FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The soldiers had fortified the walls with scraps of metal and stone (and a few destroyed vehicles) and took out the now rotting bodies of the savages. Zero Unit helped divide up the leftover ammunition just in case, but luckily the reinforcements came within hours of radio contact. Engineers and a small unit of fifty soldiers armed to the teeth. Dante didn't need to be familiar with the colonists' weaponry to know that what Zero Unit and the leftover soldiers were given was outdated by a few years.

One soldier wore silver armor, shined meticulously and adorned with special markings. Not only that, but various war medals had been welded to the chestplate. The visor on his mask was a much darker black, and somehow he tried to portray an aura of dominance over his men, "I am Commander Vishov. Give me a full status report."

Dante looked to his unit, "Wrong guy. Talk to your people, the ones over there doing all of your dirty work."

"How dare you! What is your number soldier?!"

Dante stood up from his seat, "I'm not your damn soldier. Commander Dante, Zero Unit of Fallen Sky. Your leaders are the ones that hired us, and we sure as hell weren't paid to shine your armor." Dante removed his helmet, and the sight of his face shocked a few of the colonist soldiers and engineers, "Have you ever killed a man? Personally, I doubt you do anything other than bark orders and hit buttons. You don't wear a warrior's armor."

"The one-eyed human, I've heard of you. Unfortunately, you're here until the job is done, so learn to follow orders!"

Ratchet sighed, "Orders. If you wanted, your men could have taken this base, but you only risked a dying squad. Besides, our only job was to make sure the tank depot was secure. Nothing more. Once you get a few tanks up and running, we're gone."

Vishov looked at Ratchet, "Learn your place outsider, you aren't even fit to kiss my feet." The shot heard 'round the world, so to speak. Zero Unit stood up at once and Vishov took a few steps back.

"You insult my people? I don't think so." Dante punched the commander in the helmet, briefly happy that the armor covered his hand as well, then spit on him, "You learn your place punk. We've done more than you can possibly imagine, and laying waste to planet would be nothing to us." Dante shrugged, "Not even sure why you want a planet next to a faulty star."

"Guess some savages wear armor." Victoria added, sheathing the sword she was provided, "If they act up again, we should put them down."

"I'm up for that!" Chey was pissed, both Jill and Wendy had to hold her back, "Just ten of 'em! Come on!"

Cratis was the only member of Zero Unit with any sort of police training, and she shook her head, "Highly unprofessional. Did you get those medals in a cereal box? A toy store? Because from what I can see, you haven't earned them."

"Hey hey, everyone calm down. Remember what happened the last time Dante got really angry." Titus did his best to diffuse a tense situation. Vishov's men aimed their weapons at Zero Unit, but some mumbling began when none of them flinched or backed down.

Dante talked to his radio, "Sere, Miss Star, Jean, get our gear ready and make sure the ship is able to leave when I say so."

"Roger that. What's happening down there? It sounds fun."

"Great, she's taking after Chey. Dealing with savages and idiots. The usual."

Angel interrupted, "Dante, we are being targeted."

"Like I said, here until the job is done."

Dante looked at Vishov closely, "Yeah, let's see your best tech take out an inter-planetary ship. Sere, be ready to leave. If anyone tries to board or attack, I authorize extreme force. Zero Unit, take off the damn helmets. Not like we need them."

"You will follow orders! Men, arrest this man!"

"Zero Unit, I think our job is done. They have a standing army and the lot is secured. Sere, pick us up in an hour at the secondary pickup point. Zero Unit, we're moving out."

Vishov was furious, "Take aim! If you leave I will have you killed for treason!"

"Kiss my ass." Zero Unit walked through the gaping hole next to the tunnel and then out the front door. It was the only entrance not yet sealed shut, "Can you believe that? Another sociopath that wanted us to give up everything we had to him simply because he had delusions of power."

"Seems to be a trend. The rest of you noticed how shitty these guns were too, right?" Wendy examined her carbine, "Seriously, it's like they went to an antique store and bought whatever was the cheapest."

"This sniper rifle was somewhat accurate, but I don't ever think I've seen a design this poor and bulky."

Dante led Zero Unit through the plains, which due to the poor gray light made everything look like a wasteland. Thirty minutes of nothing put a touch of anxiety into some of Zero Unit, "Hey! Wait!" It was the young captain and his seven men, "Can we come with you?! I can't stand that asshole."

"You can walk with us, but you aren't coming with us when we leave." Dante adjusted the metal armor, "This is uncomfortable." He unsnapped his metal armor, as did the rest of Zero Unit, "Much better."

"You won't be safe if you're attacked, why'd you take it off?"

Wendy sighed, "You really thought we'd come to a planet at war without our shields?" The soldiers didn't know what to make of things, the mercenaries were wearing clothing, "Are you all that stupid?"

"We're not stupid. Just... uninformed..." The soldiers all seemed a bit embarrassed, "We were born as soldiers and only taught to fight, what do you expect?"

Cratis checked over her weapon again as though she was sure it was going to fall apart, "A soldiers job is to train body and mind. Following orders is important, but you forgot that you weren't slaves."

"I know, these things are pieces of crap. Don't even give their own the best tools for the job." Dante looked into the distance and saw the hint of dust, though it was too small to be significant yet, "Sere, scan ahead of our position."

"You had secret radios?!"

"They weren't secret. Nobody asked." Victoria walked ahead, "Dante, do you see-"

"A large group ahead, keep your weapons ready, we can be there when you need us."

"Keep an eye on things. Zero Unit, keep your weapons ready."

Things had not improved on the wastelands as the cloud of dust grew larger. A glimmer of light, a reflection rather, was seen in the middle of the dust and was made more clear just as the screeching and howling of the savages reached Zero Unit's ears, "So, Dante... what's the plan here?"

"First, we're going to meet that psycho in the glass box, then we're leaving."

"Hey!" A soldier in armor shouted out, "How can you tell someone is in a glass box? You only have one eye!"

"Common sense." The truth was a bit more complex, but basically a group of savages wouldn't carry some holy object into battle, and if their leader was superior to them, they would most likely have a way to protect him or her, "See? Glass box with a bird inside."

The savages stopped around fifty yards away, "Ah, the one-eyed human. I had heard you were here, but I'm disappointed that you chose to fight for them." Brown feathers everywhere, a face like a hawk, wings folded on her back, and a bizarre tribal dress which covered quite a bit, "Pity."

Dante stepped past Zero Unit and into the open, "We're mercenaries. We don't fight for any side, we fight for who pays us. Get your facts straight."

"Confident in the face of danger, a good trait to have. However, you are outnumbered and I know you don't have enough bullets."

"Guns make things easier, but are by no means my only weapons. Why don't you come out and see?" Dante tossed his rifle onto the ground and gestured for the savages to come and get him.

The bird woman held up a hand, "Stop. We are not here to fight, only to learn of our enemies."

"Another boring ruler. I'm getting sick of this." Dante pulled out his flask and took a long drink, "Well you know just about everything you will. They have technology, you don't. You have numbers, but your numbers are all idiots. Ta-da. Sere, what's happening over there?"

"Wait! I'm not done tal-"

The radio cracked at first, "Seems like we're being eyed up by some artillery cannons and the morons haven't stopped banging on our door, demanding that we hand over the Albatross."

"What was that crackle?"

"W--t cra--kle?"

The bird queen looked to the sky, "A solar eclipse, such a rare sight."

"Dante, are you alright?" Jill was concerned at the sight of a shivering Dante.

"Yeah, hey, get up." Titus gripped his gun a little tighter, "This is no time to-what the fuck was that?!" For a brief fraction of a second, he saw wings on the back of Dante.

The one-eyed commander looked at the darkened sun, "Nothing good happens during an eclipse..."

"Dante, we're being targeted! They're giving us a minute to surrender! Angel, what is- you've got incoming! South by South-West! Slow speed missile!"

"Shit!" Chey's sentiment was shared among Zero Unit and the AWOL soldiers as they all looked for a missle, "Dante! We need another eye!"

