he could remember. The troubling thoughts he had about Robert ever since he had left all those years ago had finally started to fall away, the darkness to reveal the shining light once more.

"I'm not for you now," remarked Robert. "We've both changed from the people we once were."

"Yeah. Thoughts of an adolescent, right?"

Robert chuckled. "Right. But you've grown now. You deserve someone who can be there for you."

The implications of Robert's words made Taylor blush at the thought. "Heh, perhaps why we never would have worked out. Too remote, too distant, too damn expensive to keep contact."

---

Carlos might as well have blurted out his thoughts for Taylor right then and there. After all, he hadn't drawn his paw away from the dog resting peacefully, even though the grip that was being held on Carlos wasn't that great, and he easily could have slipped away easily. Could it really be that easy? Surely not? A formalised relationship was something that he could not comprehend in its entirety, and it rather intimidated him when he thought of it.

Taylor groaned as he adjusted his posture, trying to get comfortable. Carlos checked up on the time. Still an afternoon, but without the brightness of the sun getting in the way. Being in space, he had gotten familiar with that, but it seemed different to what it was earlier. Just a little thought passed by, and he kept it until he too fell into rest once more.

The scent of food stirred him from slumber a few hours later, and he found himself waking to it. The jumps that they made were especially tasking on even the most well trained of bodies. The Shiba Inu arrived as Carlos sat up from his seat. "Hey Carlos. Dinner's ready."

"Uh-huh." He took the plate offered to him and they began to eat.

"I must say that I'm glad we don't have to handle using old rations," announced the wolf between chews." Remember that one sample packet that Anderson was trialling?"

"Yeah? I remember how bland that stuff was, Not anyone's kind of taste, really." He was glad that in the end, the trial didn't go any further than that one time with a team that Anderson wasn't particularly fond of. Needless to say, they were quick to quit after they were done.

"Of course. As much as Anderson was really into trying new technology, he really wasn't the sort of guy to make reasonable decisions in regards to it."

"Well, I think the first real success was the hypercharge drive, and even that had issues, especially the first jump around," said Taylor. "Who would've guessed the issues we faced with that?"

They eventually finished their meals, and Carlos made himself the one to clean up anything left over before Taylor ended up doing any more work. When Taylor asked about it, Carlos reasoned it was because his legs needed stretching anyway, and that he could do with the minor exercise. He left the bridge, to clean up. It gave him some time to think about the whole thing, though he already had done plenty of thinking. After all, there wasn't much to space for the most part.

When Carlos returned, he decided to ask. "So, was there a happy ending?"

"Well, you could say something like that happened. Still, we're headed in separate ways." Taylor seemed okay about the whole thing, which made Carlos smile in relief. The emotional state of his friend had left him worried, and it made him glad to know that things ended then with grace and calmness. No crazy fallout with never-ending damage. No attempts to take over the world with vengeance. Just an end.

---

Sion sat in his office with little to occupy himself. As much as the meeting had gone well, most of it was just directing what should be done, where and how. That was mostly left up to the experience of some of the other generals. He was more or less the person that would oversee it all, unlike the others who had decided to get in and pull some weight. He gone to see Major General Dallas, who was doing much better now.

He had looked over the departments when they were all assigned duties and tasks, but something just didn't feel complete about the whole thing. They were all putting themselves in motion, in preparation for a war that only now seemed to overshadow everything. The courier vessel couldn't be far from their destination now, and he knew that the IPF would most likely try to pull some restrictions in order to ensure that whatever intelligence it happened to carry, it would be safe.

As much as the Independence Alliance didn't have speedy spacecraft, they knew that their presence was better than not at all, so when the results had come in, Sion was glad to see that a few cruisers should be dispatched to Arcturus as soon as they possibly could, and a few scouts to see if they could spot it. Their time ran thin, and whether they could intercept before it was too late was not for sure.

It was otherwise business as normal. He had to sort out plenty of the requests from all those beneath him in hierarchy, having to make assessment of situations according to what was required, and what was necessary. There were of course a few joking requests, including guns that fired gummy-bears, which served as something to lighten up an otherwise fairly boring day.

He had heard his wife's message, and sighed a little, knowing his opinion could not be stirred. Not now, not at such a sensitive moment. There must be time to act, and to reverse one's decision would only cause harm.

Sion only regretted in joining forces when he realised how much it had meant to his wife, but that was little compared to seeing that justice was not being done, and injustice continued, the ignorance of the public eye the deciding factor. He would make them see what the IPF were truly made of, and the attrocities that were going on under their rule.