FSE

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** Chapter 1**

It was a special day at Canis Major. The D.E Team had gathered at the hangar going through an inventory for a new D.E1 Cruiser. They've been there all day and all the members worked hard to get the ship and the team ready for any emergency.

The massive ship docked inside Canis Major's hangar was always an impressive spectacle and many Evos had ventured themselves around the activity to take images and take a tour inside and out the cruiser; also to socialize with the D.E1 Team.

"Think we could take the D.E cruiser for a spin soon, K9?" A yellow eyed Malamute Evocanis asked the Captain of the D.E1 cruiser. They were both standing by the hangar gates inside the D.E1 cruiser as they checked the runway. Having a view of Canis Major's hangar outside was an experience hard to explain if not seen with one's own eyes; a very large ship inside a much bigger one.

"Not yet, Lay. There are a lot of things to double check first. Maybe tomorrow, my friend." The golden furred Evocanis responded. "Testing the ship is part of the program anyway."

"Yeah... I was excited to move this thing myself this time." Lay the Malamute responded somewhat disappointed.

"I can see your excitement, my friend, and that makes me really happy." K9 said as he placed his arm across Lay's shoulder. "Maybe we can go on with the tests sooner; at least with the Wolf500 Fighters. I have an idea..." He said as he checked his oversized ComPod. "You can lead the Wolf500 tests. Take the others for a flight around Canis Major, and bring me back some feedback on their new systems and engines."

"I can definitely do that, K9!" Lay responded enthusiastically.

"I like your enthusiasm, my friend." K9 smiled. "Hasky is down there with part of the team checking the Wolf500's systems. Come to think of it, the rest of the team and I need her help inside the cruiser, so I'll call her in. Tell her you'll be taking the fighters for a test flight along with the other pilots."

"Will do so, Captain!" Lay replied. He didn't loose time and climbed down the D.E1 cruiser.

Far at the other side of Canis Major's hangar, a small part of the D.E1 team checked the Wolf500 fighters, as K9 had just confirmed.

"Hasky can throw that ball further; I know!" Husky playfully discussed with Nanook the Border Collie and a Spot the Dalmatian. Next to him, his brother Fx and Lya stood. "Hasky, can you do us a favor?"

"Yes, Husky?" The female Evocanis peeked outside the ship she was working on.

"Can you throw this ball as far as you can?" Husky asked.

"Shouldn't we all be working?" A huge black Evo interrupted as he jumped out of another ship.

"Look who is talking!" Hasky responded. "Since when you've been this dedicated, Anubis?"

Anubis the Great Dane Doberman just chuckled and continued working.

"You know, I think we deserve a little break..." Hasky said as she jumped out of the ship and stretched. "And if you want this ball going as far as you want, Husky, I think Anubis is the one we should ask."

It was settled. It was time for a little break to stretch their muscles a bit after a long day sitting inside the cramped cockpit of the little ships.

Nanook and Spot always loved to play ball, competing on who was faster or who threw it further. They both found it fun to look for other Evos to play this little game with.

Excited to see who would get to the ball first, Husky, Hasky, Fx, Lya, Nanook and Spot aligned themselves as Anubis got ready to throw the small ball as far as he could.

"Okay... You guys better be ready. Here I go!" With huge force, Anubis threw the ball as far as he could. The small green ball almost seemed to warp in mid air as it soon disappeared in the distance inside the massive hangar.

The five Evos where on their four extremities, ready to sprint once the ball had stopped. They never lost their focus as the ball soon touched ground.

"Go!" Anubis yelled.

The five Evos sprinted on four extremities and as they gained speed they shifted to run on their hind legs only. Evos were very fast and agile creatures and they enjoyed these physical activities that not only provided them with lots of fun, but also helped them keep fit.

The superiority of Nanook's speed was a well known ability of Border Collies, quickly leaving the two huskies behind, as well as Spot and the other two spitz, Fx and Lya.

Spot was remarkably fast for a being a Dalmatian. All her life playing with her friend Nanook had given her an outstanding speed, being in par with the huskies. But Hasky and Husky were built for stamina, and when the slightly heavier frame of Spot started to take a toll in her resistance, the two huskies soon caught up on her.

