《System of the Damned》


 Chapter 1, Stolen Ark

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 1- Roderick


    Stolen Ark


    The Terran Federation was in its second year of life when the fleet yards around Venus started to work on the Voyager, humanity¡¯s first large-scale warp ship. Thankfully the Voyager was named after the recovered probe, which had been retrieved at the end of the war, and not the Star Trek ship. The new world government was ripping off anything and everything that could possibly get them more approval from the populace. The annoying part was that it was working, but winning a war tends to help, and we¡¯d won.


    I was proud as any father could be that my daughter Angela O¡¯Connell had been chosen as its Captain of the Voyager. In just a few years she¡¯d be traveling out into the stars on the warp capable explorer and colony ship, the first official scout of humanity breaching the stars. She wasn¡¯t the first to breach the stars though, the Chicoms had been experimenting at their base on Titan.


    I watched the gradual spin of the stars, moons, and Saturn from an observation deck of the Yangtze, a massive ship the Chicoms had been building in secret to try and colonize other worlds before the Allied countries could. Luckily the ship had only been half loaded, and it was the useful half. Scientists, engineers, workers, and of course the occasional spy that we kindly fired out an airlock into space. Special police, military, all of those lovely people were either questioned and sent back to Earth, Mars, or chucked out an airlock. We weren¡¯t being cruel, but people with Chicom implants couldn¡¯t be trusted to not suddenly be triggered and go insane. It had been seen enough during the years of the war, sadly most of them had no idea they¡¯d been given the implants, and we couldn¡¯t remove them safely. Generally we¡¯d kill the person before spacing them, but there was the occasional special case where we just tossed them out an airlock.


    My name¡¯s Roderic O¡¯Connell and I was the ripe age of sixty five when I was put in charge of security for the Yangtze mission. Gene treatments took years off and gave me the pep I needed to do the job, though I¡¯d heard the Federation was banning that sort of research. There had been too many horrors seen during the war and parts of the planet would be radioactive for a hundred years at least. That wasn¡¯t counting the crater that had been the UN¡¯s lunar colony project or the actually glowing crater that was a former Mars colony, or several asteroid belt projects that had been destroyed. A good bit of Gene mods had been used for less than good reasons, and politicians never changed. Hey look, here is this evil horror! You don¡¯t want your kids risked by these evils now do you? Yes, sign here and oh by the way, here¡¯s some free shots to make sure you never get cancer! Politicians¡­bleh. They love to wave one hand to grab your attention so you don¡¯t see what the other is doing.


    Gene mods were what most called the gene therapy and genetic modification treatments many soldiers and spacers had gotten. Little tweaks here and there to make someone stronger, able to see in the dark, faster, more flexible, or even heal at inhuman speeds. The ones that had made it around as general ¡°therapies¡± were the ones that¡¯d gotten rid of risks for things like cancer and bone density loss in space, along with some of the nastier diseases. Those who were going to work in space or planning on being on a ship for a long time had been forced to get the treatments, after all, ships couldn¡¯t keep up pseudo gravity forever. Many older combat pilots actually had some bird dna in them to help them handle the g¡¯s of combat maneuvers.


    I myself had some wolf and other canine dna that had changed my eyes and made my senses much stronger than a normal human. I was just usually damned near looking at things in black and white, ¡°colorblind¡± people got to see some color variations. One of my last checkups, the doctor had called it ¡°muted¡± coloring, because ok, I could see some color, but I was ok with it since I could see in almost total darkness.


    I knew that the Terran Federation, which is a horribly crap name in my opinion, were calling the new gene therapies ¡°treatments¡±, like they had nothing to do with recoding your dna. Though this is coming from a first generation ¡°Gen¡± as some called us, usually when trying to pick a fight. First generations like me, which I think a total of possibly forty lived through the war, have horrid issues with large bits of permanent memory loss. Loss of skills like talking or walking in many cases. Some of us, myself included, had been ¡°tweaked¡± multiple times before the new ways of doing it came along, and I can¡¯t remember how many times I¡¯ve had to be put through refresher courses on various trainings...literally I have no damned idea.


    Luckily for everyone, it was only the old monsters like myself that had been tinkered with using animal dna. ¡°Your sacrifice and service have allowed us to hone in on and enhance human dna to untold levels without using animal dna now. You should be proud!¡± That particular military funded scientist now has all false teeth and a nice new jaw. It was worth the week I spent chained to a bed afterward. That, kids, is what you call a core memory.


    Having to relearn your family history, friends, or family is hell, and I have no idea how many times I¡¯ve done it. That is thanks to a large portion of my files being redacted, so I guess my government didn¡¯t want to admit the things they¡¯d had me do, even to me. The newer treatments were much better and much easier on the body, lucky kids just get laid on a hospital bed and put into a medical coma for a day or two. Not like first generations like myself, who got to wake up in some creepy bubbly liquid filled tank and have a panic attack. They get nice friendly nurses, I got berated with questions and stabbed with needles after getting dumped out of the bath.


    Thanks to my last gene mods I looked about thirty again, and had kept a small calico beard to go with my shaggy reddish brown hair. I¡¯d been off duty for a busted knee when I¡¯d gotten surgery and the last mods, putting me back up to my six foot five inch height and humped my weight up to closer to four hundred pounds. Heavier bone density, reinforcements, and stronger muscles would do that though. I just wish they¡¯d managed to thin the mangy fur I¡¯d built up over the years, but a check up and repair job was the best I was gonna get. When I was just a young private my commander had given me the team name of Hound, which was only in part thanks to being a mangy panda, and mainly because I¡¯d been an unwed manwhore. At least that is what my files said had happened.


    Six months of hard work by the tech teams had unlocked the systems that had been locked down when we¡¯d stormed the base. An entire valley of the planetoid had been ringed with fission and fusion power plants that were hooked into humanity¡¯s first interstellar gate. I remembered the old shows about stargates and personally wanted to kick the idiot that¡¯d chosen to name the new governing body. ¡°The Terran Federation.¡± What was next, Starfleet? Space elves? Bah, but I knew what I was looking at from orbit as I stared down at the planet.


    It was a gateway, and once powered fully at the proper time, it would hurl us to Kepler-62F in the blink of an eye. I wasn¡¯t as much of a nerd as some, I¡¯d earned my keep in being a rifle toter, a grunt. Now I was responsible for eight thousand lives aboard a five kilometer long and one and a half wide cigar tube. Thankfully it was a heavily armored cigar tube, but I wasn¡¯t happy about the rushed plan to use the gate. I understood not wanting to wait the two years it would take for the gate to come in line enough to use again.


    ¡°Everyone is stowed in the hibernation chambers aside from the operating crew, supplies are aboard and checked, and the Captain is waiting for you on the bridge.¡± Came from Hellena ¡°Hel¡± Evans as she walked up behind me, I¡¯d heard her heavy step halfway down the hall though, magnetic boots had that certain clomp to them. Tall and wiry, she had a few non-standard gene mods too, I couldn¡¯t help but think they were shipping us all out on this run to get rid of us. The platinum blonde was former British army, since she was in recon, she had an eye for trouble that I¡¯d learned to trust these last years.


    I just smiled a little and nodded, taking one last look out the armored port before turning to look at her. ¡°Good, and I saw we have all the medical gear I asked for as well, including the extra tranquilizers for when one of the workers loses their mind.¡± I was rather lax with protocols like saluting or the honorific ¡°sir¡±s tossed at me, plus I¡¯d dropped two ranks to take this mission. The rank of Major just went wrong with my handle.


    ¡°Or you hit on the wrong woman again, or try to get into my bed again.¡± She said and had a little smile, teasing minx knew I¡¯d had issues in the past. Hell there had been a time or two I¡¯d been catching up on forgotten life and gotten smacked by a woman for something I¡¯d done...and couldn¡¯t remember. Military regs were hard for me to keep locked into my brain most of the time, they were one of the many things that I¡¯d forgotten too many times and it seemed damaged. I wasn¡¯t down to eating crayons, but I knew I had a severe case of CRS (Can¡¯t Remember Shit) as my last trainer had put it.


    ¡°I thought you liked the last time we shared a bunk. I even fed your wolves for you and let you sleep in.¡± I added as I moved down the corridor and she followed half a step behind me. She¡¯d also gotten those wolves sent with us on this mission, they like us, were genetically modded. Highly intelligent, gods own sense of smell, and Evans was alpha for them, and once a wolf claims a human...you can forget trying to get it to claim another.


    ¡°Of course it was fun Major...Hound.¡± She almost purred behind me and punched me lightly in the back. ¡°You are a damned Hound though, not that I mind much since you¡¯re at least slightly picky on who¡¯s crotch you sniff.¡± We¡¯d met up originally toward the last years of the war, our units had been tasked to work together on cleaning out bases while the armor units tried to see who¡¯s armor was thicker.


    I lightly pushed myself from the floor as we left the gravity area produced by the ship¡¯s spin, my body twisting a little to give her a bow. ¡°That¡¯s Lieutenant Hound, and I¡¯m a picky eater after all.¡± I teased and caught a bar, swinging myself up into a corridor to kick off a wall and float up through the ship. The walls lazily spun around us as we glided through the micro gravity, because everything had gravitational effects. I¡¯d had that annoying lecture about three dozen times during the war, possibly many more before it thanks to my memory gaps.


    ¡°Captain Rowland was right, you¡¯re a shameless Hound. I thought he was joking about your old handle, but I actually looked it up.¡± She huffed as she followed me up through the corridor to one of the powered assist systems, just a handle in a track that ran the length of this section of corridor. What I wasn¡¯t expecting was for her to kick off of a wall and then me to grab it. ¡°Catch me if you can, O¡¯Connell!¡± Her thumb jammed down on the toggle, jerking her away from me at an annoying pace.


    I snarled as my head thudded against a wall, twisting my body around and kicking off of a hatchway. ¡°I¡¯m gonna give your wolves garlic treats!¡± I yelled as I flew up the corridor after her, kicking off the walls with my hands and feet. Zues and Hera seemed to love garlic, but their stomachs didn¡¯t like it and produced a gas that made even marines like me run for air. Luckily they weren¡¯t normal wolves, or I couldn¡¯t give them the wonderful gas makers.


    She looked back and laughed as she watched me. ¡°Oh look, the Hound is running on all fours!¡±


    ¡°All Hands! Prepare for ship movement!¡± Came over the 1mc of the Yangtze at a volume that would wake the dead. Though the com systems always seemed to be stuck at a setting fit for a rock concert, like they wanted you to hear the orders in your sleep, in a coffin, with earplugs in, sitting next to one of the steam turbines for the fission power plant. Or just constantly testing to see if you could hear it in vacuum outside the ship.


    I cursed and kicked off the wall harder, managing to grab hold of her ankle. My other hand came up and grabbed her belt, trying to climb her to get hold of the bar pulling her up the corridor. Then both of us cursed as the ship¡¯s engines fired lightly to start moving us into position. There was a shift and I heard a squeal of panic as I was suddenly holding onto pants that were hung up on her ankles. ¡°I swear I¡¯m going to space you for this, you yank!¡± She snarled and at least the corridor was empty.


    Sadly for her modesty, the bridge was fully staffed when we shot through its floor. I jerked her down and curled my larger form around her. The ship rushed back up to meet us and the hatch sealed before we landed on our sides.


    ¡°Bring the drive up slowly, one eighth of a g thrust until we¡¯re in position.¡± Came from Captain Rowland who didn¡¯t even look over at us, instead he just held out a hand toward his XO. ¡°I take it that I won?¡± It was more of a statement than a question. He was another tall wiry brit, gene modded, but his mods made him a hell of a pilot. His dark eyes could focus in on distant things and he reminded me of a raven the way he was never bothered.


    Commander Igor ¡°Mishka¡± Wulf looked over at us and shook his head. The tall salt and pepper brick of Russian muscle pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put them in the Captain¡¯s hand. ¡°One is not fully dressed. Master Sergeant Evans, you may don your pants now, and start wearing underwear.¡± His dark eyes moved back to the main screens, like the Captain, he was completely unphased.


    ¡°And, no striking a superior on the bridge.¡± The Captain said casually, again without looking toward us.


    Evans lowered her raised fist that¡¯d been no doubt planned for my nose or jaw, instead she jerked her pants up. ¡°I will wait until we¡¯re off the bridge then.¡± She promised and I heard a snort from the Captain.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Oh I have no doubt that my primary E-8 will be assaulting my primary O-2, though why you two accepted the reductions in rank I¡¯ll never know.¡± Captain Andy ¡°Voodoo¡± Rowland hadn¡¯t taken a rank reduction like myself or others had to join the crew. He also had been promoted properly, and not through battlefield promotions like I had. Or the ¡°posthumous¡± promotions from the time they¡¯d thought I¡¯d died. Or the time a Major had cracked and started giving suicidal orders as shit went worse and worse¡­I swear he tripped and broke his neck. No clue why his head had been spun one eighty.


    Evans stood and grunted when I clapped her on the shoulder to keep her from floating up, my magnetic boots already locked to the deck. ¡°Because, there ain¡¯t anything left back on earth. My last surviving kid is going to be captaining the Voyager.¡± I said as Evans righted herself and got her boots to click to the deck. Though I managed to remember to add ¡°Sir.¡± after a second. Most of us had lost family during the war and aside from myself, my daughter was the only person I had left, and she herself was leaving Earth. Poor kid got her looks from me, and her temper, earning her the callsign Burner...because she used shuttle thrusters to set people and buildings on fire.


    ¡°Same for most of us really, not much left back home and we¡¯re not exactly loved by most of the wankers that are left in charge.¡± Evans growled out as she and I swayed a little with the thrust of the ship coming into position. ¡°Besides...I couldn¡¯t risk leaving security to the Yanks. Sir.¡± She also didn¡¯t have the lack of proper lifelong memories that I had, chunks missing yes, not a total lack.


    That got a rare grin to form on the Commander¡¯s face as the Captain snorted. ¡°Yes, but a yank I¡¯m used to dealing with. I¡¯ve hot dropped O¡¯Connell out of a shuttle into combat zones, but like a bad penny he always shows back up.¡±


    ¡°Titan Tower to Yangtze, we¡¯re beginning power cycling of the gate. T-minus two minutes until you should begin thrust.¡± Came over the 1mc.


    ¡°Copy that Titan control, let us know when to power for the gate. I don¡¯t want to go early and slam into the surface.¡± The Captain said as he adjusted his straps, motioning for everyone to sit.


    ¡°Nothing worse than ramming your big rod into an unprepped hole.¡± I said with a grin as I walked over to an auxiliary station and strapped in. Evans paused as the 1mc exploded with a single braying laugh that cut off with the tower signal.


    Captain Rowland finally looked away from the screens and right at me, a disapproving glare spread over his face. ¡°One of our last signals to the Federation and you fit in a knob joke¡­¡± He was trying to give me that commander¡¯s glare that all Navy seem to learn, but I was a Marine, I was immune.


    The XO cleared his throat. ¡°It is rather fitting sir, though I think they could have made the gate ring less virginal and a little wider.¡±


    ¡°Like a hotdog down a hallway instead of being pretty sure you¡¯ll fit?¡± Came from one of the techs controlling a console, it was a weapons console, so he looked slightly bored. At a pointed look from the XO, he went back to staring at his console screens.


    ¡°I thought the boys always liked it tight?¡± Evans said as she looked around, making several blush and not meet her eye.


    The captain just shook his head. ¡°Enough¡­I need to make an all hands announcement!¡± He ordered and then flicked a few switches. ¡°All hands, this is the Captain. The gate is powering up, everyone strap in for when we trigger the engines. Hopefully it will be a smooth ride, but strap in either way.¡± He clicked it off and looked around to make sure the bridge team had all buckled themselves in fully.


    The XO¡¯s console slowly started to light up as sections sent confirmations that they were ready. ¡°Soft rumble in three¡­.two¡­.¡± The titanic ship shuddered softly, and an external monitor showed a bright flash. ¡°Engineering found another bomb. they swear it has to be the last one.¡± He sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. ¡°Of all of the Federation countries...why did they get the primary engineers from mine?¡±


    ¡°Because you can give Russians a bunch of raw ore and in two weeks they¡¯ll give you back a main battle tank that works?¡± Came from Evans.


    ¡°Cause Muricans would¡¯ve wanted to add more thrusters onto it or dissect the engines to see how they worked, or argued for six years on it.¡± I added and settled back into my chair, checking the neck braces.


    ¡°No, from what I hear, it''s because they were the only ones left after the first bomb was found and announced, and our current engineering chief disarmed it.¡± The Captain said before sighing softly. ¡°While smoking and giving a lecture on scotch and vodka.¡±


    I just chuckled. ¡°Both very good drinks, and both from Russia. And XO, if you think engineering is bad, I¡¯ve had soldiers handed to me from ten or so countries.¡± I just shook my head. ¡°I have French and Germans arguing and fighting, German and Russian combat engineers that argue. Not to mention the North, central, and south american soldiers. I swear it''s like herding cats.¡±


    Captain Rowland laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been down to the barracks sections, it''s more like cranky tigers. Makes me think of a zoo with all new additions.¡± Then he looked up as a timer popped up on one of the screens.


    Down on Titan a bright light started to pulse around the gate ring as power was being fed through it. Fission and fusion power systems started to cycle up their output and fed almost every scrap of power on the moon into the ring. ¡°Checks are good, systems are powering up, gate formation in one minute. Yangtze, begin movement for the gate.¡± Came the controller¡¯s voice, and it was obvious he was trying not to say anything that could be used as an innuendo.


    ¡°Bring us up to speed gently. Half gravity thrust for ten then one full gravity thrust into the gate.¡± Came from Captain Rowland and Commander Wulf hit the intercom and barked the warning about the ship beginning movement.


    I could feel the thrust pushing me down into my seat and sighed as I brought up a screen to watch what was going on. We¡¯d gotten to watch the gate be cycled on a few times already, scouts had gone through and come back with data showing that the system had a world that we could start terraforming and living on. It was more of a moon, but the gravity was decent enough as well. I was looking forward to the fun of setting up a new station on a peaceful and quiet world, one without a war, or any of the problems of earth.


    Evans grunted beside me as the thrust picked up more, the surface of the gate snapping into existence ahead of us. ¡°It looks like a silver pool¡­¡± She said softly and let out a squeak as something popped up on one of her consoles. ¡°Um¡­¡± She tapped a few keys on the console as I looked over.


    ¡°What is that?¡± I asked curiously and then looked away as a tech cursed.


    Ensign Takahashi was cursing fluently in Japanese as a warning klaxon sounded on the bridge. ¡°Captain! One of the backup fusion power plants just went up!¡±


    I had to hand it to the Captain, he was calm as a monk while he tapped controls and brought up the various telescopes on the Yangtze. ¡°Bollocks! XO, sound all stations to brace for possible impact and high G maneuvers.¡±


    ¡°Zaebis! Aye sir!¡± The XO went to typing in the commands as alarms started to sound throughout the ship.


    ¡°Bloody cock-up, that was one of the research bunkers. Pilot! Full thrust, full seven gravities! Now!¡± That was something that he knew most of us hadn¡¯t really prepped for, sure some of us had dealt with high gravity maneuvers, but the pilot just slammed his throttle controls to the limiters.


    I grunted as I suddenly weighed seven times my weight, clenching my stomach muscles and fighting to tap a few controls. If the gate failed, we¡¯d slam into the planet like a rogue comet, if we made it through, we¡¯d fire out the other side like a missile. My eyes caught a bit of worry on the Captain¡¯s face and I punched up what he had on his personal display.


    The control tower for the gate had lights flashing madly and people in suits rushing for shuttles, no doubt hoping to evacuate. I couldn¡¯t figure out why until I saw the flash appear on one of the telescope feeds. It was about that time that I remembered a terrifying thing we¡¯d found at one of the research bunkers, something that we¡¯d hoped to just fire into space. The Chicoms had been producing antimatter in hopes of using it for weapons, which was now causing a rolling stormfront of pure energy and fiery atmosphere to flow across the moon. ¡°Aw, fuck me. Couldn¡¯t they have disposed of that shit before now!?¡± I growled out, because I had a horse sitting on my chest.


    ¡°Anti...matter¡­¡± Came from Evans as most of the bridge crew was just trying not to scream or pass out. Clenched muscles and panicked looks at screens as plasma started to roll off of the armored nose of the Yangtze, while it screamed down at the gate. ¡°This¡­.sucks¡­¡± She managed to grunt out. Luckily for all of us, the nose of the ship had an ion plasma shield, like the ¡°bottom¡± of the ship where it was meant to land.


    ¡°We have to get through the gate before the blast wave hits us.¡± Damned speed junky of a former shuttle pilot seemed calm as could be, and mostly unbothered by the g forces. ¡°Pilot! As soon as we pass through fully into the gate, cut thrust to a single gravity on exit.¡± How did he keep his grunts loud and calm?


    ¡°Aye sir!¡± Came from the pilot as he kept having to make small adjustments to keep us in line with the shimmering surface of the gate. ¡°If the gate fails, we¡¯re screwed.¡± He grunted that all too normal voice pilots were able to have below a certain G force, which annoyed the hell out of me as I was fighting to keep crunched and breathing. How the hell do these damned pilots always sound so calm, and speak normally in higher g movements?


    If the gate failed though, we¡¯d smash into the planet, and smashing into the planet at the speeds we were getting to, meant pain. That pain would be intense, but short, because we¡¯d either die during that intense pain, or when the blast wave hit us. I could see one of the mountains being blasted apart as the energy wave and superheated plasma hit it. People always thought vaporizing something was like disintegrating, sure antimatter disintegrated anything it touched. The bad part of the blast wave was the materials that¡¯d been vaporized and turned into a rolling storm of superheated plasma. It was going to be far more destructive to the ship than the plasma building up on the hull as it screamed down through the atmosphere.


    ¡°This is gonna be close!¡± Ok, now the Captain decides to sound worried? It¡¯s not like we had a choice either way, we¡¯d been past the point of no return when the facility went up. One of my telescope views let me watch as shuttles screamed at full throttle through the atmosphere trying to escape the blast wave. ¡°Good luck!¡± Was all the captain could grunt out on the coms to the racing ships they shot past us.


    ¡°You too. You can make it Yangtze!¡±


    ¡°Get that piece of Chicom shit through that gate Captain!¡±


    ¡°See you in hell Voodoo.¡± Came a grizzled voice as AA missile batteries swiveled and started to launch every single missile they had in their racks into the base of the blast wave, trying to deform or slow it.


    ¡°See you in hell Admiral, Thanks.¡± Captain Rowland growled out as he slowly saluted a screen showing an admiral saluting him from inside the gate control station. Several of us forced ourselves to stiffen up enough to salute him. Because that¡¯s what you did when a high ranking officer committed suicide to try and save you.


    As the missile launchers started to run low and then dry, I wanted to smile and nod as I saw the plasma shockwave had been deformed some. The camera views vanished from the front of the ship as it plunged into the gate. Soon enough we all felt the odd shift of passing into it, but instead of instantly passing into a new star system, we were given an odd light show. The plasma and energy wave had touched the outer power plants along with the outside of the ring before we¡¯d fully passed, and the main ring no doubt by the time we¡¯d been almost totally through.


    The pilot though was bringing down the thrust on the engines and looking confused at the bent waves of light outside of the odd tunnel we seemed to be in. ¡°Um...sir?¡± He half said and half asked as his draw down on the engines only reduced the feeling of gravity for us, not altering the outside view in the least.


    Captain Rowland was looking down at his screens and pulled out the pack of smokes he¡¯d won from his second in command, pulling out one for himself and one for Command Wulf. ¡°Set condition one throughout the ship, all damage and tech crews are to fully suit up and start checking the ship and engine systems for damage. Med teams are to check for wounded.¡± He looked up at the main screens. ¡°Has lowering our thrust slowed us down at all?¡±


    The astrogation officer, First Lieutenant Bakir didn¡¯t look up, instead he was looking over the six screens in front of him and typing rapidly on his keyboard. ¡°Moment Sir.¡± He mumbled as he ran his calculations. ¡°It appears the explosion shifted Titan. I¡¯m trying to clean up the view from the telescopes enough to tell where we are or how fast we¡¯re going. My best guess is no, and I have no idea why we didn¡¯t exit like always.¡±


    Commander Wulf drew in a breath of smoke and held it, before letting it out in a long sigh. ¡°This is not good, we could come out near a star or in deep space. This ship does not have a faster than light drive.¡± He looked down at the cigarette in his hand and sighed again before drawing in another large lungful of nicotine filled calm. ¡°I am not a quantum physicist either, we are off course and do not have a supply line.¡± His accent always got more thick when he was stressed.


    I looked around and sighed as I undid my restraints and stood, moving my arm to test the force on my body. ¡°I¡¯d recommend half a G of thrust for now, get the ship checked and make sure nothing is broken. Then we see how things pan out. I¡¯d rather be prepared and fire out into an open area of a star system than worry about slamming into a star.¡± I bent and twisted, making my vertebrae and several joints crack loudly.


    The Captain looked over at me and gave a soft nod before tossing over a cigarette. ¡°Head down and get your teams policing the ship. I want the pilots for the scout ships and shuttles ready to go. Get everything fueled, armed, and ready to move.¡± He paused for a moment and looked over at the XO. ¡°Have one of the science teams woken up that has a few physicists in it, I don¡¯t know if this tunnel will last another minute or sling us out into another dimension, or galaxy.¡± He looked back at the main screen, which was now showing where the techs were trying to clear up the images.


    The XO moved away and down a ladder to start getting one of the science teams woken up, the 1mc buzzed softly. ¡°All hands, this is your Captain. We¡¯re not dead, we made it through the gate, but we¡¯re not going to be going to Kepler apparently. On-duty teams are to check over all gear, Security personnel will be meeting with Lieutenant O¡¯Connell in the barracks in ten.¡± And then the Captain nodded to me and Evans. ¡°Why did you go from being a Major to Lieutenant?¡±


    I sighed and had to think of how to put it. ¡°I¡¯m a Sergeant at heart, never did like the officer life. Too much paperwork. Besides...I couldn¡¯t outrank you without causing issues, and surviving a few battles isn¡¯t a reason to be a Major.¡± I said and sucked in the last bit of smokey calm before crushing the butt and pocketing it.


    ¡°You still have to do paperwork, but I get your point.¡± He nodded toward us. ¡°Besides with your mods, they¡¯d have axed you back on earth. Get to work, Hound.¡±


    I saluted him and stepped on the button to open the hatch under my feet, dropping out of the bridge and siding down the ladder below. ¡°C¡¯mon Evans, time to earn our pay!¡± I called out.


    I could hear her boots and hands sliding along the ladder above me, a sigh flowing from her in a huff. ¡°Are we there yet?¡±


    I just let out a sigh as my feet slammed down to the deck and I moved to the side for Evans. ¡°Damned kids. Adam, can you put in for our three sleeping squads and the like to be defrosted? I have a feeling this is going to be a standard hurry up and get bored, but I¡¯d rather be prepared.¡±


    My com clicked and then the gentle voice of the ship¡¯s Ai came over it. ¡°I have already gotten one of the medical teams to start bringing them out of cryogenics. I have timed it so that they and the two science teams will be fully roused at the same time. Human scientists seem to behave better when there are disgruntled soldiers around them.¡± I didn¡¯t talk a ton with the Ai, but I liked him well enough. ¡°I am also tallying bets on if we¡¯ll survive this trip and what sort of general spatial anomaly we¡¯re in. Would you like to put in your own bets? Major? Captain?¡±


    We¡¯d been moving down a corridor and hit another ladder well as he spoke, but I let out a snort at his question. ¡°But me down for a thousand that we live¡­¡±


    Evans cut me off. ¡°Some kind of wormhole, same bet.¡±


    ¡°Will that be credits, cigarettes, or bullets?¡± Adam asked curiously.


    I smiled as we made it to my quarters and I climbed down to grab my revolver and gun belt. ¡°Whichever I have the most of or need the most when the betting pans out.¡±


    We stopped by Evans room and she grabbed her service pistol, thankfully her pups had been secure in the labs. They were our next stop. ¡°Is it bad that Adam is already tainted by the ways of servicemen and women like us?¡±


    ¡°I quite enjoy your love of gambling and betting on so many things. Though your ready teams are waiting for you in the barracks. Some of them are banged up as I¡¯ve heard you humans say the phrase.¡± He seemed distracted. ¡°I must focus on other issues, it seems we may need to have your teams move through the ship to help check for damage.¡± I just sighed hearing that and nodded, moving down the drab colored corridors to the barracks.

 Chapter 2, Boredom and sudden chaos

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 2 - Roderick


    Boredom and sudden chaos.


    Thankfully the ship had been set into a one gravity spin before the engines had been shut down, letting the crew that wasn¡¯t in hibernation have some comfort. My teams had gone from being ready to rock and roll, to being so ungodly bored that they were getting into trouble. I couldn¡¯t put them under thanks to the worry of the wormhole spitting us out at random, and I¡¯d run out of training or maintenance for them to do. The absolute worst thing that anyone can do is give soldiers lots of specialized training in how to do bad things...and then let them get bored out of their damned minds. Sure, a few happy accidental discoveries might happen, but usually it required a medical team or fire suppression system.


    Many of us had turned to exercising to pass the time, laps around the endless outer corridors at jogs or sprints always helped calm people down. My feet were still slightly sore from the sixty mile march I¡¯d led the day before, in full combat gear by the way. We¡¯d been so bored that I¡¯d asked for spare alloys and metals from the machinist mates. Then I¡¯d instructed all of my teams to make a melee weapon they were comfortable with, because it was a way to pass the time and see what they came up with.


    That left today with practicing and training with our recently finished weapons. I hadn¡¯t done any work in making a weapon, instead I¡¯d helped the others and taught them how to form and curve metal. In the end, each of them ended up with at least a blade and baton, though some like Evans ended up making themselves something like a longbow or crossbow. Like I said, we were horrendously bored. Some of the techs were working on other options for defense and combat like a man portable railgun or gauss rifle, but I think they were just bored to death like the rest of us.


    Captain Rowland walked in with a large saber fixed to either hip, partly because we¡¯d already had a murder and two attempted rapes. ¡°You got a purdy mouth¡± doesn¡¯t work so well with veterans, especially spacers that will happily cycle you out of an airlock without a suit. Rowland watched quietly as my on duty teams practiced on dummies or in two cases, each other. Most were too busy or focused to notice him and he just gave me a simple nod and a little grin. He needed to work off some steam, and had come down here to spar, something we¡¯d done quite a few times in the few years I¡¯d gotten to know him.


    I sat down and took off my tungsten leg weights, setting them on the floor before standing and unlatching my vest. There was a loud clang as the thick plated vest hit the decking, then two more as I let my forearm weights drop. I could really use the workout and ignored my teams as I moved for a case I¡¯d brought up from my quarters earlier. A few did start to come closer, though most huddled in groups and watched. The ones that huddled were teams that¡¯d bonded best before being assigned to the mission. We didn¡¯t have the free space and materials for me to really slam them through some good training and get them all bonded well. Soldiers are like a metal blank, you get them hot and uncomfortable, then pound the hell out of them with training until you get something you can use.


    Inside my case was a sword and a pair of gauntlets, the sword was as tall as me though. A half inch thick, four and a half foot long blade was tapered down to semi-sharp edges, and five inches across on its flat. A leather wrapped two foot long handle fit well in my hands after slipping on the gauntlets. ¡°Are you letting the crew watch?¡± I asked curiously as I lifted my sword up and held it out at length, before nodding. The only reason even my overgrown ass could handle the sword like I did, was training, and the fact that I¡¯d been used as a lab rat so many times that I was amazed I hadn¡¯t grown whiskers and started squeaking. I had way too much black in my files for it to mean much good, and far too little solid memory of any of it.


    ¡°Adam?¡± He asked of the air, meaning the AI we had aboard the ship. It¡¯d been sent with us in part, most likely to hide that one of the main Federation countries had a full AI. The Chicom AI¡¯s had been a massive issue to deal with during the war, even as crappy as they¡¯d been made. It¡¯d taken Adam to deal with the mass cyber assaults, there¡¯d been far too much for the government teams to handle. The AI thankfully had been a civilian¡¯s baby and well programmed, not that the military couldn¡¯t do it, but military grade anything is a lie.


    ¡°You currently have eighty three percent of the crew waiting to watch you duel Lieutenant O¡¯Connell.¡± The AI¡¯s voice came over the 1mc of the training area in a sober voice. ¡°Betting has tripled since his sword was seen, though it is currently running about fifty fifty for either of you.¡± He sounded a little more cheerful about that. ¡°And Commander Wulf asks that you two don¡¯t cripple each other, something about not wanting your jobs.¡±


    The Captain laughed and slipped out of his dress coat, hooking it on a punching dummy on his way toward me. ¡°The eggheads say that we¡¯re curving away from the galactic core now and heading for a group of stars in one of the nebulas not quite on the other side. Said it would take a day, maybe two before we finally got out of this damned wormhole.¡± As he spoke, he drew his sabers and gave them a few test swings to make sure of the gravity.


    I was doing much the same, making sure I had the weight judged just right. ¡°Good, then we either die in a rapid or slow manner, or find ourselves in a place that we can survive.¡± I took a firm grip on the long handle of my sword and spun, barely feeling the thud of it cutting through the training dummy closest to me. I had to shift my weight and brought the sword around to the ready, giving it a soft kiss. ¡°I missed you¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy, you know that¡­¡± The Captain said and came at me, his swords flashing through the air and making me have to dance my much larger sword around my body to deflect his strikes. ¡°You¡¯ve cut people in half with that weapon and you kiss it like a lover.¡± And then both of us froze in mid motion, my blade touching his shoulder. ¡°A draw as usual.¡± He said with a sigh and put an ounce more pressure upward on his sword.


    I grunted as I felt the side of his blade tap the side of my giggle stick. ¡°Not nice to hack off a man¡¯s bits, but bravo.¡± We drew our blades back and stepped back, though it was my turn to take the offensive. ¡°Remember the California assaults¡­¡± Since we had the distance, I spun and leaped into the air at him, spinning the blade around myself and knowing he¡¯d dodge in time. Instead of my friend and Captain¡¯s head being lopped off, my blade sliced through an aluminum framed table.


    ¡°Oh yes, I came in with a full flight and¡± He dodged another swing, using his swords to deflect mine. ¡°Find a crazy marine guarding the wounded with a sword and dead Chicoms around missing limbs and heads.¡± We paused again as my blade touched his side and his blades touched my neck and wrist.


    I just smiled and drew my sword back as he drew his from me. ¡°Yes, but a sword and a bunch of wounded or dead marines, lots of emptied weapons too.¡± We stepped back from each other and I checked the edge of my sword. ¡°I also remember a certain crazy pilot having this thing for burning vehicles and people with his jet blast.¡± I raised a brow and he raised his sword before pausing in his movement. There was an odd feeling and suddenly both of us pulled back our blades. ¡°Adam!¡± I snapped out.


    ¡°It is amazing that you can feel that. I am picking up minor gravitational and magnetic shifts.¡± Came the Ai¡¯s voice once more over the 1mc. ¡°I¡¯m picking up more odd fluctuations, we may be leaving the wormhole sooner than expected.¡± It was never good when an AI sounded worried, and at that moment Adam sounded rather worried.


    ¡°XO! All hands to suits and ready stations! I¡¯ll be up in a moment.¡± He looked at me and nodded. ¡°Gather your people and get them into suits and to the hangar. I¡¯ll have your pilots ready by the time you are.¡± His swords went to their sheaths and both of us snapped out our arms and clasped the other¡¯s wrist and forearm.


    ¡°Roger that, do your voodoo.¡± And with that we parted and I moved to my case to grab the sheathe for my sword before looking at my teams. ¡°Rouse the others, everyone down to the bays in your full combat suits and loads.¡± Which got several ¡°Sir!¡±s barked out as my troops headed for the barracks and bays. I could feel the little pulls and shifts in gravity on the giant blade in my hands, which meant that the entire ship was getting pulled and shoved inside the wormhole. I had absolutely no idea what could possibly cause it.


    My suit and gear were in my room and I ran down the corridors, then slammed into the ladder harder than I¡¯d meant to, groaning as I started to climb. I could hear the ship seeming to groan with me as gravity pulled at it oddly, nearly slamming me across the next corridor as I moved up the ladder past one floor to the next. Only my strong grip on the ladder and the quick action of hooking my leg around it had kept me in the ladder bay.


    ¡°All hands! All hands!¡± Blasted from the 1mc in Commander Wulf¡¯s voice. ¡°We¡¯re experiencing odd gravitic and magnetic anomalies. Use extreme caution in movement and stow any loose items. In three minutes we will be starting to slow the rotation of the ship!¡±


    I said a great deal of curse words in a few languages as I made my way to my quarters and stripped down. I¡¯d managed to get my catheter in and had the top half of my suit almost down when the next shift in gravity hurled me across my room into the wall. Luckily the armor on my back and shoulder took most of the blow and even laying on my side atop my dresser I managed to get my suit to seal. I lunged for my helmet and snapped the armored protection over my head in time to not crack my skull when the ceiling became the floor. The slam to the floor was almost as fun since I managed to land on my feet, popping the button to turn on my mag boots, locking myself to the surface. It took nearly a minute to get my sword¡¯s sheath latched tight to my back, and I then just had to groan and curse and fight my way down to the bays.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    The engines on the ship came to life to start slowing the spin and dropping the pseudo gravity, since it wasn¡¯t helping anyway. I paused on the floor above the hangars and sighed as I saw a very angry looking tiny bunny floating in the center of the corridor. I just sighed and came out of the ladder bay into the corridor, the little albino Netherland dwarf glaring at me and squeaking, its front legs crossed like it was pouting. It was then that I realized this was one of the genetically enhanced animals. ¡°Oh for fucks sake¡­.come here you little shit, don¡¯t you dare shit or piss on me.¡± I said to it and it squeaked, grabbing my hand as I grabbed for it, bouncing from my hand to my helmet to scrabble inside.


    Amazingly the little thing just wiggled in beside my head and settled on the right side of my neck, laying down. ¡°So you a boy?¡± I asked curiously as I moved for the ladder and froze as the bunny nodded its head, and I mean actually nodded. ¡°Damn they tinkered with you a ton didn¡¯t they?¡± I got a little growl for an answer as I worked down the ladder, feeling a tug or shove every so often from the shifting gravity. ¡°Hey...not all bad, they tinkered with most of us humans too. Make you a deal...you don¡¯t piss or shit on me and let me know when you need out of my helmet, and you can bunk with me and hide in my helmet.¡± I barely got it out before he squeaked and nodded rapidly.


    When I got down to the bay it was controlled chaos as pilots were strapped into the seats of scout ships, transports, and our trio of fighters we¡¯d gotten out of lockup. We didn¡¯t actually have a large amount of weapons aboard, it¡¯d been the driving force behind most of the weapon creation in the boredom. Techs and workers moved about carefully, making sure they always had at least one foot locked to the floor.


    The scout craft were little more than missiles with fat fuel tanks shaped into wings for the rare times they went into atmospheres. Otherwise they were just giant lawn darts with a pilot compartment, a ton of sensors, scanners, radar, and lidar. Our shuttles were based somewhat on the old Nasa design, but with actual engines, armor, and guns. Ok, so they weren¡¯t like Nasa¡¯s old design...they actually worked well and didn¡¯t blow up if you looked at them wrong. The real terror though was that the fighter¡¯s used the same base frame, so shuttle pilots were usually fighter pilots who¡¯d try their best to make you puke, or see if they could break the shuttle with high g maneuvers. I¡¯ll admit to the puking, and thankfully the shuttles are hard to break.


    I spotted Evans with her wolves, which were also wearing armored suits like the rest of the combat teams. The duo¡¯s helmets had a bulge at the top that let their ears move as sensors sent sound properly for them to hear as if the helmet wasn¡¯t there. Like the sound of something tiny barking at them from inside my helmet.


    Several heads looked over at me as I walked along the hangar, stopping to let one of the techs pass by who was wearing an exoskeleton and carrying a crate. I was busy trying to poke the bunny in my helmet that was trying to pick on the wolves. ¡°Quit it...they¡¯re nice.¡± He just squeaked at me as I walked the rest of the way over to Evans. I grunted as Evans grabbed my helmet and looked inside, blushing darkly as she started to cackle like a mad woman. ¡°I found him in a corridor.¡± I grumbled and her laughter died when the bunny used an ear to wave at her in greeting.


    ¡°He just...did you just wave at me?¡± She asked and he nodded. ¡°That is so...weird, and cool. It means you¡¯re like my kids.¡± She pointed to Zeus and Hera, who were looking up at my helmet. The bunny peaked himself out and looked down at the wolves, then barked at them, but it was the two wolves both sitting in unison that made us stare. ¡°I know you...you''re that violent little lab bunny...Xavier! Right?¡± He nodded and wiggled back into my helmet. ¡°Of all of the genetically modified things on this ship, you made friends with a bunny¡­¡± She snorted. ¡°Fits your libido.¡±


    I just huffed. ¡°Time to work, Hel, is everyone ready?¡± I asked and moved to the case that held my ready gear, strapping on my belt with my magazine pouches and latching my rifle¡¯s straps to my armored chest.


    ¡°Ready and loaded into the different shuttles just in case, and I have three of the teams standing by waiting to help with emergencies.¡± As she spoke she helped check over my armored suit, attaching the compressed air cartridges and scrubbers to the hard points. As she finished attaching things to my suit, I turned and attached the things that she needed help with. ¡°Command shuttle sir?¡±


    I just nodded. ¡°Yes Master Sergeant, you¡¯re with me in the command boat. Lance Corporal Miller is my commo man, and I keep PFCs Avery and Johnson. Go pee before I seal us up.¡±


    She was nodding and we¡¯d drilled on this so it took her a second for her head to snap up and she noticed the bunny jumping from my helmet to the table to relieve himself. ¡°I was about to say¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°Ok and I¡¯ve also got Hiroshima with us. I didn¡¯t figure you wanted to leave him behind and bored.¡±


    Xavier finished and left a puddle and some pellets floating in a can on the table, then shifted himself and aimed for my helmet as he kicked off. The tiny bunny thudded into me and wiggled in on the left side of my head to wiggle his way around to the right side. ¡°Like I¡¯m going to leave a bored bomb tech around that plays with anything he can make go boom. I mean his pranks are terrifying.¡± During the boredom of the last couple months, Sergeant Haruki Yuto Yamaguchi had entertained himself by making all sorts of bombs. He¡¯d also made quite a few flashbangs. Bartering had gotten the demolitionist a healthy supply of cigarettes and smuggled alcohol, which he traded for parts and other...things.


    I had four of the smaller flashbangs in an armored pocket on my thigh, and a bunny nestled in my helmet looking at my hud. Zeus and Hera moved to their person¡¯s side and let her hook on the micro thruster packs that her enhanced duo could use better than some humans. We stepped around and through the armored hatch of the command shuttle, my hand snapping up and grabbing a bar as the gravity shifted. I could feel her hand grab my belt and the pressure of a canine curling its leg around mine.


    ¡°Major, best get to your seats, I¡¯ve been talking with the scientists. They¡¯re not expecting our exit to be fun, no matter where we come back into normal space.¡± First Sergeant Muhammed ¡°Prophet¡± Hussein was my highest ranking middle eastern born soldier, and the man that made the others behave. He was also good at keeping track of situations and operations.


    ¡°Aye Top...and it¡¯s Lieutenant, not Major.¡± I said as the gravity pull eased and we moved to our seats, Zeus and Hera laying down on latches that locked their suits to the floor. ¡°Seal up and pressure check.¡± I ordered and snapped my own helmet faceplate closed, the pressure built up and after a moment I cracked my faceplate¡¯s vents and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m good.¡±


    The others said much the same as they cracked their vents after their checks, but one of them heard a soft chitter and PFC Johnson tilted her head as she looked at my helmeted face. Evans did well in keeping silent and not saying a word. ¡°Is there something in your helm¡­¡± Her words died as Xavier barked that tiny bark he¡¯d done at the wolves. ¡°Lieutenant!?¡±


    I just chuckled. ¡°Oh stop messing with her¡­¡± I tilted my head enough and Xavier peeked his wee head up, wiggled an ear at her, and then settled back down beside my neck. ¡°Pfc Johnson, that is Xavier, who is now my helmet buddy and apparently normally violent. He¡¯s probably been gene modded as much as I am or more.¡± I gave a little shrug at the thought.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s about most of us Sir, but isn¡¯t that the trick with this group? Most unloved and unwanted by the purists that are happy we won the war, but wanted us out of sight?¡± Johnson grumbled. It was a usual grumble and something we¡¯d all figured out in one way or another, most of us had gotten the job because we¡¯d all had the most gene mods. There¡¯d been much more widespread and general mods, but ours were hard set military mods. The new government didn¡¯t want those genes flowing through their perfect little populace.


    ¡°Aye, I know...now sit back and let me call the Captain.¡± I said and focused on a spot on my hud, bringing up another menu and focusing on the Captain¡¯s connection. ¡°We¡¯re latched down, ready to move as soon as we¡¯re¡­¡± I grunted as it felt like we were suddenly in a trash can that''d been kicked down a rocky hill.


    ¡°All hands! We¡¯re leaving the wormhole! Hang the hell on!¡± Came over the 1mc and coms in our helmets. Xavier squeaked softly and I could feel his fur standing up as my hair was trying to on my body.


    Then all of the uneasy feelings seemed to vanish faster than they¡¯d shown up and I blinked a few times, sucking in a few deep breaths. ¡°All teams launch! We¡¯re in a system and we need to spin the ship and fire the engines to reduce speed.¡± Came over my coms and the pilot¡¯s as bay doors slammed down and the air was sucked from inside.


    The shuttle was shifted and faced toward the outer blast doors pulling open, then fired out with a burst from its thrusters, another few bursts formed it up with the other shuttles and scout craft. I, like many of my people, were staring at the gas giant we were currently screaming past, while our pilots worked to get us out of the Yangtze¡¯s way.


    One of the reasons many of us were staring at the screens or out port holes was the fact that there was an installation hanging down into the jovian¡¯s atmosphere. It made the Yangtze look like the pinky finger compared to a hand, and it wasn¡¯t human built. My attention snapped back to my hud as it displayed the Yangtze firing its thrusters to turn one hundred and eighty degrees, the main drives flaring brightly as they came to life. It would pass by the Jovian and no doubt out of its primary gravity well, but it wasn¡¯t going to slow too quickly.


    The scout ships actually rocketed ahead of the Yangtze to try and find out what was ahead of it, sensors going as strongly as they could go. Hundreds of probes started to fire from tubes along the big ship¡¯s sides as the thick plumes of plasma tried to slow it. ¡°There!¡± Came from Pfc Avery, and he was pointing to a bulkhead, meaning the picture in his hud.


    Xavier squeaked and I chuckled at the bunny bitching. ¡°Share the feed, Noble!¡± I barked out at him and watched as he grunted and eyes flicked to spots to share the feed with us. When his feed showed on my hud I blinked, it looked like the remnants of a battle. Ships, dozens if not hundreds of them, sat rent and broken in the void of space. There were obviously more than one species'' ships in the chaos, which had apparently ran into the massive field of wreckage at high speeds.


    ¡°Oh god...Sir...those ships look like they were spat out here like us and crashed.¡± Hiroshima said as he looked at the various feeds in his hud. ¡°Wreckage is ancient, heavy buildup of dust and it looks like very high yield weaponry.¡±


    ¡°We got lucky kids. another half a second in the wormhole or if we¡¯d of been accelerating longer inside it, we''d be like them.¡± Lance Corporal Miller said as he was listening to several different things at once. ¡°Squads alpha and bravo request to stick close to the ship Sir, Sergeant Abrams said she¡¯s already had to fire on debris.¡±


    ¡°Approved. send orders to all shuttles to watch for debris and screen the Yangtze...except ours. We¡¯re going with the scouts and finding out if we need to fire nukes ahead of the damned ship.¡± I ordered and brought up the pilot¡¯s connection. ¡°Take us out ahead of the Yangtze with the scout craft. Dump all the sensor and visual data back here, you know the drill Blitz.¡±


    ¡°Aye Major.¡± Came from Warrant Officer William ¡°Blitz¡± Krieg, Soldiers were never too inventive with team names, and with a few flicks of his fingers, displays came up in the command shuttle. The rest of us pushed the buttons on our seats that brought us up to standing positions, getting to work checking to make sure nothing was getting into the way of the Yangtze, which was going to take time to slow down.


    Hours passed and we realized a monstrous issue, this gas giant had rather large moons circling it, and the Yangtze was heading for one of them. It looked like it had lush areas, ocean sized lakes, about one and a half times the size of earth, and had whopping big craters in some areas. The planet had seen war and devastation long ago, and still seemed to support life, hopefully it supported human life.

 Chapter 3, Roll for perception check

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 3 - Roderick


    Roll for Perception Check.


    The Yangtze stopped its retro thrusting and I was ordered back to the ship for a meeting on the bridge, the scouts had already refueled. My command shuttle dropped me off, refueled, and went back out to help destroy debris in the way of the colony ship. I of course still had Xavier riding in my helmet, the fuzzy shit snored and kicked in his sleep. He¡¯d already kicked me a few times in the jaw before I got aboard.


    What had surprised me was that as I moved through the hangar and up the ladder for the main pathway I¡¯d need for the bridge, I¡¯d seen the techs getting more fighters out. Not just the fighters, but seven more scouts had already been launched. What truly surprised me was the fact that all of the ground gear and vehicles were being prepared, but that required us to actually land.


    I had to stop at a bathroom, well more turn around and run for one when Xavier woke up and started chittering and poking at the faceplate. I made it just in time to not have him unload in my helmet, and a sink worked for a bunny. Though my stop earned me¡­¡±What the bloody hell took you so long Lieutenant? You stop to take a shite?¡± From Captain Rowland.


    ¡°Actually¡­¡± I triggered my visor and snapped it upright, revealing Xavier, who twisted one of his ears across the other in a salute. ¡°Xavier here needed an emergency stop, and don¡¯t ask. I found him in one of the corridors on my way to the shuttle. He¡¯s smart and behaves in my helmet.¡± I shrugged, and tried to ignore the fact that I was being stared at by several people, including all of the senior staff of the ship.


    One of the people was also being glared at by the fuzzy lump in my helmet and I heard Xavier growl as the lanky dark haired lab lead took a step back from me. ¡°If he gets along with you, then you can keep him. Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯ll do the paperwork myself.¡± Came from the man as he went wide around me and nearly dove through the hatch to escape.


    I was thoroughly confused until the XO boomed in deep laughter. ¡°Oh we were just discussing the violent escape of several lab animals and one particular bunny with the doctor. Did you by chance look at the bunny¡¯s teeth?¡± When I shook my head Igor nodded. ¡°Little one, would you be so kind as to show your partner? I will give you coffee.¡± Commander Wulf always sounded like a stereotypical Russian Bond villain when he was cheerful.


    If my boots hadn¡¯t been locked to the floor, I¡¯d have flipped backwards flailing as Xavier was suddenly in front of my right eye and smiling in an unsettling predatory way...for a bunny. He didn¡¯t have the normal buck teeth, instead he had lots of sharp pointy teeth. ¡°Jesus titfucking Christ!¡± I yelped and heard the Captain sigh.


    ¡°Commander...can I guess that your visits to the lab sections during the trip have included a certain bunny that the medical staff have come to fear?¡± Captain Rowland asked as Xavier held onto my helmet and leaned to suck on the bulb of coffee held for him by the XO.


    ¡°I may have slipped him coffee, puffs off of my smokes, and snacks. There is also a cat down there that I¡¯ve claimed, but she¡¯s finicky about people. Though I think we need to get on track with the meeting. All reports are in and we¡¯re low on fuel for the main thrusters.¡± His eyes flicked to me as Xavier wiggled back into my helmet and came around my neck to his spot on the right, looking out and chittering.


    ¡°We have even used some of the waste system water for the thrusters, but we¡¯re low. We should, and I am guessing on should...have enough to land on that moon.¡± Captain Rowland said grimly as he lit a cigarette, drawing in a deep breath of smoke before handing it off to the XO.


    ¡°Great, that means that you have to land the damned ship or crash it¡­.I¡¯m hoping for land myself.¡± I took the cigarette as Igor passed it over to me and took a deep breath, then snorted as Xavier peaked out enough to get a hit on it. ¡°The atmospheric engines run off of the fission plant if I remember right, you just have to slow down enough not to be a meteor.¡± I sighed. ¡°You¡¯re also going to need to know where you can land this giant cigar tube in a flat enough area.¡±


    Xavier chittered and poked the pressure sensor inside my helmet to make the front snap down, then a little wiggle and he was leaning in front of me and looking at the hud. Fuzzy hand paws and ear tips moved to tap to spots and bring up little menus until a nearby screen lit up with the map the scouts were forming. I couldn¡¯t talk since if I opened my mouth...I¡¯d end up with half of a bunny in it.


    ¡°Is the bunny using your backup touch controls to do this?¡± At a fur muffled sound from me, Captain Rowland nodded and moved to look at the map. ¡°We¡¯ve already seen a few settlements and crashed ships on the surface, very few of them are the same race. So we have several races on one planet it seems...but I¡¯m guessing they were pulled here like us and survivors from the wrecks we¡¯ve seen.¡± He had a thoughtful look on his face as he spoke.


    I just grumbled before snapping my helmet loose and setting Xavier on a station, the helmet atop him. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a bigger helmet if you¡¯re going to do that Xavier. I¡¯m not going to ask how, but why did you bring up the mapping?¡± There was a chittering from the helmet and the alien settlements blipped up one by one circled on the map and then it zoomed back. It took me a moment to realize something. ¡°They¡¯re all far back from the oceans¡­.and these redwood looking forests.¡± I said as I pointed to the larger screen.


    The Xo looked at the screen and nodded. ¡°All of them are like that and far from each other, we need to get set up first, then worry about diplomacy. Scouts report back that the air is breathable for us...higher gravity and air pressure, but safe enough to set down and survive.¡±


    Captain Rowland snorted as the screen shifted and showed animals fighting, no doubt predator and prey, but they both looked at least the size of an elephant. ¡°Lieutenant, find us a place to set this thing down away from the others and¡­¡± He trailed and shook his head. ¡°Away from the larger forests or coastal areas.¡± He pointed to one of the wrecked black ships on the screen. ¡°Near one of those if you can¡­.if we can scavenge, I want to be close.¡±


    I nodded and saluted, picking up my helmet and snorting as Xavier was saluting as well. ¡°Aye aye, keep up the British tradition. Find an island away from the other islands and stab in a flag, maybe shoot some locals.¡± Xavier hopped to me and climbed up to wiggle into my helmet after I¡¯d snapped it back on.


    ¡°Get to work ya bloody Yank, take the bunny with you. Scout and make sure you¡¯re not setting down in a nesting area or a bloody floodplain. I know how you yanks are with putting even cities below sea level.¡± The Captain said it with a grin and motioned for me to get back to work.


    As I climbed down the ladder and turned to sling myself down the tube, I sighed softly. ¡°Hey once we get back to the shuttle, can you show me how you did that with the map system? I didn¡¯t know we could do that with the helmet systems¡­.¡± Not that they¡¯d truly explained most of the gear we¡¯d been given toward the end of the war. Hell half of it was stuff we¡¯d only been given when our other gear was too damaged to use.


    I got a soft squeak and a little nod against my neck as Xavier settled in for the ride, peeking out through my helmet vents. ¡°Alright, gotta make some calls.¡± I brought up the links and tied in all of my squad commanders. ¡°Command boat and Alpha boat back to the dock first, then each shuttle. Load at least one heavy weapon per shuttle, backup melee weapons, and load the spare fuel tanks onto the shuttle¡¯s sides. Our mission is to scout landing zones behind the scout ships. The planet has large seemingly hostile life, there¡¯s also alien settlements. The plan is to find a place large enough to land, away from the coast, far from the other settlements, and also away from the large forests.¡± I kicked the connection a second. ¡°Can you send them the map data?¡±


    After a little squeaking and wiggling up with an ear either side of my nose, Xavier sent the map data off to my squad leaders. Thankfully he wiggled back down away from my mouth, I really was going to need a bigger helmet. ¡°Delta, Echo, and Foxtrot are to break out the heavy weapons and parse them out to the shuttles before loading themselves up. Once we find a landing zone, I want it secured, that means breaking out all of the shuttles and dragging the tanks out of storage. I want the M3C1 and the M3C6 out first and loaded onto shuttles for drop.¡±


    The M3C1 was a newer fission powered one hundred and thirty ton Abrams model with a one hundred and forty millimeter main gun and twin thirty millimeter chainguns. I personally preferred the M3C6 though, which was around the  same weight when loaded, had slightly lighter armor, auto loading twin heavy mortars, and an upgraded Gau-8 thirty millimeter gatling. With the duo of tanks, even a Kaiju would think twice about messing with our landing zone, and I was really hoping this planet didn¡¯t have kaiju.


    The affirmatives flew across the channel and I heard the happy cheers behind Gunnery Sergeant Bradley ¡°Porky¡± Anderson, the tanker commander, and commander of the M3C6. ¡°Break out Miss Piggy and Kermit!¡± was the last thing I heard boomed on the command channel and I heard chittering beside my head I swear was bunny giggles. The man¡¯s voice sounded like he gargelled gravel each morning.


    ¡°Oh hush Xavier, nicknames are nicknames. Callsigns and all that can be anything from wonderful to absolutely horrid and only used in combat.¡± I said firmly and there were a few more squeaks of giggles, yep those were giggles and I felt him rubbing at his face. ¡°Just don¡¯t be too much of a pain with my people, not that you have been. I like you.¡± And the little shit pat my cheek with his ear, causing my eyes to roll.


    By the time my mag boots latched to the hangar decking, my shuttle was back locked to the decking as well. Hiroshima had apparently called ahead and told one of Delta squad to gather his stashes, and was now passing out explosives and flashbangs to other squads. I also saw rocket pods and gatling mounts being latched to the sides of the command shuttle. This was going to be a hell of a run.


    **************************


    It took roughly two hours to get the assault group of two heavy landers and six assault shuttles heading for the planet sized moon. Ok it was a planet, it was only a moon in the respect that it was stuck spinning at the side of a gas giant. I honestly despise gas giants being called planets, they¡¯re too damned big, I mean they¡¯re small failed stars...pretty though. Like the monster my group was nearly skimming the atmosphere of, all the pretty colors of tans and purples, and the demonic looking storms.


    The scouts had found a trio of the giant jagged looking starships grounded on the planet away from the alien settlements we¡¯d spotted. The only problem was that those ships were surrounded by a forest larger than the others, and only had a single large plain between it and one of the planets odd, near ocean sized lakes. It was like a planet of giant seas and titanic forests, aliens, actual aliens, but in little fiefdoms like some bad medieval strategy game. Some of them seemed to have trade with each other, but many didn¡¯t due to forests blocking the paths. I learned most of this while trying not to end up with a mouthful of bunny butt.


    Most of us drifted in and out of that ancient soldier¡¯s custom of sleeping when you could, not when you should. The area had been picked for us to scout and make sure that there wouldn¡¯t be too much trouble landing there, though if anything animal or sentient stuck around with a colony ship landing¡­This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    My hazed thoughts were shoved aside as I heard pfc Duke ¡°Noble'''' Avery sigh, good kid, just not very bright. ¡°Ok this is bugging the shit outa me sir.¡± He said as he looked at an overflight on a tablet. ¡°Why the hell is everyone of these groups of aliens staying away from the big trees?¡± He snorted. ¡°I mean we got at least what eight or ten types of aliens at the least, from giant anthro wolves to these odd bug looking fuckers near the hot area of the equator.¡± He brought up one. ¡°Hell one of the groups we¡¯ve found is actually built IN a damned river...but not a one of them is too close to one of the big seas or the damned forests¡­.¡±


    Pfc Paula ¡°Johnny¡± Johnson groaned as she sat up straight. She was a smart cookie, and the one who always kept an eye on Duke. ¡°We¡¯ll find out eventually...and we can refuel the shuttles from the gas giant...so we can scout and go try and make nice with the other aliens.¡± She sighed. ¡°Lets just hope some of the shit on this planet is edible for us¡­¡±


    Prophet snorted. ¡°Neither of you better try and eat anything until the lab teams make damned sure that we can metabolize it without getting some plague or poison.¡± And then he grimaced. ¡°By Allah, I¡¯m going to have to make sure the others in my trust don¡¯t do that either¡­¡± He paled a little and it got some laughter from the team. He was the head of our muslim contingent and looked like an arab movie star.


    ¡°Heads up redshirts, we hit atmosphere in two minutes, and word from the scouts is that only one group actively fired at them when they flew over. The rest just seemed to go on alert and look worried.¡± Our pilot ¡°Blitz¡± Krieg said over the intercom.


    I tapped the side of my helmet and snapped up the faceplate, Xavier slipping out and moving to the can we had on the decking for him. ¡°We ain¡¯t got any ideas why they steer clear of the giant trees, or the larger bodies of water. We know the gravity is higher, the air is thicker, and there are some big cranky beasts.¡±


    Evans held out her hand and caught Xavier when he bounced to her, her duo curiously watching the bunny. ¡°Here...just in case you end up outside his helmet¡­¡± She held out an odd little shiv made from one of her crossbow bolt¡¯s heads. She¡¯d been wittling on it for over an hour and grinned as the bunny took the weapon and poked the tip to an armor plate on her arm, small blades snapping out. ¡°And you can lock them closed or open by twisting the head¡­¡± He tapped her armor and then when it was closed he twisted the head and chittered, nodding. It even had a little loop of leather for him to tie around himself.


    ¡°Why the hell are you giving the bunny a weapon? He¡¯ll get eaten if he tries to use IT!¡± Noble squeaked the last bit out and probably wet his catheter as Xavier bounced at high speed into his helmet¡¯s open face, the sharp tip of the little weapon stopping just in front of his wide eye.


    I didn¡¯t bother to get up or move. ¡°Xavier is a gene mod, don¡¯t insult my partner¡­and Xavier?¡± I got an angry chitter for a reply. ¡°Don¡¯t stab my marines...even the ones who say stupid things.¡± The little furball chittered and hooked his weapon over his head and shoulder to hang, then punched Noble in the nose and kicked from his helmet to float over to me.


    Johnny giggled. ¡°Damn it Noble, don¡¯t piss off the Lieutenant''s spirit animal...and is your nose bleeding?¡±


    The rather pale Pfc was holding his nose and had his head tilted back. ¡°Ucker ighta broke my nobe.¡± He whined and Johnson leaned over, grabbing his nose and making him squeal as she shook her head.


    ¡°Not broke.¡± Was all she said before handing him a small bit of cloth.


    ¡°Let us all just hope that we can secure the area without an incident.¡± I said firmly and looked over at Miller, who had his helmet shut and was out cold. ¡°And how the hell can he sleep so damned hard?¡± I reached to thump his shoulder and his head snapped up, making me smile.


    ¡°Was only resting my eyes, Sir.¡± My com man said as he checked his rifle and then went to the task of checking with the other com toting members of the shuttles. ¡°Hitting Atmo in three...two...one.¡± The shuttle shuddered softly as it slammed into the atmosphere, and soon enough the trip hammers started to beat at our rides. ¡°All shuttles are in formation and on target sir.¡± No matter how hard I tried, he refused to use a callsign with me or say just my last name, nope, always called me¡­Sir.


    My hand moved to trigger an all-shuttle broadcast through Walkie¡¯s com unit. ¡°Alright kids, we¡¯re doing a hot drop into unknown territory, I want weapons hot and ready. I want drones out and scanning for any trouble. If you see something, don¡¯t shoot unless it attacks or it looks big and hungry. Try to scare off the cranky things.¡± Then they all got to hear me snort. ¡°But I¡¯m sure the bio geeks would love something for samples.¡± I heard the chuckles in my shuttle and nodded. ¡°And now a word from Prophet.¡±


    It had become our ritual since I¡¯d gotten Prophet and his people assigned to me during the later part of the war, before every drop he spoke a prayer. It wasn¡¯t a christian prayer, but it worked. Williams switched the feed over to Prophet and bowed his head like the rest of us. The arabic NCO bowed his head and opened his hands as he started. ¡°O Allah, I seek Your forgiveness and Your protection in my religion, in my worldly affairs, in my family and in my wealth. ... O Allah , guard me from what is in front of me and behind me , from my left , and from my right , and from above me . I seek refuge in Your Greatness from being struck down from beneath me.¡±


    As he finished, I said ¡°Amen¡± and heard a soft squeak beside me, Xavier had his hand paws together and chittered as I clicked the channel back to myself. ¡°And as is tradition with hot drops in my command. As we travel through the fire and flames of atmosphere¡­¡± My eyes flicked and triggered my suit to broadcast a classical metal song. Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce, a classical metal piece, which started to blast through the shuttles as they dove for the surface. And in marine tradition it blared outside the shuttles at full volume while they arc¡¯d down to land. No one else could see it, but a small fuzzy head bobbed to the music and a hind foot tapped my helmet in time to the beat.


    ************


    The shuttles circled the valley once before the tank carriers dropped their burdens on a small rise that was large enough for the two vehicles. The shuttles then moved to a lower rise and started to launch the drones they carried, unarmed and packed with all sorts of sensors to pick up everything from com systems to heat and movement. ¡°Kermit and Miss Piggy are down and drones are deploying. Bring in the crunchies, we¡¯re lonely.¡± Gunny Anderson said in my com as I knew he was using the drones to scout and spot for his tanks.


    My shuttle spun and came down facing with its weapons out toward the distant trees, the light inside turning from red to green as its gear touched the odd grass. My people didn¡¯t storm down the ramp since we weren¡¯t doing a combat op, instead they stood and grabbed their gear before walking down. Evans and her duo moved around toward the front of the shuttle as the pfc¡¯s moved out flanking her. Prophet moved with Hiroshima to set up the twenty millimeter autocannon near some boulders. I myself was busy with Williams checking on the other shuttle teams, who were getting their own systems setup. We had to get the perimeter defenses setup before the Yangtze came in to land.


    ¡°Alpha through delta are set up and moving to scout inward into the valley to make sure it¡¯s stable and clear.¡± Williams said calmly, and for sounding to all the universe like a teenager, he was always annoyingly stoic and phlegmatic.


    I knelt down, running my hand through the green, teal, and blue grasses that were about knee height on me. Xavier chittered and tapped the closed vents on my helmet with his ear. ¡°I know...I want to smell the air too, but we have to wait for the bio team to check it more.¡± I lifted my head and clicked on my com. ¡°Good, tell echo and foxtrot to move to finish placing the other sentry systems with their shuttles.¡± I stood and looked over at the shuttle with the science team setting up their gear. ¡°Bio, I want to know as soon as you find out anything good or bad or weird. You know the drill.¡±


    A sigh crackled over the com. ¡°Yes Lieutenant, we¡¯re getting the air systems setup now. Shouldn¡¯t be too long before you get to use one of your marines to test the air.¡± Dr Dennis Lee said with that odd southern accent, it being odd since Lee¡¯s parents had migrated from China to the state of Tennessee. ¡°If we ever found a way home, we could make bank off selling this grass to Kentucky.¡±


    I just snorted. ¡°Yep...analyze it too. Hell Dennis, analyze everything.¡± I said and reached to check my sword and then racked a round into my rifle. ¡°Anyone see anything moving?¡± I asked across the open channel, cause I hadn¡¯t seen anything moving yet, but we¡¯d just made a ton of noise.


    A bunch of ¡°Negative Sir.¡±s flowed across the com net and I sighed before Anderson cleared his throat. ¡°Sir...this is going to make me sound like a nerd, and I¡¯ll admit I¡¯m a nerd...dnd, tabletop and all that...but the boulder beside my tank is staring at me. With eyes that weren¡¯t there when we rolled up. Chest thing¡­can¡¯t think of the name.¡± His words made my head snap up and I turned to look out across the valley at the rise the tanks were on.


    I loved many things, including fantasy and sci-fi novels, and something twigged in my mind, but I couldn¡¯t place the...Hiroshima cut me off with a yelp of surprise and panic. I turned in time to see an odd tendril flow from a boulder and seemed to absorb one of the spike drivers used to hammer in the rods that held the autocannons in place. ¡°The fucking rocks are alive!¡± came roaring over the open com channel before Prophet jerked him into the shuttle.


    ¡°Everyone FREEZE!¡± I roared into my com and sighed, I had a stiffening bundle of fur against my neck from my yelling. ¡°Anderson...slowly and gently back away from the boulders and reposition away from them. Any and all teams near a set of these odd boulders...get your shuttles and gear away from them...but leave a tool or the like. One here just ate a hammer like it was a cookie¡­¡± I said and watched as the tendril came out and poked the autocannon and shield only for it to pull one of the spikes out of the ground and absorb it. ¡°Everyone move away from them calmly...do not fucking run, do not fucking shoot them. These things might mass as much as a shuttle.¡±


    ¡°Prophet...you and Hiroshima...get the spikes out and get that autocannon away from the hungry boulder. Give it the spikes and even the pull bar if you have to. Johnny, get an mre and bring it to me from the supplies. Walkie, get in the shuttle with Blitz and have him move it about a hundred yards further out¡­.and radio the Yangtze. Let them know what¡¯s going on.¡± I said firmly, the last bit on a private channel to Williams.


    Williams snorted. ¡°Mimics sir...they¡¯re mimics, polymorphs. I¡¯d bet a week¡¯s rations on it.¡± The Lance corporal said as he headed for the shuttle¡¯s open landing ramp. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you patched into the net sir.¡±


    Johnny trotted up to me as I watched Prophet and Hiroshima gently and casually start to move the autocannon, she saw me grinning as Prophet actually handed one of the spikes to the tendril that¡¯d eaten the others. ¡°Sir...one mre, what are you planning on doing?¡±


    Xavier chittered softly in my helmet. ¡°They¡¯re mimics...I¡¯m going to see if they eat stuff other than hammers and spikes. Not that mimics are supposed to be big ass rocks, but...see.¡± I nodded to the boulder, which now had four eyes about a foot across, watching my people move about curiously. I unhooked my rifle from its sling and traded Johnny for the mre, nodding for her to head back as the shuttle lifted up and gently slid away. The engines kicking up a little wind as the craft moved.


    I was about halfway to the mimic boulder, and yes I know how ridiculous that sounds, but I was halfway when I thought of something. I clicked on my open com. ¡°Drone controllers...are these Mimics showing on any sensors?¡±


    It took a moment, but one of the techs came back on the com. ¡°Yes sir, they¡¯re showing a slightly higher warmth than the rocks around them.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful.¡± I said in a cheerful tone. ¡°Now use the drones to find all of these things in the valley, and let alpha, bravo, and charlie teams know where they are. The three specified teams are to take spikes, hammers, and other things...and try to coax them away from the centerline of the valley.¡±


    ¡°May I ask why sir?¡± Came from the controller.


    ¡°Oh just because we have a few hours max till we land a massive ship in this valley, these mimics eat metal, wood¡­¡± I opened the mre and held it out, the tendril touched it, then yanked it from my hand to toss it into an actual mouth. ¡°Ok they eat everything...I don¡¯t want them eating the ship or the ship oh...landing on one.¡± I kept most of my sarcasm out of my voice, but not all of it. I had no damned clue how many of these things were around, but there were enough I didn¡¯t want them angry, and burning or crushing one...would probably anger the others.


    ¡°Aye sir...and mimics?¡± The tech asked curiously and I could see the drones moving down into the valley.


    I couldn¡¯t help but start to laugh and got to hear squeaky bunny giggles as Gunnery Sergeant Anderson broke out into a bad brogue. ¡°Oy lad, Mimics are beasts that are powerful and feared by all adventurers.¡± And it was then that I realized that ¡°Porky¡± was a dwarf player.


    ¡°Oh gods, you¡¯re such nerds¡­¡± Came from Evans and I looked over to see her watching the forest.


    I was going to say something to counter what she¡¯d said, but a beastial roar from the forest made me look over, the boulder beside me also shifted its gaze as well. ¡°Evans¡­.get back here now! Move!¡±  I barked and started for her as she turned and started to sprint, her duo out running her easily. My hand hit my chest and I remembered I¡¯d handed off my rifle to Johnny, then my hand went to the grip of my sword.


    I had an issue that I blamed whole heartedly on the government scientists that had twisted my genes to make me a better soldier. Most people have this fight or flight thing that kicks in, fight if you can, flight if you can¡¯t. For some reason my brain¡¯s fight of flight switch had been jammed into fight, then glued or welded into place. When my brain went to instinct in panic or stress, my one and only true reaction was brute force or violence. I¡¯d faced some of the North Korean and Chinese gene modded soldiers with the same issue, or they were just fanatics, but fanatics usually run when they¡¯re unarmed and you have a gun.


    More roars sounded from the forest and I knew weapons were racking behind me as I ran. I barely noticed the odd basketball sized creature bounce up to and past Evans from the forest. Then I heard a growl in my ear as I ran to cover Evans, not even thinking, and just being a big protective idiot. Luckily Prophet and Hiroshima had moved the autocannon and hammered enough stakes in to use it, not for sustained fire, but they could rip out bursts with it.


    Zeus and Hera slowed as I ran past them, and I panted in the heavier gravity as the first beast broke free of the thick forest edge. It largely resembled a pangolin, except it was about the size of an elephant. That and the thing¡¯s maw opened to let out a roar and I realized it was an omnivore...the head kinda looked like a bald possum. The two other beasts that ran out behind it were just as large and fast as they charged forward.


    The heavy thudding chatter of the twenty millimeter autocannon was something I barely heard, but its fire slamming into and breaking against one of the beast¡¯s armor was something I saw. The heavy plates on the beast¡¯s bodies stopped a twenty millimeter round dead, shattering it like glass, but the unarmored skin of the beast splashed bright violet blood from the wounds. The beast on the side of the cannon screeched in pain and snapped its tail around to block the cannon fire.


    Evans spun as she came to my side and brought up her heavy rifle and I knew she was having to skip as she backpedaled and started to fire past me. I drew my sword back over my head and swung with every bit of my strength toward the opening maw coming for me. The beast¡¯s nose split when my sword hit it and I felt bone shatter under the heavy blade, and then I was slammed back. My own sword snapped back as the long handle was jerked from my grip and slammed into the dirt. I have to admit that I screamed like a little girl when fifty pounds of violet drenched metal broke my armor and cut into me.


    The last thing that I saw was a black mass rushing over me to slam what looked like holding spikes for an autocannon into the head of the beast that was half grinding me into the dirt. The last thing I heard was a squeak and growl in my ear, and a fuzzy something pat my face.

 Chapter 4, Good news and Bad news

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 4


    Good news and bad news


    When my eyes finally opened and it wasn¡¯t that groggy haze of drug fueled bliss, it only took a few seconds for me to realize I was aboard the Yangtze, and that it was on the planet. I also felt like someone had beaten me with a hammer. There was this horrendous burning feeling in my right shoulder, a spot on my stomach, and my thigh. My neck was in a brace, so when I couldn¡¯t turn my head I groaned, licking my dry lips. I felt the restraints on my wrists and ankles, which wasn¡¯t a great sign, but at least it wasn¡¯t an ¡°I love me¡± coat. I really hated being put into one of those, you always got an itch that you couldn¡¯t scratch.


    The next thing I knew there was a squeak and something bounced up my body to reveal a worried bunny face. Xavier chittered and hugged my jaw and binged to my chest to let out a shrill squeak, which let me then hear a yelp and the sound of someone crashing to the floor from a chair. A moment later, Noble was at my side and grinning like an idiot as Xavier squeaked at him and made motions like drinking from a cup.


    It took a second for me to get out. ¡°Water¡± through the concrete it felt like had formed in my throat, and that barely came out in a rasp. Noble blinked and Xavier growled at him. ¡°Oh! Water!¡± He moved away and after a moment came back with a cup and a straw, carefully holding it for me to sip. ¡°Jesus sir, I¡¯m glad to see you awake after that beasty flattened you¡­¡±


    As he spoke, I sipped greedily from the straw and even the movement of shifting a tiny bit and sipping hard made my shoulder burn more. I heard the straw sucking air and sighed as I closed my eyes. ¡°Pfc...is Evans ok...and how long have I been out?¡± I asked and licked my lips. ¡°More water¡­¡± I trailed off as happy bunny face hugging resumed with chittering and squeaking.


    Noble moved to refill the cup and snorted. ¡°She¡¯s fine...hell everyone¡¯s alright thanks to you...Sir, you defended one of the mimic¡¯s kids. Every one of the mimics in the valley moved to defend against the herd chasing Bubbles.¡±


    The word ¡°Bubbles¡± caused my pillow to shift under my head, it was an oddly comfy, then an eye on some kind of stalk came around in front of my face. ¡°AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH¡± Came out of my mouth in a panicked scream worthy of a small scared girl, and I wet my catheter.


    ¡°Oh that¡¯s just Bubbles sir! You¡¯re fine...he¡¯s friendly I swear.¡± I wasn¡¯t having much faith in my Pfc¡¯s words as the eye blinked at me again, but Xavier¡¯s soft chittering made me blink and sigh as I looked at the eye.


    ¡°So you¡¯re Bubbles?¡± I asked softly and it nodded its eye in a rather human manner. ¡°Why is Bubbles aboard the ship, and why am.¡± Noble put the straw to my lips and my thirst cut me off and demanded I drain this cup too.


    ¡°Evan¡¯s said to let her tell you, she¡¯s been in charge for the¡­¡± He scratched his head in thought and I could tell he was doing the math in his head. ¡°Eight and a half local days, er I think fifteen standard.¡± He looked to Xavier and the bunny chittered and nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go get her Sir. You just stay awake and¡­¡± He set down the empty cup and fled the room, leaving the straw still in my mouth.


    I groaned and worked my lips. ¡°Ere¡­¡± I mumbled around the plastic as I held it toward the eyestalk, which shifted into a mouth as I watched. The straw was slurped down and vanished after a single chomp and gulp, then the eye reformed and watched me curiously. ¡°Xavier...you approve of Bubbles?¡± I asked softly, my voice still rough as I relaxed into what I knew wasn¡¯t a pillow. It was squishier, like a water bed for my head...that watched me.


    Xavier chittered and hopped up lightly onto my forehead and all I could see for a moment was a bunny butt, then he turned and pet the eye stalk. My pillow quivered and the only way I can describe it is it quivered like a happy hyper puppy. I could just picture some wound up puppy with too many eyes quivering and wiggling, happy as could be with the loving it got. I snorted and then groaned in pain as my shoulder and stomach burned.


    ¡°Hey...get off my forehead...if he had to go far for Evans...I¡¯m going to close my eyes.¡± I¡¯d realized again that I was strapped down, and that worried me just a little. The bunny chittered at me and I was forced to close my eyes as he shifted and moved to lay over them. ¡°Oh...ok...you nap too...you too Bubbles.¡± I said softly and practiced the ancient marine tradition, passing out into a soft sleep within seconds.


    *********************


    When I woke up, it had been an hour or so, and Evans stood over me with Captain Rowland at her side. Both of them looked tired and must¡¯ve been woken up from trying to sleep when Noble had run off to get someone. Evans looked worse than Rowland, her eyes were bloodshot and there were dark bags under them that spoke for themselves. ¡°What happened?¡± I asked softly and my arm shifted in the restraint some.


    Evans sniffed and the Captain pat her on the shoulder. ¡°Your sword cut through your collar bone, and in its death throes, the creature punctured your stomach, and thigh with its teeth. The only thing that kept you from bleeding to death was¡­¡± He cleared his throat and nodded toward the now three eyestalks beside my head. ¡°Bubbles, who wrapped themselves around your wounds and made some form of stasis bubble from itself. Though we have no idea how Bubbles did that.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t nod, so I groaned and smiled. ¡°Thank you Bubbles¡­¡±


    Evans giggle-snorted when I said that and leaned over me, hugging me gently and getting my chest damp with a few tears. How she leaned over me left a bit of her where I could rub improperly, but I fought the urge and just pat her crotch. It was honestly the only thing I could pat since I was tied to the bed. ¡°It¡¯s ok Evans¡­I¡¯m alive, still here and bitching...and I can feel my left hand still, so I should heal up¡­¡± She sniffed again and stood, nodding to that.


    ¡°You damned well better sir...but there¡¯s some issues.¡± She looked to the Captain and he nodded to her. ¡°There¡¯s a mineral in your body now that we¡¯ve found in the armor of the creatures and also in the ground where the mimics were. The mimics don¡¯t seem to keep it in themselves, but it seems to be present in almost everything here.¡±


    ¡°Which is the reason you¡¯ve been strapped to a bed, the mineral in your body puts off an energy signature. And that energy has been spreading through you for two standard weeks.¡± The Captain said with a poker face that made me want to poke him.


    ¡°So...it''s a mineral that puts off energy, I can still feel hair moving on my body and head...so it¡¯s not radioactive.¡± I blinked. ¡°My shoulder, stomach, and thigh burn, but that¡¯s it Sir. And well I¡¯m sore as hell, but the last thing I remember is getting slammed into by something bigger than myself.¡±


    The Captain snorted and reached to pull a pen from his pocket. ¡°Curious...those spots are burning eh?¡± He spun the pen in his fingers and reached to gently stroke it from one side of my stomach, over the burning patch, to the other side. ¡°And?¡±


    I went cross eyed and hissed at the sudden sensory overload as what had to be fresh nerves fired madly at being touched. What I noticed was there was the feeling of thick stubby hair there, and I blinked. ¡°The fuck...how is there hair there?¡±


    ¡°So you felt that¡­¡± Evans said and nodded to Xavier, who hopped over my head and used his fuzzy hand paws to rub over my left shoulder.


    I jerked and convulsed in the bed as he rubbed his fuzzy self into all those new nerves and body hair? That should be barely sealed or sealing and still be broken and braced, but that little shit was wiggling on it like a bed. Then he was standing on my forehead watching me pant for air. ¡°The...fuck!?¡± I snarled at them.


    The Captain just raised a brow. ¡°You¡¯re healed¡­.you¡¯ve been healed since the night we got you in here, and we have no idea how Major. And yes I do mean Major, I¡¯m reactivating your old rank. Captain Evans has been running the teams since you got hurt.¡± I opened my mouth to protest and he casually ran his pen over my stomach again. ¡°And you¡¯re going to shut up and let me finish. The air here is safe to breathe, but this mineral is in literally everything. Based on you, we can survive it...but you¡¯re off of active combat duty. At most, you will be allowed to scout for now.¡±


    I groaned. ¡°So I¡¯m promoted again, and you get to keep me where the doctors can watch me and jab me with needles?¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the annoyance out of my voice.


    Xavier squeaked and pet my cheek, then I was suddenly free from the bed and able to sit up as Evan¡¯s had hit the release buttons. ¡°Actually you and Xavier both, though no one prods him. He may have stabbed one of the doctors already.¡±


    ¡°Yes, your...First Sergeant...yes that sounds like a proper rank for someone saddled with a cranky Major.¡± Xavier squeaked hearing the Captain and chittered as Evans moved to help me sit up and get the brace from my neck. ¡°Would you mind showing what¡¯s happened to you since you ate your fill of that creature¡¯s raw meat?¡± He asked my bunny buddy.Stolen story; please report.


    Xavier ear saluted Captain Rowland and hopped over to the wall, unplugging one of the monitors with a grunt. Then he hopped up and rammed his ear tips into the wall socket, there was bright arcing all around Xavier and I almost made it to my feet before the power went out in the room. A breaker tripped and I noticed an odd light blue glow from the floor. I stared like an idiot as the glow hopped itself up onto the arm of my bed, and then I realized...it was Xavier.


    The little furball was glowing like a lava lamp, a strange light blue tint, almost a teal to the light his fur gave off. It wasn¡¯t just his fur though, it was his eyes, teeth, all of the bunny radiated the strange glow. Evans cleared her throat. ¡°He was panicking when we got you loose and someone tried to stun stick him. They hit him, and then he touched the tech and blew him across the room with the stored¡­¡±


    Xavier hopped up and poked my nose, the world seemed to stop around me as I felt him push thousands of volts at high amperage into my head. I could actually feel it hit my bones and travel like fire through my entire body. The ache vanished and the burn faded as the voltage flashed through my body. When the world started to move again, I blinked. ¡°Voltage. I mean it was like he soaked up the full charge of the battery and hit the tech with it.¡±


    I blinked and grabbed Xavier, pulling him to my face to kiss the top of his little head and nuzzle him. He of course squeaked and swatted at me until I opened my hands and sighed contently, while the duo in the room watched me curiously. ¡°He just did it to me¡­.the soreness is gone and so is the burn.¡± I turned my head and rolled my shoulder, the scar looked like it was years old, then I realized I could see more clearly as well! There was more variation to the colors!


    Hands grabbed my face as the lights snapped back to life, Evans leaned over me and opened my eyelids to look at my eyes, and then stepped back and nodded. ¡°Then you get cleaned up in the shower...and let the doctors get their samples. You¡¯re going to no doubt need to eat¡­¡± She said and clicked her tongue.


    I turned to look at Bubbles, who looked like a pillow with eyes. The mimic shifted to a black mass of goop and bounced from the bed to Evans shoulders, draping over her and blending in with her uniform blouse. ¡°Damn...that¡¯s a cool trick.¡±


    The Captain sighed. ¡°No, the trick is whether or not she actually has a top after that. Mimics here are curious as hell, we have a ¡°tree¡± atop the Yangtze currently.¡± He actually made the quote marks and I snorted. ¡°Yes, those giant forests of massive bloody trees...they¡¯re Mimics. The whole bloody lot is groups of mimics the size of the old nuclear submarines, some even larger than that. And the mimics don¡¯t have that mineral in them, they process it out of what they eat.¡± He sighed. ¡°So far it¡¯s the closest thing to taking a shat that we¡¯ve seen them do.¡±


    ¡°Well I for one am going to go grab a snack, then let Bubbles eat a trash can, and go back to bed. It¡¯s late and I¡¯m tired.¡± Evans saluted us both and walked out of my room, Bubbles looking around curiously with eye stalks.


    ¡°If you ever do something heroic and stupid like that again, and live...I¡¯ll have you beaten until you pass out.¡± Rowland said firmly to me as I slowly stood from my bed. ¡°Evans can be a CO, but she¡¯s not the CO...you are.¡± He said firmly and huffed. ¡°Worried the shit out of me you numpty.¡± Then he shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m going back to bloody bed and getting some more kip. You shower and then go eat, if the doctors don¡¯t dart you down.¡± He winked at me.


    ¡°Go get some more rest ya tea sipping redcoat, I¡¯ll find you after you¡¯re less cranky.¡± I waved him off and moved carefully for my bathroom, barely noticing Xavier sitting on my shoulder. I felt oddly good after the high voltage exchange with him and knew I needed the shower.


    *****************


    It was a toss up which panicked the doctors most between my being able to literally lick a light socket and be fine, suddenly having violet blood, or the fact that Xavier and I ate more now. They calmed when both our appetites were eased if we consumed voltage, and it actually made a nurse faint when I touched a stun stick to my tongue and set it off.


    I had gotten used to the lab rat treatment when I¡¯d gotten my gene mods, but it was starting to drive me nuts now after four days of not being able to escape the ship. So I slipped out on their sleep shift. I just couldn¡¯t handle it anymore being cooped up and had to get out, Xavier slipped out with me. The two of us came out of the vehicle bays on the forest side of the ship and bolted past confused workers and techs that were getting buildings raised. It never reached true full dark, the night was a sort of twilight thanks to the gas giant and the other moons.


    What surprised me was when Xavier jumped off my shoulder and kept up with me, springing into the air at shoulder height every time he hopped. Even when we got to the grass and I sped up, he kept up with me, bouncing further with each hop to match my stride. And then a one and a half pound bunny took out my knee, his feet slamming into the back of my joint and dropping me into a tumble.


    ¡°You little shi¡­¡± I lost my train of thought as I saw he¡¯d dropped me before I ran into the leftover scale plates of the creatures that¡¯d charged us. It was odd seeing so many of the plates piled up, something that¡¯d stopped twenty millimeter rounds. Not just stopped them though, but shattered them like glass. When I went to lift one on its side, I felt energy flow up my arm and I paused. ¡°What the¡­¡± I said as I still wasn¡¯t used to being a walking grounding rod, heh, rod. Anyway, it was strange, and just like always seeming to draw energy out of things, I could sort of will it to go to other things I touched with the mineral in it.


    Xavier hopped onto a plate and chittered as I looked over to see his fur glowing softly, his head nodding for me to finish lifting my plate. ¡°Yeah¡­.¡± I said softly and lifted the heavy plate up, realizing it felt rather light to me now. I heaved it up and flipped it over to land behind me away from the others, then I noticed that Xavier was watching me curiously and chittering. ¡°What?¡± He chittered again and pointed to me and then held his wee arms up in a body builder pose.


    I just shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know...it felt lighter after I got that odd energy feeling.¡± I looked over at the plate and saw the odd gleam of the alien mineral that was inside of us now. I pulled a stun stick from my pocket and triggered it against the plate, watching as the entire underside glowed softly with stored energy. ¡°So even if the creature is dead, the mineral will still hold a charge.¡± I scratched the back of my head and tried to think as I started to pace.


    My pacing didn¡¯t take long before I got an idea and grinned. ¡°I wonder if it stopped the shells because it was charged¡­¡± I trailed off and looked to Xavier, the bunny¡¯s face thoughtful before he hopped on the plate he¡¯d landed on. ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try, you see if you can find me something to hit them with.¡± I smiled and shrugged. ¡°I didn¡¯t think to bring a gun.¡±


    The little bunny just chittered and rolled his eyes, hopping from the large plate into the grass to start off in his search for something heavy to use. I on the other hand was busy dragging the second plate from the pile and setting it to the side. It only took a couple minutes before I heard the squeaking and saw a certain fuzzy glow stick hopping up and down back where we¡¯d first landed. When I got over to him, he was hopping atop my sword, which was mostly buried in dirt from the herd¡¯s charge.


    ¡°Holy crap, I thought they¡¯d eaten this thing¡­¡± I knelt down and dug my hands down into the soft soil, gripping the handle to pry out my sword. One half of it was caked in a goop of old half dried blood and dirt, which took me longer than I¡¯d hoped to get it scraped off with a rock. I was sure I¡¯d used a rock, because I¡¯d poked it first, you poked things before grabbing them when it might be a snoozing mimic. That was becoming the new trending habit in camp, along with shrill screams of panic or surprise.


    A few more minutes using fresh dirt to scrub the blade and I got all of the crud off of it, I¡¯d have to brush it and oil it after this. I was walking back to the plates when I felt a soft shift in the balance of the sword as it rested on my shoulder, making me look back and smile at the bunny riding on it. The little furball had jumped up nearly seven and a half feet to land on the sword, and I¡¯d barely felt the shift in weight. ¡°You know...I¡¯m not the only one that¡¯s getting stronger, you are too, ya little glow stick.¡±


    Xavier seemed to regard me for a moment and then shrugged as he waddled down to hop onto my bare shoulder. A few punching motions and chitters came from him and made me shake my head. ¡°A pound and a half of fluffy glowing fury eh?¡± I grinned as he nodded. ¡°God help whoever pisses you off when you¡¯re charged up...you¡¯re as scary as a live wire.¡± I teased him and he made a punching motion, and then another like something flying off and pointed to me. ¡°Yeah yeah...I can punch people further...but you took out my knee.¡±


    Xavier chittered and beamed at me, grinning pridefully and bouncing on my shoulder like a tiny prize fighter. ¡°Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee eh?¡± The little bunny chittered and nodded, making me roll my eyes. ¡°I gotta have a conversation with the XO on the things he tells you to watch.¡± We¡¯d already figured out that Xavier¡¯s mouth and vocal cords were ill suited to speak human words, but I was getting more than used to his ear movements, expressions, and subtle little sounds he made. It was interesting, like having my own tiny Chewbacca, a tiny glowing, biting Chewbacca. Ok, not Chewbacca, I liked Xavier more.


    As we got to the plates of shell...armor...carapace? I don¡¯t know, it looked like heavy scale plates to me, but I¡¯m sure the egg heads would call it something overly long and complex. As we got to them, Xavier hopped from my sword and I used it to make sure I was testing the uncharged plate first. A quick test swing of my sword caused me to just stare at it. ¡°That¡¯s odd...feels lighter and the planet is higher G.¡± I just heard a squeak and looked to see Xavier roll his eyes and then make the muscle man pose again. ¡°Yeah yeah...just odd really.¡± I shrugged and drew my sword back, slashing down into the uncharged plate.


    There was a crack of the material fracturing, the mineral shattering off of the back almost like how thin concrete breaks from impact. My heavy sword sank into the ground and I was forced to wiggle and work it free of the dirt and broken plate. ¡°And that shattered twenty millimeter rounds like they were glass...but no doubt were charged. So it¡¯s weaker and more fragile when uncharged¡­¡± I looked to Xavier and he hopped over and checked over the plate, pulling a chunk of it free.


    My friend held the shard of dull unshined mineral and nibbled on it, nodding as he was able to, then I saw the shard softly glow. He¡¯d charged it and leaned to nibble again, this time I could hear the clicking of his teeth on it. A second later it lost its glow and he took a big bite of it, giving a little squeak. ¡°You sure you should be eating it?¡± He squeaked at me and took a few more bites before tearing another chunk free and tossing it over.


    I just looked at the heavier than normal lump of mineral before I brought it up to take a nibble of it. It didn¡¯t really have a taste to it and the consistency paired with the bland lack in flavor had made me thinking of a calcium tablet. ¡°Well the good news is that it doesn¡¯t taste bad¡­.the bad news is that it is about as appetizing as chalk.¡± I huffed and took another bite, then thought for a moment and ground the rest of my chunk into the edge of my sword. ¡°There...now let¡¯s see here...a little zap of.¡± I took my stun stick and made it crackle against my sword, the rough edge glowing soft and making me smile. ¡°I think I¡¯ll reforge this and work this mineral into the blade.¡± I looked toward the second plate and sighed. ¡°After I test it on this.¡± My fingers gently ran over the sword, causing it to lose its glow.


    Xavier hopped over onto the stack of armor plates, out of the way of my sword. ¡°Ready?¡± I asked him curiously and he nodded, squeaking once. I drew back and brought the sword down just as hard as I had before, only this time it felt like someone detonated a bomb when I hit the plate. I was hurled back through the air and through several twisting backflips as my now glowing sword flew away like a fired arrow. I could see some of the plates had been thrown into the air by whatever had happened, and I¡¯m sure I got quite a bit of attention with my screamed curses.


    A mimic possibly saved my life again when it bounced itself into the air and turned into its gelatinous natural form. My entire back from scalp to heel stung painfully as the loud wet cracking sound of my impact sounded through the night. I had to hold my breath as we landed and waited for the boulder mimic to quite literally spit me out onto the cleared ground. I looked around in half panic, realizing I¡¯d just flown nearly two hundred yards before being caught. A quick look behind myself and I was thankful I¡¯d been caught, the next thing I¡¯d of hit was an unfinished metal building, with lots of girders and rebar exposed.


    There was also cursing from behind me and the sounds of panic that made me jog around the building to find a tracked loader...with my glowing sword sticking through its two inch thick steel bucket¡¯s wall plating. The driver was cursing and trying to catch his breath still when I came over and jerked the blade free, running back for the blast site. Why the hell had it done that and where the hell had Xavier ended up?


    Hell, was Xavier still alive? Was he hurt? I was starting to panic and screamed out repeatedly for the bunny. Then I saw the bright glow blurring through the grass toward me. ¡°Xavier!¡± I yelled and ran for the blurring line that had started toward me from much further out than I¡¯d gone toward the ship. The deep angry warble and the distant sound of something large moving out in the forest toward the southern end of the valley. Had he flown that...I was impacted by one and a half pounds of panting blue and green stained bunny.


    He was squeaking and chittering and making little motions with his hands and pointing from where I¡¯d hit the armor plate and then made a fast arcing motion out into the forest. ¡°C¡¯mon lets go wake up the nerds and let the on duty teams know that apparently you woke up something.¡± I pet him and scritched around his ears trying to calm him as I headed back for the Yangtze¡¯s monstrous hull.

 Chapter 5, Monster Storm

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 5 - Roderick


    Monster Storm


    The ¡°experiment¡± as some called it, caused Xavier and I to end up being very busy for a few weeks. Especially since we¡¯d figured out that handling unshielded electronics could end in battery failure or in the case of one poor tablet...explosive overcharging. This got more worries shared by the science teams and Captain Rowland said that Xavier and I were just the first to end up like this. Though I have to admit that I was politely told not to do any more foolish experiments without safety gear or warning anyone about it. Even if one marine tradition was to break things.


    The mimics had seemed to have taken a liking to hanging around the strange new aliens visitors to their world and cleaning up piles of grasses, tree limbs, stumps, and the occasional creature that charged the working area of the valley. It was a casual buffet for them, the only issue was getting them not to eat some things, or take the place of some things. Mimics seemed far from stupid creatures, but they were as curious as a toddler, and loved to hide in plain sight. We understood they were predators, but unlike any other predator we¡¯d dealt with, these creatures literally hid in the open.


    One of the solid tire tractors ended up losing all four of its tires and getting an upgrade when the mimics who¡¯d eaten said tires took their places. Though getting the civilian workers to not panic when something suddenly had eyes, licked them, or poked them, was a small issue that the security teams were always busy handling. It left me with the fun of handling the steady flow of paperwork dealing with those incidents.


    One group of mimics ended up becoming beloved by the vehicle maintenance teams after Chief petty officer Li Wei got one to understand how to clean up metal parts...and not eat them whole. The boulder of that mimic group earned the name Rusty after it cleaned out the rust and gunk that¡¯d built up in a scout¡¯s turbines. Li was less happy when Rusty and its spawn proceeded to eat his personal toolbox, but the spawn earned their place when they turned themselves into tools.


    I ended up going between the occasional meeting with Captain Rowland and team leads, to the medical ward, to the finished vehicle bays, and back at random times. In between all of those things, I had paperwork, and as luck and an inventive tech would have it, Xavier ended up helping me with the paperwork. He now had a two inch wide keyboard and touchpad setup that hooked up wirelessly. The kicker was the exoskeleton they were refitting to use the new mineral in its power supply was also being refit so that Xavier could pilot it. The ship¡¯s Ai was thankfully helping crunch numbers for the eggheads that were having shiny moments with the new mineral.


    I knew he and I were being used as lab rats and testers for things, and on occasion someone would stop me or him and have us hold something or use it. Which is how I ended up outside the ship and standing far from it with a weapon in hand. A hundred yards from me was an exoskeleton that had a new type of metal armor, it had a pale glow in the evening¡¯s light. ¡°About to take testing shots.¡±


    The techs were off in a sheltered side building that¡¯d been finished a week before. ¡°Roger that Major, we¡¯ve done lesser impact tests, the frame and armor seems to be several times stronger than the previous alloys used.¡± They always had that cute chinese girl talk to me over the com, she was cute, and they knew my weakness was a cute woman, it¡¯s how they¡¯d talked me into this test.


    As she spoke, I looked around to make sure the new crop fields were clear of people and that no one was in a risky place where they might catch a stray round. ¡°Copy that, proceeding with the test.¡± I got to pick the weapon to test the armor with and I grinned as I lifted the Terra-tech remake of the M134 minigun. I¡¯d gotten some looks when I¡¯d chosen this weapon to test the armor, but I¡¯d only brought a thousand round belt with me.


    After planting my feet, I braced the back of the minigun to my thigh and held on tight as I squeezed the trigger. The chainsaw blast of gunfire flowed over the valley as slugs and tracers stitched a line up to the new exoskeleton and washed over it. It was slightly hard to hold the gun on target and bullets washed over the entire exoskeleton before my belt ran out and I set the gun down. I¡¯d seen bullets and tracers exploding over the armored shell and it was glowing brightly inside the haze of destruction.


    ¡°Good work Major, we¡¯re reading zero damage to the exo or the armor.¡± There was a pause and then. ¡°Xavier, how was it inside?¡±


    ¡°Wait what?¡± I said startled, Xavier had been inside that thing!? ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t you tell me he was inside of it!?¡± I shouted over the com.


    And then in the blink of an eye, the exo that was about a hundred yards from me and glowing bright, was sprinting toward me faster than anything I¡¯d seen before. ¡°Yes, you can move on to phase two of the test.¡± The tech was apparently getting text messages from Xaiver. ¡°Major this is a hand to hand test.¡±


    About the time I heard ¡°Test¡± I was blocking a roundhouse kick with my arm, quickly finding the foot of the machine grabbing me. It was a damned manipulator! The machine gripped my forearm with it¡¯s foot and I coughed as four punches landed across my ribs in less than a second. I swung and my fist smashed into armor plates hard enough to shatter a normal man¡¯s bones, body twisting as I tried to sling off the exo, instead it twisted in a way that was impossible for one with a human inside. Metal hands planted into the ground and I became airborne, hurled away like a doll thrown by an angry child.


    What I didn¡¯t know was that Captain Roland, Commander Wulf, and Evans were all in the tech¡¯s building watching the data flow across the screens. When Xavier charged me in the exo, I managed to take his kick to my side and this time grabbed the leg, pulling the armor in to punch at the chest and head. The leg twisted in my grip and bent at the knee and ankle to grab my shoulder, the other grabbed my thigh with that odd manipulator foot. Next thing I knew it¡¯s arms bound my arms to my sides.


    I fought against the exo¡¯s mechanical strength, grunting and fighting hard enough to hear a joint whine in protest. ¡°End phase two.¡± Came over the com and the exo was suddenly a few feet away from me. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re going to have to reinforce the joints more. Not that bad of a job, you did well Major. We didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be able to damage the suit.¡±


    ¡°Marines can break anything, just give us time.¡± I said as I caught my breath. ¡°And where are you at in there, you little shit?¡± I growled the last bit out and the chest armor opened out, revealing Xavier peeking out from a heavily reinforced pilot compartment. He squeaked at me and waved an ear in greeting. ¡°Oh don¡¯t even try to play innocent with me you little shit. You scared me and then beat the hell out of me.¡± He was in a cradle that used his movements to tell the suit to move, something that was oddly enough, very well tested.


    Xavier squeaked and the exo shrugged when he did. ¡°Yes he did Major.¡± Came from Captain Rowland over the com. ¡°I approved it, if anyone could break the armor, you could. But they made sure he¡¯d be safe. Now get back down here, the satelite crew has just sent us some disturbing news and I need to call a meeting.¡±


    ****************


    It was actually a couple of hours later when I sat down with Xavier on my shoulder in the Yangtze¡¯s primary meeting room. It was set up like most standard military rooms with a decently long table in the middle of the room and screens on the far end. Evans sat across from me with Anderson and Hussein on either side of her. Several of the tech team leads were also in the room, and Captain Rowland entered, then without a word he turned on the screens.


    The main screen came to life and displayed a hurricane moving across the planet from one of the larger ocean sized lakes to another. The image zoomed in to show it coming across one of the mimic forests, the swirling cloud seeming to flare to life with bright flashes. The image froze as the Captain looked at us from where he stood. ¡°That storm is coming here, and it has not just that forest, but at least one, possibly up to three to rip that mineral up from. When it pulls up the mineral with wind, it seems to like to spawn tornados as well as heavy lightning.¡± His voice was controlled, but agitated as well.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    There were a few gasps from around the table and I heard Evans mutter something before raising her head. ¡°What effect does it have on the mimic forests, other than pulling up the mineral from around the giants?¡± She was petting her shoulder as she spoke, which we¡¯d gotten used to since Bubbles had taken a liking to her. The mimic was watching the screens with a few eyestalks, he was also her shirt. Literally a mimic and then skin, since he seemed to have adopted her and was her new living top.


    He fast forwarded the video to where the eye was over the forest. The mimics had all turned to giant stone towers braced on each other, or seemed to have curled in their branches like a protective shell. ¡°The ones that turn to stone do not have any nests or native life in them, the others seem to be protecting wildlife that have nested within them.¡±


    A hand half raised from one of the tech leads, a rather pale and half bald asian man with thick glasses and a chubbiness to him. ¡°From what we¡¯ve been able to figure out, the mimics are able to soak up heat and light to use for energy. We think that those giants are deeply rooted into geologically active areas. Tests from the volcanoes on the southern shelf show a large amount of radioactive elements. These creatures were found moving into cooled lava flow areas...we¡­¡±


    The Xo raised his hand just a little off the table, waving a finger. ¡°You¡¯re getting off topic Doctor, that is on the docket for after this crisis and more analysis.¡± His rumbling tone flowed evenly and calmly, his eyes moving from the Doctor to Evans. ¡°Aside from no doubt being annoyed, they seem to be relatively fine after the storm has passed. Our issue is what is going to happen to us.¡±


    I sighed and leaned back, the Xo nodding to me. ¡°Our issue is going to be the wind, heavy rain, and lightning.¡± I looked around the table. ¡°We¡¯re going to need to seal up and reinforce the buildings we have up and bring the vehicles into the Yangtze that can¡¯t be lifted off and sent to wait out the storm in a safe area.¡±


    The Captain smiled and nodded. ¡°The local mimics are also sensing the storm. That one atop the ship has been brought mineral by the smaller ones. They¡¯re actually quite smart, watch¡­¡± He pointed to the screen as he played a grainy zoomed in clip of a thick bolt of lightning striking a mimic. It froze showing the bright glow of the alien mineral for only a single frame, it ran in lines along the skin of the giant. ¡°We will need to get that mimic atop the ship a grounding cable or two.¡±


    Chief Li Wei raised his hand. ¡°I can see about getting Rusty and crew to help me do that. He¡¯s starting to learn when I want him to put something in a spot and not eat it.¡± The weathered man said with a grin and got some chuckles from around the table. ¡°It just cost me most of my tools to get him there.¡± That got a few snorts since some of us had gotten quite used to being very careful in what you might seem to be offering a mimic. I had to admit they¡¯d stopped stealing as many ¡°tasty¡± things lately.


    Captain Rowland nodded and looked to Evans. ¡°You get the teams ready and emergency gear stowed in the shuttles. I¡¯ve already got the scouts and fighters being loaded and ready. We haven¡¯t heard or seen anything of the other people living on this world. I¡¯d hate to be caught by a surprise raid during or after a storm like this.¡±


    Commander Wulf looked around and nodded to Li Wei. ¡°Have one of your teams double check the finished buildings. The construction lead is out there right now trying to get the primary storage building finished and reinforced. They should hold up to the storm, but we can never be too sure.¡±


    I drummed my fingers and Xavier hopped down from my shoulder and pulled his keyboard from my vest pocket. He chittered and started to type away, the text coming up on a smaller screen. ¡°Use dirt and bury the walls of the buildings you silly furless humans.¡± The Captain read aloud and snorted. ¡°Bury some of the vehicles as well. The ship is too large to bury, but you can push up dirt to funnel wind to flow over it.¡± He squeaked as he looked around at all of us and I grinned, scritching a finger between his ears as the Captain read it aloud.


    ¡°We can¡¯t fully bury some of the buildings, but we can do a good portion of that, especially the berms and building up the dirt around the sides of the building. We could get welders up to weld the roof sections to the walls.¡± I snorted as I finished, Xavier was getting passed a cup of coffee with a straw, his ears batting my finger so he could sip.


    Captain Rowland smiled and nodded to Li Wei and two other men, the trio grabbing their tablets and moving from the room. He flopped into his chair and sighed. ¡°Captain Evans, you¡¯re in charge of the teams going up in the shuttles to wait out the storm and make sure the others don¡¯t get any bright ideas.¡± He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. ¡°We¡¯ve had a few drones fly over or near our valley in the last month, but they seem to be waiting to see what we¡¯re going to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir. It does seem to be what they¡¯re doing, and we¡¯ve seen signs of a few of the groups fighting each other. We¡¯ve seen another group attacking mimics, and only one other settlement seems to be truly friendly with the mimics.¡± Evans shrugged. ¡°And they¡¯ve seen us working with them and getting them to do things for us or move so we can do things.¡± She said and smiled as Bubbles pet her atop the head.


    Captain Rowland smiled softly and shook his head. ¡°I know...and some of them are so oddly friendly, but I¡¯m also going to need a ground team commander for emergencies.¡± His eyes moved to lock onto mine. ¡°And that¡¯s you, Major. You¡¯re in charge of the teams that will be handling emergencies during the storm and the teams I want stationed in the outer buildings. Gunny Anderson, you and your heavy crews are going to be making sure what can¡¯t be put inside the Yangtze or a building...is buried. Including your two babies if need be. Cover them with tarps if you need to, but bury them before the storm gets here.¡±


    Gunny Anderson got a sad look and then nodded. ¡°Are we expecting it to get that bad?¡±


    Commander Wulf sighed. ¡°Yes...It is a category five storm, the tornados it spawns are stronger than those on earth, and the lightning will be intense.¡± He sipped his coffee and shrugged. ¡°At least we¡¯re expecting both the tornadoes and severe lightning during the first half of the storm. Maybe during the latter half as well, but the lightning will fry the vehicles if we don¡¯t cover them.¡±


    My eyes shifted over to Gunny Anderson and I sighed. ¡°Bury every one of them that we can¡¯t stuff into the ship.¡± I raised a finger. ¡°But I want Miss Piggy and Kermit to have their air tanks topped off, ammo bins loaded, and crewed. We bury them and make it look like they aren¡¯t crewed. So as annoying as it will be, they need to be moved into place with extra people, and the spares exit.¡±


    He gave me a nod and I looked at the Captain, who was smiling. ¡°You expect us to get attacked during or after the storm?¡± It came out as more of a statement than a question.


    Xavier went to typing away, fuzzy fingers flying over his keyboard, this time I read it aloud. ¡°Yes, this is why no settlements other than ours and a few wrecks are in the storm path. They most likely saw the storm paths, or moved after a storm.¡± He chittered and his ears sagged. ¡°We cannot move though, the engines were only built to make one landing. I have read this in the system design logs.¡±


    Evans giggled and shook her head as she blushed. ¡°Sorry sirs.¡± She took a breath and composed herself. ¡°It¡¯s just that Xavier is proving to be much more technically inclined than his person. And there is something else you two should know.¡± She tapped her tablet and files came up on the screen. ¡°You two are taking to the mineral the best, we have had some issues with a few people showing signs like heavy metal poisoning, others just are having bad reactions as well.¡±


    Prophet raised a finger. ¡°But all of the crew who have gotten more than the spacer¡¯s mods are showing that they¡¯re holding the mineral. Neither sex, nor race seems to affect it, only gene mods. It seems the more mods, the better the mineral settles in.¡± He looked up at the ceiling for a second and shook his head. ¡°Which has proven to be interesting with some of my people, more for religious reasons. There is worry among all groups though, my most promising is a Lance Corporal who¡¯s taken to testing himself for the good of his people....¡± He trailed off.


    It took me a moment to realize who he was talking about and I blinked. ¡°Wait, you mean Honey? That crazy one that we had to get out of jail to join the teams?¡± I asked and thought for a moment. ¡°Wait...where did his mods come from?¡±


    ¡°A honey badger, he¡¯s got first generation mods like you do, sir.¡± Prophet stated bluntly. ¡°His pet honey badger.¡± His eyes moved to Xavier. ¡°Who, someone slipped a handful of mineral, and then hit with a stun stick a few hours later. Not that I have any idea who would do such a thing.¡± His eyes didn¡¯t leave Xavier as he spoke, but his eyes finally moved back to me. ¡°But yes, Honey, he¡¯s been very protective of our people, and has behaved well.¡±


    The Captain shook his head. ¡°We have less than a planetary day to prepare for the storm.¡± He stood. ¡°Everyone is dismissed, get things ready and cycle teams so everyone that can get some kip...I mean sleep.¡± We all moved for the door, Xavier hopping to my shoulder and holding onto the collar of my fatigues. ¡°Major.¡±


    I paused and turned to face him. ¡°Sir?¡±


    ¡°Xavier¡¯s right on the engines, we¡¯d have to do a full rebuild on them. Take him back to his suit, we need all hands on deck.¡± He gave a wry smile. ¡°And that suit would have cost an unholy amount of dosh back home. Try not to break it Xavier¡­¡±


    I nodded and Xavier chittered and saluted. ¡°No rest for the wicked.¡± He just grinned and shook his head.


    ******************


    Thirty one hours later, I stood watching the wind roll across the grasses as the storm rolled close. My eyes moved over the large mounds where some of our heavy vehicles were buried, on to the mostly buried buildings. Crashing and rumbling of thunder sounded and brought my eyes back to the storm. I focused out on the giant mimics at the edge of the distant horizon and could see the rolling waves of dust flowing from around them. My hand moved to my radio. ¡°This is Major O¡¯Connell, all hands to stations!¡±


    I saw the valley¡¯s mimics rolling, bouncing, or in a rare case walking on too many legs as they moved for safety under the Yangtze. My booted feet thudded across the packed soil for the largest maintenance building they¡¯d managed to get built, the floor still lighting up from last minute welds to the roofing. I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle as I saw who was doing the welding, Xavier.


    The armored exo had a backpack welding unit hanging from its waist, manipulator feet and a hand holding it to a beam. Arcs flashed across the warehouse style building as he welded in the last length of rebar, then he sprang to another beam and another till he reached a ladder and slid down. The chest opened and he gave me a thumbs up.


    ¡°Main building is finished and ready.¡± I called over the radio and moved to guzzle down water from a canteen, till it was stolen by Xaiver. He plopped a tube down into it and started to guzzle up water. ¡°Drink up, then plug in your suit. We¡¯ll leave the main power on till it get

 Chapter 6, We need a bigger boat.

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 6 - Roderick


    We need a bigger boat


    As I moved out of the office, I heard people moving to several of the vehicles stashed inside the building. My gloved hands lifted up an ammo pack and fed the belt into the gatling I¡¯d used to test Xavier¡¯s exo. Once I had the gun hanging from my shoulder and the ammo pack hanging off my hip, I moved out into the chaos. Techs were moving to help get the assault vehicles free of the others, wind blasting in through the large open bay door.


    I cleared my throat and took a deep breath, lifting up my com. ¡°All squad leaders and vehicle teams, you are to wait until I give the word, then shell the absolute hell out of the area that we figure out the creature is in!¡± I barked out with years of practice, none of my worry showing in my voice. ¡°Gunny Anderson is in charge of the vehicle teams, and I want you mobile after you start firing Gunny!¡± The best description of giving commands is speaking everything in exclamation or Marinese, which was usually at the top of your lungs with a fair amount of whatever sentence enhancer you prefer to use. The most well or commonly used sentence enhancer is fuck, or a lovely variation of it. I¡¯ll be honest, I leave a good portion of that out of things said, because the amount that various sentence enhancers are used¡­dear gods we use them a lot.


    I looked to Xavier as he walked his exo out of a charging station, the chest open. ¡°Xavier is in charge of any non com that wants to help with the defense. We also need teams ready to help with the wounded. Lei Wei, sorry but I¡¯m drafting you to help herd the sheep.¡± I heard some rather eloquent mandarin curses as I moved for the door and triggered my com once more. ¡°I have to get that mimic off the ship. I wasn¡¯t shitting you people, this is a kaiju...and one that apparently feeds off of mimics to some extent.¡±


    I was soaked ten feet from the door as the wind hurled the rain inside, my pace starting to quicken as I moved into the howling wind. The storm was hurling out lightning that was coming into the valley now. Joy. Soon I had to lean into the wind as I moved for the ship and the towering gantry of stairs that led a kilometer and a half into the sky. Thankfully the stairs were anchored to the ship and ground.


    I wasn¡¯t the only busy person, I knew I could trust the others to get their people moving. I had to get the mimic to come down off the ship and hide. Captain Rowland¡¯s steady voice filled my com and the earpiece I had stuffed into my right ear. ¡°Attention! All crew and marine teams. We can¡¯t get a proper reading on the creature. We¡¯re soldiers, settlers, survivors, we will make it through this! In five minutes we are going to open the bays and fire a missile into the storm.¡±


    Five minutes, great, peachy...he should try making a five minute run up a kilometer tall staircase in high wind. ¡°The creature is beyond anything we¡¯ve seen, and it is attacking the ancient mimics. Major O¡¯Connell is on his way to try and get the mimic to come off of the ship. Be careful of firing near that area. Once we spotlight the creature, I will have the crew start a full bombardment and at that moment, any team within its firing range is to open fire.¡±


    I was far too old to be running up stairs like I was, my mag boots and gloves being the only reason I wasn¡¯t getting blown off of the gantry as it groaned in protest of the wind. With the wind, it was pointless for me to trigger my com, all anyone would hear would be the roar. ¡°Some might worry that we¡¯re using too much ammo with possible enemies still around, but we must fight this creature off first. Do not hold back! Fight and survive!¡± The Captain spoke in a strong steady voice, no doubt standing on the bridge watching over everything. You¡¯d think he was about to lead a charge into the french with how inspirational he was trying to be.


    My breath was coming in ragged pants and I pulled one of the stun sticks from my leg pocket and stuck the prongs to my tongue. The muscle didn¡¯t even twitch as I sent a constant million volts into it until the capacitor died, tossing the stun stick away and climbing on. Evans spoke next. ¡°Scouts are reporting more than one creature in the storm, but one is enormous. Recommend focusing the heavier fire on it and letting the lighter weapons focus on the smaller ones.¡±


    ¡°Exactly how big are we talking in sizes?¡± Rowland asked on the military band, having cut the ¡°all hands¡± broadcast he¡¯d been doing. ¡°And what do they look like?¡± He asked curiously, which I was thankful for since I couldn¡¯ ask myself.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    There was a quiver to her voice as she spoke again. ¡°Sir...um. The smaller ones are the size of our shuttles in body, looks like two sets of wings on most of them...shit.¡± She sighed. ¡°We just lost another probe. The big one is as big as the ship, if not larger.¡±


    ¡°Bullocks....Captain what do these tossers look like? What sorts of creatures!¡± He demanded, and I knew he needed to know. We all needed to know, because we had to know unarmored areas to focus on. I looked up and sighed, three quarters of the way there.


    A few deep breaths as I was on all fours now, having to stay low to the groaning stairs as I climbed now. I¡¯d already had to slip on goggles to keep from being blinded. ¡°Um...dragons sir. The creatures look like big damned dragons, like a hybrid between eastern and western, and armored. Some of the fight¡­¡±


    My hand gripped my com and held it to my mouth, the wind coming over the transmissions. ¡°FUCKING DRAGONS! ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS!?¡± I knew she was, but I was getting brain-lock on the very thought of it.


    ¡°No Major, they look like cute teddy bears...OF COURSE I¡¯M BLOODY SERIOUS!¡± She snarled back at me and I started to shove myself up the stairs with a bit of fear helping flood my veins with adrenalin. Dragons on a planet with mimics...giant dragons, giant mimics, everything was fine....I should¡¯ve stayed on fucking earth and tried dating or retirement. Dragons! Deep breaths, I had to pause at the top and catch my breath.


    My ears rang and I couldn¡¯t hear anything except the ringing as four bolts of lightning slammed into the mimic, its Caltunium core glowing bright. I didn¡¯t even hear the siren sound from the ship, but I felt the thuds of plates pulling back and slamming into their stops. My hands and feet latched to the top of the ship as I moved across it, half praying lightning didn¡¯t strike the mimic again while I was near it.


    It took a moment and I hardly heard the roar of the anti-ship missile leaving the Yangtze, but I did see it fight through the wind deeper into the storm. My hand slapped the base of the mimic and I pointed toward the ground. Then I saw the flare of a one kiloton pumped fusion warhead going off. The blast lit the storm and showed the horror heading toward us.


    Titanic wings filled with the winds of the storm at least a couple kilometers wide. A maw able to bite a destroyer in half was raking across the tops of the ancient mimics in the distance. I took a single look toward the titanic kaiju and punched the mimic. ¡°Down! Ground now!¡± I snarled at it, but it had already softened, mineral breaking inside it as it moved to start down the side of the ship. I think it was more the sight of the kaiju and not the cranky human that got the polymorph to comply, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    A twin winged dragon slashed down out of the sky, my eyes barely catching the shine of its light blue scales in the exhaust flare of another missile being fired. I brought up my gatling and fired into it with a steady stream of rounds. Bullets exploded and shattered across hardened scales on its head, neck, and leg, but not the wing membranes.


    The beast screeched a cry that sounded like tortured metal and bad bagpipes, twisting itself away from the fire that I drove after it. The mimic tucked itself in close to the hull in a way only a polymorph could, and slid down like jello. I clicked on my com and held it to my mouth. ¡°Flares! Fire flares! Aim for the wings!¡± I snarled out and moved back toward the gantry, crouched low as the wind shoved against me.


    As I got near the gantry, I heard the unmistakable ¡°BRRRRRRT!¡± of Miss Piggy¡¯s main gun firing off a burst and saw the shells explode against the chest, neck, and stomach of a swooping dragon. The creature roared out at the wrong moment and caught a shell from Kermit in its open maw, the upper half of its head erupting in gore as it faltered and dropped like a rock. Apparently Gunny Anderson didn¡¯t want to drive off the creatures, he wanted to kill them.


    Tracers and a few shoulder fired rockets flew high over me and I looked up, raising up my gatling to fire into another swooping dragon. Rounds peppered the beast, but unlike its late kin, it kept its mouth closed. I swung the laser-like stream of rounds I was firing across its body and along a thick wing membrane. I could see the flesh tear with the force that the beast was having to use to beat its wings, the stream of fire dying from my gun as my ammo ran out. I¡¯d not planned to be having to actually use the gun while atop the ship, let alone use all of its ammo.


    My hands slung the gun and empty ammo pack away to slide off the top of the ship, drawing my sword as the dragon slammed down into the upper hull plating. The creature snarled out and clawed at the metal as its six eyes locked onto me, while it was forced to use its spiked tails to keep itself from being blown off. Like any good soldier, I did the only thing I really could, I yelled back at it, cursing it in wonderful ways, including remarks about its mother.


    The dragon surged forward, its truck-sized head turning to try and snap its jaws around me, instead it got a surprise when my Caltunium infused sword slashed forward and cut through its thick scales to hammer against the bone of its snout. I lunged backward and managed to relock my feet to the hull as it wailed out in pain, I could almost feel the rage radiating from its eyes as it slowly stalked forward.


    Six large green eyes flicked from my face to the sword I held upright at my side, my feet planted as I stood in a guard stance. It knew I could hurt it and it made the beast actually seem to stop and think for a few seconds. That few seconds was enough time for it to get the idea to twist its head as it lunged forward, I countered by leaping forward into the attack. I felt a shotgun sized fang stab into my thigh as I lunged into its maw, stabbing upward with my sword with all of my strength. I just had to kill it before it could kill me.


    Bone broke in my leg as my sword punched through bone and into brain, shoving out between its eyes as its last breath made me want to vomit. The friendly visit of a few lightning bolts to the sword that I was gripping in extreme pain however, weren¡¯t so friendly as my entire body glowed brightly, I think I screamed as the beast fell dead and started to slide off the ship with me in its closed maw. Not that I noticed,


    I was too busy screaming in pain from the lightning.

 Chapter 7, Long walks with little legs.

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 7- Xavier


    Long walks with little legs.


    I am First Sergeant Xavier, son of Oreo, son of Snowball, First of the Order of Bun-Bun, and today was my first day as a true leader. The humans and myself were under siege from giant monsters they called dragons, during a storm unlike anything I¡¯d seen. Not that I¡¯d seen a great deal since I was only six human years old, but my person and friend had entrusted his people to me. They reminded me greatly of the mice of the labs, some stoic and others shaking in terror as I typed commands that my armor spoke for me. The voice was horrible and robotic, but it spoke well enough as I moved to gather the strong.


    I tasked the ones unable to fight with the duty of loading ammo for us, others with the task of preparing to gather wounded. I¡¯d not been able to drill with my person in my armor, but I¡¯d rode in his helmet, listened to his commands, and tried to be as strong for my new charges as he was for his. I¡¯d gotten them to back four of the bulldozers into a spot not far from the main building, blades facing out and treads nearly touching. It left a gap to run in and plenty of places to hunker against or take cover.


    Another of my groups was tasked with tethering weather balloons and sending them up, giving that horrid lightning something to strike other than our cover. And then I heard the com chatter and the near panic in my person¡¯s voice as he heard about the creatures. I gathered my people I¡¯d sensed would fight together at our armored fighting pit and moved to help them stack belts of ammo, magazines, and rockets for our launchers.


    I can remember how slow many of them seemed to be moving until I realized my body had started to soak up the energy in the air through the armor. My fur glowed in my displays and I chittered in annoyance at the bit of glare, I¡¯d have to fix that issue later, but for now I simply pulled down my ears and got the tips wet with spit before folding them back and plugging them into the suit¡¯s two small charging ports. The resistors in the system kept it from drawing too hard or me sending too much voltage or amperage into the capacitors that powered my armor, but it let me drain the excess energy. Else I¡¯d reach a point where everyone just seemed to stop, it was infuriating, mainly since it made all of my movements seem in super slow motion.


    The Yangtze launched missiles and as the first dragons moved to assault our valley, I saw the mimic leave the top of the ship. The only issue I had with that, was that my person was now stuck up there with one of the giant monsters. My people were firing all around me, sending streams of bullets up into the circling monsters, while I and a trio of them fired missiles and bullets to support my person. ¡°Keep firing to support the others¡­¡± My suit ordered out as I raised my rifle, head camera looking through the scope in time to see my person leap into the beast¡¯s maw.


    I couldn¡¯t help it, I squeaked, even as I saw the sword spear out between the dual trios of eyes the monster had. I squeaked and then chittered in worry as the beast slumped and was struck repeatedly by lightning as it slid from the top of the ship...with my person in its maw.


    Another of them swooped down and my suit¡¯s arm snapped up, lifting a launcher from the ground to fire a rocket into its wing. ¡°Everyone! Get onto the bulldozers, we¡¯re moving!¡± I ordered as I tossed the spent launcher away and climbed the back of the machine I¡¯d been using for cover.


    ¡°Xavier, what are you doing? You can¡¯t punch through their scales. If we hit the wings they can still walk around!¡± Came from one of my people in a bit of panic. Mice...they always panicked.


    I chittered and flipped into the seat of the large dozer. ¡°Aim for the wings! Bring them down! Then fire into their mouths if they roar...and RUN THEM OVER!¡± The metallic synthetic voice got the point across as I powered up the machine. The others with me scrabbling much like mice to climb into and around the cabs, tossing ammo boxes and belts into them as they boarded.


    Before we even started to move, I raised the blade of my dozer and blocked a snap from the beast I¡¯d downed, eyes flicking to a screen and causing me to pause as my people fired at the thing¡¯s face. The dragon that¡¯d fallen from the ship, its maw was shoving open and a blade cut away scaled flesh to reveal a purple blood soaked fluffy monster within.


    My hands moved to my keyboard, sending a priority message to the Captain along with the raw feed as the lightly glowing form leapt out and roared in rage, sword in its hand and ruined clothes and gear hanging from it. ¡°Captain Rowland...my person is no longer human. Something has happened. Tag him as a friendly! Quickly!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t the Captain that responded, it was Adam the Ai who spoke as every person¡¯s helmet or targeting system flicked to showing my person¡¯s new form as a friendly. ¡°Worry not little friend, I have marked him as a friendly, let us both hope that he is still a friend to us.¡±


    Then the Captain¡¯s voice boomed as I saw my person¡¯s monstrous canine and human form charge across the soaked ground and leap into the air, his sword cleaving through the air and into another downed dragon¡¯s neck. ¡°All Hands! Major O¡¯Connell has experienced another change, do not shoot or aim at the large snarling fluffy thing around running naked with a sword. We do not know how sane this change has left him, do NOT, I repeat do NOT pose yourself as a threat to him.¡± Boomed over speakers, the 1mc, and com units alike as my person latched on and tore into the dragon with his claws, teeth, and sword.


    My bulldozer groaned as the dragon I was shoving against, shoved back. ¡°Fire at its eyes if it tries to get around the blade.¡± My suit commanded as I throttled up the bulldozer and locked it into a higher gear, the treads chewing up the ground as we started to plow forward, the dragon screeched and started to try and climb the blade to snap at my team. Another of my dozers came around my side and locked one track, turning its blade into the dragon¡¯s flank and I could hear the sound of bones breaking like shattering trees.


    I could see a few of the combat vehicles wrecked or tipped onto their sides or tops, crews having abandoned them or dead around them. Another missile launch from the ship made me look up, my suit¡¯s cameras following the first missile as another and another launched behind that one. Flashes showed bright in the clouds and there was the sudden roar of engines as fighters and shuttles passed over the valley, weapons fire spewing from them like a hailstorm at the dragons.


    The titan was barely visible thanks to lightning flashing against its monstrous form, and then it shone bright as day when the first missile struck its wing. The flash of the fusion blast lighting up the many small tornadoes trying to make their way to the ground. The titan roared, billowing rapidly dying flames into the air as its side glowed bright with Caltunium in damaged scales. The second and third missiles shifted and drifted in the storm, arcing to slam into its first and second wing membranes.


    I lost track of the titan as one of my humans screamed in panic and something heavy landed atop my cab, I could hear claws scraping on metal before a flame soaked monster with a sword leapt onto the hood and then up to slam it¡¯s sword into the chest of a swooping dragon that¡¯d been attempting to attack another of the bulldozers. ¡°Do not panic, that is the Major. Keep firing at the wings of the dragons. Bring them down so we can kill them!¡± My suit and com barked, I¡¯d have to get the translation voice changed, it made my ear twitch. Besides, my person had flown off with the impaled dragon. He hadn¡¯t even bit anyone, granted he¡¯d been on fire.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    I backed from the corpse of the dragon I¡¯d half been on and twisted my machine around to charge toward one of the buildings where a few dragons had landed. ¡°Bulldozers with me!¡± I typed out and then looked up as that same scratching thud sounded from atop my cab, then my person landed on the hood and crouched low, chewing on a hunk of dragon he¡¯d torn loose. I couldn¡¯t blame the trio that hurled themselves off the back of my dozer, he did look rather terrifying, and was still smoking.


    Something I noticed is that he¡¯d grown nearly half again as large as he¡¯d been before and looked around ten human feet tall now, which was remarkable. It also explained his need to be eating anything and everything he could, it made me smile. ¡°Pick up the ones who jumped from my bulldozer and continue following me.¡± I sent to the other drivers, locking my throttle full and leaning up to punch out the windshield.


    My person spun on the hood and growled, then his head cocked to the side as my suit amplified my squeaks to him, I could see him look at the chest of my suit. So I made it open and leaned to wave an ear to him. Another trio of missiles roared out from the ship as I saw my friend suddenly look like this planet¡¯s largest and happiest puppy. A dagger like claw carving off a strip of meat from his foraging and tossing it to my suit¡¯s lap.


    It smelled odd as I brought it close to sniff, tearing off a small chunk to chew on and chittered, it tasted almost smoked and I nodded. My suit gave a thumbs up and I saw my person¡¯s new tail wag as he turned and pointed toward the dragons, making a motion like leaping and then pointing to me and making a motion like crushing something. When I nodded I could hear him buff and he leaned to toss the rest of his snack into the cab, turning to face the threat.


    I quickly typed up a priority message as I nibbled on the new snack, chest armor closing back tight. ¡°My person cannot speak, he recognizes me. I am currently moving to support the northern building.¡± I was sending video of the interaction and chittered to myself as I typed up the last bit. ¡°Dragon meat tastes smokey, my person has also been eating a great deal of it himself since his change. How is the titan fight coming?¡± Stupid robot voice didn¡¯t show how chipper and happy I was currently.


    One of my screens changed to Captain Rowland and I chittered and waved an ear as my image was transmitted back, though I was sending a dual image. One was of myself, the other was of my person crouched on my hood holding his sword. ¡°It¡¯s going, the creature seems to be starting to try and bank away from us. Since it¡¯s in the storm though, I¡¯m aiming to cut off the wings on one side of it. So far we¡¯ve lost two fighters with their pilots, and one of the shuttles had to bank away and make an emergency landing.¡± He seemed to focus on the screen and then snorted. ¡°He¡¯s a bloody werewolf.¡± I watched him toss up his hands. ¡°And you¡¯re sure he¡¯s safe to be around like that?¡± His tone was serious.


    I chittered and shrugged, holding up the bit of dragon meat before I bit off another bit and went back to typing. ¡°He shared his food with me, safe or not, it is a good start to things. He hasn¡¯t attacked a person, and his sword is able to cut the dragon scales¡­¡± I chittered and thought for a few seconds, then went back to typing. ¡°We will have to experiment more later.¡± I looked over from that screen and chittered annoyed as I saw a tornado moving along the edge of the valley. I typed again. ¡°We really need to chase these off so that we can burrow in for the storm.¡±


    ¡°Trying something.¡± Came from Gunnery Sergeant Anderson and I heard two loud thumps make it through the wind to my ears, barely getting to see the glowing objects streak into the nearest tornado. The air shook at the force of the explosion and my person snarled on the hood of my billdozer, but the tornado wavered and broke up.


    ¡°Do not do that so damned close! What the hell was that!?¡± Came over the commander''s channel from the Captain, the sky lighting up brightly as the last wave of missiles impacted their target. The roar that filled the air was louder than the explosion and kilometers away, my attention turning and watching as two wings on one side of the titan were shredded.


    ¡°Hiroshima played with a few of our mortars, packed in some of that glowing mineral he¡¯d mixed into some c-4. Worked like a charm.¡± He paused. ¡°Damn sir, you got it! That thing is¡­.oh hell.¡± I looked at my other screens and squeaked, the titan had been climbing and trying to get away, now it was dropping like a meteor. The three wings on one side of its body were shredded and useless, the others simply caused it to spin as it fell toward the ground.


    ¡°All hands! All hands, break contact with the dragons and hunker down!¡± Came over the coms and speakers. ¡°Brace for impact and shockwave!¡±


    I squeaked and turned the bulldozer toward where the titan was falling, sending a message for the others to do the same. The dragons all seemed to look at the titan as it fell and screeched, kicking from the ground and trying to fly high and get away. Of course bullets chased after them, but my concern was the giant fuzzy friend that was jerking me out of the dozer¡¯s cabin.


    My person had heard the orders and saw the titan falling, and his normally calm mind wasn¡¯t that way now. Now the giant fluffy idiot was whining and yipping and making sounds like a panicking hyper puppy as he jerked my suit loose and drug me free. I had to admit he¡¯d gotten quite a bit stronger, his legs sending us in long strides through the blasting winds. We made it to the berms beside the main storage building. He dropped me and leapt to attack a dragon that was struggling to get up on broken legs.


    Sadly due to his lack of proper thinking, or knowing I¡¯d had weather balloons raised to keep the vehicles safe from lightning...the idiot had left me beside one of the tethers. Lightning cracked the air and I let out a rather loud squeak as my suit was slammed with hundreds of millions of volts, the motors shorted out and I heard the hip systems explode at nearly the same instant that the capacitor pack exploded releasing its charge as well.


    I panted and let out squealing squeaks a few times, my body and even fur glowing brightly as it felt like I was on fire. It felt like ten minutes passed before my world wasn¡¯t filled with pain, though I blinked as I looked out of the chest hatch and saw rain simply hanging in the air. Not only that, but everything was stopped, every single thing was stopped, even my person¡¯s sword as it moved for the neck of the dragon.


    I¡¯d had things like this happen before, but I didn¡¯t move any faster until now. With everything stopped around me, I looked at my hand paws and wiggled my fingers, ears twitching as yes time had truly stopped for me. I could move though, and it hadn¡¯t settled in that I was moving at some ridiculous speed yet. I¡¯d figure that part out soon enough.


    I slipped out of my suit, looking at its damaged and broken state. The entire thing was useless for anything but scrap thanks to¡­the lightning was frozen in the end of its strike. I thought for a moment and hopped from the armor into the water, closing my eyes and focusing on slowing my heart. I squeaked in the split second time resumed, my suit¡¯s torso erupting in fire, not to mention the fact that the mud exploded up from where I¡¯d jumped.


    Time stopped as my heart went back to a fast pace, causing me to chitter and stop to think for a long moment. I couldn¡¯t touch anyone or anything I could possibly break, my speed meant that simply touching things was like my person punching it. That meant I¡¯d have to be extremely careful while using my speed. I sighed and chittered in annoyance, then squeaked as I looked out and saw the shockwave coming toward the ship and my humans. My eyes moved to the ship and I blinked. Not only my humans, but my mate and the others like me were inside that ship.


    I had to think, and that blast wave and ground shock would risk knocking the ship off its landing struts. It took me a long moment before I ran as hard as I could and stopped, closing my eyes and slowing my pulse. The ground erupted behind me and I was nearly thrown from my muddy feet before I let my control slip. I chittered in glee and nodded to myself, casually striding across the muddy ground. This was seriously exciting and I¡¯d have to figure out a way to stop my body and mind from moving at such high speed, I could hurt people.


    I paused. Ok I didn¡¯t care too much about hurting people, but I was starting to like more of the furless apes. I had to gently hop to gather enough drops of rain to quench my thirst, a few hundred yards more and I think I ate my weight in dragon meat. That got me feeling much better and I kept walking, this was taking forever. Then after a look around I noticed it felt like forever for me, but it seemed like exactly no time had passed. Of course no time had actually passed since nothing had moved around me.


    It took me a while to walk out to the very edge of the valley, I had little legs and had to take gentle steps to not leave a wake of damage behind. Oh how I sometimes hated being small, but it had its perks, any true distance was horrid. I had to drink my fill again and started from the side nearest the ship, sprinting as hard as I could for the shockwave, kicking off the ground shock. Then a slow walk back and over to the side and started again, and again, and again. I also threw pebbles as hard as I could at a few trees and large rocks I saw coming for the camp. It was so odd to watch them stop after leaving my tiny hand paw, I¡¯d have to check into this more later. I¡¯d also have to make sure no one tried to put a cape on me, though a cape would make a nice blanket.


    It felt like I¡¯d been going for hours trying to help the camp, not to mention the work I¡¯d done before that. When I got back close to my person I thought for a moment and hopped up, kicking down onto the dragon¡¯s head as hard as I could, then waddled along its neck tiredly. I closed my eyes and focused, it didn¡¯t take a great deal of effort now to calm the energy inside me, my pulse slowing and I got to listen to the sickly crunch and splatter of gore as the dragon¡¯s head vaporized.


    Other shockwaves exploded out from the encampment and smashed into the storm front and ground shock, but I didn¡¯t care now. I was tired and grabbed hold of my person¡¯s fur as he stumbled forward, his clawed hand moving to hold me gently as shock filled his eyes. I simply chittered and smiled at him, covered in mud and glowing softly as several dragons fell dead around the camp. Large holes had been punched through them in various places, rocks and trees exploded, but best of all I had a warm safe place...to pass the hell out.

 Chapter 8, How many ways can you make jerky?

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 8 - Xavier


    How many ways can you make jerky?


    I apparently had gotten mildly injured during my work and not eaten nearly enough to do what I¡¯d done. My person had also guarded me while I¡¯d slept and scared a few lab techs to tears in making them help me, mice were always so easy to scare. The humans had lost nearly forty people to the storm and dragons, three had been killed by lightning.


    I woke as the last of the storm was passing and found my person curled up on one side of the room, a pregnant Hera sleeping atop him as if he was a couch. It made me smile as I looked myself over, I was laying in a human kit incubator. The needle in my arm made me pause and I looked up to see that the small saline bag was all that hadn¡¯t emptied, so I worked it loose and watched the hole seal. That was intriguing, I was healing much more quickly now and I could hear the machines working, so I wasn¡¯t moving fast.


    It took a little work and I wasn¡¯t able to stand, but I sat up and looked around again, making a chitter and waiting a second. Hera came over and leaned her head up, moving back seeing me awake and barking at my person. He startled awake and sat up, looking around and then over to me, his canine maw twisting into a smile. Then he tilted his head up and let out a long howl, Hera of course joined in and I squeaked in laughter. My human had always sort of reminded me of a puppy, and now he was fluffy and could howl proper.


    It only took that single howl to get one of the lab techs to come in, one of the younger ones who was nicer. The poor mouse looked tired and I chittered, waving an ear in greeting at him. I wiggled my fingers like I was typing and he nodded, stepping back out. He came back a moment later with a keyboard for me and a voice synthesizer for it to link to. He looked at my person and Hera and sighed. ¡°You little miss are supposed to be relaxing in your comfy bed. You only have another week, maybe two before you give birth.¡± His gentle voice flowed as he scritched around her ears as she huffed. ¡°Oh don¡¯t give me that...go and relax. Lola needs her pregnancy partner for this¡­¡±


    Lola was my mate and overdue for a normal rabbit in her pregnancy, but we were expecting her to have them within two weeks. Longer pregnancies were normal for those of us with many mods. I took the keyboard and chittered as I typed. ¡°Hera, please keep my mate company.¡± She looked over to me and nodded before waddling off slowly for where my mate was nested. My eyes went to my person, who was urinating through the door of the bathroom into the shower at the other end. ¡°We will have to turn him back or build him larger spaces...am I ok Dr Edgar?¡± He seemed to prefer his first name when dealing with people.


    The Doctor paused in pulling a grey blanket from a cabinet and nodded as he looked at me. ¡°Yes, you will be ok. Will.¡± He said and touched my person¡¯s black fuzzy arm, holding up the blanket. ¡°We don¡¯t have clothes that will fit...use this like a toga, Major.¡± I watched my person get a confused look and then an ear twitched as he took it and wrapped it more like a kilt. ¡°Thank you sir. Are you still hurting?¡± He got a head shake and a huff. ¡°I know, don¡¯t try talking for now...we¡¯re still running the samples. You may turn back on your own.¡±


    My stomach growled and I chittered as my person looked at me, my fingers quickly typing. ¡°Food?¡± He nodded and looked toward Dr Edgar.


    The nice mouse just grinned. ¡°Yes yes, your stash of dragon meat is still in the cooler where you put it. Just be careful if you cook it, the meat is high in phosphorus, and the bones are high enough in phosphorus and magnesium that they¡¯ll be flammable when they dry ¡° He moved out of the way and let him through, turning to look at me as my person had to wiggle through the door.


    ¡°You, young man.¡± He said wiggling a finger at me and smiling. I chittered and gave him my best innocent look. ¡°Don¡¯t even try to do that. I saw the camera feeds from outside. You¡¯re seen in exactly four frames after the lightning strike, in four different places. Not only that, but your muscles that I saw in the scan show signs like you ran for miles under heavy weight.¡± He was grinning as he looked at me, pulling himself up a chair and dropping the side of the incubator as he sat. ¡°So...all of the details.¡±


    I had to admit I actually liked Dr Edgar Williams, he was nice to me and the others, and understood we weren¡¯t stupid. So he¡¯d earned respect from most of us, and I squeaked softly and settled back into the covers half sitting up. ¡°I¡¯m guessing it¡¯s the minerals and genetic modifications, time stopped for me after the lightning hit my suit. My heart was beating fast and when I calmed it, things moved, but things I¡¯d touched...exploded.¡± The synthesizer spoke as I typed and he looked thoughtful. ¡°What is it?¡±


    He rubbed his chin and moved to pick up a tablet, logging into it and going through its files. ¡°These are the images I found, the Captain demanded we find out what had happened.¡± He said and brought up the first two shots, it was the lightning striking, and then a frame later my suit¡¯s chest exploded along with a bit of ground. ¡°When you willingly apply force to things, it is like a meteorite hitting them.¡±


    I chittered softly and rubbed an ear in thought. ¡°I couldn¡¯t be affecting things at light speed. I¡¯d have destroyed everything. The valley would be gone.¡± The synthesizer spoke as I leaned back, then he played the next segment and I got to watch as a bright blur appeared, a wave of mud and water exploding out from where I¡¯d moved. But the damage from my runs at the shockwave were incredible. The ground erupted up and where I kicked off the ground shock had just seemed to vaporize several meters of ground. Everywhere I¡¯d gone, there was a blur of light and my head cocked to the side as I chittered.


    ¡°I know...our best guess, and all it is right now is a guess.¡± He said and sighed, not speaking until I chittered at him. He shook himself. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m tired and I¡¯ve been looking over dragon samples, and samples from the two of you.¡± He covered his mouth as he yawned. ¡°But best guess is that you weren¡¯t fully in phase with reality, otherwise like you said...we¡¯d all be dead. Once you¡¯re healed up, I¡¯d love if...¡± He paused. ¡°In a safe area.¡± He held up a finger and pointed to the craters I¡¯d made in the frozen images. ¡°Because you can apparently apply force, and I don¡¯t want you blowing holes in the ship or people.¡± He winked.


    I chittered and gave him a shocked look, which only made him roll his eyes. ¡°Ok I won¡¯t make people go splat or make things go boom.¡± I typed and held a hand over my heart.


    He wiggled a finger at me. ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that, and¡­¡± He brought up a clip of my person swinging his sword onto a dragon, then its head exploding and my small muddy form appearing and dropping into my person¡¯s hands. ¡°That...you scared the sense into him. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s all there right now¡­¡± There was the sound of a squeaky toy from down the hall and he sighed. ¡°See...that is how we got him to let us treat you...a squeak toy.¡±


    I shook my head, my person had never been ¡°right¡± and had liked to have fun as he said it, but I could see a more canine form of him going giddy with a squeak toy and it made me squeak in laughter. ¡°I will do what I can for him, maybe calming him down or meditation will help. Though, how are my mice? Did we lose any of them?¡±


    It took him a moment and he started to laugh, shaking his head and wiping away a tear from his eye as he caught his breath a moment later. ¡°Mice...you still call doctors and techs that?¡± I nodded and he sighed. ¡°Why am I not surprised, but your mice made it, some I¡¯m sure will join security, and others no doubt have ptsd. I can¡¯t blame them...this world is insane.¡±


    We both looked up and over as the smell of something like seared chicken wafted into the room and my person growled as he ducked and wiggled through the door. I leaned up more and chittered as he came over, a bowl twice as large as myself being set in front of me. I tossed my keyboard aside and rolled forward, climbing up and grabbing a chunk the size of my head. I fell back and lost myself in a frenzy of eating and flavors.


    My person casually watched me and used his claw to stab hunks of meat in another bowl, popping them into his maw and chomping them down. I don¡¯t know how many chunks of meat I ate, I think I got down twice my weight before I flopped back and burped, content and finally feeling full. I felt the urge to go feral and start bathing myself, but it wasn¡¯t hard to keep that down since I was hurt.


    I wasn¡¯t expecting to find that Dr Edgar had left and Commander Wulf was standing patiently, letting us eat our fill. He calmly set down a large bag and moved to the bathroom, coming out with a wet towel and a damp rag, handing the towel to my person and setting the rag down for me. ¡°Since you two have had your fill...and you are calm¡­¡± He nodded to my person, who snorted as he wiped his hands and maw clean. Igor¡¯s eyes moved to me. ¡°And you¡¯re no longer an explosive blur.¡± He gave me a crooked grin. ¡°Feeling better?¡± He had to ask as I was scrubbing my face and body with the rag.


    I moved to my keyboard, my left ankle still tender and making me limp a little. ¡°Much better, I will keep my pulse calm and¡­¡± I looked at my left leg. ¡°I will need him to carry me, I overdid it during the storm.¡± Even with having slept and eaten, my joints still ached and muscles throbbed from wear and tear.


    He nodded and reached into his breast pocket, pulling out two items and setting them down beside me. One looked like a tiny roll of supportive bandage, and the other was a cane...that was my size. ¡°Some of the techs made those, we actually have several rolls of bandage like that now, and one took the time to forge you a steel and Caltunium cane.¡±


    I set the keyboard aside and picked up the roll, letting it unfold and slowly wrapping my ankle with it. It took me a moment and then I looked over the cane, it had an odd shine to it and after I gave it a tiny charge, it glowed softly. I noticed that it appeared to have some of my shed fur hammered into it. When I looked up to thank the XO, I chittered instead. Humans loved it when you made little nose wiggles at them too, and cute looks seemed to break them.


    My person was being handed things from the bag. ¡°Now Major, we can¡¯t have you running around like a movie monster, you must at least wear things.¡± The first item was his sword holder, and then a harness that¡¯d been radically altered and enlarged. It had a throat mic with a long neck strap and an ear clip. ¡°And there is also this¡­¡± He held up a shoulder pad that would attach to the harness, which had a spot for my keyboard and a bulged spot like a seat for me. ¡°For now, you two are not to be apart. Major O¡¯Connell is still mentally unstable, and if you try to move fast...you could destroy things.¡±


    I chittered and my person stuck his tongue out at the XO and moved to put on the harness, clawed hands being careful to get the shoulder pad in place and latches locked without fur in them. ¡°I also have some idea what the sounds he makes mean, and I can use this to talk for the both of us.¡± The synthesizer spoke for me as I typed.


    My person huffed and twitched an ear, his maw working and something like ¡°Ruck aroo.¡± Came out, making the XO smirk. ¡°We cannot have the good Major sounding like a scary scooby doo, now can we?¡± He asked and my person slumped a little, ears drooping. ¡°I also managed to get a few of the people in laundry to¡­¡± He trailed off and pulled out a pair of camouflage pants that had been sown together from what looked like three pairs.


    My person yipped and grabbed them carefully, looking them over and murring as he looked through a slit for his tail with a clasp at the belt line. The zipper area had been altered with clasps and it looked like it had been reinforced in several places. He moved over and dropped his pseudo kilt, having to lay on the floor to have the room to work himself into the pants. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to get anyone to make you boots, but you¡¯re going to have a few more pairs of those at least.¡±


    I chittered and stood up, using the cane and holding my keyboard under one arm as I half walked and half waddled over to where the synthesizer sat on my bedding. My person came over and murred, actually dressed and sword hanging on his back in it¡¯s holder. He casually put the synthesizer into a net pocket on his harness and then held down his hand for me, lifting me up to his shoulder. We¡¯d gotten used to this sort of thing over the time since we¡¯d met, and I wasn¡¯t afraid of heights. I actually enjoyed the ride most of the times I¡¯d ridden my person.


    Once I was settled in my seat and even found a little leather belt, I squeaked and latched my keyboard into place. ¡°First Sergeant Xavier and Major O¡¯Connell ready for duty sir.¡± I typed and the two of us saluted, though my person was slouched over to keep from banging his head on the ceiling.


    Commander Wulf nodded and returned the salute, motioning us to follow him. ¡°The giant that we took down during the storm died a few hours ago. Most likely it suffocated under its own weight and injuries. Captain Rowland would like you two to check it out, the mimics have fed off of some of the dragons that we didn¡¯t carve up, but they won¡¯t move toward it. We¡¯d like you two to scout it and see if there is a reason why.¡±


    My person huffed and I chittered. ¡°Sending the two combat soldiers you have to scout, who just happen to have recently become terror influences?¡± The synthesizer spoke and my person snorted and made a few noises of his own.


    ¡°Along with drone backup, but yes, you two are also the most likely to make it out if there is an issue. You¡¯re injured, but the Major is quite fast for someone his size. It is also the reason for the net pouch on the back of his shoulder, if he goes into a monster run, use the pouch.¡± He stopped in the hall and gave us both a stern look. ¡°You are not to get into combat, Xavier is injured, you¡¯re unstable and get feral, and neither of you can actually speak.¡± He gave me a look and turned on my person¡¯s radio.


    He sighed. ¡°But everyone else is also either trying to clean up, harvest the kills, or are burying the dead. This also lets you both get out and check an area. Major O¡¯Connell can climb well, you can move over him and act like a mobile set of eyes...and the techs are of course already rethinking a new exoskeleton suit for you.¡± He turned to start walking again, moving for the supply elevator instead of a ladder. Some large fluffy being had already nearly gotten stuck in one. I had to admit it was like riding a giant bear, my own personal war wolf.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    My mind tried to remember what the big war wolves were called, but I typed up something even as I thought. ¡°Thank you sir, please tell them thank you for me, and we will be careful.¡± I relaxed and found the movement of my person¡¯s body rather relaxing, and soon enough I passed out.


    ***************


    I woke up about the time that my person yipped, my eyes snapping open and for the first time I got to see the damage I¡¯d done. Twenty deep and broad trenches were half full of rainwater, and the craters were large enough to fit a bulldozer inside. I chittered as I looked around and leaned into the giant clawed hand that lifted to give me a little scritch. I typed up a message. ¡°I did this¡­me. This is insane, what is going to happen if a human becomes like me. I weigh two pounds.¡± And then I couldn¡¯t stop the glare as my person held up four fingers, then squeaked as he thumbed towards himself and made a six, a five, and a two. Six hundred and fifty two pounds, just how much Caltunium had we absorbed!?


    I chittered and pointed to a barren strip with a dozen or so foot wide path between two of the...ponds. Yes, the craters were turning into ponds as runoff from a few streams had run into the furthest crater and were feeding into the others. It was surreal, me, a damned four pound bunny, had created these craters, by kicking. Granted I¡¯d been kicking at apparently light speed, but still, I¡¯d done it. I¡¯d saved the humans and made some big whopping...my ankle throbbed and and leaned to rub it and huffed.


    The storm had made an absolute mess of the woods and small meadows, my person pointed to where a few of the O¡¯Pangs as most were calling the armored omnivores now, were ripping hunks from a dragon impaled on a tree. He kept away from them and we stayed quiet as he wound our way toward the dead titan and the ruined area where it had crashed. A few of the smaller forest beasts, only about my person¡¯s size, simply ran when we came across them. They were all odd, armored, or too many eyes, too many legs. One of the smaller ones looked like a mix between a bat, cat, and monkey and were worse thieves than mimics.


    When we finally got to the tail though, we both paused, the air felt odd, almost like being in the generator room aboard the ship. I chittered and he growled, the two of us feeling the wrongness in the air and he crouched low. I slowly shifted my ears, the tips tingling more toward the hind legs a kilometer or so ahead. A soft squeak from me and he crept forward, moving like the predator he now was and making no sound as we moved forward. I held up my hands and waved them in the air and then pointed my ears forward, knowing the drone controller would bring the scout drone further out at the sign.


    What I didn¡¯t know was that the drone had malfunctioned and had to return, leaving us without backup as we went forward. Not that it would have helped, Both of the tanks were now low on ammunition, their guns broken down, and being cleaned. And then as we got near one of the dead titan¡¯s feet, our ears snapped up at almost musical sounds. Both of us could hear higher and lower tones than a normal human, and there were also sounds of tools and machines.


    We shared a look and I nodded so he moved closer to the noise, a gutteral rough speech flowing on the air along with the odd musical speech we¡¯d heard. He crept closer and we both listened, ears turning and shifting softly to the different sounds. A whining yipping laugh caused him to pause and there was a thick trunk of a tree and brush between us and the nearest noise, then a trilling sound with something like rapid clicks. Odd sounds for talking, but he moved for another spot that was thinner brush we could peek through.


    In the damaged area around the leg of the titan, two different bipedal races moved about with  wheeled vehicles lined up and meat being loaded into them. There were also long strings run between damaged trees with thick ribbons of dragon meat hanging from them. The aliens were dipping the meat into large barrels and then hanging it. Others were working plates free, and cutting out slabs of meat. And then more were tending what looked like large portable smokers, which were mostly just producing a light misty smoke.


    We watched them and I smiled and unhooked myself, moving to pet my person¡¯s cheek as one of the two races looked quite canine and like smaller stocky versions of him. Their thinner fur had seemingly metallic hues to it and an odd range of colors.  It looked like they¡¯d been on the planet long enough to evolve to a stockier build than they¡¯d probably had, but I was only guessing. The noises that they made for language were rougher and had many chest born aspects to it like different noted growls or chuffs, my ears twitched and I saw something that made me pat his cheek.


    The second race was hairless and shorter than even the normal humans, the tallest was under five feet and they moved with an odd grace. Noseless with what looked like an aquatic mammal¡¯s blowhole just above the eyes in the forehead. Larger eyes that were dark in color or black. The noises they made sounded rather musical, like a much higher form of dolphin or whale song. But it was the staff one of them lifted up that made me chitter, at the head was a gem as large as me that glowed brightly.


    The alien closed its large eyes and snapped out the staff, then about twenty feet from them the air seemed to tear open. The area on the other side was dark and one of the vehicles moved around and through it, another moving through after the first passed. The new truck wasn¡¯t empty and had another race riding in the back. The new ones were as tall as my person and lithe in form, with manes of fur that ran from head to lower back with an extra set of arms coming off the back below the normal set. The length and shape of their heads resembled a rhino to some extent.


    My person sniffed the air and I did as well, the first two smelled of predators, omnivores maybe, but these new ones. They smelled of prey, thick blunted fingernails or claws, and blunt grinding teeth were visible when they spoke. I pat his cheek and waited for him to look before pointing to my eye and then my moving mouth and ear.


    He nodded and then pointed to his neck mic and pressed the button to turn off the synthesizer. I nodded and moved back slowly to my seat, flopping into it tiredly and starting to type. ¡°Found three of the other groups harvesting meat and scales from the giant. No doubt before the meat spoils. We are going to make contact and I recommend that you harvest the meat as well, they seem to be soaking it first in water or a solution.¡±


    It was a direct transmission to the Captain and XO, and it only took a moment for me to hear the response from my person¡¯s ear unit. ¡°Copy that, be very careful. We¡¯ve actually been soaking the meat. Be careful and I will have one of the harvesting teams head for the tail in a while, find out if we can be peaceful.¡±


    My person snorted softly and I let out a little chitter. ¡°Copy that Captain, going radio silent. Will check in when we either run for our lives, or have gotten some language.¡± I sent and chittered, my person clicking off his com and waiting for me to belt myself in before moving. He still moved with a predator¡¯s...no it was a stalking soldier, a predator didn¡¯t keep its senses peaked in ways other than its prey. He had to be careful since not only was he much larger in mass than one of the canine ones, but he was armed with that giant sword. I don¡¯t think he could have actually fired a rifle, his fingers were too big to fit into the trigger guard.


    When he got near one of the vehicles, we still hadn¡¯t been seen and I chittered softly. When he looked over at me, I pointed to myself, my keyboard, and the synthesizer and pointed to the hood, then pointed to him and motioned like getting down. His eyes narrowed, but he nodded, gently moving me and my items to the hood of the odd wheeled truck. He unhooked his sword and knelt down, the large blade resting against him as he hid himself in the truck¡¯s shadow. I walked using my cane and gently nudged the synthesizer closer to the edge, sitting on the hood and mimic¡¯d the smaller one¡¯s greeting. Sadly it was much squeakier, but I think I got all of the different notes right.


    Either way, every head in almost one hundred yards turned to look at me and the air became very quiet. I scanned the many different faces and bowed lightly, touching my chest and then my nose in the same way I¡¯d seen the smaller ones do in greeting. Then I motioned for some of them to come closer, sadly one of the four armed grunted and charged, its head reminding me of a four eyed rhino, but with four smaller horns instead of the larger single.