"Nothing good ever happens. Ratchet, gun up." She raised her rifle and Dante aimed the barrel himself, "Fire when ready, then run like hell. Sere, Angel, you get the Albatross in the air as soon as I give the word. A jump launch if you need to." He was still nervous, "Ratchet."

"Firing!" Her shot hit with a loud thunk and the payload burst in the air. A gaseous substance that was still drifting towards them, "Time to move!"

"What is happening! I demand answers!" The bird queen shouted from her protective glass case.

The young captain of the soldiers shouted, "Run if you don't want to die!" Dante pushed Zero Unit ahead of him and brought up the rear. The winds were not being kind and only accelerated the spread of the poisonous gas, "Sere, take off now! I don't care what you destroy!"

Chey laughed, "Blow up some good shit!" The flat terrain was helping only slightly, but the distant sound of thunder was greatly welcomed, "Hurry up dragon girl!"

"Be there in less than a second!" The shockwave was intense as the Albatross hovered just above the retreating Zero Unit, "Told you!" A ladder rolled down from the newer, wider airlock and Zero Unit climbed up one after another.

"What about us?!" The soldier's captain shouted, "We can't go back!"

Dante climbed up, "Maybe talk to the savage queen, she may take you in." The ladder rolled up and the airlock shut, "Get us off this hellhole." He banged on the wall.

"Right away Dante. Also, there is a live video feed of the Prime Minister of your new enemies talking to Isa. Miss Star believes it will be funny."

He trudged to the bridge, still nervous about the eclipse, "Hey! Check it out! I got perfect clarity!" Sere was covered in grease and a few electrical burns decorated her thick overalls.

The splitscreen video popped onto the screen. The Prime Minister was an older canine wearing a suit gilded with gold and splattered with various war medals, "Now listen here, your mercenaries destroyed our city, abandoned their posts, and took off with our ship. I demand retribution!"

Isa was sitting with a smirk on her face and her antique pirate hat on her head, "You seem to think we're stupid. First of all, your soldiers targeted the Albatross with every bit of artillery in the area, so yeah, they're going to make a few holes to escape. Second, you paid us to take some tank depot, not to rebuild and protect it indefinitely. Third, that is not your ship. That ship doesn't even belong to Fallen Sky! It belongs to Commander Dante." She smiled deeply, "And before I forget, he's the highest ranking member of Fallen Sky."

"That is no excuse! He also insulted my son, a general of the army stationed here. If you don't surrender Dante, his team, and his ship, they you will leave us no choice but to declare war!"

"Alright. War it is." Isa tapped an unseen button, "And just so your people, and I mean ALL of your people, know, I enabled this video feed to override their regularly scheduled programs. That's what a kickass engineer can do. Ahem. Dear people of the psychotic Prime Minister, your leader has declared war on Fallen Sky, and we accept his declaration with a little present. A video of the last people that declared war on us."

Isa hit another button and her image was replaced with the oval-shaped indented planet that was the former home of the hackers. Bits of debri and rubble were still in the weak gravitational field, but the lifeless rock was the main point.

"You, can you hear me?" The voice sounded like the bird queen, "I said we needed to speak!"

There was no video, just audio, "It is from an older device Dante, but I have enabled the audio."

"Go."

"Hate me, hate what I stand for, but didn't you wonder why they were on this planet? It wasn't for minerals or ore. It was for a black technology that crashed here decades ago."

Dante looked at the rest of Zero Unit, "And how do you know that?"

"The savages, they're a race of their own and when this device crashed it was treated as a God. I was accepted into their tribe when my survey team was stuck here. I may not fully believe that it is a God, but I recognize the device from a picture in old books."

"If that's what they're after, this is bad news. Isa." Sere tapped a button and Dante's video appeared next to the dead planet, "They're after a black technology, that's why they're here. That's right loyal followers, your leader is sacrificing your lives for an illegal device that probably doesn't work anymore."

Isa talked but didn't return to the screen, "Oh, well that changes things. No, wait, it doesn't. If you value your lives, take ships to neutral planets and ports. We will show no mercy to our enemies, never again."