Nanook was on the lead, but soon felt the exhaustion. They were half way to reaching the ball. Anubis had thrown the ball further than everyone would have expected.

"Oh no you don't!" Husky yelled as he panted heavily. He managed to catch on Nanook, pouncing on her to stop her progress. "Not today, Nany!" Husky got hold of the Border Collie as he let Hasky gain advantage. "Keep going, Hasky!! We huskies will win this time!"

"Not fair, Husky!" Nanook yelled as she laughed due to Husky tickling her on the ground.

Hasky managed to get to the ball and got ready to return, when she was pounced by surprise, falling to the ground. Taking hold of her was Spot, who had managed to keep close.

The little green ball was now on the ground and after managing to get loose of Nanook's grip, Husky ran to it. He didn't think it twice and ran back to the start point after retrieving the ball. But as soon as he turned away he saw a white figure jumping towards him. Lya sat on top of him grinning as she took the ball from Husky and then throwing it behind her.

"Aren't... you running back?" Husky said a bit dazed as the white Evocanis looked right into his eyes, wagging her tail and smiling.

"Nope..." was all that Lya said. She got close to Husky and licked him gently in his nose.

"..." Husky just had his eyes wide open, lost in his thoughts for a second.

"Fx has the ball. After him!" Hasky yelled.

"Catch me if you can!" Fx yelled smiling as he ran back to the starting point.

Lya got up and helped Husky get back on his hind paws, but they knew the race was over. The vulpine-canine hybrid Evocanis claimed the victory as he managed to cross the finish line. Soon they reunited, panting, but smiling after having a good time with their Evo brothers and sisters.

Lay was there and told some of the pilots what the plans were for that day. Husky, Fx and Anubis were particularly excited to go to space once more to freshen up their flight skills with him. The rest would stay and help K9 on the D.E1 Cruiser.

Some time passed and Lay was ready together with Husky, Fx and Anubis. They were double checking last details when all of the sudden something happened that chilled their spine. The lights at the hangar dimmed and an alert could be heard.

"What's going on?" Husky asked very worried. This alert was never given unless there was confirmation of a possible hostile attack in Canis Major's outer shell; that or even a breaching attempt.

This could not be possibly happening again.

A call from K9 didn't take more than a few seconds to come into their ComPods. He didn't have a chance to speak when Lay interrupted.

"What's going on, Kalem? We just noticed the alert!" Lay's eyes had changed now to that fearsome glare that he usually exhibited.

"Something just hit the outer shell. Surveillance team is getting ready to confirm now." Kalem replied.

"Do you have a visual? Why did the alarm go off?" Husky now stepped into the open communication. It was so common to get hit by space debris, but the sensors never set off the alarm unless it was something that might be considered a danger to Canis Major.

"Not sure. The scanners haven't picked up a visual yet." Kalem replied.

"Tell the Surveillance teem to retreat, Kalem. We are going out!" Lay told the Captain. The surveillance team's job was to assess any damage caused by small asteroids and space trash, but Lay had a bad feeling and didn't want to risk anyone's safety.

"Wait for me and the rest of the team, Lay. I'll let the surveillance team know that D.E1 will be taking care of this."

The atmosphere was tense in Canis Major. All the Evos visiting the hangar got back into the ship as the D.E1 team got ready to get into action. The fear was always present in Evocanis when these things happened, but during the past years, they had become stronger and were ready for anything. So much that they didn't even contact R105 this time.

Part of the D.E1 got ready to go out to the outer shell and face whatever had attempted against Canis Major. Hasky, Husky, Fx, Lay, Anubis, Laser, Ace and Kalem wore the new PX500LD Spec-E Mk.II armor; a modified version of the previous model now reengineered to function as a fully pressurized armor suit if needed.

After inputting a command in their armor control panel located in the left gauntlet, a number of moving parts deployed from the neck and back armor panels in an impressive ballet of technology, finally joining each other to form a full helmet. The armors were fully pressurized in just a few seconds, and the Evos got ready to exit their mother ship.

A small armored vessel carried the Evos outside the ship. They flew just a few meters from Canis Major's outer shell; a black shell of pure iron and unprecedented proportions, coated in a special pigment that absorbed light and made the massive colony appear almost invisible in space.

Flying above Canis Major almost felt as flying over the surface of a black moon. It was almost scary, but they knew that deep below, their warm and cozy home was.

"Approaching our target, Captain" Ace, the female Doberman who was in command of the armored transport vessel said. "T- Minus fifty seconds, and counting down."

"Reduce speed, Ace. If you get a visual, land us fifty meters from target." Kalem responded to Ace's confirmation.

"Aye, Captain."

It didn't take long and the vessel soon went to a complete stop, landing in the outer shell's surface. The ship had two huge sliding doors at its sides fully open, so it wasn't pressurized. This made it possible for a team to deploy immediately if needed.

"Anubis, Ace; guard the ship. The rest comes with me." Kalem ordered.

Not seconds ago, they had a visual of the impact area. For what they could see with their enhanced visors, this was obviously not an asteroid or any natural space matter. This was intelligent made.

Powerful magnetic boots controlled by the armor's computer made it possible to walk as naturally as possible in this Zero G environment. It wasn't long until they switched to normal vision, with light enhancers only. They could clearly see what had hit Canis Major.

"Is that a ship?" Hasky asked.

"It is definitely a ship." Lay replied.

"Everyone on your guard!" Kalem ordered. "Be alert for hostile activity."

They activated their integrated motion detectors and slowly approached the wreck with their plasma rifles pointing at it.

"It is a ship..." Husky gasped. "I can't believe something crashed against us." Husky said as he felt empathy for whoever flew that ship. Taking in consideration the damage of the ship, there was no way any life form would've survived that crash.

"Wait... That damage." Laser soon realized something that they were overlooking. "Those burns... the melted hull. This ship was already damaged when it hit us."

After closely analyzing the ship, they couldn't determine its origins or if there were still occupants inside it. This ship could've well been drifting in space for centuries after the occupants escaped from it.

But before they could get any closer, a powerful impact came from inside the ship. They couldn't hear anything due to the vacuum, but they saw how a panel was ejected from it; probably an emergency hatch. Pieces of the ship floated all around the place, being testimony of the severe damage that this had suffered.

"Alert team! I have something in my motion detectors!" Kalem said as he readied his rifle, and backed up.

"I have a visual!" Lay confirmed.

In fact, everyone had noticed it. From the hatch, a long rod of some sort slowly appeared from inside the ship. For a second, the horrible image of the limbs of those machines came to their mind. But after a quick inspection, they confirmed that it looked more like a weapon that Retcans would use... a spear.

"Do not shoot until I order, is that clear?" Kalem ordered.

This spear had molten metal dripping from its tip. The perfectly round droplets floated to space, eventually loosing their orange glow and turning black as space itself.

The Evos watched nervous as whatever held that spear slowly came out of the ship... Evos were at the top of their condition and ready for anything, but they still couldn't help to be nervous.

It didn't take too long, and the occupant of the ship which miraculously survived the crash, made itself visible.

"Hold your fire... we don't want to start a conflict if not necessary." Kalem once again ordered. But they were locked on to their target. Any sign of aggression and they would have to open fire. After all the pain, suffering and death the Evos had gone through, despite their shared hatred for fire weapons with the Retcans, they wouldn't put up with anything that threatened their peace anymore. They would bring down whatever they considered a menace, and they would bring it down and hard with deadly force.

The first thing they thought was that this being could be an unfurred one. That thought made their trigger finger push harder against it. But something was not adding up...

The being finally was out the ship...

It was smaller than them, for what they could see. His rear end had a long and flexible armor plating, suggesting that this being had a tail. And as far as they knew, there was only one type of creature that exhibited this appendix; a furred creature. That wasn't enough for them to lower their guard, as they had no idea of what was inside this black, blue and grey full body armor. But it was enough to take their finger off the trigger.

Curious, confused, but also defensive, the Evos watched closely at this being that was obviously aware of their presence now.

"It is hurt..." Husky spoke through the com systems. The stance of the being suggested this.

"What do we do now?" Fx questioned. It was true. What to do now? They didn't know if to repel this mysterious creature; leave it there, walk away or what.

They had never faced that situation before.

"If it would want to hurt us, it would already have." Hasky said. She had a point. The creature never lost grip of its spear. But his stance never suggested hostility, but defensiveness instead.

The Evos and the creature just stood face to face for a couple of minutes. Hasky was right; if the creature wanted to hurt them, it would already have. The creature was only analyzing them, probably thinking on what it could do. It was probably as concerned and confused as the Evos were.

"It needs our help..." Husky stepped in again. "It's confused. Imagine ourselves in that situation. It's probably in pain and I don't see any option but to offer some help."

Husky had a point. But despite the Evos had very good intentions, they couldn't let their guard down a second.

"Husky... We cannot do that. You're suggesting that we bring this being into Canis Major?" Fx questioned his brother. Although Fx felt the guilt of doing such thing. What if this was a good creature, or even a furred creature like them? They couldn't do such thing.

"I don't know... I just have a strange feeling..." Husky replied. He lowered his rifle and held his head as if he got disoriented for a second. Something was odd with Husky's behavior but no one really noticed as they were interrupted by Kalem.

"I will try to make contact with it." Kalem slowly lowered his rifle and accessed his armor control panel. He didn't sound sure, but something needed to be done. That being was in trouble and its lack of aggression might be a sign that it was asking for help. "Okay, I have a signal and it's coming from it... I'll try and establish a link. If I speak it might be able to listen."

"No. Let me do it!" taking everyone by surprise, Husky stepped forward and offered himself for the task.

"Husky, what's wrong? Let Kalem take care of this." Hasky questioned her son's behavior.

"No. Trust me. I need to do this." The young Evocanis insisted. "I have a feeling..."

"What are you talking about?" Hasky asked, now worried about Husky.

"I don't know... You'll have to trust me. Remember what happened in that machine's ship when Fx, Anubis and I were trapped in it? Ever since that incident I've seen... things..." Husky confessed, still confused by these events f the past.

"Let's not remember that..." Fx interrupted. Whatever happened in the past, Fx felt guilty about it.

"Regardless... Let me do this. Trust me Captain." Husky said, now facing Kalem.

Kalem nodded and stepped aside. Time was critical. If this creature was a benign being and was hurt, they needed to offer their help as soon as possible.

Still with the rest of the team around him with their rifles readied, Husky slowly approached the being. He had given his rifle to Hasky and walked towards the creature until he was within arms reach.

He noticed that the creature griped its spear harder, but never really felt that it would attack. The creature was just doing what was natural, which was getting ready to defend itself.

"I know you can hear me, and I hope you can understand me." Husky gently spoke to the small creature. "Something about you tells me that you're not a threat to us. If you're not, then we certainly aren't a threat to you either. I know what you might be feeling right now; I would be terrified. If you show us that you're not here to attempt against our peace, we will be more than glad to help you." According to his HUD, his com systems were linked, so Husky's soothing voice was being heard by the creature. Husky just hoped that the creature understood him or at least interpreted is intentions correctly.

"Know that you're in our territory. If we are pointing you with our weapons it's because we need to defend ourselves. At no point we are trying to be hostile with you just because. Please, if you understand me and you need help, give us a sign."

It was a very tense moment. Husky could notice how the creature panted inside his armor. He could hear it too, but there was static. The creature looked at them and looked back at its ship, still panting. For some reason, Husky knew how this creature was nervous and struggling with a decision. It was very possible now that it understood him.

"Please, don't be afraid. We mean no harm to you if you show that you're not a menace to us." Husky spoke as gentle as he could and extended his arm towards the creature in a sign of trust. Not even Husky knew why he was doing this, but something inside of him told him it was okay.

"You need our help... We can provide you with it." Were Husky last words, before the creature started showing true signs that it understood.

The creature let his grip off the spear, and this floated away in the vacuum of space. The creature also detached what appeared to be a gun from his armor and also let it go. Both the Evo and the creature couldn't see each other faces, but for some reason, Husky felt how this creature looked at him, as if accepting his help. The creature extended his arm too and reached Husky's. Both held their hand and this was sign that the creature was no harm for them.

"Ace. Bring the ship. We are going to Canis Major." Kalem ordered.

Husky still held the creature's small hand. It was obvious that it was in pain and he could feel in the gentle grip that the creature gave him that he was thankful for the help.

Soon, the team was back in the transport vessel after helping the creature get on board. There was so much at risk for both the Evos and the creature, but there was not much they could do but to trust each other for now.