    It had gotten shocked, I smelled of predator, and was alien to it, so no wonder at least one charged. I turned and looked at it, time slowing just enough as it got closer so that I could move my stuff to the side. The being¡¯s three fingered hand coming out to grab me, I grabbed it, whacked it on each knuckle as I shoved it away. When my pulse slowed to normal, it roared out in pain and slammed into the truck, its head landing next to me.


    I thumped it on its cheek and it made a snort of pain and grabbed its face as it pulled back, two hands on its face and one hand rubbing the knuckles of the other on the other set. I chittered at it and motioned with my cane and then behind me and let out a loud squeak. Then on que, my person slowly raised up, his monstrous sword resting on his shoulder and his eyes glowing with energy much like mine did. I squeaked, bitching at the stupid alien and made a motion like taking off a head.


    My person looked from me to them and bowed lightly, but his eyes never left them. His hand moved to make motions like talking and then pointed to me and the two he recognized as leaders.They shared a look and the duo started to move over, motioning the others back to work, and my person made me smile as he hooked his sword and moved for the carcass. The others were using tools to get the scales loose, he simply grabbed one and glowed for a second before ripping it free. A growl rumbled from him and he paused when he saw several looking at him.


    I squeaked and nodded, his hand went to his sword and it glowed brightly as he drew it and his clawed fingers went to another scale, drawing in the power to himself and then pushing it into the sword. Then he went to shoving the blade between scales and popping them free, using the strengthened blade and his own immense strength, some of the others moved to use the tools and pull the large scales away to a pile.


    It appeared most of them hadn¡¯t taken to the way of life that me or my human had come to accept, though some of them were far stronger than others. The herbivores were running some sort of grinding machine that they were putting drained scales into, others were using wires to drain the scale energy into what looked like a battery truck.


    The smaller leader held their hand out to me and I pushed my keyboard into it and hopped in, the other hand picking up the synthesizer. The other had moved to set the spots to sit around a small fire he¡¯d started. By the time we got to the fire I realized the one toting me was female, definitely an aquatic mammal. My things and I were set in one spot and the other two went to sit in equal spacing around the fire.


    I chittered as I thought and the larger one pulled something from his pocket, claws moving to hook a device on his ear and another to his harness. The furless one did much the same, hooking one to her vest and something to her small ear. ¡°Greetings tiny being, I am Grek and this furless one is named¡­¡± It was odd hearing the clicking growling sound that came from the small female. ¡°Stormwind.¡±


    I just stared at them, his words had come out in english and I stared dumbfounded at them, there was a loud booming yelp as my person crashed to the ground. The two chuffed and trilled and the translators they were using replicated their laughter to human laughter. After a moment the smaller female, Stormwind, looked at me curiously. ¡°I am a Lo¡¯Kar, and the head of our people. Grek, is a Ca¡¯zeze, our people were locked in combat when they ended up here.¡± She touched the device on her vest and trilled softly, apparently it was a sigh or something like my chitters. ¡°The Eda made these for us.¡±


    I chittered and typed up something as she spoke, thinking before poking the button to transmit it. ¡°Do not bother with my noises, I do not have a true language, I am First Sergeant Xavier, I am with the humans...a lab born animal.¡± I kept typing and nodded toward my person as he went back to work. ¡°That is my person, until the storm, he was human. His name is Major Roderick O¡¯Connell...his handle is Hound.¡± I chittered a little and looked to see that I was getting a rude gesture pointed at me. ¡°We are both heavily modified genetically, him¡­¡±


    Grek held up a clawed finger, head cocked to the side. ¡°What was the word after modified? It did not translate.¡±


    I scratched the base of my ear. ¡°Genetically...the building blocks of our life is carbon, we were altered at our smallest possible points and enhanced. The humans call them genes¡­.¡± I moved and waddled to the side, using my cane to draw as best a double helix as I could. ¡°I was made stronger, smarter, far smarter than any of my kind normally.¡± I typed after moving back, both looking at the drawing in the dirt and then to me. ¡°My person was made far stronger, more dense, much faster healing, and some genes from an animal were used to enhance his senses.¡± I grinned. ¡°Those animals...resemble you.¡± I pointed to Grek as my synthesizer spoke for me.


    The burly male stiffened, he resembled a wolf with a pit bull¡¯s frame as a two legged, the female trilled in laughter. ¡°His world has something mildly similar to my people, but if you are an enhanced animal and he is¡­¡± She pointed to my person. ¡°Was human...how are you like you are now? The Eda didn¡¯t mention humans changing their form, and none of them were so...large.¡± She seemed almost mildly offended by my person¡¯s height.


    She turned and blinked as she saw him slicing strips of meat from the titan and eating them raw, then she looked to Grek and finally to me. ¡°You do not prepare the foods of this world before you consume them?¡± She looked to the staff¡¯s gem and then to me. ¡°You have a great deal of Nobu crystal within you then, we have built up a tolerance to it, but we¡¯ve had to take great care with it. It can make one unsta¡­¡±


    As she looked at me, I raised my pulse with a memory and gingerly moved very carefully a few of my steps to the side and then a few toward her. I had to be very careful and closed my eyes to slow my pulse once more. ¡°..ble¡­¡± The next thing that left her was a thudding wave of sound that ruffled my fur and the dirt more than I¡¯d done moving. Apparently I¡¯d startled her, and definately aquatic mammals with that sonar pulse she¡¯d let fly.


    Grek nodded. ¡°Yes, you have a great deal of it within you.¡± He pointed a claw toward me and an ear twitched. ¡°Be very careful in doing that small one, you¡¯re the one who caused the devastation¡­¡± He nodded toward the ship and camp and I nodded and pat my leg, using the cane to move back and sit down. ¡°We have had people who tried and caused horrible damage, but now I see how one so small could so easily defeat a Rodu.¡± He nodded back toward where a group of the four armed ones were loading more of the drained scales into grinders.


    I chittered in thought. ¡°What do the Eda look like? We¡¯ve not seen any sign of¡­¡± Stormwind pointed to the giant dead titan and my jaw dropped.


    ¡°They¡¯re much smaller...they call the giant ones and those you killed...ferals or fallen. They are from an ancient ship that crashed here long before the nicer Eda became trapped.¡± Stormwind said and her head cocked to the side as there was a crashing sound far behind me that was coming closer.


    I stood and squeaked at my person and pointed to myself and then up, he huffed and latched his sword as he came over. He held up a strip of meat and growled low, ears snapping up on many of the Ca¡¯zeze at the sound, but there were several sounds of shock as he breathed out a tongue of flame and seared the meat. I took it and nibbled on it as I stood in his hand.


    ¡°What are you¡­¡± Grek trailed off as my person looked up and then curled his arm back and hurled me straight up into the air. I had to remind him that he was much stronger than he had been before, my pulse sped up some and I looked around from over a hundred meters in the air. I couldn¡¯t help but chitter as I saw the source of the sound, one of the tractor tire mimics was rolling and bouncing toward us with a duffle bag in the open center of its form.


    A few seconds later my person caught me and I chittered and made a flexing motion and chittered at him, then pointed to my keyboard. When he set me down I typed it up. ¡°Our Captain must have asked for gear to be brought to us. A mimic is bringing it.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± came from Grek and was answered when my person chuffed and pointed to a rock, then his eye. Grek and Stormwind both stood and started to back up. ¡°Your people trust those always hungry, always thieving monsters!?¡± He snarled out and then a tire nearly the size of my person bounced clear of the brush and rolled to a stop beside him.


    A few blades were drawn and my person growled low, clawed hand held up for them to stop, and then a single finger pointed at the ground where the leaders had sat. He stepped back to the titan and tore off a hunk of meat larger than myself and came back, holding it for the Mimic to take.


    The wheel sprouted several eyes and set the bag down with a tendril, then took the hunk of meat and tossed it into a mouth that opened in the tread. It jiggled and turned in place to roll and then bounce back for the camp. I chittered and shook my head. ¡°Yes...they¡¯re not that stupid and learn boundaries, eventually.¡± I pointed an ear toward my person as I typed again. ¡°He saved a small one our first day, since then they¡¯ve worked with us...that one and three others act as the tires for a large machine.¡±


    Grek growled toward my person, who raised a brow and growled back low as he touched the blade of his sword. The energy rushed into him and his eyes and entire body seemed to glow bright, but it was his fur that shined the brightest. The snarl that rumbled out of him was low as he and the other male. Both of them jumped when I waddled to a rock and froze time for myself, sighing and smacking it with my cane before waddling back. When I slowed my pulse the rock and a foot of ground around it exploded into dust, causing both of them to go on guard toward the spot.


    I chittered and growled at them both, pointing to my ankle and then to either of them as I moved to sit down. Stormwind made a face and looked between them. ¡°I believe our small friend is telling you to both stop, he¡¯s injured, and will hurt you both.¡± Her translated tones were calm and level. ¡°And I agree, so both of you calm down and let us see what they were sent.¡±


    Grek chuffed and sat, his eyes going crossed and a whine flowing from him as Stormwind grabbed his ear in a way mothers and wives had for millenia. ¡°Sorry ...sorry...I won¡¯t pick a fight with the human that looks like my kind.¡± The alpha male whined as many husbands and children had over the ages.


    I squeaked in laughter and took a moment to catch my breath as my person dumped the energy into his sword¡¯s blade, his brow raised toward me as he set it aside and sat. It took me a moment to be able to type. ¡°Human mothers do that....¡± My person chuffed and I nodded. ¡°And wives. My own mate has taken my ear a time or two, it seems to transcend species.¡±


    My person got out a pair of tablets, two injectors, a new voice synthesizer, and half the bag was food and water. He took one of the injectors and gave it a thoughtful look before sticking it to his neck and injecting himself. I saw the almost worried or fearful looks they gave the injectors and chittered, connecting to the new synthesizer. ¡°It is a sedative, my person turned during the storm from lightning strikes. He is a soldier, a warrior, it will keep him stable. Now let us get to the fun of learning how not to enrage each other, then you can meet the humans.¡±


    Stormwind nodded her head with a little twist to it and Grek chuffed and did the same odd tilted nod of his head. With that we began to speak of the odd nature of the different races, and the fun quirks. My person also passed out a few times, it seemed that the dosage needed to be lowered, having to wait for your stoned werewolf to not be stumble footed is annoying.

 Chapter 9, Go fetch the alien tech, boy, whos a good monster?

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 9 - Roderick


    Fetch the alien tech boy, who¡¯s a good monster.


    It is so damned painful to be a werewolf, I used to think it would be so cool, but god it hurts to change from one physical form to another. It gave me one hell of a respect for the mimics that could change forms so easily and readily, but they weren¡¯t anything like humans. It took me two earth months to figure out how to trigger the change, and then I blacked out and woke up in the med ward.


    Due to the risk of me transforming and breaking a combat space suit or injuring myself, I was grounded. Honestly I didn¡¯t mind, I didn¡¯t like being in vacuum anyway, keeping on the ground was fine for me. Though since I learned to be human again, I¡¯d ended up at about seven feet tall and denser than I¡¯d ever thought possible. Caltunium or Nobu crystal, whatever someone called it, had enhanced and altered me beyond what gene mods had been able to do. It made me understand the other race¡¯s worries about it, aside from severe pain in turning, it felt really good, and that was with having to be more careful not to break things. Like doors, people, dishes, people, I hate glass, oh and all those little bones in people¡¯s hands.


    Though the issues I had, was nothing compared to Xavier and his mate Lola¡¯s issues with having four children that were not only intelligent, but fast. Two boys, Albert and Isaac, and two girls Dorothy and Marie. Cute as hell and able to seemingly stop time for themselves much like their dad could. Aside from being the most lethal toddlers I¡¯d ever seen, they were sweet and cute, and impossible to keep out of things.


    Lola was a dwarf Hotot unlike her mate Xavier, who was a netherland dwarf. Where Xavier had the odd albino trait, she was rather gothic looking with the black spots around her eyes and a black stripe on her head. The scariest thing about the motherly bunny for me, was the fact that unlike Xavier, she¡¯d gotten strong. Where her mate and kids were about five pounds, she was about fifteen to twenty, guessing since I don¡¯t want to get decked by a bunny. I¡¯d heard one of the lab techs say that she had the strength ratio of a rhino beetle, which was terrifying when she hurled something heavy at you, but hilarious when she sank into the ground trying to carry something heavy.


    I ended up being very proud of Evans, and surprised the time she woke me bound to her bed, but proud of her for her work. After the harvest meeting as most called it now, she spent months getting our three newly allied races used to working with Mimics. It was something none of them had been able to do in the many years they¡¯d been on the planet, and Bubbles helped a great deal in her making contact with the other mimics. I just wish the little toddler blob would stop scaring the hell out of me and most others, and those creatures will NEVER be anything other than creepy.


    Sadly it only took six earth months or roughly three local for things to start breaking down, not with the various people, but machines. Materials, parts, hell some of the wiring, engines, things break down over time. Luckily for us, there were places to get the materials we needed. Since I was grounded, I couldn¡¯t take part in the work going on in space, of raiding the broken fleet. The most curious part for me was that the Eda hadn¡¯t shown their faces to us, but leave it to the Captain to find work for me to do. One must never mention boredom around a superior officer.


    It was morning and I was in the metal shop in my human form tightening down bolts that held a heavy solid wheel to the vehicle I¡¯d been building the last month. It was powered by an electric turbine generator and the engine¡¯s power came from a compressed Caltunium battery pack, and a fuel cell. I¡¯d taken two of the trucks demolished in the storm and used them to build this one. Xavier and his kids had also helped me out, doing the higher math and winding the coils that ran the motors out of a mix of copper, gold, and caltunium. The kids were sitting in front of tablets with their parents, absorbing knowledge at an insane rate.


    ¡°I hereby christen this abomination of a vehicle, The Warg.¡± Came from behind me, causing me to burst into laughter. Captain Rowland had somehow managed to keep clean uniforms and still wore them regularly, which oddly kept things rather peaceful. ¡°I come bearing smoke and beer, which I¡¯m happy to say isn''t going to be a problem.¡± He handed me a canteen of beer and a pouch of smokable that held a pipe. ¡°You don¡¯t need a lighter like the rest of us.¡±


    I snorted and rolled my eyes, taking a sip of the beer and smacking my lips before taking another swig of it. ¡°Good grog, better than I¡¯d hoped for.¡± Then came the fun of packing the metal pipe he¡¯d given me, a spat of flame onto my thumb and I was puffing softly on it. I murred as the smokey calm filled me, though Xavier was soon standing on my wrist having himself a good puff as well. ¡°I¡¯ll have to give my compliments to the genetics junkies for figuring out how to add nicotine to cannabis.¡±


    He packed his own pipe and lit it, taking a pull from it and letting out the smoke in a sigh. ¡°Captain Evans is having some luck with the salvage runs, but¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s some things that the shuttles can¡¯t haul down here. Like the fabricators in the Eda ships, they¡¯re just too heavy for them. And using those portals doesn¡¯t work in space.¡±


    Xavier was back typing on his keyboard. ¡°Of course not, the atmospheric pressure on the planet would send even heavy things flying away from a portal. Let alone the issue of not sucking through the people who open the portals, or things around them.¡± He had a thoughtful expression as the synthesizer spoke for him.


    The Captain nodded. ¡°Yes that¡¯s been the worry and issue, apparently our friends have tried it before, or their parents did in the past. The issue for everyone is that the most intact ships on the planet are in very hostile areas.¡±


    I raised a brow and took another puff as I thought for a moment. ¡°Hostile race or creatures?¡±


    ¡°Both.¡± He grumbled. ¡°The beasts in that area are territorial, predators, and apparently the herd animals of a carnivorous crustacean race. And from what I¡¯ve learned of the Lo¡¯Kar, they eat as much of the Caltunium as many of us do.¡± He gave me a little grin. ¡°Though not as much as a certain pair I know, and none of our friends have adapted to it as well as you two.¡± He looked to Xavier and his brood, Lola wasn¡¯t pregnant, but that was thanks to Xavier learning human methods like condoms. ¡°And I know a certain First Sergeant who¡¯s very adept at giving shows of force¡­¡±


    Xavier chittered as Lola thwacked him across the back of the head and squeaked at him, but the Captain was right. Xavier had stopped several disagreements, and scared two of the other races we weren¡¯t allied with into stopping their warring. Of course having the center of a battlefield explode like someone had bombed it from orbit usually had that effect. The insectoid and avian races had started negotiations after three assaults had been stopped before they¡¯d had a chance to start. It was all thanks to Xavier, and a Lo¡¯Kar that¡¯d opened portals for him to use, though I think it was mostly Xavier making a couple people go splat. Quite literally splat, one second yelling orders, the next a fine paste of goo painting the area.


    Either way Xavier bowed softly and rubbed the back of his head before typing. ¡°Yes, well their warring was posing issues for our allies, and¡­¡± He growled as the synthesizer trailed off, feathery wings erupting from his back and wiggling as Lola rolled her eyes and chittered in motherly annoyance. Mainly due to her children all having the ability to grow wings like their father could. ¡°I can also scout now, I swear if I turn into a were-human, I¡¯m going to do some very bad things to some mice.¡±


    Captain Rowland smiled at the thought of a tiny human beating on some of the lab techs, he¡¯d learned, like I had, about some of Xavier¡¯s references to humans. ¡°Don¡¯t worry Lola, you and the children are going to be staying here. It is the Major and your mate that I need to do this.¡± His newly silver eyes looked to me. ¡°Stormwind is sending the head of her Pulsars to join you and Xavier on the mission.¡± Pulsars were an interesting thing with the Lo¡¯Kar, the Caltunium had enhanced their aquatic sonar ability to a point that they could create focused blasts of sound. Humans had tried it with tech in the past and given up for the most part, but weaponized sound was a fun one to toy with.


    I was bolting on another solid wheel and shook my head. ¡°A werewolf, a lightspeed bunny, and a banshee walk into a bar.¡± I grinned up at him. ¡°I take it, this pulsar is going to be bringing one of their portal staves, since they can¡¯t open a portal to a place they haven¡¯t been?¡±


    Captain Rowland rolled his eyes and looked over to Xavier. ¡°Is he still always this bad?¡± I heard a chittering from behind me and then grunted as a bunny landed on my head, except it wasn¡¯t Xavier and tiny fingers pinched my ear and made me yelp. ¡°It seems the lady doesn¡¯t like your bad jokes...isn¡¯t she the one that¡¯s ridiculously strong?¡± A little twisting of my ear and I spasmed, ending up face down on the floor of the shop as the Captain chuckled. ¡°Let him go mum, he¡¯s right. Pulsars sound like a bloody banshee.¡±


    Lola thumped me on the back of the head with her foot and hopped back up to her family, letting me compose myself. I sat up and brushed the grit off my face, sighing as I looked over at the four kids and my friend...who weren¡¯t meeting the female¡¯s gaze as she looked at them. ¡°Oh don¡¯t harass them Lola, and quit doing that damned ear trick on me¡­¡± She squeaked at me and gave me a big grin, making her family all squeak as she gathered them up in a hug. My gold ringed eyes looked to my friend¡¯s silver ones. ¡°It looks like the caltunium is having an effect even on people who¡¯re only taking in a little.¡± Another drink from my new canteen and I got up, stretching and popping my joints as I leaned on the dragon scale fender.


    I¡¯m not joking or being metaphorical, the entire outside of the truck had been wrapped in scales from the titan that the ship had shot down. Luckily the mimics had let us harvest enough meat to last months before they¡¯d moved in from the forests to feast. That left us with enough bone and scale to do quite a few things, and if you boiled the scales long enough, you could mold them over things. If you dried and ground the bones finely, you didn¡¯t want to have anything spark near the resulting powder.


    The Captain just sighed and took a drag from his pipe, leaning on the front fender and looking over the Warg as he dubbed it. ¡°Yes, many of us have started to change, including the few thousand we¡¯ve woken up. Sadly we¡¯ve lost quite a few as well, it seems that even the dust in the air is enough to kill some.¡± He started to walk around the truck, eyeing the heavy winches mounted to it.


    I was using one of my claw-like nails to clean out my pipe so I could refill it, shaking my head. ¡°I know, I¡¯ve lost two of my people to it.¡± I¡¯d helped bury them a couple weeks ago and Prophet had done the services for them, which surprised me. For a muslim, he knew quite a bit about other religions and what was proper for burials. Personally I¡¯d taken one of the larger dragon teeth and carved their names and the dates into them. ¡°Ten to fifteen percent death rate is what I¡¯ve heard from Grek and Stormwind, from what they tell me, no matter what we do that many will die.¡± I spat some flame onto my thumb and held it to puff on my pipe, holding in a deep breath of the calming smoke. ¡°The good news is...we¡¯re not losing as many as they did, and that¡¯s even with us not holding back.¡±


    He looked over at me as I held my pipe, both Lola and Xavier were standing on my forearm taking puffs from the stem. His fingers tapped an armored case behind one of the seats that had a skull and crossbones on it. ¡°Yes, well any losses hurt us. I¡¯ve had Adam setup a banking program for now.¡± He raised a brow. ¡°Is this what I think it is?¡±


    I just smiled at him and nodded. ¡°Yep, tranquilizers and some other medical stuff, but mostly tranquilizers in that one.¡± My free hand pointed to something that looked like a foot tall closet and smiled. ¡°That is Xavier¡¯s tools and weapons.¡± I saw him point to a case that ran the length of the long bed. ¡°And yes that is my tools and sword, and yes it¡¯s bigger, er well it¡¯s heavier mostly.¡± I shrugged and went to cleaning my pipe to put it up as the bunnies went back to reading with their kids. ¡°And Xavier¡¯s brood has made a language for themselves.¡±


    Captain Rowland simply shook his head. ¡°Good, now I want you two to load up the rest of the tools and gear you need.¡± He eyed the truck over one last time, smirking since it was the size of an older cargo truck. ¡°You should have plenty of room for your gear and hers. This woman is off limits for you though...Hound.¡± Cue a chorus of bunny giggles as I felt my face heat up, damned british prick.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Oh why¡¯s that? Evans and I aren¡¯t really an item, I know she¡¯s been having her own fun, I on the other hand haven¡¯t had any fun¡­¡± Hard silver eyes suddenly bore into me, and I could feel at least two sets of eyes glaring at me from behind, so I held my hands up in surrender. ¡°Ok ok, so I might of eaten out one of the Ca¡¯zeze women until she passed out¡­but she was in heat!¡± A snort sounded from the Captain and I smiled. ¡°Her group gave her the herbs she needed after that, and no one was going to come near me...was keeping her safe.¡±


    ¡°And the fact that you are a horny no good Hound has nothing to do with it. I want you to behave Roderick, this Pulsar is Stormwind¡¯s daughter, she¡¯ll be here soon and knows to find you, Stormwind and Grek both tasked her with this. They¡¯ve not been able to get their hands on an Eda fabricator, and theirs aren¡¯t nearly as good.¡± Xavier and his brood moved to start rapidly loading small things into the back and packing them into a cargo crate that Lola tossed into the back. ¡°Oh...were you planning on running off before I came to visit?¡±


    A tablet landed on the hood from the back and showed an aerial view of our current continent with a path marked out leading to the trio of Eda ships nestled inside one of the larger mimic forests. I heard the chattering of tiny fingers flying over a keyboard. ¡°We planned to hunt for the Eda and find them, the others say that they haven¡¯t seen them since shortly after we arrived here. The trio of ships here are giving off energy readings that the scanners on the scouts can pick up, and there is a duo on another part of the planet that are showing energy signatures.¡± The map spun to show the duo sitting near a volcano, then finally to a larger and broken looking ship surrounded by wreckage half in one of the massive lakes. ¡°This one is one we need to keep away from, there are at least two titans.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t have enough missiles left to take down two of them, and if the survivors are sentient enough to have passed on what happened.¡± The Captain took another long drink of beer and shook his head. ¡°To be honest, we¡¯re low on the heavier ammo all around, though I heard you¡¯ve been testing out some things the chemists have been baking up?¡± He eyed me.


    I sighed and moved to step up onto the back tire, reaching over and opening the case to pull out an oversized lever action rifle and a few shells. ¡°It turns out that Armorer Cutler is a fan of some older weapons styles, he took a design by Marlin and sized it up to a .950.¡± I grinned as he seemed to strain a little holding the gun. ¡°He had to do such a heavy rifle since I might need to shoot a dragon...and the dragon bone dust and caltunium powder make a hell of a bang.¡±


    He looked from me to the rifle and back a few times. ¡°A lever action anti-tank rifle, with enhanced metals to handle the blast of the powders.¡± He handed the rifle back and took a bullet, hefting the round and eyeing it. ¡°We¡¯re trying it for tank rounds, but we¡¯re having to wait for a fabricator to make the new parts. Probably the reason you went with a lever action and not your favorite one?¡±


    I casually pointed over to a crate that had almost a dozen shattered weapons. ¡°I¡¯m really glad that I heal much quicker now, I spent an hour getting metal picked out of my skin. Then we set up a testing rig.¡± Xavier squeaked when I said that. ¡°And then one for each of the gun types we tested.¡± There was an annoyed chitter from Lola and I smiled. ¡°Yes and then he made that rifle for me and it scared Lola so badly that she kicked me through a tree.¡± Cue a growling chitter from behind me, such a cute, tiny, and terrifying little bunny. I swear the smaller a woman was, the crazier they were. ¡°Honestly I¡¯d forgotten she was in my vest pocket and shot the gun¡­¡±


    ¡°And I kicked you through a tree.¡± Came from the synthesizer on the table.


    ¡°Well go and check in at the tech dungeon and get what they have for you.¡± The Captain smiled as he looked past me to Xavier. ¡°Like the new exo suit that they built for Xavier and the long range com system that they¡¯re going to need to¡­¡± He trailed off as there was a sudden rush of wind and only Lola remained with us, father and children were gone.


    ***************


    Build it and they shall come, a fun old saying, but you build a tiny bunny the equivalent of a mech suit, you had to deal with the five others that wanted one too. I spent two hours watching six bunnies go over all of the readouts, the controls, the whole exo suit. I¡¯d brought the Warg over and was helping put in the new com system and get it hooked up, but Xavier¡¯s brood was harassing the human techs and assaulting their computers with new designs or tweaks. Mainly Marie.


    I had to admit that I liked the new suit, it had the same sort of caltunium power pack as the truck, but a smaller set of them that fit in the biceps and calves of the humanoid form. That opened up the usual place of a power pack for another pack that had the same sort of electric jet turbines that powered the truck. There were other fun things like a water, food, and waste system, each being easily changed when it was shut down. The truly fun thing was the¡­


    ¡°EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeee¡­¡± My eyes followed the bunny that was fired out of the top of the suit, the head and neck having snapped back against the thruster pack. Albert, if my eyes had picked out the fur patterns correctly, then sure enough tiny black wings opened about forty feet up so he could circle and glide down. Xavier chittered up at his son and flinched when there was a loud thunking sound of the head and neck of his suit snapping back again...and we watched Dorothy fire up into the air letting out the happy squeal of ¡°EEEEEEeeeeeeeeee¡± as her brother had.


    ¡°Hey, look at it this way Xavier.¡± I grinned at him and pointed to his almost completely shattered original suit. ¡°No more breaking your suit when you need to go super bunny.¡± I got an arm crossed glare and chitter for an answer. ¡°Oh don¡¯t give me that, you pouted for a few weeks after the storm where your last one got broken.¡± He chittered as his other two kids fired themselves up into the air, but I could see him smile as he looked up and watched them glide around.


    I heard a soft warbling and looked over to see Lola scratching around the ears of the baby monster that was warming itself on the ground beside my truck. It was making little noises as it shifted its plated tail and uncurled to get more love from the bunny momma. That was of course the time that the horde descended and moved around on Bowler and scritched his softer fuzzy skin. I could hear the bitching chitters and growling from under my dash as Stanley used his teeth to strip the last of the wires, a flick of his fuzzy head and goggles dropped over his eyes before he welded the ground into place. He welded with his fingers, somehow instead of just being able to transfer energy from the mineral in his body to other bits of mineral, he could make arcs like a welder.


    Stanley is what everyone in the shop called a certain genetically enhanced and caltunium infused honey badger that was once the pet of Pfc Omar ¡°Honey¡± Ayad. A clawed hand paw moved to poke the on switch and then adjust a few things, giving me a clawed thumbs up. ¡°A deals a deal.¡± I said and handed him down the pack of rolled smokes I¡¯d made for him. ¡°Thanks for hooking up the radio, where¡¯s your person?¡±


    He stood up and plopped a smoke into his mouth, using an arc between two claws to light it as he looked around. Finally he pointed into the shop¡¯s depths and snorted. ¡°Thanks, you do good work.¡± I casually strode into the shop to find Omar leaned over an anvil hammering on a large curved plate of metal, bending it to his will. The man was quite a bit like me in one way, he¡¯d not watched what he ate, instead eating much like I had, only he¡¯d not eaten the tasty omnivores. Except for the dragon meat, but that was because he had to in order to survive.


    Omar towered like a demon before me, though he was a good few inches shorter, and snarled like a beast as he tossed the metal into the fire with his bare hand, which was clawed. He hadn¡¯t fully turned forms like I had, instead he had a mane of black streaked blonde hair running down his back. His eyes were dark as coal in the dim light of the shop and he had sharp teeth that shined when he grinned at me. We both reached out and grasped the other¡¯s forearm, the slaps of palms on flesh making cracks like whips before we jerked each other into a hug. ¡°It is good to see you, Major, I have a surprise for you.¡±


    He was always such a loveable guy, devoted to his people and the teams. He was also homicidal as hell when someone threatened something he cared for. Nice guy, just a cheerful guy you never wanted to see angry. ¡°You¡¯ve already given me a hell of a surprise...you beat out the shell for Xavier¡¯s suit didn¡¯t you?¡±


    He grinned at me and bowed lightly. ¡°Machined every plate after I beat it to the will of Allah. I¡¯ve also got a box of shards...each I¡¯ve put through a press to turn into a dart. He can throw them when he¡¯s being fast, and it will be as if Allah smote them himself.¡± Happy homicidal, and so long as he wasn¡¯t trying to kill us, I didn¡¯t care. He had the odd cafe ole complexion a lot of the muslim contingent had, but he¡¯d been darkening more lately.


    ¡°Awesome, he¡¯s going to love using them and not having to waddle over to punch something, but you mentioned a surprise for me?¡± I asked as he moved between a couple of racks and came out with something like a tower shield. I say like, because it ended in a bladed edge, hell the whole lower half was tapered to an edge. I could tell it was an alloy, but I couldn¡¯t figure out what it was, it had a snarling wolf¡¯s head styled into the metal.


    ¡°It took me a week to forge this shield for you, and a month before that to work out the parts and alloy.¡± He said as he laid it on the bench and let me see the back, which was a thick handle, then a series of belts attached to springs. ¡°The springs will stretch when you change and keep the shield tight to your arm when turned or moving about. The lower half is bladed with sword catches above the blades, when charged¡­¡± He trailed off and laid it down, popping the metal with a stun stick to make the eyes of the wolf glow. ¡°I made it by finely grinding dragonscales from the big one, and mixing in the steel from one of the ruined truck¡¯s armor. It''s actually what I made Xavier¡¯s suit from, it should be hard for even either of you to break.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t stop myself, I bent and shoved my arm into the straps to grip the handle as I stood, a roll of my shoulder to double check how it felt to hold the shield. I knew Omar and others were watching me as I moved around and took stances, not even thinking as I moved to my truck to unhook my sword and took a stance. ¡°Wow...it actually helps with my balance. I¡¯m going to have to practice moving around with a shield though.¡±


    A flicker of movement caused me to look over in time to snap up my shield, a loud clang ringing in the air as a hammer head slammed into it...instead of my shoulder. My first mental reaction was to wonder just who had thrown a damned hammer at...there were four Lo¡¯Kar standing off near a building and one armored figure was rushing for me. It was taller than a Lo¡¯Kar and wrapped in an odd mix of dragon scale armor that had been dyed in almost a camouflage pattern. What the hell was this? Some short Ca¡¯zeze?¡± The wind was wrong for me to get a scent, but I backed up in time for the second hammer to assist one of my steps. The hammers were both long handled with metal wrapped shafts leading up to I figure ten pound hammer heads?


    The sounds this one made were odd as I was forced to move myself around and catch the hammer blows with my shield. It actually took me a moment to get back from this one, I¡¯d gotten enough of a scent that this one was definitely female. ¡°Stop this...why the hell are you attacking me!?¡± I snarled, forcing myself to keep as calm as I could. I heard chittering from off to the side and fell flat on my back as something tiny kicked off my shield, tiny, fuzzy and able to kick harder than my attacker swung a hammer.


    Sonic shockwaves slammed the air for a split second as my attacker was slammed down into the ground violently. I sat up in time to see Lola standing on the female¡¯s chest, looking down into the helmet¡¯s visor and tapping her foot as she chittered. When the female tried to rise, the stout bunny just hopped lightly and kicked her back into the ground. What surprised me was the odd noises and musical sounds that came from under the helmet, an angry chittering sounded from Lola and she pointed over at Xavier and chittered more.


    I could hear squeaking bunny giggles as I got up, confused as hell and set my sword and shield in the back of the truck. ¡°Just what in the hell is going on?¡± I asked in a mild growl as I moved to gently pick up Lola, my other hand grabbing the armor and jerking my attacker to her feet. ¡°Who the hell are you, and why did you attack me!?¡± I barked out, keeping my calm as best I could.


    The rapid tapping of keys made me glance over to Xavier, while Lola sat on my shoulder and my attacker just stood slumped. ¡°This is Thunder, head of the pulsars. She was told to come here and to join us. She was told that she would be working with you and that I would protect her.¡± There were more bunny giggles and then he went back to typing. ¡°She¡¯s never met us and apparently is one of the more dominant ones...and thought you...were me¡­¡±


    I looked down at Thunder and raised a brow. ¡°Stand at attention!¡± I barked out and the female snapped to, looking at my chest as I circled her. ¡°I have no use for anyone needing to prove a point. You will work with us as we work like a team. Xavier is the bunny with the fancy armor. I¡¯m Major Roderick O¡¯Connel!¡± I said as I looked down at her in a drill sergeant¡¯s tone and pose. ¡°You will not blindly attack allies. Xavier is my First Sergeant, he is also the most lethal being on this planet¡­¡± I trailed off as I held up my hand, letting my anger show in the claws and fur that grew slowly on it. ¡°But you will NOT risk sending me into a blind rage. IS THAT CLEAR THUNDER?¡± I boomed out...probably a little loud.


    I heard a squeak from Thunder and she nodded rapidly, bowing softly. Her gloved hands moved to her helmet to remove it. I just stared at her head as she bared it, she was a hybrid. The normally hairless Lo¡¯Kar female had a thin layer of light blue and dark brown fur, and a short muzzle. Her fur was almost an orca¡¯s pattern, while bright blue eyes looked up into mine as she clipped something to her ear and clicked on her translator. ¡°I am Thunder, daughter of Stormwind, Mistress of the Pulsars.¡±


    I raised a brow. ¡°And your dad must be the leader of the Ca¡¯Zeze, I thought they acted quite a bit like a married couple.¡± My fingers scratched my chin as I thought, eyeing her. ¡°I hereby give you the team name of Banshee. And you may use mine...which is Hound.¡± I saw her eyes narrow at me and I smiled back at her. ¡°Now did you bring along what gear you need and a staff? This is going to be a bit of a trip, you know.¡± I could smell her anger and flashed my hand out to catch a short fuzzy ear, then went to gently rubbing it and scratching lightly around the base. ¡°And you will not act like a hateful sexist idiot, you¡¯re also banned from annoying Xavier. He could kill all of us accidently, let alone if you pissed him off.¡±


    The noise she made was almost a chittering purr as she couldn¡¯t help but lean into my hand as it worked her ear. ¡°Yes, I have a poison sensor for food, a medical kit, the staff, and my personal weapons.¡± She stepped back from me quickly and went still as four terrifying fluffy children landed on her shoulders and head, then made a few odd notes of sound as they assaulted her ears and bared fur with tiny claws. ¡°I...I have also been given my family¡¯s rifle¡­it¡¯s advanc...ed.¡± The more she was assaulted by bunny scratching, the more squeaky she got. She really sounded like a damned otter when she wasn¡¯t faking being a stuck up pain in my ass.


    Lola got all of our attention when she tossed one of Thunder¡¯s hammers into the back of the truck, the hard packed soil supporting her. She chittered at us when she moved to lift the other hammer, giving it a bounce in her paw hands and casually tossing it into the bed of the truck. I couldn¡¯t help but grin. ¡°Thunder, that is Lola, mate to Xavier and first lady of the Order of Bun Bun.¡± I heard six squeaks in unison and smiled. ¡°Adam has it logged into the network, Xavier and Lola are Firsts of the order, which is part of the military government we¡¯re currently using.¡±


    We¡¯d had to keep things going as if this was still a military run colonization mission, I knew it wouldn¡¯t last forever. Human¡¯s absolutely sucked at keeping a Junta functional, but for now, everyone had a job, and the job earned the things you needed. Don¡¯t like the job and there¡¯s room to move you, sure you can see if you fit for another. I¡¯m a fighter, a soldier, I knew what was needed and did it. Now I was a damned werewolf that glowed when he got enough power, my eyes moved to Albert and I smiled when he looked at me. ¡°Albert, you got your wish as well. You get free run of the labs...within reason. Please no new monsters or mutating people for kicks. I¡¯m told Doctors Lee and Williams commissioned the keyboards you asked fo¡­.¡± He was just flat gone, no rush of wind, no blur, just gone.I looked to the other kids. ¡°Now get back to studying, I¡¯ve got to get your dad to help me load...and your mother to not break things.¡± They were still scritching Thunder and seeing what sort of funny noises she¡¯d make.

 Chapter 10, Leave me be or I鈥檒l make you grow pink fur.

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 10 - Albert


    Leave me be or I¡¯ll make you grow pink fur.


    I am Albert, son of Xavier, First Geneticist of the Order of Bun Bun, and I am young even for one of my race. In the week since my father had left with Major O¡¯Connell, I¡¯d been working in the labs and overworked ten keyboards, and had a nice mp keeping me from being disturbed. Apparently people worry when their hair suddenly turns neon pink after being jabbed with a retrovirus laced needle for bothering you, who knew? I did, which is why I keep a batch of my first creation hidden at my work station.


    I had six screens, two keyboards, touchpads I used my ears on, special headphones, and a cup of coffee with a straw that I sipped from. My music was playing loud, drowning out the light noise of the lab and at twenty three times speed to keep up with how fast I was focusing, but I was careful not to get ¡°too fast¡± as I worked. I¡¯d exploded one set of keyboards already, but typing with fingers and toes helped me keep myself to a safer speed. Best not panic the humees too much or they¡¯ll worry and get annoying. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I like humans, mostly, but they have a great deal of inquisitive idiots. Thankfully I could take entire hours to myself to think and ponder on issues and so long as I was careful, no one noticed anything other than that I needed a coffee refill.


    I, like my siblings, inherited our father¡¯s genetic disposition for inherent mental and physical speeds, which only grew until our speed allowed us to go out of phase with our reality. It was mind boggling to try and work out the fine details of it, but what I had figured out was the most interesting of all, to me at least. Caltunium bonded itself to the breaks in dna where gene mods had been applied, and acted as a poison to those without gene mods. My father¡¯s mind had been enhanced along with adjustments to his body, which in turn gave him his speed of thought and body. My mother had been modded with enhancements to her body, but had also been given mods for density and strength. No doubt these mods were simply tests to see if it could be done, and later used on humans, but with the addition of Caltunium now.


    My fingers and toes flew across keys as my ears worked the touchpads, working in the alterations needed to save humans one by one. Base dna for a being had standard traits, but the devil was in the fine details. Some of those who¡¯d been placed into hibernation were useful or intelligent, my job was to save them. Adam was tasked to aid me, which turned a great deal of automated systems to manual function. Due to the risk of death even in hibernation, we had to work as quickly as we possibly could, so the Captain had ordered all possible systems set to manual and given Adam permission to focus fully on our work.


