FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

_ ** Prologue** _

Through the black veil of space the creature roamed; through depths that even his kind had never drifted upon...

The small vessel traveled apparently without an established destination.

Inside this vessel, the creature questioned himself about the terrible events that his race had to endure recently. He felt responsible for his race's well being.

He blamed himself for what had happened. He blamed himself for not being able to protect them as he would've wanted. Yet he knew none of his brothers would ever dare to point a judgmental finger at him. They loved him unconditionally, and he knew that.

But the guilt never went away, and this was something that had taken away many nights of sleep. He needed to clear his mind and search for answers. The vast emptiness of space would prove the perfect place for his meditation.

"I'm sorry, Jun..." His glistening golden eyes shined in the darkness of the ship's cockpit. Held close to him was an image of a similar being that was projected through a small handheld device. "I just need some time to think things over... The last thing I would want for you is to carry my burdens. I owe you everything I am now, Jun. I love you..." With these last words and tenderly caressing the image of his best and most beloved friend while he smiled, he closed the device and floated back to the sleeping area. Darkness once again became his only companion.

Time is impossible to keep track of while in space; what felt like minutes must have been hours. The creature soon fell asleep, while drowned in his thoughts.

He probably spent two or three days in his time cycle in that specific sector of space. It was uncertain what made it so peaceful, considering there were basically no stars or systems even millions of Astronomical Units near from his location. Others would be frightened to travel through such confines of space.

Resting in a small sleeping compartment, the creature was violently awakened by a brutal rumble that shook his small vessel. The creature floated back to the cockpit and found himself surrounded by alerts. He immediately disengaged auto-pilot and took control of the ship.

It was uncertain what was causing this, but what was nothing but blackness outside his windows before, was now replaced by a crimson glare. The ship literally felt like falling apart in any minute.

"I warned you Apex." A voice very similar to his echoed through the speakers of the vessel. "The apparent calmness of this sector of space is deceiving. I detected a massive disturbance in time-space and what is occurring now was a very strong possibility. You should have listened to my warning." The artificial voice lectured the creature with such a neutral tone that seemed completely out of place considering the situation the vessel faced at that moment.

"Not now, Fury!" The creature yelled as he struggled with the controls. Screens and sections of the main control panel started exploding in a shower of sparks. The situation was very bad. Whatever had caught the small ship had now a tight and deadly grip on it.

"Help me, Fury! I can't do this by myself!" The creature ordered what appeared to be some sort of artificial intelligence installed in the vessel's systems.

"You ordered me to install myself as a passive sub-program, Apex. Do you not remember? I have no control over this ship, unfortunately." The A.I responded.

Much to the creature's horror, he knew it was true... Days ago he decided to take this trip alone. The A.I that accompanied him was of much help when it came to advice, but he made sure it wouldn't interfere with his meditation journey. He denied it control over the vessel. He never thought he would regret this decision so terribly...

"I do apologize, Apex, for I cannot help you. The ship has fallen into a rupture and has been caught in its vortex. Nothing; including light or even time can escape its grip." Disturbing was the coldness of this A.I under this deadly situation, but a hint of regret was distinguished in his tone for a second. "I wish you would have taken the right decision, Apex..."

"Just stop talking if you won't help!" Hitting a panel, he muted the A.I's voice. It was now up to his knowledge and skill to make this ship survive.

His ship was equipped with very powerful warp drives. If he could activate them, the ship would enter into hyperspace, jumping through this rupture safely. It was a theory, but there wasn't time to sit and think about the consequences. There would be a fifty-fifty chance for this to succeed. But to this point, there was no choice.

The creature floated back out of the cockpit and got hold of an environmental armor suit. He wore it as fast as he had never done it before. After putting on the helmet and sealing it, he rushed back to the cockpit in less than a minute.

"Okay... Don't fail me now." He said to himself, referring to the ship. The creature deployed an emergency shield which immediately surrounded the ship in a metallic cocoon. He then diverted all of the energy, including life support to the energy shields and activated the Warp Drives at full.

All that he could do now was hold on and hope his ship would make it out safe...

The crimson glare became so intense it was almost blinding. As strange as it seemed, this glare didn't seem to have a source. It just came out of everything. It was inside the ship and even in the creature.

The violent shaking soon was not felt anymore, and the sound that overwhelmed the creature went mute. The glare suddenly became so intense it erased everything that the creature could see...

Who knows how much time had passed, if it passed at all. The sound of alarms going off suddenly brought back the creature to consciousness. Floating a few feet way from the cockpit, the creature slowly opened his eyes. His head spun terribly and his body was sore, but he was alive, and apparently so was his ship.

After fully returning to consciousness, he laboriously floated back to the cockpit, noticing the disaster that it was now. Even the strains in the seat were ripped apart, leaving him loose to float all around inside the ship.

Atmosphere failure. Use of life support suits mandatory at all times... Was one of the very few alerts that he could see flashing in what was left of his panel. Another few were going off, but the panel was so broken it was impossible to read it anymore.

His head hurting really bad, and his vision blurred, his first reaction was to try and gain control of the ship and figure out where he was. The ship barely responded, but its positioning systems were not working anymore.

"Fury? FURY!?" He called the A.I. There was no response whatsoever. The creature knew this was bad... His ship wouldn't hold on for much longer and his suit would only keep him alive for a few days. With the ship's hull compromise and its interior in full vacuum, there was no way he could even take out his helmet to eat.

"What have I done...?" He said. He felt defeated. He knew he should have listened to the A.I's warning of the dangers of that sector of space.

Truly alone and with a ship barely functioning, this could prove the creature's demise...

"Jun!!! I'm sorry..." He yelled the name of his greatest friend. Almost sure he wouldn't see him again. With all his hope lost, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable...