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The Assignment

Chapter 6: Cinema Calamity I

Fara sat on one of the couches in the enormous living room of her home and leisurely munched on a bowl of cold cereal as she flipped through the morning channels on the equally large holovision on the distant wall. It was early Friday morning and she had managed to wake up a few hours earlier than usual and was spending the extra time relaxing before she had to head to head off to school.

As she shoveled another spoonful of milk and sugar glazed cornflakes into her muzzle she used her free paw to idly flip through the channels, glancing at the timestamp on the TV. It was seven o'clock so there wasn't much on at the moment beside a few early dawn kids' shows and the morning news.

With a bored sigh she shifted her position on the sofa, reclining on the plush surface and balancing her breakfast on her toned belly. Mornings were always boring in her home when her mother and father were gone. Usually her mother cooked and they had a pleasant time. But now that they were both gone all she had to amuse herself was the TV. Times like this she almost wanted school to start early...almost.

But at least in this instance there was something on her mind to her occupied. Today she was going to approach the human and try and convince him to hang out with her and the others. Yet Fara could not help but feel strange, asking him shouldn't be all that difficult and yet she felt a strange fluttery sensation in her stomach just at the thought of speaking with Alastair. That in itself didn't make a lick of sense. She hardly even spoke to him or knew him in anyway so there was no reason for her to feel like she did and yet the uneasy sentiment persisted nonetheless.

'What's wrong with me?' She thought with a groan as she continued to worry about it, like a dog gnawing on an old bone.

Her thoughts however, where interrupted when she heard the word _human_flicker past her lanky ears. The vixen turned her attention to the screen across the room where a pair of news anchors was in the midst of speaking.

"Negations with the Terran Coalition have become tense in the advent of the rise of terrorist attacks across the Lylat system. Just yesterday a small military base on Katina was bombed, killing more than a dozen CDF personnel and injuring many more. The radicals responsible for these continued heinous actions claim to be from the New Venom Revolutionaries, who want to see a return of the old Venomian Empire."

"It is known that several of their leaders and benefactors are disgruntled human radicals from the analogous group in Terran space called the Wolves of Tanvolin, who have similar goals for their people. Heated debates are raging across the system as the hard questions are being asked. Are the negotiations with the Terran Coalition responsible for this rise in terrorist attacks? And what is the CDF's response going to be? It is anticipated that General Pepper is going to give a public speech sometime next week here at the capitol."

Fara sat up slowly and placed the now empty bowl on the cushion next to her. She was interested by the news, just as no doubt everyone who heard it. She still remembered when the Terran Coalition made itself known to the Lylat System back when she was a little kit. A small Terran scout vessel appeared in orbit over Sauria and was deterred by a small CDF patrol fleet that had been touring the system, almost resulting in a galactic war.

Understandably, the first few years of interactions had been tense and both sides suspected that war would rear its ugly head and yet despite their physical, cultural, and linguistical distinctions they managed to prevent open and all-out conflict. The years following were subject to months of discussions and legislature as the factions sought to find an amicable agreement now that they discovered there was another sovereign power in the galaxy.

It was well know that the Terran Coalition were many times larger than the Cornerian Republic of Lylat, owning many more systems, resourced, and military instillations. The Terran military was the largest and most respected martial force in the known universe, fielding massive fleets and armies, and yet they were mostly spread out and policing their vast territories.

Despite their martial aptitude, they were surprisingly determined to preserve peace between themselves and the lylatians and gave a lot of ground in the beginning negotiations. They had withdrawn their initial colonial efforts in Lylat and their fleets pulled away from the neighboring system, maintaining a large neutral zone between the two sovereignties.

From then on they kept only a token effort in diplomatic relations and only recently allowed for there to be a trade in technologies, which had come as a surprise to the Cornerians. The Terrans did not seem to have much of a vested interest in their sector after the galactic lines had been drawn. They mostly kept their distance and tended to matters of their own state and so it was peculiar that they had decided to rekindle diplomatic channels, but perhaps not all that so.

Corneria fielded weapons and shipbuilding technology that was of a different style then the Terrans. The humans still preferred to use ballistic based munitions and most Terran vessels did not have or use shields, preferring to instead build colossal vessels with thick armored hulls. Conversely, Cornerian ships utilized thin hulls with powerful shielding and were constructed to smaller specifications. Both factions were equally dominant in their respective strengths. That of course is an exception for their fighter craft. Terrans had created the most advanced combat fighters ever conceived, the HMCF's.

Fara had heard of them from her father, who had been considerably envious of their supremacy. The HMCF's outclassed every lylatian fighter and land vehicle currently deployed. They were unrivaled machines of war, and nothing could match them.

Ever since she had heard of them she had wanted to be able to pilot one, but they were the most heavily guarded secret of the Terran Coalition. Even in the technology trade the Terrans only gave vague information on them so that lylatians could benefit from the exchange. But it was not nearly enough for them to be able to duplicate their famous and lauded capabilities. Her father's company was making a ship that would be the crowning achievement of lylatian astronautical engineering and it was all very hush hush. She had heard her father call it the_Arwing_ if she remembered correctly, it had been a while since he said anything about it. He told her it would be the closest thing they had to the Terran HMCF but it would still not have the most important aspect.

As she contemplated the future, she continued to listen to the TV.

"In other news, authorities raided an illegal weapons operation last night at an abandoned warehouse located in the industrial complex on Corneria. The details of the operation are being withheld for security reasons but it is known for certain that there were thirty-five fatalities during the raid, thankfully none of which were CDF personnel. Sometime during the night, there was an explosion at the warehouse and the authorities were called in to investigate. From there it has been concluded that they arrived and discovered the hidden operations inside. It is unknown what exactly caused the explosion. The main theory is that some of the illegal equipment inside the building may have been detonated due to mishandling."

Footage of the scene was shown next and she was surprised to learn that it was not that far from her home. The warehouse was only a few kilometers from the Phoenix estate. She felt nauseous as she watched a steady flow of black latex body bags carried out of the building by stone-faced CDF officers.

'Good thing I already finished eating.' She thought morosely.

The vixen checked the time on her wrist chrono and discovered that it was five till seven and so she shut off the holographic interface and hurried to the front door where he backpack hung on a wall mount. As she made her way to the bus stop she thought about her impending conversation with the human boy. And she wasn't sure if she was worried or excited at the prospect.

**********

Alastair parked his hoverbike in the student parking lot and made his way to the astronautics building. The human yawned loudly as he entered and headed towards homeroom. He had been up super late the night before, not having the chance to get home and sleep until three in the morning. Once he had finished up at the warehouse he contacted the CDF intelligence division and they sent a team to contain the situation.

After that he spoke with the General and Arkillian on his findings. He unwillingly recalled the conversation.

It had not at all been pleasant.

**********

"And you did not think it important to leave any survivors?" Arkillian demanded heatedly. Alastair had contacted both leaders inside his safehouse basement with the holotank. And the teen was starting to think that he had made a poor decision in doing so. Beside the holographic representation of the infuriated older human male, was General Pepper, the old bloodhound in charge of the CDF.

Arkillian had a thin lipped grimace, but his eyes betrayed the real depth of his dissatisfaction, which was far more intense than his surface appearance. The dark brown orbs were illuminated with blood boiling anger, and Alastair could his dissatisfaction through the electronic interface.

General Pepper however, was the polar opposite. He stood with absolute serenity, not a single trace of any anger or disappointment on his aged muzzle. Instead he studied the young mercenary with soft coffee colored eyes, what emotion lay behind them, Alastair could not tell. And he had become quite proficient in seeing the truth behind someone's eyes.

The young merc turned to face the ire of his commanding officer resolutely. "It was not feasible at the time, Sir. Once I was discovered it became impossible to take one alive."

"There were thirty-five terrorists in that cell. Surely you could have taken at least one of them!" Arkillian growled skeptically.

Alastair thought back to the fight.

He had managed to eliminate a decent portion of his targets before he was discovered. Then, they managed to pin him down on the first floor, firing at him from a second story balcony while the rest moved in towards his position in an attempt to flank him. Thankfully, the crate he hid behind had been chock full of available munitions. He grabbed a grenade and armed it, tossing the explosive up to the balcony.

Needless to say the ensuing explosion had dealt with his problem.

What he had not anticipated was that it would result in a cascade of detonations that would almost level a quarter of the building and blow a hole through a wall. He had barely escaped the massive explosion with minimal 1st degree burns on his shoulder and lower back. He had also suffered a cracked rib and several dermal abrasions on his forearms when he tried to protect his face from a falling support beam. The terrorists on the other hand, had not been so lucky. Any left alive did not remain so for very long.

Alastair shook his head. "No, Sir. The explosion killed the survivors."

"Ah yes...the explosion." Arkillian drawled slowly, eyes narrowing onto Alastair. "I remember that your orders clearly stated to remain discree_t_. An explosion is not discreet, Sergeant."

"It was...unavoidable, Sir."

The man sighed, rubbing his brow. "Thankfully, we did manage to retrieve some worthwhile information from the computers that weren't charred to a crisp. They were planning on kidnapping the VIP before long, but after this...disaster, it's safe to assume that they'll pull back and take more time to regroup. We also uncovered some information pertaining to another objective, but most of it was damaged in the fire. All we know for certain is that it involved all the military hardware that had been stored in the warehouse. The Intelligence division of the CDF managed to gleam some additional info...General."

The two humans shifted their attention to the bloodhound who had spent the time quietly observing them. It made Alastair...uneasy to say the least, and that in itself was an achievement.

Seeing that he had been prompted to speak, the old canine cleared his throat and clasped his paws formally behind his uniformed back and stood up a little straighter. "This is true. We have managed to determine that the NVR have more cells operating in the city within fifty kilometers of your position. But exact locations have not yet been unveiled. Until such a time as we are able to reveal these locations, you are to continue to safeguard Miss Phoenix from any attempts that may be made. Additionally, there were some references in their network to some leader and mastermind orchestrating their operation, but anything pertaining to their name and identity was irretrievable."

Pepper shifted positions slightly to a more comfortable one. "In the wake of these recent events, we ask that you continue to remain vigilant. It is now confirmed that the NVR have a presence inside the capital city and they do intend to kidnap their target. We cannot allow this to happen."

"Understood, General." Alastair nodded grimly.

He had been hoping that his efforts would have been more successful. Maybe then he would have been done with the assignment and able to leave and go back to his normal work. But it looked like random chance took that away from him. Whatever vital information he could have taken had been damaged in the fire and there was little chance that it would be discovered in its entirety, at least not any time soon.

The canine nodded in satisfaction. "Excellent. Keep up the good work Sergeant." Pepper ended his side of the connection and vanished.

'Good work...?'

"I expect better results next time Arkillian, I put a lot of faith in you kid, better not fuck it up." Arkillian soon followed after the General, leaving the teen standing in the darkness of his basement. After a few moments he dropped his stiff backed stance and sighed. The long winded exhale caused a brief flash of pain in his chest from the cracked rib.

'Stupid ceiling beams.'

**********

Alastair rubbed his tired eyes and stepped into the classroom, doing his customary scan as he did so. The area was halfway filled and Phoenix was with her friends as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. He stepped to the back of the schoolroom and lethargically took his seat, fighting to keep his eyelids open. It felt like they had weights attached to them and the human had a hard time paying attention to anything. It didn't help that today was the day that the homeroom teacher helped them go over math. The incessant droning of monotone numbers and complex equations was an unpleasant lullaby that sought to force him to fall asleep. Still, he had a mission to uphold and so he did his best to power through it. At some point in the lecture he must have blacked out, because he was startled awake by the sound of the dismissal bell. The loud buzzing shocked his system and he almost jumped in his seat, slightly disorientated and reaching for his sidearm. Alastair needed a minute to piece everything together and groaned in annoyance.

'How am I supposed to do my job like this?'

To put it simply, he was overwhelmed. Most of his days were spent at the academy. Most of his nights were spent monitoring the surveillance network he set up. And the rest of the time he had was needed for various other duties such as maintaining his equipment, reading police reports, and searching for more information on the NVR. At the moment, he only had three hours left to himself for sleep, five on a good day.

Yesterday had not been one of those days.

Muttering quietly to himself, Alastair left the classroom and headed off to his next one. Once he arrived he arrived he went through the same procedure as last time, although this time, he noticed something odd.

Every so often she would turn in his direction. It was a subtly shift, but he picked up on it easily. Alastair was puzzled and looked around but could not pinpoint what she was looking at. There was nothing around that that could be distracting, just the whitewashed walls behind him and an empty desk to his right.

'What's she looking at?'

Alastair looked towards her and was surprised when she quickly turned her muzzle away, ears folded back on her furred head. For some reason he swore she looked flustered about something.

'....?'

He was not quite sure what to make of that. For a ridiculous moment, he thought that she knew the real purpose for why he was there, but that didn't make any sense and he discarded it swiftly. There was no reason that she would know, he had been vigilant in his efforts to remain undetected...despite the recent warehouse detonation. Still, there was nothing connecting him to the scene and he had left long before the press arrived.

Alastair shrugged and returned his attention to the worksheet on his desk. 'Whatever that was about, it has nothing to do with me.'

As long as there was no threat to her safety it didn't matter what she did, however strange it might be. His only imperative was her physical safety, nothing else. It mattered not what she did, as long as she was safe.

The teen finished his assignment and turned it in to Mr. Caroso at the front of the room before heading back to his seat. All he wanted was for the day to be over so he could perhaps find some time to relax, as unlikely as that sounded.

Alastair sighed.

'Maybe I might get some extra nap time...next week.'

**********

Fara's emerald green eyes intently tracked the human as he made his way back to his seat. She took the time to study him in more detail. 'Purely for research purposes of course....' The vixen had been curious about humans since long before she had seen him. And although he had been around since the start of school she had not really taken the time to get a good look at him. Alastair had simply not been on her radar until now.

First she studied his face. It was flat and furless with a thick mop of unruly dark black hair atop his head. And from the one time she had seen him smile, she knew he had square like teeth with only a few pointed canines. His skin was pale, but his dark blue eyes more than made up for his lack of color, (at least in her opinion). There was something about those hard sapphire orbs that she found...captivating. But she couldn't figure out what it was. Alastair may have been all but emotionless most of the time she saw him, but his eyes told a different story. All one had to do was look hard enough and they would know that he was far from an unemotional person. He simply held himself differently than most. Perhaps that was why he interested her. Alastair was so unlike anyone she had ever met in her life. And she had traveled to most every planet in the Lylat System with her parents. As strange as he was, she couldn't help but feel that other humans his age were not like he was either. To Fara he was just...different.

As she observed him, he must have noticed as his attention flashed fleetingly in her direction and their eyes locked. Once her eyes landed on his she felt a jolt of electricity shoot up her spine and found it hard to look away from his disinterested gaze. Fara yipped in surprise and managed to tear her eyes away with a scorching blush as she shrouded her muzzle behind her tail. 'Had he noticed? And why am I acting this way?' She couldn't have felt more childish than she did at that moment. The vixen's embarrassment at her overreaction burned her chops acutely.

Perhaps she had been thinking about him more than she herself realized.

The vixen finally allowed herself to look past her bushy russet furred tail and saw that Alastair had returned to his seat and was once more staring dimly at the room and fiddling with his communicator uncaringly.

Fara sighed and leaned back in her seat.

'Come on girl, get a hold of yourself.'

Fara shook her muzzle and focused on her assignment. She had to get it done before class was over and she only had a few more minutes to complete the paper before the bell rang. The vixen could not afford to fall behind in this class. Fara hastily scribbled her answers on the sheet and managed to finish it just as the dismissal bell echoed through the classroom. Shoving her supplies back into her bag, she hurried to the front of the room and handed her paper to the teacher.

She left the classroom and stopped in front of the door, waiting for Slippy and Bill to catch up.

Once the pitbull and toad made it to her they slipped into the crowded hallway. Almost immediately afterwards, Bill began to bombard her with questions.

"So, you're going to ask him during lunch? Do you think he'll accept? If he does do you think he'll actually show up?"

Fara growled warningly. " Bill..."

Just as fast as he started the canine slammed his chops shut and turned to her slowly with a frightened look. He knew that tone of voice very well. "Yeah...?"

"Shut up."

"...Okay." The pitbull muttered quietly, subdued.

Fara almost managed to get all the way to the end of the hallway, but the canine's curiosity was stronger than his fear.

"What i-"

The vixen rounded on him with a piercing glare.

"Right...shutting up." Bill mumbled and made a zipping motion across his lips.

**********

The gang all gathered around the lunch table with the usual arrangement of Fox at the head. It was obvious that he was their defacto leader. "So, you ready, Fara?" The orange cream furred vulpine asked as he turned to the vixen at his left.

She looked up from her half-eaten turkey salad with a confident expression. "Yeah of course..." Yet her confidence only made it to her muzzle. The vixen's tone was uncertain to say the least. The closer the time arrived for her to talk with him the more jumbled her thoughts and feelings became and it was harder for her to keep it all locked away inside.

"Are you sure?" Fox inquired at her odd sounding response.

"Yes, Fox." She muttered, stabbing at her salad with a fork.

"You don't sound like it." Miyu mumbled under her breath as she took a sip at her diet soda.

"Yeah don't worry, Fara, it's not that big a deal." Fay jumped in, trying to help her friend out. "All you gotta do is say a few words to him."

"Yeah, easy peasy." Slippy added.

"I am not worried!" She snapped, slamming her paw on the table.

"If you say so..." Falco shrugged nonchalantly as he took a sip from his can of soda.

"Just watch me." The vixen growled and abruptly stood up from her seat and stormed off.

"Let the show begin." Miyu remarked with a toothy grin.

**********

Fara fumed as she marched away from her friends. How dare they tease her like that! She could talk to a human! There was nothing to be nervous about at all! He just managed to beat up Wolf and his group of thugs' singlehandedly. And he fought Fox to a standstill. He also had an unsettling gaze, as if he saw into your soul.

Nothing to be nervous about at all...

Still, as she closed in towards his table, she began to lose all the confidence she had before. What would he do? Would he yell at her? He seemed to be alright talking to Fox and the other guys. But what if he didn't like her?

Fara shook her muzzle.

Where had that come from?

The vixen took a deep breath and continued until she stood in front of his table. Alistair was doing what he usually did during lunch, staring at nothing. She swore that if he could he would have burned a hole into the table by now. She looked at him for quite some time and she was starting to think that he either was ignoring her or did not know she was there. Fara coughed awkwardly.

That seemed to jar him from his observation of his table and he looked up to her with those icy blue eyes.

Fara felt her heart freeze over under his gaze and fought to keep her breathing steady and untroubled. 'Come on, you can do this!' She screamed internally at herself. 'He's just a human.'

"Uh...hi." She mumbled weakly.

'Wow...great work, Fara.' She thought with a groan.

"....Hello." He replied neutrally after a moment of awkward silence. "What do you want?"

"W-well some of my friends and I were wondering if you wanted to h-hang out this weekend." Fara was surprised that she only stuttered once or twice.

The human seemed to digest what she said and she watched as a frown slowly developed. "Hang out...?" He was genuinely confused by her offer. "What do you mean by...hang out?"

Fara resisted the urge to flop her muzzle open in shock. 'How does he not know what that means?'

"You know..." She began. "Go around and do stuff as a group, maybe see a movie."

Alastair nodded slowly as he started to get a grasp on what she was asking.

She watched as he mulled it over. As she did she noticed that he had no food in front of him again. He never had any food with him during lunch. For some reason she felt she should do something about that.

"Alright, I'll...hang out...with you guys."

She shook herself out of her thoughts and turned to him in surprise. "You will?"

He nodded.

Fara beamed at him. "Great! Here, have my communicator number." She hastily pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket and wrote on it with a pen before handing it to him. "Call me after school and we can set it up."

Alastair stared at the piece of paper before taking it from her paw and placing it in his jacket. "...Okay."

"Greeeeaaaaat..." She said slowly, once more feeling the creeping approach of awkwardness. "Well...see you later, Alastair!" She turned and walked away, tail wagging contentedly on her rear.

'I knew I could do it!'

**********

Alastair shook his head in confusion as he watched the vixen walk away. He was not quite sure what just happened. But it looked like he had plans for this weekend. 'At least I'll be closer to her.' He thought with a shrug.

That should make his job easier for a while and he now had a way to get into their group on his terms. If all went well he would be able to stay close without suspicion, making his job and life a little bit easier.

And, he had her number, which meant that he could trace her device if someone did kidnap her.

Things were starting to look a little better.