    Adam¡¯s voice was kind sounding as he spoke. ¡°The first one hundred and twenty three have taken to the genetic modifications you¡¯ve created for them. I am still running the next one hundred simulations, and I¡¯m very proud that my use of speed sensors has stopped you from vaporizing your work station again.¡± A dash of humor at the end and I smiled in the way we¡¯d learned from humans, a quirk of the lips, but not showing pointy teeth. Humans went from smelling of joy to stinking of fear if we showed our teeth.


    My family had also figured out most of a spoken language, but it was just sounds that could be translated to human letters and speech. We squeaked, chittered, and grunted, which apparently sounded like happy bunny noises to most of the humans...even if we were disgracing their lineages and cursing them. I just couldn¡¯t wait for the new translators to get done. It was going to be highly entertaining. My mother could actually somewhat speak the Lo¡¯Kar language, and was fluent in Rodurian, the ¡°rhino¡± people as Uncle Fluffy called them. ¡°I¡¯ve gotten better at controlling myself, it¡¯s more a matter of keeping control of my heart rate. Sadly if I let my mind run too wildly, then my heart speeds up and things start to explode.¡± I huffed at the end of my chittering, having a fast mind and body was wonderful, but the dangers of destroying things was immense.


    If we moved other than gentle and casual movements, our bodies affected the world around us, and the energy transfer was destructive. Father had become a master of using it for various combat means and had saved the Yangtze colony using it, but we had to be very careful. Our first three months of life were spent in the bone riddled ruins created by the titan¡¯s death. Adam had been given monitoring stations around the area and we¡¯d grown closer to him than his creators had. That is what happens when a sophont can think as quickly as an AI though, they like those that can actually keep up with them. ¡°Thankfully the Captain has allowed me to focus fully on this task, I wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up this level of simultaneous simulations and be able to run the full amount of automated systems.¡± He sounded less and less like an AI every day, but I think that was in part to my sister Dorothy cleaning up issues for him.


    ¡°We can¡¯t have you getting stutters or lag in your processes again, though I know Dorothy is trying her best to create you a proper processing core. It is just taking time for her to work it all out and get the design finished.¡± I squeaked in laughter as I thought about that. ¡°She¡¯s stolen half of the computers and is using them and a human interface to do it too. Isaac is helping her with energy details, and he¡¯s also helping Marie with her present for mother.¡±


    ¡°Ah yes, she¡¯s been trying to work on it in secret for a few weeks now. I think she¡¯s been giving Mr Honey and his badger fits by trying to make some of the small parts she¡¯s asked for. She¡¯s already destroyed several of them in her testing.¡± There was a bit of mirth in his voice and I grinned fully, after all, giving humans fits was part of the fun. A yellow light blinked on one of my displays and I finished the last bit of work before closing the file and putting it into the folder to be run through simulations. ¡°Take a nap Albert, I¡¯ve started the simulations on your family and Major O¡¯Connell that you added into the lot. I¡¯ll wake you when I finish the long term calculations on them.


    I slowed my heart rate down to the gentle steady beat that humans called fast, and the world around me slowly came back into focus as I calmed my mind. ¡°Yes, I think a good nap is just what is called for.¡± I chittered out and since my pulse had slowed, my synthesizer turned itself back on and translated my words.


    The MP tasked with guarding me sighed and looked over at me, finally turning and raising a brow. ¡°Do you know that when you type, it sounds like a gatling gun firing in the distance.¡± The grizzled veteran sighed. ¡°Not to mention when you¡¯re going fast...your chatter sounds horrifying, and I¡¯ve seen the Major rage out and turn.¡± He checked his watch. ¡°And you¡¯ve only been here for ten minutes real time, how long did you work?¡± He asked curiously. I tended to call this man Snake, since that is what special ops troops usually got called with age, plus he had an old, but lovely tattoo of one curling up his arm. Apparently one of his old friends had gotten him very drunk and talked him into it.


    I thought for a few seconds. ¡°Roughly six hours worth of time. I spent a little while just now speaking with Adam.¡± I beamed up at him and he held out his hand, which I hopped into and he took me over toward where I bunked. It was a very comfortable stein that I¡¯d passed out inside when I¡¯d overdone it one day. I¡¯d even spruced it up with getting it put into a nice soundproof box, being a light sleeper was horrid. A little padding in the bottom and string ladder running up the outside. It was just comfy to slip into and snooze.


    Snake just shook his head. ¡°Yes I know you were talking to him, as I said, it¡¯s rather unnerving. The lab staff tends to take breaks when you get wound up and into your work.¡± He turned and set me down by a small plate with some food on it and a small glass of water. The glass was oddly sized and perfect for me. ¡°Eat up, you¡¯ve burned hours worth of energy in ten minutes. I¡¯d rather not have you get sick or hurt. I hate to say it, but your mother is scary when upset.¡±


    I squeaked and kept my heart calm as I sat down at the plate and worked on eating the dragon salad. It was a good balanced meal for me, lots of local foliage with small strips of dragon jerky mixed in. As I ate, I heard a soft chuckle come from my guard. ¡°What?¡± I chittered out and the synthesizer spoke.


    ¡°Oh just that I¡¯m sitting here watching a bunny use a fork to eat a salad, and talking to said bunny.¡± He shook his head. ¡°If someone had told me this would happen in my life thirty years ago, I¡¯d have smacked them. But here I am, tasked with guarding a hyper intelligent bunny, who¡¯s saving human lives.¡±


    I squeaked out in giggles at the thought. ¡°Because we¡¯re too small to properly live here, and I¡¯m twisting human genes to make as many of you survive here that I can.¡± I moved and pat him lightly on the arm and smiled up at him as the synthesizer translated my chittering to english. Then I gave him a wicked look, ears popping back and my fuzzy hands scrubbing together. ¡°Yes yes, saving the humans and making you all into powerful minions for the Great Bunny Empire! We shall rule the stars!¡± I cheered the last chitter out and then winked at him. ¡°Kidding, just kidding. I need sleep.¡±


    Snake rolled his eyes at my little show. ¡°Considering you¡¯re twisting our genes to your whim, and what you think works best for each of us¡­¡± He scratched his arm and then paused as he looked curiously at his tattoo. ¡°Is that a scale?¡±


    ¡°Nothing like Hound unless you constantly eat Caltunium and then bite a three phase power line. My brother thinks that it is the power that causes the full transformation.¡±Something about how the mineral reacts with genetic bonds.¡± I shrugged and climbed up into my stein, dropping down into it and taking the tiny pillow that Snake dropped in with me. ¡°Thanks.¡±


    He gave me a look. ¡°You know I actually don¡¯t like snakes¡­¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± Came from the synthesizer as I snuggled in, upright and comfy as could be. ¡°Not poisonous¡­¡± I said and trailed off as slowly but surely I passed out cold, belly full of good food. I didn¡¯t see Snake move to flip a couple of switches, turning off a blinking red light outside the lab and turning on one that lit soft amber. He took up a guard position near my sleeping place and slid the privacy door closed as the lab techs came back inside.


    *****************


    What I didn¡¯t realize is that I¡¯d been doing too many of my rapid shifts of work lately and actually slept a solid twelve hours, and apparently I snore. I know I snore, because one of the mice working the lab muttered something about a demonic chipmunk in a cabinet. They all went quiet when I dropped out of the door and was caught by the recently promoted, Sergeant Johnson, who smiled at me and scritched around my ear.


    I looked her over, spotting the small claws that looked like talons had started to grow in, and her hair looked more akin down than hair now. Her eyes looked like an eagle or falcon, and then I chittered as I realized it...she was turning her head, not her eyes. I squeaked as thousands of years of bred in fear of beings with those eyes made me want to try and find cover...and then she held up a bit of jerky for me. Food! I was instantly distracted and snagged it, chittering out my thanks as I nibbled on breakfast...lunch maybe?


    ¡°Better reaction than your mom, she threw a bench at me.¡± I heard her huff as she moved to click on my synthesizer and went back to petting me. ¡°Oh and you¡¯re off today, Captain¡¯s orders since the lab has a week of work and all the worst cases are covered.¡± I went to chitter a reply and she booped me on the nose. ¡°No back talk, I¡¯ve talked with Adam and he¡¯s got your results stored until you come back in here where he can show you all the data.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I slumped and batted at her finger, looking up at those terrifying eyes, which seemed to barely be able to move in their sockets now. The human¡¯s head seemed able to move rapidly though and nothing seemed to escape her gaze or hearing as she walked for the door. ¡°Sadly I also need to get more keyboards, I¡¯m running low and they take time for the Lo¡¯Kar machines to make for us.¡± I chittered, the synthesizer speaking for me and making her pause. She lifted me for her shoulder and turned to get a bag and scrape the ruined devices into it.


    She smiled and hefted the bag in her hand. ¡°You really did a number on them Albert, though they¡¯re more solid than Isaac¡¯s pile. He tends to short them out and melt them.¡± My brother had a skill with the energies and was able to produce arcs of it, which usually turned his keyboards and unshielded gear into smoking lumps.


    ¡°Yes...he¡¯s the energy specialist, even our parents can¡¯t do that trick. Isaac and the angry chain smoking badger can do that.¡± I squeaked in giggles. ¡°And the badger, Stanley, uses it to weld metal for his person or wiring for the techs.¡± I giggled and the synthesizer worked to try and replicate them.


    ¡°I really hope you can get the synthesizers working better...that laugh it translates is creepy as hell.¡± She shivered a little. ¡°Like a drunken rodeo clown on helium.¡± Came out in a thoughtful tone as she moved us out into the corridor, and I could see a rather large window had been put in along an area that was being rebuilt. And what was a rodeo? I¡¯d have to look it up.


    ¡°Thank you...I at least got the tone more fitting, but it cannot process the sounds of our laughter well enough...Oh! I figured out a good reference point for the main genetic reactions to the Caltunium.¡± I beamed at her from her shoulder and watched as she raised a brow. ¡°The two major risks are the pure types, Speed and Strength.¡±


    She snorted. ¡°Yeah, you speed types make things explode, and the pure strength ones like your mom...break everything.¡± She seemed mildly annoyed that she couldn¡¯t quite look at me properly on her shoulder. ¡°What about the others?¡±


    I squeaked and shook my head, having to keep my pulse slow and time un-slowed. ¡°Speed types are only a danger because of our brain speed, if not everything would just be a blur. We can stop time for ourselves and make our bodies move in time, though somehow out of phase with normal reality. Strength types are walking tanks, with a strength to weight ratio near a rhino beetle, but using the strength heavily or speed heavily, is taxing.¡± I paused to let the translator catch up.


    ¡°There are also those of us who mutate more outwardly as well...I can focus on something miles away, but not being able to turn my eyes much kinda sucks.¡± She sounded rather annoyed with that, but she also knew that there wasn¡¯t much I could do now. Once the mutations started, they were hard to revert. ¡°So...what about the other two, no dodging my question.¡±


    I pet the side of her head and thought for a moment. ¡°The second is the most common, and what I¡¯m trying to get worked into the people I¡¯m adjusting dna for. They¡¯re enhanced, they can usually think faster, but aren¡¯t able to drastically stop things or move dangerously fast. They¡¯re stronger than a normal human, but not as much as a tank. So they¡¯re much safer.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s most of us alright, a few have shown odd tricks as well, but I¡¯m guessing most of that stuff will be what genes we have?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes.¡± I nodded beside her. ¡°Yes, it has to do with the genes and where the alterations are. There are only a few places where it infuses dangerous things. Though that is largely due to the rapid mutation from extreme voltage digestion.¡± I looked up as I heard her sigh.


    ¡°Why do you have to put a fancy term to getting hit by lightning or something close to that? I mean the Major got hit by lightning, so did your dad.¡± She made the effort to turn her head to look mostly at me. ¡°Blacked out a quarter of the ship when he zapped your mom. It takes a massive charge.¡± She stopped and blinked. ¡°What is the last one, Albert?¡±


    I pulled an ear down and rubbed it as I thought. ¡°Berserkers. I¡¯m still trying to figure out which part of the genes causes that one mutation to occur. The Major has it, so does Honey, it¡¯s why he¡¯s forbidden from using a welder.¡± I let go of my ear and squeaked in annoyance as the synthesizer spoke my words. ¡°I think it might have something to do with the age regression modification, or the increased regeneration one. They both have both, when it turns to berserker...which is started with the extreme voltage intake.¡± I stated and pat her cheek with an ear.


    ¡°Something in the person breaks and they turn into a big slobbering beast?¡± She asked curiously as she¡¯d moved to a ladder and started down it.


    ¡°Something like that, it rapidly mutates them and passes them to a true hybrid form, the pain of it must be intense.¡± The synthesizer did at the least inflect my giddiness at the idea. ¡°They completely change form, grow in size, and become much like the tank mutation only¡­¡± My ears snapped up and I let the synthesizer catch up again. ¡°Their fur or scales become like the species of animals and the dragons here. They become extremely dense, hard skinned, and strong.¡± I squeaked and narrowed my eyes. ¡°And violent as mom when someone asks how much she weighs. The Major has gotten better at controlling his, but he uses tranquilizers, so does Honey, though he uses it in much smaller doses.¡±


    Johnson came to a sliding halt on the ladder and flexed her knees as she hit the bottom, having taken the last four floors at a breakneck slide down its length. ¡°We have had at least ten cases where people were hit with massive shocks and not turned.¡± She made a sort of clicking giggle, which made my fur want to stand on end. ¡°One of the reactor techs got nicknamed Lightbulb, fucker glows like one now.¡± As she spoke, she moved across a large open area, which had been filled with sections for the colony until a few weeks ago.


    Those sections were now set into place around the ship, or stacked and waiting to be put in. Other things were being brought in to store inside the safety of the ship, food, supplies, and various other things, like Caltunium ore. A few mimics had also taken up position inside the area and every so often a barrier wall or support beam would suddenly look at you. From what father told me, the humans were shrieking less now, but every so often I could hear one scream through the bulkheads.


    I shifted on her shoulder and looked around at the racks and heavy platforms that pallets of various things were lashed down to. A few of the rock mimics were helping a crew moving things around. Instead of calling a rack down out of the system, just have a mimic slide up the wall, get what you need, and slide back down. This cost snacks and sometimes petting, and if your clothes were tasty...sometimes you ended up nude. But they didn¡¯t eat people. ¡°Humans, the highest life form of one planet...bonding with scary polymorphs that are the highest form on another. By bribing them with snacks¡± I giggled in squeaks and chitters that made the synthesizer start speaking in tongues.


    But the laughter died when we heard the shouting and panic filled movement. ¡°Awe shit!¡± Came from Johnson as there was a scream from outside, one of pain, maybe some panic, but a twisted sound flowed through it. I had to lean down and grab her blouse as she took off at a sprint, onward loyal steed! I wonder if she¡¯d punt me for saying that.


    The speakers on the ship crackled. ¡°All hands! All hands! Berserker outside the southeast entrance! Security to the southeast entrance! Lola to the southeast entrance!¡± Boomed in one of the human leader¡¯s voices. I think it was the angry looking one...beta...no...XO, yes the XO was the one barking out orders.


    I chittered and hung on, Mom had gotten called to this! ¡°Mom¡¯s coming, it means my siblings are coming!¡± I called to her before grunting as I focused, feathery and fuzzy wings grew out from my back, my tail growing out longer. ¡°Help get people away from here!¡± I chittered at her and bounced up into the air, snapping my wings to get safely above her. I could see what had happened, a bank of capacitors for one of the large bulldozers had shorted while being worked on. The woman that had suffered the extreme voltage digestion, asian, chinese origin, I flew down as she writhed in change. A quick grab and I had the tag from her overalls. ¡°Chunhua Li¡± It took me a moment of gliding before I realized that this was one of the people I¡¯d asked to be brought back in for testing.


    I flew down and squeaked loudly as I grabbed hold of Johnson¡¯s blouse to stop myself. ¡°She has illegal mods! She wasn¡¯t supposed to have anything that could make her¡­¡± There was a resounding snarl and then howl as a multi-tailed humanoid fox hurled things out of its way. ¡°Get the Major! Call him now!¡± I chittered and shook the collar of her blouse, panicking more than I like to admit. This one could be absolutely feral!


    A claw tipped set of fingers calmly curled around me and held me. ¡°Kitsune...not sure what the chinese name for it is, multi tailed fox, chinese one is more violent.¡± She snapped up her pistol and was about to fire, the fox woman was charging someone. Her finger froze as there was a flurry of rocks, like a tornado was firing a gravel pit. ¡°Go help your siblings...and try not to kill anyone!¡± She said as she had to duck a ricochet.


    She touched her com unit with her free hand, before drawing me back and hurling me into the air. I heard her start the radio call for the Major to be contacted and brought back for this. Good. We had to distract this newly turned woman, and keep her away from the other humans, Uncle Fluffy had said that was the thing to do. So I banked and flew over where my brother and sisters were using their speed to hurl pebbles like shotgun slugs. To anything other than someone with charged up Caltunium raging in them, or an armored beast, the stones would cause major injury. Sadly...all we were doing, was pissing her off more.


    As I landed, my pulse had kicked up to the point that my siblings were casually moving about, and their aim had something lacking in it. ¡°Where is mom!?¡±I asked in a worried squeak and pushed up a pile of rocks to start slinging. With our bodies sped up, lightly tossed pebbles were nearly lethal projectiles.


    My sister Marie looked rather annoyed. ¡°We had just finished the main work and were getting ready to show mom when you got there, but then this stupid human gets fried.¡± She made an angry wave at the charging berserker, who¡¯s glowing fur covered arms were held up shielding her face from our barrage. It was so interesting watching a charging woman barely moving for us, but that was the life of my family. Everything and everyone moved in slow motion to one of The Order of Bun-Bun.


    ¡°Yeah, but we grabbed her and hurled her into it when the alarm went off.¡± Issac said and took a second to take aim, then hurled a pebble to get a yelp as he hit forehead. In slow motion, it sounded more like a saxophone.


    ¡°Such a let down, we yelled ¡°Surprise¡± at least.¡± Dorothy chittered and aimed low, nailing the closing berserker in the feet. Apparently the fresh nerves in the female¡¯s toes were very sensitive, and she tumbled to the side, slamming her muzzle into a tractor. Though that took a moment for us to see it to happen, using our speed was fun when it made everything move slowly around us.


    I huffed and moved past my siblings, speeding up even more and casually strolling across the ground. One of the humans had left a tactical vest leaning on the tire of a truck, my eyes had locked onto a flash bang grenade latched to it. It took a little careful work to get it loose and onto my shoulder, then a casual stroll through nearly stopped scenery back to my siblings. All of them were moving back and forth on the rock pile, hurling near supersonic rocks at the charging female. I slipped behind Issac and slowed my pulse until I was at their speed. ¡°I brought our new friend a present.¡± I chittered and dug out a place in the rocks, firing showers of gravel at the encroaching beast woman.


    My brother squeaked in giggles and helped me wiggle the grenade into place in the mound of rock. Most of the humans would be absolutely fine aside from Miss Li, she was about to get a wonderful surprise. Major O¡¯Connell had learned not to leave grenades around curious young children, because we made traps. ¡°She seems pretty tough, doubt this will knock her out.¡± He chittered and gave me a grin. ¡°But this is just like when we blew up Uncle Fluffy...when I say run...speed up and scoot.¡± I saw him pull a small glowing stone from his harness and stuff it beside the grenade.


    I moved away and hurled a few more rocks until the female berserker got close enough. ¡°Pull and waddle!¡± I squeaked out and felt my pulse hit high speed, my siblings doing the same. The world just seemed to stop around me and I looked over as my siblings all moved in an orderly and casual line down the gravel pile for the ground. As we got onto the hard packed soil, I pointed over to a charging mechanical form. ¡°Oh look! Mom got it working.¡±


    Mom¡¯s suit was frozen in a leap over a parked cargo truck, metal form glowing as strips of charged caltunium kept her from ripping it apart. ¡°It works! I told you that the mix would withstand her strength when charged!¡± Isaac cheered as we worked around and out of the blast area.


    ¡°Well this will be the best test yet, if she used her own paws, she¡¯d kill this woman.¡± Dorothy stated simply and gingery climbed up behind Marie, who was getting onto a crate where mom could see us.


    ¡°If she doesn¡¯t break it, you can call it a success. Though how will that suit react to her strength, will she grab things with it with the same strength, or a lowered ratio?¡± I asked curiously as I helped Isaac up onto the crate, then sat myself down.


    Marie scratched her ear. ¡°With the work, it should be a near one to one ratio. That suit also weighs a good deal. This was just the testing phase, I was hoping to have her move around and try it out...not throw her into combat.¡± She chittered and rubbed her ear in thought. ¡°Ok, time to slow down and see how well this works.¡± She sounded rather excited.


    As we took our calming breaths, slowing our pulses down to let the world move, my brother was the first to speak. ¡°I even added shielded cables down to the hands, so she can draw on whatever she¡¯s grabbing. A quick way to charge her and the suit, you..¡± There was a rather blinding flash, rocks erupting from the pile, a loud canine yelp, and then a loud bong.


    We all went quiet as mom waited for the other female to stand back up from where she¡¯d landed...after being blown five yards into the side of a cargo container. The poor woman shook herself and snarled as she was faced with a new threat, and then I had to speed up my pulse a little to follow the movements properly. Tanks are insanely strong, but that strength gives them an odd speed. Berserkers had that same sort of odd speed and strength, but with far less sanity running it. Their movements were violent flashes of flesh and metal, both pounding the other like human prizefighters in a championship match. Only none of the berserker¡¯s hits actually struck mom, just her suit.


    A few times I chittered as mom¡¯s suit was hurled back away from the angry fluffy woman with too many tails. But it was obvious that the female needed air to keep going, especially when Mom wrapped mechanical arms around her head, and legs around the female¡¯s arms and torso. There were some final grunts and then a limp fluffy female. A sigh flowed from me as I watched Johnson ran over to give the nice sleeping woman a very large shot of tranquilizers. Sadly for the woman, that shot had to be given in the inside of her mouth. It also appeared that Uncle Fluffy was far too busy to come and help.

 Chapter 11, Is that Fortunate Son?

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 11 - Roderick


    Is that Fortunate Son?


    For over a week I dazzled Thunder many times with my wonderful oral skills, though sadly she said I sounded like a dying animal when I sang. Xavier squeaked along to the songs as neither of us let the newbie choose the traveling music. Luckily the Warg hadn¡¯t broken since we¡¯d set out and none of the tires had grown eyes, so we didn¡¯t have any stowaway mimics. For some reason the rock mimics had seemed to like to eat, and then take the place of tires. They must love the taste of synthetic rubber and meshing for some odd reason.


    There hadn¡¯t even been a trail to follow as we¡¯d taken the route that Xavier had helped get worked out for us. I simply had a tablet that had a very rough ¡°best route¡± to follow, which meant that I was slowly but surely learning every curse in the Ca¡¯zeze and Lo¡¯Kar languages. Not my fault that she didn¡¯t enjoy the pace that I set, or the fact that I occasionally took us airborne, my ears now seemed to never lose the ringing from her sonic squeaks. Thunder was doing better after a week of the hard pace I kept for us, keeping herself buckled in tight and wearing her helmet.


    Something I wasn¡¯t expecting was for her to start singing to one of the industrial metal songs as we shot across a plain at nearly eighty miles an hour. I know the Federation took metric as standard, but I still think in old american terms. She sang in her mother¡¯s language and turned the song haunting, even with the strong instrumentals. The power of her voice shook the air through the plain as the truck¡¯s sound system blared the music. Think of a hard industrial beat, but the vocals are all done in what (to a human) sounded like sped up whale song. I have to admit that it gave the industrial metal a good goth sound, and scared me at the thought of her actually singing a goth song. It was like listening to a skinny fuzzy version of an opera, but with good music.


    The odd colored grasses and plants zipped by on either side of the truck as I looked up to see a drone flying high above. The unmanned aircraft was old tech for us aside from its caltunium power pack, which would keep it flying for damned near a month. My eyes came back down in time to steer us away from a pile of boulders in our path, not wanting to risk it being hungry mimics. The valley came down to a section of canyons and cragged ground where a river had carved through the land over the years. As I slowed to head into the canyon, Thunder pointed up at something rocketing through the air. The next second the drone exploded overhead. With the drone gone, we lost coms until a satellite came into view.


    Xavier was quickly inside his suit and standing it up, clamping the hands and feet onto grab bars to get himself into the open air bed. ¡°We¡¯ve come into hostile territory, I¡¯m using your gun. Thunder, put the pads over your ears please.¡± Came through the truck¡¯s speakers from his suit, the translator working rather well now.


    ¡°As you wish¡­¡± Came from Thunder as she put some pads over her ears inside her helmet, then reached to pick up her laser rifle, propping it on the door and peaking through the scope we¡¯d fixed to it and sighted a couple days ago. ¡°It looks like a¡­¡± KABOOM! ¡°BY THE GODDESS WHAT WAS THAT!¡± She shrieked and looked back as I heard Xavier rack the lever on my rifle.


    ¡°My rifle...is it just a patrol of some prick of a farmer?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°WHAT?¡± Thunder asked...in a shout and I sighed, tapping my ear to show her the com unit I had in.


    ¡°Patrol, please come to a stop and get her com unit¡¯s in...and more padding.¡± Xavier¡¯s translator managed to convey his annoyance. ¡°I wonder if we can eat them. They look like a mix between a crab and a lobster. They are rather fast for something so large.¡±


    I brought the truck around and to a stop on the backside of a rise, immediately reaching over and yanking off Thunder¡¯s helmet. She stared at me as I hooked a com unit over either of her ears and packed more padding around them as I shoved her helmet back on. ¡°Can you hear me now?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± She said far too loudly and I cringed. At least she wasn¡¯t completely deaf, but this was going to be tough to sneak with her shouting everything. I just groaned thinking about it. ¡°THAT THING IS LOUD.¡± She rubbed the sides of her helmet and made it rub the pads into her ears.


    ¡°Yes it is. Your hearing will get back to normal, for now try and talk softly. What sounds like a whisper in your head will still be loud out of your mouth, but not as bad.¡± I said and Xavier shifted the rifle quickly, which made me grab Thunder and leap out of the truck. We landed and I curled around her as we rolled. KABOOM. There was a bright flash of fire from the end of the rifle and Xavier¡¯s suit hand racked a new shell in before he shifted and my head connected with a rock.


    ¡°Mother Fu..¡± KABOOM! KABOOM! Damn! Ok, I had to admit, the rifle was going to need a suppressor of some sort. I let go of Thunder and she got up, checking her rifle and looking to see where Xavier was firing. When she moved toward the back and side of Xavier, keeping from his field of fire, it made me smile.


    ¡°This rifle is working, but not as well as we¡¯d hoped. If I cannot hit them in a soft point, it takes multiple shots to break their shells.¡± He looked over and down at where Thunder laid down in the grass, then back through the scope as I went to drag out my shield and sword. ¡°And that laser rifle is really pretty, she¡¯s also a fairly good shot.¡±


    ¡°OF COURSE I AM A GOOD SHOT, I AM THE FIRST PULSAR!¡± She was so damned proud that she¡¯d made it to the top of her field. Honestly it was like a banshee claiming she was the best shrieker.


    ¡°Volume!¡± I snapped and set my shield down with my sword as I pulled an injector from my pants pocket, staring at it. I¡¯d used one of these once, and that was just a test to make sure the serum worked. ¡°Xavier...berserker protocol.¡± I said and brought the injector up, stabbing it into my neck, the serum jetting into the artery. I won¡¯t call what happened next painful, that is the understatement of the millenium, it is the reason that people like me are called berserkers. Changes, especially those caused with serums, push past pain into something that should cause death. It felt like I¡¯d injected acid into my veins and hopped into a puddle of napalm as my genetics and body shifted from one form to another.


    From what Albert had told me, my genetics weren¡¯t really altering, it was switching from a set being dormant to active. Either way, getting shot, smashed, having bones broken, it felt nice compared to the change. My bones cracked, bent, and shifted into new places and hardened even stronger than before. Bits of dead flesh peeled from my skin with the thick fur that grew out of it, violet blood leaked a few drops from around my nails as they thickened and grew out into claws. There was no getting around the screaming that came with changing, jaws extending as my teeth shifted and lengthened. My vision lost the little bit of color I¡¯d managed to keep, but that always happened when I turned from one form to another. Snaps came apart to let my pants and harness, triggering little devices hidden in the waistband of my pants. Caltunium power packs discharged into my back and waist, filling my body with energy, which helped keep my body from becoming weak or drained.


    My screams of pain finally took the turn into a roaring howl as my clawed toes dug into the dirt, my brain working differently now, but still in a somewhat human fashion. It always took time to think like a sane person after a change, even a change to human form. Clawed fingers curled around the thick grip of my sword while my fuzzy arm drove into the holding straps to clutch the handle of my shield.


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Smash the crabs! Smash the crabs!¡± Came from Xavier¡¯s suit as he racked the lever action open and stuffed a shell into the breach. ¡°Help us! Smash the crabs!¡± After a change, he¡¯d practiced getting me to do things immediately, and had learned simple was best. Or kiss, keep it simple stupid.


    My confused and much more simple running brain listened to the words and focused on my friend and then my head snapped up and I roared. I remember hearing a squeak from beside the truck as I charged forward, poor Thunder had never seen me turn forms in our short time together. Her fear scent was tangy in the air as I charged forward with my shield up, finally catching sight of the enemy for the first time.


    Three of them were laying split open on the ground a few hundred yards away, the thick shells shattered in the center of the oddly crab-like creatures. Nearly a dozen more of them were charging and at about two hundred meters, charging at...me. Unlike terran crabs or lobsters, these had six thick legs instead of ten, along with two extra sets of arms. The main set of arms still led down into the slicing pinchers known to all terran crabs, while the other two sets had odd multiple smaller sets of pinchers like creepy fingers. Some of those creepy pincher and leg looking fingers were wrapped around weapons. Said weapons weren¡¯t very accurate, but fired some sort of organic looking spines like a shotgun.


    The wind felt great on my fur and helped cool the burning heat flowing from my flesh caused by the change. The shield rang with pings and thuds as the alien monsters tried to make me look like a fluffy porcupine, and since I was now ten fucking feet tall, some of them hit. As we charged each other, I got a few ear piercings because canine ears stick upward. A couple sank into my bicep as they spread out. There was some form of poison or tranquilizer in the spines, because the burning made me snarl through my panting. A thunderous roar sounded from behind me and one of the armored heads split open, the alien crab tumbling in death and tripping one of its spine-gun wielding cohorts.


    I leaped through the air as one of the aliens got close and slammed my shield into one man sized claw, because I forgot to mention. These alien crab-lobster glow-shelled aliens were the size of a damned truck. Not that I¡¯m small in human or my fluffier form, but each of these things was the size of a five ton truck. My heavy blade slammed through two of the smaller arms on one side, and I added in the best thing a werewolf can use. I bit it on the face, crunching the shell, and feeling one of its five eyes pop in my maw. It was like a crunchy fishy grape, not that I actually ate it, because I kept gnashing and biting its head. The gun that the crab still had, was firing wildly.


    A giant claw swatted me off of the crab that I was chewing on and right into the pulsing beam from Thunder¡¯s gun. The light of the stupidly high powered laser was REALLY hot as it snapped across my lower back, setting my pants and harness on fire...and hitting the caltunium infused fur underneath. The impact actually hurt less than the feeling of a laser searing my flesh, though the crab that had hit me let out a screech when my fur acted like a disco ball and fired bits of laser light into its eyes. A claw raised to club me, only to have the base of the crustacean¡¯s arm erupt from a bullet slamming into the joint. Ducking myself down as the alien raised up squealing in pain, I drove my shield into its armored body to shove it off balance.


    There was a sharp rush of pain across my back, causing me to spin and lash out with my sword at what¡¯d attacked me. My blade cut into the oddly organic looking gun, driving it back into the crab¡¯s face as I threw my weight into the attack. The blade dug into a plate joint and drove through, splashing me with its blood...which tasted much like mine did. I knew it would be violet in color as it splashed over me. Another of them slammed into me as the one I¡¯d stabbed fell, making me let go of my sword in the rush.


    I tucked in my shield as I rolled away, feeling spines slam into the thickened flesh of my leg and up my side, energy coursing into my body from my smoldering harness. Chittering clicks rang out from a trio of crabs that rushed for me, and I answered them with a roar as I brought up my shield and charged. There was an earth rumbling and air shattering pulse of sound a second before a crab¡¯s headless form crashed between me and the rushing trio, which caused them to stop. I didn¡¯t stop, leaping over the carcass to slam my shield¡¯s bladed edge through the shoulder joints along one side of an enemy, claws slashing at its eyes before a different booming noise sounded.


    A shuttle shot overhead, sound blasting from it other than the engines as shapes rolled out of the door to drop like great cannonballs into the grasslands. My pierced ears snapped up in time to catch a bit of the song. ¡°Ooh, that red, white, and blue!¡± Was that Fortunate Son playing? A raven stood out painted on the cockpit section of the shuttle as the crabs fired their odd spine slinging shotguns at it. Except I lost track of the song after that, because a black seemingly liquid ball of rock with many mouths...used me for a springboard. More spines sank into the fuzzy flesh of my back, and then were ripped free as another mimic landed on me and started to yank them out.


    As the second mimic left me bleeding from a hundred slowly sealing wounds, I stared like a dumbstruck puppy. One of the mimics had taken a humanoid shape, which was bristling with spines, yet its arms seemed attached to two smaller boulder mimics. It lumbered forward and lashed its arms out, the boulders growing mouths as they slammed into the alien crabs, taking great chunks out of their charged shells. I groaned as the world seemed to spin, my brain calming enough to feel the burning that seemed to be flooding through my veins. Stumbling more each step until I crashed into the grass, barely seeing the streams of cannon fire flowing out from the nose of the shuttle toward the distant canyon. Then I passed out.


    *************


    I rose with a start, but I wasn¡¯t in the oddly colored plains, instead I was in the ruins of Washington, my ex wife¡¯s home was only scorched rubble. Tina hadn¡¯t been able to take the time apart and the distance between me and her, when I came home. The heat of the fires had melted metal and stone in places, no one had made it out alive. I looked down at my hands and watched the split flesh drip blood from digging through the rubble. There was no pain, no sorrow, no fear, simply hollowness. I had died inside when I¡¯d found what was left of them. Cassandra and Thomas¡¯s bones laying under their mother¡¯s, ten and six...barely¡­


    I fell to my knees, my blood on the bones of my family, tears streaming from my eyes as I stared unblinking at their dark bones. Darkened and shrunken from the heat of flames meant to destroy tanks and fracture ceramic armor. I¡¯d dug through a floor and a half of rubble to find their remains, a shiver flowing through me as I realized I was sobbing. But I felt nothing, I was hollow, yet I felt flames starting to burn through me. The flames I¡¯d tried my entire life to keep stoked, but controlled in the depths of my being. Flames of rage, lust for murder, the want to break and cause pain, slow deaths. The monster I¡¯d only let out in the depths of the harshest battles, when the beast was needed.


    -When are you coming home daddy?- Rang in my mind in my children¡¯s voices and I heard screaming. -Be safe daddy- My lungs burned for some reason as I saw sky, my back hurting as it arched.


    -Don¡¯t worry Rod, I¡¯ll keep them safe. But they ask too many things when you come back and you still haven¡¯t left the combat.- I choked and let out a wailing scream as I stood, not even noticing the barbs sinking into my back. The hollow was suddenly filled with pain as voltage surged through me, the pain filling the hollow with rage. I barely saw the uniforms and mp armbands as I charged, howling as the beast surged.


    -Daddy, your eyes look funny¡­-


    Suddenly I was sitting in heavy chains, alone in a room with a mirrored window. A metal table and chairs bolted to the floor, the buzz of a door being opened. -Dad, I passed the tests, I get to fly!- My eldest¡¯s voice rang in my mind as I smelled her scent coming through the doorway.


    ¡°Be careful...he¡¯s gone insane Mam.¡± The voice of an mp, the one who¡¯d shot me in the face with the beanbag round.


    The sharp crack of an open hand against a cheek. ¡°My father is what YOU people made him!¡± Sounds of struggling and I was suddenly standing and straining against the chains that bound me. ¡°Let go of me!¡± Came in a shout and I let out a wordless screaming howl as the hollow once again was filled with rage. MY DAUGHTER! Pain shot through my arm as my wrist broke, the bones in that hand compressing and shattering as the shackle came over them.


    -The kids always ask about you-


    I tasted blood in my mouth and heard gurgling. ¡°Dad! Stop!¡± I felt strong hands pulling at me as I filled the hollow with rage. A snarl ripping from me as a beanbag missed me and hit Angela, my one remaining child. Screams tearing from me as I charged, chain slinging out from my one working wrist as I surged forward into muzzle flashes.


    -Daddy, do you have to kill people?-


    I was suddenly chained down to a table, my daughter¡¯s bruised face close to mine as tears leaked onto my flesh. More tears leaked from my own eyes. ¡°We need him! We invested too much money in him not to use him for the war!¡± Snarled a man and I felt Angela touch my cheek as she looked down through my eyes into my shattered soul.


    -You¡¯re changing Roderick, it¡¯s scaring me-


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen what the damned Chicom¡¯s are taking into the field, he¡¯s broken, what good is a damned berserker against that horde?¡± My eyes flicked to my daughter and I let out a huff, the hollow filling with worry as she stood and whirled on two men I couldn¡¯t see.


    -Don¡¯t worry daddy, we¡¯re safe.-


    A snarl ripped from her throat. ¡°This damned berserker is a Marine! A man! Don¡¯t you dare speak of my father as if he¡¯s some animal!¡± -I¡¯m gonna be a pilot!-


    Chains slammed against the bottom of the table as I jerked my arm against them. ¡°If you guarantee my daughter will remain safe....I will kill for you again. If you do not...if I lose my last child to you...I shall kill you¡­¡± My voice was so lifeless as my hollow eyes bore into an admiral¡¯s, which looked as dead as my soul.


    -I love you daddy-


    An operating room with my daughter watching from a window above, tears in her eyes as she sat in uniform watching as the doctors hooked things to my ivs. ¡°Now we¡¯re going to use this serum to block out some of his memories, the ones that have left him broken until now. Once this is done, none may speak to him of this time or risk making him break the blocks. This machine will help us focus the serum into the proper places.¡± I heard the hum as the machine blocked out my view of Angela, of the reason I could force the beast back enough for this. Then the darkness came again.

 Chapter 12, Aliens, Men, and Monsters

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 12 - Xavier


    Aliens, men, and monsters.


    Mimics rested around the dead alien crabs, tendrils reaching out and ripping great hunks of the thick shells free to consume them. Thunder¡¯s lithe form moved around them with a trio of her father¡¯s people helping her carve the meat from the other aliens. Apparently anything that lived on this world long enough would be able to eat other things here easily, Albert would love to know that. I sat in the harness of my suit, long fuzzy ears twitching as I walked it along to where Captain Rowland sat beside his shuttle. His raven¡¯s eyes flicked between the many techs checking his craft for damage...and the panting form of my person.


    My person, when using this form, had the same trouble as a Ca¡¯zeze when trying to speak human words. But a name that rumbled out in his panting caused Captain Rowland to sit up straight. That caused me to stop as the name was rumbled out again, like a pained whine, then two more and the Captain shot to his feet and cursed. ¡°What is wrong...who are Tina, Cassandra, and Thomas? He¡¯s never mentioned them.¡± I chittered curiously, the synthesizer in my suit translating much more quickly.


    He simply stared at my person for a long moment, so long that I reached out an alloy finger and poked him. ¡°His dead ex wife, and his two youngest...both died with their mother in the bombing of Washington. Bloody twat went AWOL, went and dug their bones from the rubble and broke.¡± He shook his head. ¡°So many of us lost so much in the early part of the war, they used things to block the memories in some. Some men and women alike turned into hollow shells, only good for the most brutal of murdering. Some of em got used like that, some they forced to forget and not think about it.¡±


    I turned my suit and looked at the screens, watching the panting twitching form of my person under the care of two Lo¡¯Kar females. It took me a long moment to find words. ¡°I know one is alive...Angela, a Captain. Will he wake broken again? His body is burning out the venom. If he will be dangerous...best to take the others and leave me with him Captain.¡±


    I got a sharp look and then a soft shake of the head, then a sigh. ¡°The blocks never last forever, not even the ones we do to ourselves. When he wakes up, best we can hope is that he doesn¡¯t go bloody feral on us. They had to chain him to a bloody table when he was still just a man. What now, he¡¯d break the chains or breathe fire...bloody fire breathing werewolf.¡± He huffed and I couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m less worried about him being feral, than if he runs. His shield blocked those spines, but the ones that got to him have venom. Thunder¡¯s armor protected her when she brought up the staff to use, but him.¡± I trailed off and squeaked, because he¡¯d rushed in with just a blade, shield, and teeth. ¡°If my person runs for it, he will run for the ones we fought. He¡¯ll charge for the hunt and¡­¡± A trilling sound cut me off that flowed from one of the Lo¡¯Kar tending my person, and just as suddenly the Ca¡¯Zeze were ushering the Captain away as Thunder stepped up. A hammer hanging from either of her hands, and without thinking I was out of my suit and on her shoulder.


    My person had gone rather quiet, but little motions of toes and fingers as legs and arms shifted to bring him up to his feet...rapidly. Then dead eyes settled on us...through us, and he charged with all the strength and speed his altered form held. THUD. I had to fight not to squeal like a baby as Thunder danced INTO my person¡¯s charging form! Grunts sounded from him as she spun, ducked, leaped, flipped, but a hit never landed on her. Hits landed against hammerheads or thin air, yet every strike that she made against my person...landed. The hits were never as hard as they could¡¯ve been, hard yes, but more like smacks than true hammer blows.


    Before I could think about it, she lunged into him and I had to hop from her shoulder, landing atop his snarling head as she...hugged him. Though the hug only lasted a split second and my person didn¡¯t seem to notice my tiny weight between his flattened ears, not even when I had to grip his short fur to hold on as the two of them went on fighting. I had one hell of a view as every dozen or so strikes of hammers ended with her giving him a hug, a scritch to the chin, gentle pets of his arms, even a damned little boop of his nose!


    I held on for dear life, not even sure my speed would let me get away from the two of them as they attacked. Only after a minute, maybe two of my person attacking and Thunder smacking and being gentle with him¡­he dropped to his knees, body shaking so violently that I fell off of his head and tumbled down, thankfully caught by Thunder. Then I was set down with her hammers and left to just stare as not just Thunder, but four other Lo¡¯Kar females moved to hug and pet my person. Aaand then I fell back and rolled a few times as he let out a mourning crying howl, which was answered by the Lo¡¯Kar around him in a sad...song?


    And then I nearly dropped pellets as a claw tipped hand scooped me up in grey furred fingers, then I was casually held in one hand as the other shifted to give me scritches. I chittered in almost a purr before batting away fingers and pointing to my armor. And then I finally looked up at the scarred face of Chunhua Li, who¡¯s ears wiggled and twisted listening to everything around her. Thankfully she¡¯d not grown nearly as much as my person had, and was wearing some modified coveralls...and a collar. Apparently my sweet, loving, doting, terrifying mate had collared this berserker herself.


    Bad enough that I¡¯d found out the kids had distracted this female after she¡¯d turned, but then I¡¯d found out that my mate had charged in to fight her. My loving mate, who loves snuggling...used a suit to fight this female and then choke her unconscious. My loving, caring, terrifying mate...choked this woman unconscious three times before she¡¯d shown sanity. Then the multi-tailed fox woman had caused horrid chaos, by sniffing out and electrocuting certain people. Honey had been first, the man being the calmest berserker of any of them, but who ever heard of a honey badger giving a pellet. The man just went back to his work of making the new armors and quite literally punted a few people from his shop. She¡¯d found three other chinese with the right mix of gene mods and fried them, with her hands, her damned clawed hands, which I was currently in.


    Miss Li had been a high ranking member of the Tong, though Albert had figured that out at about the same time Isaac was using a laser to lead a humanoid spotted leopard away from engineering. Dorothy still had a massive humanoid komodo tied up with cables, and according to my mate...she¡¯d named her Gojira, or Miss Jira. That one was going to be as large as my person or larger, I think my youngest was claiming her. So this woman had sniffed out Honey, and then turned three others, the last being a cranky panda man that was working in the farming aspects of the colony. This happened in the span of an afternoon and before my mate caught back up with her.


    My scritches and thoughts were interrupted when I felt the warm breeze blow through a gateway that had formed...and saw the laser dot appear on Miss Li¡¯s shoulder. I barely had time to leap from her hands before ¡°EEEEEEEEE¡± sounded and my son Isaac rode his spotted mount, while it pounced the multi tailed woman. This led to a little growling and snarling, and mimic¡¯s bouncing over to cocoon the duo up to their necks. I let them be as Isaac went to bring the Captain a data strip, moving to follow the man as my son went back to tending the fuzzy feline head with scritches. My kids were hopefully making good choices in their human pets, Isaac did seem to have a fondness for cats.


    I followed the Captain as he moved into his shuttle, stopping long enough to get into my suit, because having little legs sucks. I mean, being tiny has some advantages, but keeping up with big people just...sucks. A few switches flicked and I slipped myself into the controls, the suit striding casually after Captain Rowland and into the shuttle. He¡¯d moved into the cockpit and sat in the pilot¡¯s chair, tapping in codes. ¡°Ok, so the squeakers are taking care of my...why are you laughing?¡±


    Captain Rowland was seeming to have a fit of laughter as he sat in his chair, and took a moment before he answered me. ¡°Squeakers...why in the world are you calling them squeakers? You mean the Lo¡¯Kar I¡¯m guessing¡­¡±


    I blinked and then squeaked in giggles. ¡°Tickle one...they squeak as bad as me or my kids.¡± I shook my head softly and worked the controls to lean the suit on the hatch frame. ¡°He¡¯s going to need time, but now we have one that can actually smell the ability to be a berserker in others...and she thinks it¡¯s cute to simply walk up and turn them. My children also seem to think that they can adopt these enraged and turned humans...why do you keep laugh¡­¡± I trailed off as I noticed a video playing, showing my daughter tossing meat hunks into the maw of the komodo...who was still tied up.


    He wiped a tear from his eye and paused the video, looking back at me. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell any of the others that I¡¯m watching things like this, I have to have my humor in this madness.¡± He sighed and shook his head softly. ¡°Bloody hell, if I don¡¯t find things to laugh about, I¡¯ll go bleedin mad.¡± He waved his hand toward the outside of the shuttle and I nodded, my suit nodding as I did. ¡°First the head of my security detachment starts getting twisted, and you too, then that damned storm and boom...I got a bloody werewolf running about whining over a bunny.¡± He gave me a little side eye, and I was smart enough to keep quiet.


    ¡°You have no idea how freaked out we were about those damned explosions. I mean we¡¯re all panicking and battening down, then the ship shakes a little and nothing else.¡± He turned to look at me and tapped the chest of my suit, which made me trigger it open, he was one that preferred to talk face to face. ¡°So we go looking over recordings and there was this damned blur for only a couple seconds, and we also have this giant panicking monster with a sword...holding a bunny. A bunny that we realized had become the most dangerous being in the colony, and then you go and be a fluffy diplomat...whacking an alien on the nose with a cane.¡± He gave me a look, just a hint of old annoyance in it.


    I cocked my head to the side and then reached to pop my cane free of its spot, wiggling it so he could see it. He sighed and rolled his eyes, then went to rolling a smoke with one hand, which made my ears snap up. He had good stuff, but he went back to talking as he worked. ¡°Granted you did rather well and so did Roderick, I hear your little lady has taken to the Lo¡¯Kar language rather well?¡± He watched me nod as I was in the middle of working myself out of my controls. ¡°Good, cause humans can¡¯t produce those sounds naturally, let alone the bloody Ca¡¯zeze language.¡± He gave the paper a light lick and finished the rolling, a lighter spinning between his fingers as he moved to light the cigarette. ¡°Shit sounds like you have Scooby Doo angry and speaking Russian¡­or German, either one has that scary tone set.¡± He shrugged.


    In the time it took him to take a drag and breathe it in, I¡¯d moved myself out of my suit and onto his free hand. He¡¯d gotten quite used to me doing things like this, after all, he¡¯d been dealing with my children. When he brought the smoke down for me, I took my puff and held it, a little shiver running through me as I relaxed my ears. He chuckled and I looked up at him as he looked off. ¡°Your eldest has asked if he can use the iron wombs to grow other bunnies and some other sorts. You and Lola were the only bunnies we had and apparently¡­¡±


    I chittered and my suit spoke for me. ¡°He doesn¡¯t want to get that close to his sisters.¡± I shrugged in a human fashion. ¡°Well we¡¯re not royalty or hillbunnies.¡± He choked on the smoke and coughed, giving me a chance to catch, and then steal his cigarette. When he caught his breath, I¡¯d made it to the head of my suit, looking down at him as I puffed on the smoke, taking the effort to cross my eyes. ¡°Hey boy, you got a pretty mouth.¡± I hadn¡¯t come up with a chitter for purdy, but it had the effect I wanted. I¡¯d been watching a good deal of movies lately with Lola, and my person had been trying to educate Thunder. I agreed with my person, the remake of Deliverance wasn¡¯t as good as the original.


    Captain Rowland laughed and ended up choking a little and wheezing just a bit as I worked my way back down. He caught me as I hopped for him, handing him the cigarette and grinning as he puffed on it to keep it lit. ¡°I¡¯d love some grandkids, but I doubt you mentioned it because my son wants to make a cute bunny or ten.¡±


    The smoke shot from his nose and he shook his head. ¡°No, your boy wants to use the gene stock from the other ones we have as well. We have quite a few bits of genetic stock for various animals, we were supposed to work at populating a planet after all.¡± He let me have a puff as he spoke and finished off the cigarette, dropping it into a smokeless ashtray. ¡°As time goes on, less things are proving poisonous to us, and there is already life here, so no need to break out the whole bloody mess. Albert wants to use dwarf, normal size, and giants¡­.¡±


    I squeaked and blinked up at him, rubbing my head and pulling down an ear to rub in thought. I could understand the dwarves, but normal size bunnies and giants. This atop having more berserkers awakened, and no telling if Miss Li would find more and turn them on the spot. I finally started to chitter in response. ¡°If he keeps the risk of true speeders to just dwarves, then I can see it being useful, smaller scouts, possible fighters¡­.¡± I trailed off as something came to mind, giants had been bred for meat, which meant they had large amounts of muscle. ¡°If he makes the giants get the Tank gene set like my mate.¡± I looked at the Captain in a mix of glee, thinking of my own personal army of towering (to me) battle bunnies.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    He got that odd stare, my human referred to it as a ¡°thousand yard stare¡±, meaning he¡¯d checked out mentally for a moment. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he was actually able to speak. ¡°Lola is the size of a big coffee mug and can hurl a light vehicle at people¡­¡± His eyes focused on mine. ¡°And you want me to let your son, more ask him to, make walking fluffy wrecking balls? Best guess is the strength to weight ratio of a rhino beetle for your mate..wife, she¡¯s your bloody wife.¡± He threw up his hands. ¡°I¡¯m tired of this bloody mate shit, she¡¯s your wife, you¡¯ll be married officially when we get back...but you want something near that...only much bigger, and more of them¡± He quirked an eyebrow at me.


    He still also hadn¡¯t broken eye contact either, so I twitched my ears to mess with him, wiggling them back and forth. ¡°According to Adam, I¡¯m head of a military order, and I¡¯m loyal to you and my person.¡± My ears twisted so I could listen behind me, taking a couple seconds before righting them. ¡°Who is still whimpering like a kicked puppy, but think about it. My children are highly intelligent, more than myself I think. Albert has done several months worth of work in a little over a week¡¯s time, while no doubt working on this new idea of his. My daughters have been building an ai core for one, and the other has been designing and building a suit for her mother.¡±


    He finally looked away and this time used two hands to roll more cigarettes as he thought. ¡°True, they¡¯ve also vaporized keyboards, small tools, and I heard Isaac melted a section of cable while helping his sisters.¡± His eyes flicked to me. ¡°Can he really produce current like Stanley and the fox?¡± When I nodded, he let out a sigh. ¡°Alright, but with rules to keep things as sane as possible, I want your tiny eggheads working with humans and not just shoving them to the side. Deal?¡±


    I nodded and held out my hand paw, which he shook carefully, looking more like a pinky swear that humans did. ¡°Deal, though I¡¯d like for the more scientific of our allies to join them as well. I work with humans and the like all the time. The mice need to stop being afraid of my children and work with them. What are they going to do when an actual alien does something ¡°odd¡± around them?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Stare in shock or scream as they flee¡­¡± Came out in a casual tone as he tucked the first cigarette he finished behind his ear. ¡°I¡¯ll have to have Igor have a talk with them, get them to see that we need every bit of help we can get.¡± He nodded toward the nose of the shuttle as he rolled thin cigarettes much more quickly and carefully. ¡°We have to get to those ships, or even with your kid¡¯s help, we¡¯re going to run out of parts.¡±


    I rolled my eyes, and my head, since humans hardly noticed my little eyes rolling. ¡°Oh, just seal part of the cleared space inside the Yangtze and seal the room around a fabricator. Test fill it with some air, then if there isn¡¯t a leak, fill it fully, you can do the test work with air tanks from a shuttle.¡±


    He grinned and held four cigarettes more befitting my tiny hand paws in thickness. ¡°Isaac already gave that idea to Evans, and she¡¯s working on it. They¡¯ve got a section picked out and have to check the section in the Yangtze with a mimic to make sure it¡¯s sealed, while getting one of the Eda ships to seal up. Probably take a bleeding month to get it all setup, and that¡¯s planning for equipment issues. Then we have to try and power the fabricator and get it to work.¡±


    As he spoke, I¡¯d been moving back and forth, putting the cigarettes into a spot in the chest of my suit that I could easily reach. ¡°Once you get it sealed and safe, send Isaac and Marie in, maybe Dorothy as well. I just ask that you make sure it¡¯s safe first. Not this military grade garbage, actually safe.¡±


    He had the audacity to laugh at me, and shook his head as he noticed I was glaring at him. ¡°Oh calm your tits, you just had a dad moment. And no worries, it''s the reason it¡¯s going to take about a month to pull this off, we have to be careful and do it safely. I can¡¯t risk losing anyone to this, let alone one of your kids, who¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°Is friends with our AI, can do a day¡¯s work in minutes¡­¡± His eyes flicked to mine as I looked to him. ¡°Or kill us all accidently. You know that is a constant worry with you and your kids. As it is also a worry that the berserkers will kill people in rages or your wife will decide to beat someone to death...a mug sized bunny, I¡¯ve actually had someone mention they¡¯re worried she¡¯d beat someone to death.¡± He sighed. ¡°This is of course before she got the equivalent of a battle mech, which she used to choke out a berserker. Multiple times, beat er down and choked er out. In public, and I just finally had gotten people less terrified of you after you cratered that section of the valley.¡±


    ¡°I made a lovely set of ponds though. ¡°I chittered as he pulled out a packed pipe from his tobacco pouch.


    ¡°Very true, and Albert turned a few of the lab tech¡¯s hair pink, including body hair.¡± He grinned as he went to light the pipe. ¡°Which is bloody hilarious.¡± He didn¡¯t pay any attention as the shuttle started to shiver and shake around us, a rumbling sound passing through the hull. ¡°I¡¯ve ordered the track heads to cover this area while a forward operating base is built here.¡±


    I cocked my head to the side after taking a puff off the offered pipe stem. ¡°I thought they were down for maintenance and refit?¡± I chittered as I thought.


    A near feral grin broke onto his face as he brought his pipe back to his lips and puffed softly on it. ¡°They were, but we managed to salvage quite a bit from some of the ships, including a few interesting parts from weapons and turrets.¡± He slowly stood and set his pipe down on his console.


    I had to quickly climb into my controls and power them back online, stepping my suit back out of his way, only to follow him as he stepped clear of the shuttle. Thunder and her people had thankfully gotten my person back through one of their portals, so he was back in a safer area. I couldn¡¯t help but worry about him, he was my person, I¡¯d have to let him snuggle me later. He always seemed to cheer up when I gave him snuggles, humans were odd like that. It was about that thought where I noticed something rather large and fuzzy climbing over the top of the tank that the humans called Kermit.


    A mane of blonde fur was bared to the sun as thick black furred arms held an odd mount against the top of a turret. Honey looked like a much larger and calmer version of Stanley, who currently had a cable end in his maw as he claw welded the mount down. Stanley, after all, had been the first to show the ability to truly produce a current, instead of the odd energy transfer that most of us could do. They both looked terrifying with those weird welding goggles on, and thankfully Honey had on pants.


    The duo were letting out odd hisses and almost purring growls as they worked, the larger holding onto supports for the new mount, while the smaller welded. My screens dulled the glare produced by the welding, though the Captain had to use his hard to block the glare from his eyes. ¡°How are you two faring with the work now? Happy as can be?¡± Captain Rowland tossed in a bit of plainly false cheer.


    Stanley stopped welding and looked over the Captain, curling his handpaw and flipping off the man, which caused Honey to let out chuffing and hissing laughter. After getting a thumbs up from Honey, Captain Rowland continued. ¡°Glad to see you¡¯re cheerful as ever, Stanley.¡± The lanky human said with a toothy grin as he went back to walking beside the monstrous tank. Most of the bolts on this thing were as thick as me. Humans always had to make things so horridly big, but I had my suit, so I didn¡¯t care as much now.


    I stopped as we got to the front of the tank, the large barrel had been replaced by two odd barrels. One was definitely an alien design, the barrel had an odd texture to it, not to mention the alien text stamped into its length. The other barrel was almost an oval shape for the first half of its length, and a proper tube for the latter half. The second weapon was definitely human made, and apparently missing a cover that was meant to go over it, which made me walk forward and look at the front of the turret...and stare. The armor was gone, like the tank had been..brought here...during refit. I looked at the Captain.


    He simply nodded to me. ¡°We have other weapons about, some of the refit trucks, a few redesigned morters, not to mention the bloody mimics. The other tank is actually up and functioning now as overwatch, care to have a look?¡± He hadn¡¯t told me what either weapon was on this tank, but I had a suspicion that the alien weapon was a laser.


    A pair of bulldozers were working on flattening out a section of plain, while wheeled loaders were building up earth walls toward enemy territory. All this was going on while the second tank, named Miss Piggy thanks to its ability to devour ammunition, sat on the back of a small rise, turret aimed over it. It took us about ten minutes to make it around the working vehicles, people, and across the terrain toward the other monster tank. The turret on it was now missing its mortar tubes. We were still about a hundred meters away from the tank when the Captain held up a hand to stop me. ¡°What did they do?¡± I asked curiously.


    He smirked and touched a comm he¡¯d stuck in his chest pocket. ¡°Captain Rowland to Miss Piggy, have you gotten a look at any targets?¡±


    It took a few seconds for a rather young sounding voice to come back over the com. ¡°Yes sir, it looks like they¡¯re gathering up an assault force. I have confirmed readings of heavier weapons thanks to Rashka¡¯s sensors.¡± Who the hell was Rashka? Maybe a Ca¡¯zeze? Had they started to work them into the fighting forces?


    I was so lost when the Captain smiled and spoke. ¡°Then sound the horn and let the pig squeal. I¡¯ve been looking forward to getting to see it fire properly.¡± A bass horn sounded loudly from the tank while pistons on the back suddenly slammed spiked plates against the ground. Another blast of the horn sounded from the tank and I checked my screens to see that all work had stopped. ¡°This is going to be loud.¡± Came from the Captain, only a split second before the barrels started to spin.


    The sound of a million shrill whistles rattled the air, like all the dog owners of earth had sounded at once. The air noticeably shifted around the sides and back of the tank and I was confused for the split second before the loud supersonic cracks erupted from the ends of the spinning barrels. Air pressure! They were using air pressure to fire a gatling cannon!? Fog fired out the end of the barrels with each shell that flew, quickly misting the air and turning it into a storm around the vehicle. All the while there was that horrid shrill whistling scream in the air, which I realized was from some form of compressor. I couldn¡¯t truly tell, since even inside my suit...I had pulled down my ears and covered them with my handpaws. I might have also been squealing and closed my eyes toward the end.


    It seemed like an eternity that the tank fired, but was only at most a ten second burst of its cannon. My suit shivered and nearly fell over as it stopped firing, the tank having lifted its nose from the purple and blue grass it sat atop. Ok, so my suit did fall over, and yes it was because I¡¯d freaked out in the controls, but no one made fun of me. I hadn¡¯t been the only one to freak out at the noise. I stood my suit up and brushed it off as I panned the head around to see that the Captain was laughing, and many others were pulling hands from their ears and cursing. The area ahead of where the tank¡¯s barrels ended, was a churned mass of chewed grass and soil that had blown away from it.


    I bent my suit¡¯s knees after getting my head cleared, kicking it up into the air and triggering the jetpack on the back. A little careful work on my keyboard to route a copy of my camera feeds to the others, and sadly also the sound of my squeak. The squeak was thanks to not only the fact that the canyon¡¯s ridge being chewed to gravel, it was also on fire, with clouds of white smoke rolling up into the sky. It seemed that wasn¡¯t the only grouping of enemy aliens, because I had to dodge my suit around and let it drop down out of the air to escape enemy fire. As I landed, the tank was finishing a second burst of firing.


    Captain Rowland was jogging away from the tank as a few trucks, one of them pulling a trailer, pulled up near the assault vehicle. I moved to keep pace with him and soon enough we made it far enough away, and behind enough cover, that we could talk again. ¡°Hiroshima came up with the new rounds!¡± He half shouted, and it appeared the tank had killed some of his hearing, hell I still had a ringing sound in my ears. ¡°The core is just scrap from smelting salvaged ship armor, basically slag, then an outer shell of ceramic with white phosphorus inside the ceramic.¡± He was getting less loud as he spoke and wiggled a finger in one of his ears. ¡°He talked the Rodu into producing the shells. Bollocks, that thing is loud!¡±


    ¡°What in the name of jerky are they using to compress the air, that is louder than a shuttle at full burn!¡± My suit had gotten better tone settings worked in, but the programming still wasn¡¯t quite right. I also couldn¡¯t choke the Captain for the ringing in my ears.


    He smiled. ¡°Rodu fuel compressors. They had a few suits left that were safe to use and are helping one of the teams do salvage on their ship. One of their engineers worked out how to do it using one of their portable fuel tanks.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It looks terrifying, but it works, we¡¯re getting some of their soldiers and some from the others, but mostly engineers from them.¡±


    I nodded inside my suit and it nodded as I thought about it. ¡°They¡¯re the most recent arrivals before us, odd to think of herbivores being such good combat engineers¡­¡±


    Captain Rowland snorted. ¡°Says the bunny in a mech made from an exoskeleton.¡± He sighed. ¡°Who I¡¯m going to end up letting his son grow his own personal army for...I need a drink.¡± He sighed the last bit out and started back for his shuttle, me at his side.


    Mimics started to bounce, roll, and in one case...walk toward where the tank had been firing, passing myself and the Captain. The walking mimic had kept its oddly gelatinous look, while taking on an ill proportioned humanoid form. Eye stalks stuck out on each of the mimics, a few mouths as well were present, but the biped was the creepiest. The mouth was in the stubby torso, eyes in the shoulders and waist, while tendrils toted a smaller mimic at the end of each arm. Three of the ones bouncing and rolling, stopped, then wiggled as their bodies took on the form of the odd lobster crab aliens, only smaller. That actually made the Captain stop and stare as they scuttled along beside the biped, and soon enough more of the mimics took on new forms.


    I stared at the pack of mimics, there were now seven small crabs, two shorter bipeds that looked oddly armored like a bulldozer¡¯s blade was painted. The first biped had seemed to form spiked hammers and tank armor for skin, which flexed and moved in an odd organic way. I popped my suit open and wiggled out to stand atop the head, staring and blinking as I watched more move to join the pack. ¡°They¡¯re¡­.they¡¯re...the mimics¡­¡± I chittered in a dumbfounded stammer, my ear twitching as a cargo container suddenly flexed and twisted into something new. My jaw hung open as the many weapons we¡¯d scavenged from the dead aliens suddenly were in the ten hands of a terrifying creature.


    This last mimic¡¯s form was a mix, flesh like a rock studded with thousands of the spines that the weapons fired, but in a fashion like fur. One of the hands held my person¡¯s shield, another held his sword, and...it was like a boulder, a spider, and my person had been combined, but his big fluffy form. It towered over the others as it caught up, its heavy steps thudding audibly and I realized something...no one was moving. Every single being around us that was standing, sitting in a machine, or running a vehicle, was staring, at mimics...going to battle.


    A rumbling in the ground and the rattle of tracks caused me to look behind myself, eyeing the still unfinished tank with Stanley and Honey atop the turret. The duo were fitting on the new base framing for the armor that was sitting in a pile atop the turret. ¡°Porky¡± Anderson was sticking out of the command hatch, looking through the telescopic mount that¡¯d just been mounted. There were revving engines and I looked past the tank at the multi-wheeled trucks that were carrying a mass of workers. Humans, Ca¡¯zeze, Lo¡¯kar, and Rodu were getting out of the back of the trucks, tool packs in hand. Two of the trucks had soldiers of the various races, and one oddity, there was a retrieval truck...and it had a buff wingless praying mantis standing atop it.


    ¡°That¡¯s the truck that we sent to help break down the no man''s land between those two races that you scared the shit out of.¡± Captain Rowland said as he stepped up beside me. ¡°It''s moving without a driver¡­¡± He trailed off as the mantis trilled something and waved an arm toward the mimic¡¯s heading for battle...food...noise.


    I just chittered and swung down into my suit, barely having time to close the chest before a brilliant string of curses started to flow from the Captain. The salvage truck had apparently been mostly eaten, this was a mimic. It was GROWLING! Who the hell had thought that the growling empty vehicle was anything other than...the...the grill was a mouth. It was a mouth! The ¡°cab¡± shifted just a little, eyes forming on various places as it started to roll forward after the other mimics. The alien mantis riding atop it like it was a human on a horse, a big horse, with a great big crane. The Captain was still cursing up a storm and hadn¡¯t repeated himself yet, even as some of the combat vehicles started to move to follow the mimics.


    I myself was puffing on one of my cigarettes and typing up a full report, my suit¡¯s hands making the same motions in the air. The humans would listen to the Captain, but the non humans most likely wouldn¡¯t. It looked like this skirmish had started to trend toward a battle, and was that a whistling sound? I looked up and squeaked.


    ¡°INCOMING!¡± Was shouted by several people, human and alien alike.


    Captain Rowland was running for cover when my suit¡¯s arms snapped around him, a shout rising from him as I worked my controls. I was calm as could be, he was shouting, especially when I kicked the pedals and lit my jetpack, firing us up into the air and away from the large spear-like weapons that slammed across the ground. Many of those odd weapons seemed to erupt in the poisoned spines that the crab guns fired. ¡°Let''s get you to your shuttle, and then back to base. I¡¯m going to need to get more supplies here quickly.¡± It turned out that British humans could pout, even when being carried through the air. Human breeds were so odd, but interesting to figure out. They made such wonderful pets.

 Chapter 13, Gumbo and Gunshow gathering.

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 13 - Xavier


    Gumbo and gun show gathering.


    I stood on the map table, a cup of something called gumbo in front of me, and the wonderful sound of various soldiers arguing. The gumbo wasn¡¯t bad and I had a properly sized spoon that I was using to stir and eat my dinner. One of the Ca¡¯zeze soldiers was most likely only being cranky and loud because he¡¯d angered Albert, so he was now sporting bright pink fur. These crab lobster aliens were a complete pain in the ass to fight, but they tasted very good if you spiced them right, and some of the local herbs we could now eat were spicey.


    Grek and Stormwind were here and had their translators off as they spoke with their people, and I could understand wanting privacy. I was still getting used to the odd guttural Ca¡¯zeze names and the way that the translators translated the Lo¡¯Kar names from the weirdly musical language. Sadly for them...my wife Lola was the one serving dinner, and she could understand them. That was most likely why one of the Lo¡¯Kar was unconscious near her, never anger a female with a metal ladle in her hand. Especially when she¡¯s in a powered suit, personally I doted on her as much as I could. Happy wife, happy life, less broken bones, and less concussions.


    The bowls were passed out, the main bit of the gumbo was safe for all of us, except the Rodu, but Lola had a vegetable stew going for the members of their group that were present. There were containers of extra options for everyone on a side table, and I watched as those present made the rounds. Commander Wulf was even present and had a pleased look as he tried his dinner, though I noticed he¡¯d added a bit of sweetener to his, causing the small black cat on his shoulder to purr. We all knew that Madam Mittens could no doubt speak rough English, but cats have to be difficult, and females moreso. Which left Igor to eat and share his food with his feline friend, humans made such lovely pets.


    ¡°Thank you Lola.¡± Was spoken by everyone who took one of the bowls she filled, and no one refused her cooking. Even the Rodu were polite as they took their bowls of the vegetable stew she¡¯d made them, and as the last bowl was handed out, she made herself a cup. The Mantis that¡¯d come with the salvage truck had eaten his wooden spoon and was slurping up his stew, its stew...the bugs were odd. They apparently had three stages, larval, an odd caterpillar juvenile stage, then this buff mantis form...that was asexual. The bugs were the oldest local species, the avians were the second oldest, so neither had much left working in the higher tech they¡¯d started with. To be honest, most of them had only managed to keep at the level that humans had in their nineteen seventies, just usually with an information system. The lack of aircraft and spacecraft was thanks all around to a certain race of angry flying lizards, and a lack of spare parts.


    I was actually thankful that the Avians weren¡¯t present in this meeting, they were annoying and creepy. They also had this horrid habit of staring at me like a bird of prey might, which usually caused me to go into a blur and yank a few of their tiny feathers loose. This gumbo was really good, and with this turning into more of a war as each day passed, we¡¯d get to have this tasty meal whenever we wanted. The crab-lobster race attacked anyone or anything that wasn¡¯t one of them or their herd animals. According to the bugs, there¡¯d been more races before the crabs landed. Sergeant Johnson had been back and forth between our colony, the avians, and the bugs, so she¡¯d learned quite a bit. It seemed all of the races complained more when they thought you couldn¡¯t understand them. It also seemed that everyone hated the crabs that¡¯d had to deal with them in any way, shape, or form.


    ¡°We are doing what we can to impart upgrades where we can to the human equipment, while helping them with salvage operations, and also attempting to build new improvised vehicles.¡± The Rodu chief engineer said and popped a chunk of blue vegetable into his mouth, his tone was calm and informative, like a tech that was thinking about hitting you with something. ¡°I do not have enough trained personnel to truly try and field combat troops, we¡¯re doing what we can with support personnel.¡± Two hands working the bowl and spoon, another holding a canteen of some tea they drank, and the other...yep that was flexing in annoyance.


    ¡°Chief engineer Ebacto¡­¡± Commander Wulf started to say.


    ¡°Happy!¡± I chittered and my nearby suit snapped out, my little spoon pointing at the patch sewn to the Rodu¡¯s vest. It was an evil looking smiley face that looked more crazed than happy, and Lola had sewn it on for him. ¡°His handle is Happy...just worry if he ever smiles like that at you.¡± That got chuffs, trills, and snorts of humor from around the mess hall, it also seemed to make him stop flexing his hand.


    ¡°Chief...Happy¡­¡± Wulf said and gave me a little side eye, Mittens tail flicked, and I winked at them. ¡°We know your people are helping as best that they can, don¡¯t worry about that. You¡¯re doing your part. Our own people are doing what they can with the salvage operations, and fielding the equipment that your people are helping refit. The Lo¡¯Kar and Ca¡¯zeze are doing what they can with fielding some of their soldiers, and helping us with armor for...our special cases.¡±


    Braying squeaky giggles sounded from my wife, who stopped when she noticed people staring at her confused. She huffed and went back to eating her dinner.


    ¡°Do you mean the small ones or the big ones?¡± Grek asked around a hunk of crab he was chewing on. The Ca¡¯zeze were expressive in some of the same ways that Zeus and Hera were, but the aliens tended to wiggle their ears more. They also seemed to love my trick of waving at people by bending my ear, though very few of them were able to emulate it.


    There was a buzzing sound and the mantis cocked its head to the side as its translator spoke in an oddly deep tone. ¡°The human commander means the larger of their two oddities.¡± It looked at me, and I waved an ear at it. ¡°The smaller ones are a known entity to us all, this one put a stop to conflicts with explosions equal to orbital fire. Or do you mean the issue with the polymorphs taking to the fighting?¡± It asked and cocked its head as it looked at Commander Wulf. ¡°I brought our guardian polymorph, so the others are behaving well enough, largely in part to how you humans have treated them.¡±


    The ¡°Guardian¡± mimic was still using the form of a salvage truck and growling whenever it moved, failing to properly mimic engine noise. The cable in the truck¡¯s crane had apparently not been eaten, instead it was using it to hurl smaller mimics out like a catapult. It was very hard to actually injure a mimic short of cutting them apart and separating the parts, or plasma, they weren¡¯t fans of fire either. Though one of the ¡°young¡± did seem to like to swim in acidic cleaners, and base cleaners, Foamy was an odd duck. Quite literally a rubber duck after someone had given him one as a toy, a five eyed, creepy as hell, little duck. Foamy still owned the squeaker from said duck.


    Commander Wulf sighed and sipped some of the juices from his gumbo, allowing Mittens to snag a hunk of crab. ¡°Our people who¡¯ve turned from being good soldiers and colonists into angry snarling beasts.¡± He shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re affected well enough by the poison in those spines, so they need a sort of combat armor. Instead of dropping strong unprotected and violent beasts into a fight, we¡¯re hoping to drop well armored and decently trained beasts in.¡±


    Again the buzzing sound of the Mantis speaking. ¡°Well, that is for the good. We have had few issues with the polymorph¡¯s mineral, we had more uniformed alterations.¡± The head shifted and I could tell it was eyeing me. ¡°Your small ones are still the more frightening of the issues that you have, which is why we asked that their abilities not be used in combat.¡± His anteni wiggled in annoyance. ¡°Watching my predecessor be turned into a stain on the ground because it was trying to get the troops to keep fighting the feathered ones...has had an effect.¡±


    I squeaked and bowed, then chittered. ¡°My children are far more terrifying than myself, and they fear my loving wife¡¯s temper.¡± Lola had learned...somehow...to crack her knuckles and did so, tiny pops sounding and then she purred as Commander Wulf scritched around the base of her ear. ¡°Though our son Albert has come up with a neutralizer for the toxin and is finishing his testing. More that the human lab technicians are testing it and he¡¯s snoring in his cabinet, but the work is going as fast as it can.¡± I looked around and then to the Mantis. ¡°We are helping as best that we can, and your people cheered when I turned an avian assassin into a puff of feathers and goo.¡± He made a sound somewhat like a cricket chirping and Grek chuffed, one of his ears twisting to listen to something outside.


    A red mantis waddled into the mess hall, about a third of the size of the emissary, and with four too many eyes. It wiggled and produced a sealed tube that it handed over to the emissary, who nodded its head. The mini mantis wiggled and seemed to ripple, showing that it was indeed one of the mimics. The next form it took was a wheel, which casually rolled itself back out of the tent. Lola chittered and spoke first. ¡°You know, that is still strange to see, less than it was, but still strange.¡±


    ¡°Says the small prey animal that has beaten many, much larger beings into unconsciousness.¡± Grek chuffed, an ear pointing to the unconscious Lo¡¯Kar.


    Stormwind trilled softly and scratched under her mate¡¯s chin. ¡°I knew there was a reason that I liked her, but I¡¯ve heard that your son has started to grow more like you?¡± She asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes, her son Albert is using the artificial wombs we have aboard our ship to grow more bunnies.¡± Commander Wulf said and didn¡¯t react as Mittens suddenly was glaring at him from his shoulder. ¡°Captain Rowland approved it, with a few restrictions. Most of the restrictions are for safety reasons, like the restriction that none of the larger ones will be able to...go fast.¡±


    I chittered at that and sipped some of the juices from my dish, letting out a burp before speaking more. ¡°It isn¡¯t as useful as larger beings think, we have very little legs, so we have to walk large distances for us. It is our size that allows us to use our ability, so Albert is making sure that few of our smaller kin get the speed. Our larger kin will be more balanced or simply strong. The first batch will be born in sixteen local days...figure two to four months for growth and training.¡±


    My wife squeaked in laughter at that, then chittered. ¡°I will ask for some of the females who are mothers to assist me with the first group. I¡¯ve also told Albert to spare the females born of this, they will have only one child at a time. Otherwise we risk outgrowing the other races, you¡¯re all nice enough, your people seem nice.¡± She shrugged. ¡°But I¡¯d rather not risk too many violent mothers with large families.¡±


    The Mantis chirped a few times in that crickety way, then buzzed. ¡°Spoken like a proper parent, we have taken steps to keep our population controlled here as well.¡± It¡¯d been looking over the report it¡¯d pulled from the tube, head cocking one way, then the other as it thought, read, and listened. ¡°We have had only two deaths and four tens of injuries since this position was taken, it appears that the enemy is starting to amass forces.¡± It looked up from its report and twitched an antenna as it looked around at the others. ¡°It will not be more than three solar cycles, most probably only one cycle before we are attacked in force.¡± It buzzed and then proceeded to eat the report, setting the empty tube on the table.


    Happy let out a loud snort as he stepped away from the pot with another bowl of stew. ¡°Then we will need to keep all of the human¡¯s space capable craft away from here. They are the only ones we have that can actively reach the salvageable ships in any safe manner. My people have checked our retired craft that we haven¡¯t melted down and found them to need too much work. It will no doubt take us years for all of us to have reliable space transport again.¡± He looked to Grek and huffed. ¡°Though it will be several days before we think that the gunships will be operational, we only have one of the tiny ones helping, and if you rush him¡­¡±


    ¡°Things suddenly start exploding.¡± Commander Wulf said with a sigh. ¡°Which is why we have constant requests for tiny desks, keyboards, and monitors being sent to the Lo¡¯Kar.¡±


    He had a point, but I just shrugged before chittering. ¡°Vaporization of tools is happening less as we get used to keeping control of ourselves. We¡¯re bunnies, we get excited easily, it''s hard to work around thousands of years of ingrained habits and instincts.¡± I pointed an ear at Mittens. ¡°It¡¯s like expecting her to strike up casual conversation with anyone other than you in private, or asking Stanley not to snarl at people. Sure he does it less, but that¡¯s only because everyone that deals with him, bribes him.¡±


    ¡°The angry fuzzy one is easier to deal with when you bribe him with things he likes. His human is much nicer, though his smile is worrisome.¡± Stormwind said thoughtfully as she rinsed her bowl out and put it on a stack on the table.


    ¡°His smile is worse than my angry smile, though his skills with metals and combat repairs make up for his oddities.¡± Happy said before slurping up the last of his stew. ¡°The angry small one is kind enough not to smoke around my people, at least since we learned that we have an allergy to one of the chemicals. The tiny one helping us has seemed to have gotten the angry one¡¯s help when needed, the gunship work is moving as well as it can thanks to that. The human Sweetener is helping as well, though he is mainly dealing with the armor issues.¡± He paused in his walk to the washing table as there was laughter from the various races. ¡°What did I say?¡±


    ¡°You called the human named Honey, Sweetener. we need to adjust your translator.¡± The Mantis buzzed and pulled a tool from the odd pack that it kept on its back and main body sections. It waddled over casually as a nearly five foot tall mantis could with one leg being made of an odd alloy and organic plastic.


    I walk waddled over to hold up my cup and spoon to Commander Wulf, giving him the dreaded. ¡°Help me, I¡¯m little¡± look, which made him sigh and move to wash my dishes for me. I could get away with such things, I was little, humans thought I was cute, and I did have little legs. I could make the hop, but it might worry some of the people in the mess hall to see me doing such things. Best to keep them at ease, didn¡¯t have anything to do with me not wanting to wash the dishes myself. I couldn¡¯t help but casually watch as the Mantis worked the odd tool while touching the neck band of Happy¡¯s translator, the insectoid buzzing out commands as he worked the various controls.


    ¡°Your Captain sent word that your people have gotten a weapon working using the Eda bone powder.¡± Stormwind said as she looked over the map, sipping from her bowl as she studied the terrain. ¡°He mentioned that you have also gotten other weapons working as well. Most of our advanced weaponry has failed due to wear, the little we initially salvaged.¡± She let out a few clicks that was her race¡¯s form of a sigh and shrugged as her husband and mate Grek nuzzled her atop the head with his chin.


    Grek rumbled and his translator spoke for him, the odd trick of not quite talking, but subvocalizing worked best for the Ca¡¯zeze. Some humans were taking to it as well, seeming to like it for combat teams. ¡°Our daughter has one of only a few weapons we¡¯ve managed to keep operational, and it¡¯s lost some of its power that it once had.¡± His ears twitched in a shrug, but I noticed his shoulders rolling, they were learning from our pets rather well.


    I squeaked and then chittered, having to squeak to get attention since I was so little. ¡°Issac is taking care of that issue for you and working on a way to reproduce it.¡± I shrugged and gave him a little grin as he looked at me. ¡°Your daughter didn¡¯t pay enough attention to her laser rifle when she focused on taking care of my person, my son borrowed it.¡±


    Lola squeaked at me and gave me that wifely look that spoke of pain if I didn¡¯t have a talk with our son about that. Then she chittered. ¡°I found Issac with the weapon torn down and checking all of its bits out. I rather prefer mechanical things to technical, and it was the spotted feline berserker that stole the weapon for him. My...husband...is correct in that he¡¯s repairing it, and planning to make more. I¡¯m very sure that my husband will have a talk with him about stealing from others.¡± I got a pointed look and nodded rapidly.


    The door swung open and Captain Rowland walked in, giving a nod to each of the other prospective leaders. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me, I came along with a delivery and smelled food.¡± He moved around and got himself a bowl of gumbo, sniffing it, and then moving to add a few things to it. ¡°I have the first shipment of mortars, heavy rifles, ear protection and com units, which will work for most races¡­¡± He gave the Mantis a look and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure about your people though, and honestly, do you have shorter names? Nicknames of some sort that work?¡±


    The Mantis looked at Captain Rowland and cocked it¡¯s head to the side and then the other in thought, anteni wiggling, and then it buzzed. ¡°Your soldiers have said that most of my people look like a giant insect native to your world. I agree with a few major known differences, you may call me Priest, I am among the leadership, though leadership isn¡¯t the proper term, we have not found a proper term in your languages for it. Unlike your species...we have no religion, it was the Eda who raised us to the stars.¡± It cocked it¡¯s head again. ¡°That is a story for another time though, it happened many generations ago, and I must get permission to tell it in full.¡±


    There were several slack jawed expressions, or variants of it with the statement that the Eda had uplifted a species. Not only uplifting it, but apparently long before it¡¯d come to long distance space travel or to be stuck in this system. Captain Rowland was the first to clop his mouth shut and went to stuffing his face with crab gumbo, Commander Wulf simply chuckled and gave Mittens a kiss on the cheek. ¡°That answers a question and opens up so many more of them, Priest. I¡¯m sure we¡¯d all love for you to get the permissions that you need in order to tell us about that story.¡±


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The Mantis buzzed as its anteni wiggled, looking from the Commander, to the others, and back. ¡°I will do what I can, the information is what you might call...restricted, but less for security, than for shame.¡± It clicked a few times and slumped. ¡°It is a very sad story, and I do not know all of it, we would need an Eda for the full story.¡± Priest let out a chirp as Lola was suddenly on its shoulder and gently petting the side of its head, chittering as she nuzzled and tried to sooth the big alien bug. After all, my wife hated to see anyone truly sad or depressed, she was fine with them being terrified of her, just not sad. Females could be so¡­odd.


    No one tried to pick her up or move her until she was sure that Priest was no longer a sad Mantis being, then she casually hopped back to the table and squeaked at the Captain, hand paws on hips.


    He grinned at her and nodded. ¡°Yes mum, your kids got them made¡­.¡± Everyone watched as she scrambled across the table and leapt into her suit. Soon enough it was powered on and moving to nearly dance around everyone as my wife damned near ran out of the mess hall. Captain Rowland just shook his head. ¡°She asked for one of the machine guns we are making so she could use it, and something else from the ship. Dunno why she¡¯s so hyper, just a gun and something engineering made¡­¡± He blinked. ¡°Bollocks.¡± And then he ran out of the mess hall.


    Oddly enough, I was one of the slow ones in getting out of the Mess hall. Of course I had to get into my suit, into my controls, and power it up. Having little legs sucks moldy pellets. Funny thing was that Priest had taken to hopping onto the dug in structures and running across the tops, hopping from roof to roof. It got very little in the way of reactions, these were people who¡¯d gotten more and more used to mimics, a giant bug running around was rather relaxed in comparison. Of course small bunnies that could accidentally vaporize things, or hurl small vehicles at you, also might have helped the relaxed feeling toward other races.


    And then I came into an open area and blinked, there was a man in uniform talking with my wife...he was glowing. The engineer was literally glowing more than I did when I licked a stun stick, and that is when I remembered about a certain engineering tech with a unique mutation. Lightbulb was all I knew the man as, quite literally wearing a mimic as a uniform, the creature soaking up the odd bits of alpha, and beta particles, with the few dashes of gamma that escaped from him. The man could change nuclear fuel rods by hand and be fine, though without a mimic...he¡¯d end up killing those around him. Luckily there were plenty of mimics that didn¡¯t mind a snuggle for a snack of potent radiation. They absolutely loved the stuff, and it was Lightbulb¡¯s job to keep them out of main engineering...other than the one snuggling him.


    He was opening up a cargo box and setting a few things out as my patient wife...danced around him. In her mech suit. Like a human kid. Tendrils moved from his clothing and helped him set out two large shapes that were undoubtedly heavy weapons, taking his time as he unpacked the box. He was actually mildly painful to directly look at when I got closer, my screens automatically darkening. He casually tapped the sleeve of his ¡°top¡± and within a minute, the mimic turned itself into a radiation suit with a tinted vision plate. This of course was with the addition of a few eyes watching everyone that was coming around its walking snackbar. ¡°Captain, gentle...people.¡± He greeted us and then laughed as Lola squeaked. ¡°Yes yes, let me get the rest of the stuff out first, it was too heavy to leave at the top.¡±


    Captain Rowland was the first of us to speak. ¡°Lightbulb, what exactly did she ask her kids to have you bring her? I didn¡¯t think of it until she literally ran away to get here¡­¡± He motioned lightly to the still impatiently dancing power suit, which growled at him.


    The man waved a suited hand lightly. ¡°Oh nothing very bothersome sir, a pair of weapons we were thinking about giving to Major O¡¯Connell¡¯s people, and a weapon for her.¡± He pulled a few smaller boxes out and stepped back. ¡°There you go Miss Lola, all yours.¡±


    A shrill happy squeak sounded as my wife lunged forward and dug her suit¡¯s hands into the cargo box. ¡°It¡¯s so lovely! You got the triggers where I asked as well!¡± Happy giddy squeaking chitters and then she stood her suit up and ripped up the oddest mace I¡¯ve ever seen. The handle was about a meter long, with an armored charge pack at the base, while the handle was oddly fat. It seemed like it¡¯d been made for a much larger person, even with the use of the suit, especially since the head of the mace was a spiked ball about half a meter thick, with the spikes being short fat cones adorning it.


    ¡°It still needs a name, mam, I¡¯m sure someone else will want one.¡± Lightbulb said as he moved to arrange the things he¡¯d already pulled from the cargo box.


    ¡°A name¡­¡± She chittered and hefted her new weapon, giving it a little spin between her suit¡¯s hands and chittering in thought as she started to work it around her suit.


    ¡°Awe bloody el! That¡¯s why you''ve been scaring the cooks spinnin crap around? Cause you had em making a bloody mace for you?¡± Captain Rowland growled out as he looked at my wife.


    She squeaked and paused, taking a moment to chitter. ¡°Not a mace¡­¡± Her suit turned and seemed to be looking around, then she snapped her mace out. The head flew a good three meters, a chain snapping tight between it and the handle. ¡°Humans call these flails...and I¡¯ll figure out a name later¡­¡± She let out a chittering squeaky giggle as her suit held a button on the handle, and the head was dragged back to latch in place. I knew she was grinning as she hefted her weapon and spun it in her suit¡¯s hands, then spun it up above her head, lashing it out to slam the flail down at length into bare ground.


    ¡°No sir, it appears that Miss Lola has gotten herself something that will be useful for her to break armor with. Like the armor of a vehicle, or one of those giant crab aliens.¡± Commander Wulf said as he moved beside Lightbulb and started to inspect the two heavy weapons. ¡°Though I suspect that only she or one of our special people could use such a weapon. His hands hefted up a rather common human machine gun and he turned to the other leaders. ¡°This is a very old human design, and we¡¯ve only reinforced it for the new powders. It is the M2 Browning machine gun, named after its designer, but more fondly known as the Ma Deuce or Fifty Cal. This is old and reliable tech.¡±


    Captain Rowland snorted. ¡°Course the bloody thing is reliable, we humans have been using the bloody thing for bout two centuries or so. We¡¯ve strapped it to vehicles and put it into defenses since the yanks started using it.¡± He picked up a loose round and hefted it in his hand as he walked over to the other leaders. ¡°They changed the casing and each round is sealed, so it can be used in space as well as on ground. The bullets are a version of the same thing that our one tank is currently firing.¡±


    ¡°That thing is more torturing on the ears than one of our female pulsars during her first birthing.¡± Stormwind said as she made her race¡¯s equivalent of a grimace, a tightening of the lips and a squinting.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t alter the design in the expectation that it would be used in a fortified defense, that noise was hoped to disrupt opposing troops.¡± Happy snorted at the end and looked over the bullet as it came to him. ¡°We don¡¯t currently have another way to operate such a rapid firing weapon and keep it fed. They¡¯ve installed noise dampeners around it.¡±


    Grek chuffed and looked at his wife, then around at the others. ¡°Something we¡¯ve taken to installing in our hospitals and medical tents. It has helped keep down injuries and damage from certain people getting especially loud. Some of us have sensitive ears.¡± He was smartly not looking anywhere near his wife¡¯s face, seeming to sense her glaring at him.


    There was a chirping and then buzzing as Priest hopped down beside the table and gently picked up the machine gun in his talons. ¡°You multisexuals are so amusing with your behaviors and interactions.¡± Claws shifted and the oddly folding arms worked to carefully turn the weapon around and inspect it. ¡°This weapon seems to be for a single individual to hold and fire, yet the round should produce enough recoil to make that a bad thought process.¡± And then it set the weapon down and waddled away from the table. ¡°I have noticed that the soldiers are putting other models of this weapon into their positions, and stockpiling ammunition for them.¡± Its head cocked to the side as it looked at the Captain.


    Captain Rowland nodded softly and didn¡¯t notice Lola moving her suit over to casually trade her monster flail, for another of the heavy weapons. ¡°They are usually mounted to vehicles or on tripods in fixed positions. Unlike in the past, we are also going to be collecting most of the spent casings to reprocess them and reuse them.¡± As he spoke, she connected a thick cable from the back of the long and wide weapon to an output on the hip of her suit. ¡°We¡¯re hoping to be able to keep up with the production of ammunition needed to keep the crabs away from this fire base and distract them from our true goal.¡± He still hadn¡¯t noticed her fiddling with the weapon, or that Lightbulb had moved over to carefully connect a tall box to the top of it. ¡°Our true goal after all is to lower the enemy fighting force, while forcing them away from our goal of reaching the active Eda ships.¡±


    Most of the leaders kept a fair amount of their attention on Captain Rowland, though a few, myself included, kept looking to where Lola was standing. The Captain was on a roll and doing his duty like any of our good pets, but he started to turn his head as Lightbulb stepped back and Lola triggered her suit¡¯s braces. It was something Marie had come up with after seeing her mother¡¯s issue with sinking into the ground, giving the suit¡¯s feet three reinforced plates that could snap down for extra support. ¡°After all that is our end go...what are you do.¡± CRACK!


    Captain Rowland¡¯s words were muted as my wife had tilted the weapon up to about thirty eight degrees and set it off, showing all of us that she was using a shoulder fired railgun. Everyone but the Captain and Priest had gotten hands over their ears, not that the supersonic crack seemed to bother the giant bug. There were ten more loud cracking noises and flashes of sparks as my loving and patient wife...went through apparently the entire magazine. Her suit had been shifted some with each firing, and as she finished, she had to work her suit¡¯s feet free of the hard packed soil.


    I was suddenly very proud of Captain Rowland, who stopped himself and took a few deep calming breaths as Lola unhooked the weapon and laid it back in place. ¡°Mum, would you mind giving a proper warning when you¡¯re about to fire an experimental weapon?¡± His tone had that odd sweetness that humans got when they were trying not to scream at someone. I would have to find him a good master or mistress, maybe one of Zeus and Hera¡¯s pups, he seemed like a dog person. He also most likely needed to smoke and calm his nerves as well, but he was doing well for now.


    The chest of her suit popped open and she squeaked softly, giving him a soft nod, then the armor plates snapped back shut. Her suit translating her chittering. ¡°Sorry about that Captain, you were on a roll though. I had the location of one of the enemy formation points, and I just fired every shell I had in that clip...into the enemy camp a full day cycle¡¯s march from here. That is usable with one of these suits.¡± She pat the weapon tenderly with her suit¡¯s hand.


    Lightbulb held up a hand, finger raised. ¡°With shielding, you can fire one while wearing an exoskeleton, if you have heavy shielding or the same sort of plating that her suit has. The shoulder fired weapon doesn¡¯t have the same level of shielding on it as the Rodu turret that we ripped apart to see how it works. It will daze you if you fire it like she just did...without shielding, like it dazed Sergeant Duke and Captain Evans. Space suits will work, but Captain Evans said that she will let anyone stupid enough to fire it in space...drift. It has recoil systems, but microgravity and space are an unforgiving bitch. She said she¡¯s just trying to keep up.¡± He ended with a shrug, the mimic wiggling as it kept Lightbulb from blinding us.


    ¡°Major O¡¯Connell seconded her order, and ordered that in the case of anyone firing one without a suit or in space...is to be left to die, while the weapon is retrieved if possible. After seconding and reinforcing her order, he was dragged back to the Pulsar¡¯s camp. Thunder has apparently taken it as her personal duty to make sure that he is settled and stable mentally.¡± Commander Wulf said and looked to Stormwind and Grek.


    The duo of leaders shared a look and then Grek chuffed and nuzzled his wife, looking back at Commander Wulf. ¡°She¡¯s very much like her mother, in some good ways, but the Lo¡¯Kar since we ended up stuck here...have learned that we Ca¡¯zeze have a small issue with emotional trauma. We¡¯ve calmed since being here and behave as best we can, and so have our former enemies, the furless¡­¡± He grunted as his mate put her powerful elbow into his gut, and then he wheezed and coughed, dropping to his knees as he tried to catch his breath.


    This was something of a norm for the duo, so no one went to help Grek. Stormwind never truly tried to kill him, but she¡¯d learned many places to hit her husband, and he¡¯d...well the less lewd tricks he used were usually tickling or sitting on her. I won¡¯t go into the other ones since I still sometimes wish for what humans call brain bleach. Granted I¡¯d tapped into what the humans call porn and I have to admit that humans will rut in the oddest ways with the oddest things. Though humans weren¡¯t the only odd ones in the galaxy, after all I was watching the violent loving ritual of two very different races, who¡¯d bred. Though the latter apparently was only possible thanks to Caltunium and its ability to mutate those that it didn¡¯t murder.


    Speaking of murderous things, Stormwind was gently caressing the top of her rather fuzzy husband¡¯s head, working fingers around his ears as if nothing was wrong. ¡°What he was getting to before he tried using the old insult...is that we¡¯ve learned ways of dealing with their trauma. They can turn into lumps of limp fur or even ravenous enraged beasts of nightmare depending on how the trauma affects them. Lo¡¯Kar males are the far more gentle of our species, not that we don¡¯t have male warriors, but most are females. Females who have learned to handle the occasional goddess be damned enraged ball of claws and fur.¡± She let out an odd sort of clicky squeak as her husband had suddenly shifted his head and bit her behind.


    There was a chirping and then the gentle buzz of Priest speaking. ¡°And if you multi-sexuals will please hold off on your odd mating rituals, I¡¯d like to hear about this second large weapon that the nice radioactive human and tiny growling one have to show us.¡± It said through its translator with the casual calm of a leader. ¡°I can hear her squeaking about beating manners into a pair of leaders that like to rut in public.¡± Calm and casual as could be, though my wife¡¯s suit stiffened and the ¡°head¡± turned to look at Priest, which got a wave of an anteni. ¡°It is a long story, small one, and I¡¯m more interested in hearing about that other weapon.¡±


    Captain Rowland smiled as he moved a safe distance from the others and lit a cigarette. ¡°I was just going to get a hose and spray them with it.¡± He winked at me as he¡¯d been looking half toward me and I couldn¡¯t help it.


    I erupted in giggles at the mental image of Captain Rowland and no doubt Commander Wulf using a large hose to blast the duo down with water. My suit rocked around, but stayed on its feet as the hands twitched and wiggled, arms shivering with movement. A good ten seconds of laughter later, I was wiping tears from my nose and eyes and saw that the others were all looking at me. ¡°We...need...squirt¡­.bottles¡­¡± I managed to chitter out as I had to work to stop myself from laughing. Commander Wulf let out a braying laugh as Mittens hissed in my general direction.


    Aaaand that is when my wife lifted up an odd canister with a fat tube on one end, spinning it up to her shoulder and slamming a lever forward. Priest was the only being who escaped the apparent water cannon that my wife had fired at us. I figure around seven gallons of water exploded out of the end of the cannon, hit special baffles, and erupted in a mist like a hurricane¡¯s kiss into the rest of us. And then a chitter filled the air and was translated. ¡°I like the emergency extinguisher, much better than a bottle, my husband.¡± There was also this odd chirping noise from far off to the left of us, like a stuttering cricket. ¡°High pressure carbon dioxide pumped into a seven gallon tank. Very effective for extinguishing many fires. Dorothy came up with it.¡±


    Then she set the extinguisher down and lifted up the final weapon. ¡°Now that I have everyone¡¯s attention.¡± She chittered firmly and held the shoulder fired and oddly long barrelled weapon in her suit¡¯s hands. ¡°This is a modified design of a pair of salvaged Rodu and Lo¡¯Kar lasers. I do not know the technical details on all of it, but I know that the emitters inside are based on Rodu design, and the focusing systems are Lo¡¯Kar. We have more railguns being made than these lasers, that is in part thanks to our wiggly friends.¡± She nodded her suit¡¯s head toward Lightbulb.


    ¡°The¡­¡± He paused and looked over at Priest, then shrugged. ¡°Insectoids...I guess. They¡¯re less affected than the rest of us by radiation. We¡¯re going to be refitting two out of three to be used by them, others will be built to be used in space or as a crew served weapon on the ground.¡± He paused and pet his suit, then bent and picked up a passing dog sized pink crab. ¡°Our wiggly friends¡­¡± He pet the crab and there was a smile in his voice as the crab turned into the oddly gelatinous blob and snuggled into his arms, eyes looking about. ¡°Love radiation and we can use the lasers on the ground, so long as people are willing to get very friendly with our little friends. The laser is a gamma ray, and not nice to the rest of you folks. I personally emit the things, so I could fire one all day long.¡±


    ¡°Which is why everyone just calls you Lightbulb, you can walk into the reactors and adjust things by hand without a suit.¡± Captain Rowland said as he took a puff from a new cigarette, since his last had gotten soaked. ¡°And Albert asked me to pass along that your wife¡¯s treatments are coming along well. His request is still apparently open as well about the name of the child.¡±


    It took me a long second before my brain clicked on an interesting issue for the mimic wrapped man, he had a wife, and he¡¯d impregnated her before realizing that he gave off radiation. She was getting genetic treatments to remove her risks from the radiation using her husband¡¯s dna. The main issue was the fact that she had an oddly glowing spot inside her stomach, and Albert wanted the child¡¯s name to be Glowstick, or Ray something. I couldn¡¯t really chastise him, I¡¯d tried to name him Bugs. Lola had said no of course, such was the way of wives.


    Lightbulb chuckled. ¡°Well if things work out, then I¡¯ll see what I can talk my wife into letting me name our kid. And just so that everyone knows and they can let all of their people know. Even if only Priest¡¯s people use the laser weapons, after a long run of use, or daily if we can manage, they have to be broken down and a mimic let to check the parts. This isn¡¯t for damage issues, it¡¯s so that they can pull the radiation from the materials. I don¡¯t know how they do it, but they can do it, and we will be letting them. Do not let them get hold of the power core in the back though, that is a sealed bit of uranium and Caltunium. They will crack it like a nut and eat the uranium like a starving beast. We do not have enough to toss it to them like snacks, so they can feed from the radiation, not the fuel rods.¡± He pet the mimic he held, even as it slid over him and replaced the mimic that¡¯d been playing suit for him. That one turned into a rock and rolled out of the way. ¡°That is all we have for right now, and I think Miss Lola has something to say.¡±


    There was a firm squeak and my wife set down the laser, picking up her flail with her suit. ¡°The crabs will be here in roughly one day cycle, that means that none of you are to be here more than three quarters of a day cycle!¡± The last chitter was snapped out as her suit shifted to look over them all. ¡°His major fluffiness has already proven that major leaders shouldn¡¯t be close when the crabs are attacking, so none of you will. If any of you try to go past the reinforced and dug in command post...someone will knock you unconscious and drag you through a portal out of danger.¡±


    Captain Rowland¡¯s eyebrow had snapped up. ¡°I beg your pardon, who gave you that authority my dear?¡± His tone was icey.


    The tone made me go stiff in my armor, and gave me a tiny craving for ice cream when I thought about the cold tone. Though my wife made me proud, because she popped out of her suit and looked around at the other sophonts in all of her six inches of glory. I climbed out of my suit and stood like she was, like a human would, and on the shoulder of my suit. When she nodded to me, I chittered, and my suit translated. ¡°Because we are the Firsts of the Order of Bun Bun, who¡¯ve lived with, trained with, and learned the ways of your human marines. We take the task of protecting leaders even when they wish to be foolish. Those that join the alliance have become our people as well!¡±


    ¡°Your people?¡± Grek asked as he looked back and forth between Lola and I, his ear twitching, apparently not liking the decree.


    I nodded toward Lola, who went on for me, and was much more firm sounding in her chittering and just had that demanding look of a mother staring down a child. ¡°Yes, you are our people, even Mittens and Stanley are members of the order. And by your alliance agreement, those of us who could do the most damage, cannot fight.¡± The grin she gave was oddly predatory for a bunny, and made me want to nuzzle her. ¡°And Grek...if we cannot fight like fools...then neither can you. If I or my husband died, it would be hard on handfuls, if any of you died, it would be hard on many more. So. You. Can. Not. Fight.¡±


    And then my person arrived, his voice a harsh snarl in the sudden quiet as he towered over everyone present. ¡°If you try to fight...Adam will record you getting your behinds kicked by a tiny bunny in unarmed combat. Or a cat, or if you piss us off...a badger. Being a leader isn¡¯t leading from the front, and I learned that the hard way.¡± He was in his great fluffy form, upon each shoulder sat one of my sons. Isaac arcing energy between hand paws, and Albert holding a needle like a dagger. My person had gotten so much better at talking in this form like a human would, though he sounded rather harsh, like a really angry puppy.


    Grek opened his maw to object, Stormwind¡¯s opening a microsecond behind it, though neither of them got a sound out since my person let out a roaring snarl of a howl into the air. Which got me to look past him at the figures leaping up onto the entrenched buildings. Giant panda, Multi tailed fox, Giant cat, and a giant honey badger that gave a friendly wave. Apparently the others noticed the berserkers looming atop the other buildings and I grinned as my person spoke again. ¡°This isn¡¯t a military coup, or us taking over, it''s just a simple rule until we get more armored vehicles and possibly suits for you. I have a woman I snuck out on, so I¡¯ll be returning to the Pulsar camp, you folks have a nice day. I¡¯d rather not have to sit on her again and she keeps the beast calm¡­¡± His harsh voice became softer and he tossed something to Lola as he walked away to vanish back into the buildings.


    Lola caught it and hooked the item under her arm, which turned out to be a small laser pointer. ¡°Now you folks go back to planning and being leaders...or I use the dot.¡± She blinked the light onto Commander Wulf¡¯s forehead and Mittens swatted at it. ¡°She is the smaller feline¡­¡± She pointed out to where one of the giant fuzzy forms was now much closer. ¡°Now go be good leaders and plan things and work things out, I have work to do passing the noisy things out to the ones who will be fighting.¡± Heads turned and looked out at the giant no doubt feline, and then they started back for the mess hall, bitching merrilly.


    I moved up to keep pace with Captain Rowland. ¡°Sorry about this sir, we all decided it was best since we¡¯re not sure how the other races are going to want to fight. Let alone the aliens we¡¯re going to be fighting.¡± I chittered softly and looked over at him as we walked.


    He shook his head calmly and snorted. ¡°It''s not that, I was expecting to head back to the ship. I have other duties and I planned to let the bloody grunts do the fighting.¡± He gave me a sidelong look. ¡°You honestly didn¡¯t notice that Major O¡¯Connell was buck ass naked?¡±


    There was a mewl behind us and Commander Wulf spoke. ¡°I was more worried about the werewolf having a raging hard on at my fucking eye level.¡±


    ¡°What was the thing at the base of it?¡± Stormwind asked curiously.


    ¡°A knot...swells up when a male orgasms and locks them to the female for a time. Helps with impregnation.¡± I chittered, having looked it up myself. ¡°Why?¡±


    Grek chuffed and rumbled. ¡°We do not have those, your canines are even more different from us than we thought.¡±


    The Captain paused, causing all of us to stop. ¡°Wait, why was the bloody yank roused and ready when he came to yell at us?¡± His eyes darted to me and then back at Stormwind and Grek.


    Stormwind let out a few clicks of agitation. ¡°Our daughter has what you refer to as a heat cycle.¡±


    Captain Rowland¡¯s shoulders slumped. ¡°Awe fuck.¡±


    ¡°Probably will.¡± Grek chuffed out with the sound of a defeated father in his voice.

 Chapter 14, Life Changes and Nuclear Christmas Trees

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 14 - Roderick


    Life changes and nuclear Christmas trees.


    In the roughly two local months since I¡¯d helped Xavier and Lola inform the Allied leadership that they wouldn¡¯t personally be in the fighting, life had been interesting. It was hard to sip coffee out of a cup with a muzzle, but it was less messy than lapping it up. Paperwork sucked no matter how large or small your hands were, and even if you could breathe fire and turn it to ash, you still had to look it over. Sadly Xavier, Evans, and the others had learned to send me files to a tablet, since I didn¡¯t break them as much as I was burning paperwork to ash.


    I may have also set other things on fire, thrown a tantrum, flipped a truck, been a royal pain in the ass, but then I got married. That sort of thing happens when you accidentally get a woman pregnant that is the daughter of two powerful leaders. Not that she didn¡¯t bring me from the broken ass mess I was, back to being a person again, that felt things other than pain. Not that she¡¯d woken me up one evening chittering and squeaking like an otter on crack, informed me that I was going to be a father, and then hit me with a hammer when I hadn¡¯t immediately jumped for joy. Honestly the panicked yelp I¡¯d let out was very reasonable, just like the argument we¡¯d had about her getting my last name.


    We had pictures taken during the ceremony, and then a week later as well, because I¡¯d gotten angry with her refusing my name and buzzed her furless. Which is how I know that Lo¡¯Kar may not have mammaries or nipples, but Ca¡¯zeze do, and so do hybrids. She¡¯d done the same to me in my sleep, christ we both acted like we had fleas the first few days. Luckily it only took about six days for us to get our fur back, making up is the best part of arguments, also she¡¯d taken my last name. It was then that Albert had descended like a squeaky mad scientist, which he was, and is still, but it didn¡¯t make him suddenly appearing and squeaking orders any less odd.


    Dna tests, blood tests, my giant fuzzy ass stuffed into various scanners, and Thunder went into a few as well. Hell even Grek and Stormwind got dragged in...literally...by Lola, and put through several tests. Oddly, Captain Rowland and many others ¡°found¡± things to do and other places to be. Xavier though was a mess of unintelligible squeaks, chitters, and face hugs, and that was before Albert¡¯s horde was birthed from the iron wombs. I have to admit that I¡¯ve taken to smoking cigars rather frequently, and it has nothing to do with an already hormonal female having mood swings like a bipolar schizophrenic. She still kept a close eye on me like I was a glass vase that might break, but the nightmares were starting to come further apart. And thanks to hormones, she was now nearly as feared as Lola, choking out a raging monster has that effect on people around you. And yes the monster was me, and she used my own damned belt to choke me unconscious. Publicly.


    I honestly wasn¡¯t fully one hundred percent back to how I¡¯d been, and never would, but I was surviving. The fact that Thunder was actually a very snuggly female helped that a good bit, not to mention getting face hugged by various bunnies. I wasn¡¯t too keen on ¡°Uncle Fluffy¡± as a permanent nickname, but one versus six is a losing battle. And never trust a bunny when he says he¡¯ll keep something small, they¡¯re lying, because I was now ¡°Uncle Fluffy¡± to about two hundred or so bunnies. I¡¯d raised kids, one was still alive, I knew some of the fun and terror, but try escaping reading a bedtime story to a horde. I do mean a literal horde, but try saying no to a group of toddlers that can vaporize a valley or bench press armored vehicles. Cause oh let''s keep things smart and make only the little bunnies able to go fast, I can agree with that, but I still daily send a memo to El Capitan about a two or three foot tall long eared nightmare that accidently ripped something apart. Because, hey let''s make the big ones have near the same strength to weight ratio that Lola has, that oughta be just fine. Cigars are lovely and great and keep the big fire breathing Major somewhat sane.


    This isn¡¯t taking into account the four out of five other berserkers that flitted between human thought and crow in a chrome shop levels of adhd. Add in bunnies that can outthink you, can vaporize things, or even in a one point three gravity atmosphere...leap over a hundred fucking meters into the god damned air. Captain Rowland still hasn¡¯t come to visit the skull, which is where I, Thunder, the berserkers, and the hordes of unholy cute terror all live. The mimics help though, and are learning some very bad habits from us all. I''m going to blame the bunnies, not that Xavier is completely my fault in the first place.


    So yes my trauma treatment has gone very well and my wife is absolutely in love with the horde, because she gets all the snuggles and love. I on the other hand get some snuggles, but mostly ¡°Hey, Uncle Fluffy!¡± and then hit with a flying pack of fuzzy bricks. Many of them are still learning to control their strength, and I guess I am the best target for impact practice.


    Honestly I can¡¯t bitch that much, I love the horde, the tiny ones, normal size, and the giants that look like you fed them steroids. They seriously look like they¡¯ve been fed steroids, bodybuilder bunnies, and that¡¯s not just in the big ones, no that ranges through all of them. They¡¯re all choosing their own names and I thought humans could be bad with hair color, Albert willingly alters their fur colors for them. There are bunnies of every fucking color around, and I seriously have a duo that go by Master and Blaster, which is a reason never to let kids watch Mad Max movies. Granted Master is a hell of a chemist, and Blaster loves to blow shit up and tote Master around on her head when she isn¡¯t blowing something up. Did I happen to mention that the bones could be dried, ground, and turned into a somewhat stable form of RDX? Said bones being literally all around the growing camp and being slowly mined by hyper intelligent bunnies that think flashbangs are fun.


    The kids also do absolutely nothing slowly, some of them are overly intelligent and others are more varied, but all in human levels for the most part. They just learn very quickly and I think a certain little mad scientist might of tweaked all of their brains to process faster, and there aren¡¯t enough translators to go around to all of them. Luckily for me, Dorothy altered my translator to much more rapidly translate things spoken around me, and give them different voice tones. I know Xavier¡¯s mental voice is properly deep and male for himself, but still odd when some of the bunnies sound as deep as my growling when they¡¯re translated.


    Oh! Captain Rowland got adopted by one of Zeus and Hera¡¯s kids, and he named her Elizabeth because he¡¯s so crumpet munchingly British. I might of also forgotten to mention that I have my own shiny moments, especially when my new wife found out that I get distracted by squeaky toys. Fucking Xavier told her, but I can¡¯t really be mad at him, I bribed Albert to make him pink for a week. All it cost me was getting Evans to sneak some bio samples from dead alien crews to the tiny mad scientist. Said mad scientist was doing comparisons of current and previous genetic make ups, and had told me that the only reason my wife existed was Caltunium¡¯s weird ability to mutate and bind things, the rest of it went right over my damned head. Basically it was turning us all into something relatively compatible to the other things surviving on the world, or murdering us outright. Anything pure...died, modified with the little scars as he put it, and the Caltunium slipped in and went to work twisting and mutating. He tried to be patient with me and had learned very quickly when I spaced out.


    The others that had survived on the planet had come to the same sort of idea, but they had all been given a mind numbing and migraine inducingly detailed report of just how it was mutating all of us. Hell the bugs didn¡¯t even have dna naturally, and the crabs, those damned things should have been as toxic as radioactive waste...but they weren¡¯t now, and tasted really good. Mmm gumbo, I was going to have to ask Lola for her recipe. She¡¯d become the defacto den mother of the entire horde, and used the cuteness of her kin to stabilize my wife¡¯s crazier swings in moods that she seemingly had at random.


    On to the fun though, because my main duty was training, and most of the training...was the other berserkers. Though I have to admit that having my ass handed to me by a giant lizard woman was odd, and finding out she¡¯d been an assassin for the Tong was disturbing. Lady Jira was rather polite oddly enough and was helping me learn a few hand to hand tricks that I hadn¡¯t known. By using them on me and giving lectures as she did it. She used the name Lady Jira since her registered name had been false, like Miss Li¡¯s, Yinyang¡¯s, Spot¡¯s, and some others that Miss Li said were doing a good job of hiding from her. Sadly getting a Tong agent to give up said information was about as fun as snorting habanero juice, but as far as training, order, and combat needs went, they looked to me. Joy!


    The four horsemen, Albert, Dorothy, Marie, and Isaac, worked rather hard to help us all out and visited the Skull often. They had also given the names to my fellow berserkers, though the cute terrifying little shits were the only ones allowed to call me ¡°Uncle Fluffy¡± and I made sure of that. Isaac was also giving Spot regular therapy sessions and helping him get over the issue of laser pointers, which meant that it was only an occasional problem having five hundred pounds of cat man rampaging after a dot. Dorothy was also helping Lady Jira with her manners and violence issues. Xavier and kids had been practicing and teaching some of the other terrifying blurs how to control themselves and I guess measure their time and speed. This left me time to get myself into my usual trouble.


    Miss Li had proven that she was a qualified sniper and had taken my lever action rifle, refitting a new scope and other bobbles to it to match her liking. The suppressor was the size of an old diving air canister, but the tiny waifu could handle it. Granted if she reads that I wrote her as Waifu, she¡¯ll most likely shoot me, somewhere non vital since she gets along with my wife. I¡¯m fucking married! That is going to take ages to get used to, and gonna have another kid...which was still easier to deal with than trying to talk a mimic out of something. Like the sword and shield that a certain mimic had stolen along with a bunch of alien ammunition and weaponry. They aren¡¯t at all stupid creatures, simple, but not stupid, and harder to talk out of something that they like than a cranky toddler out of a snack.


    I eventually gave up and let the cargo container sized mimic keep my stuff as its war booty, much better than getting a face full of the spines it kept with itself. We were going to have to figure out a way to name or catalog our jiggling friends, and I was letting the bunnies name themselves or each other. Other than the mute Maestro, cause that rex was absolutely badass with instruments, had an odd knack for almost any musical device. I¡¯d also been happily sending him for lessons at the Yangtze, cause no one wants to get beaten by a bunny with a steel guitar. Literally steel by the way, and not joking that he beats people with it, cause you don¡¯t touch Maestro''s shit without permission. And I¡¯d named him myself after he¡¯d pulled up an ancient Jimmy Hendrix song...and made his fucking guitar talk.


    *************************


    My truck was parked by one of the half buried buildings we¡¯d fashioned around the Skull, though this building had a Ma Deuce quad mount turret sitting atop it. Thanks to the Rodu¡¯s engineering abilities and the raw amount of steel they were salvaging in space, the camp had a munitions factory running. The two giants that stood on either side of the door were only about three feet tall, the five point seven by twenty eight millimeter, belt fed machine guns they carried were a variant of the ma deuce. Granted some of the tanks could fire a fifty caliber, but it was easier for them to use a smaller caliber all around. I shook my head as the duo saluted me the same fucking way Xaiver did, bend one ear and cross it against the other, leaving their hand¡¯s free.  Both had harnesses on and backpacks that held ammunition, grenades, and com units, and the sight still made me shake my head. ¡°You know the term gun bunny is an old human term for mortar and artillery grunts. Or human women that like guns.¡±


    They looked at each other and then at me and shrugged in unison, which made me look at them more closely and realize they were twins. Oddly mirror images of each other with forest green fur and a black patch around one eye. ¡°Well when we meet more of your humans, then they will be unpleasantly surprised.¡± Left spot chittered.


    ¡°Very unpleasantly surprised indeed, imagine when we get the fabricator and learn its secrets.¡± Right spot chittered.


    ¡°Oh yes...the first mother has proclaimed that once we have the fabricator and the four horsemen have learned its secrets, then we shall take our place ruling as protectors over all of you with our mecha.¡± There was a little fervor to Left spot¡¯s chittering.


    ¡°We shall ride into glory and battle and¡­¡± I must have been showing some of the trace of terror that had suddenly started to flit into my brain like a hummingbird on cocaine, because Right spot paused. ¡°Oh you humans are so gullible, honestly you should know better than to fall for that. The First has no wants to be ruler over everyone.¡±


    ¡°So true, he turns into a mess when some of the others use their cuteness. Honestly falls apart in a mess of chittering and snuggling. He¡¯s caused your wife to be buried in bunnies several times you know.¡± Left spot chittered and waved an ear for the massive door, which had a smaller door built into it. ¡°Go on in, Honey is mostly furless and the Lord of Sudden Violence is doing repairs on a Rodu hauler.¡±


    I let out a rather canine whine and slumped as I stood there, rubbing a clawed hand over my muzzle and face for a moment. ¡°And you two think that the names Left spot and Right spot are good?¡± I got in unison nods and huffed as I moved for the door. ¡°Just don¡¯t cause too much panic please, one of these days I¡¯d like to relax enough not to have a fucking fur coat.¡±


    I yanked open the larger door and stepped into the long hall that went into the reinforced bunker where Honey did all his metal and machining work now. Arabic heavy metal sounds like wailing tortured cats to me, but I¡¯m not going to argue about music choices with a man that turns into a giant honey badger. Not to mention the actual honey badger that had recently started to snarl along with the music when he was working in the shop with Honey. I¡¯m just fucking glad that I don¡¯t have to hand Stanley sockets or tools like some of the techs do.


    The place should have been horridly hot since it was underground and it smelled of burnt carbon, burnt hair, man funk, and oils, but it was as cool as someone with thick fur might want. That was with the forge flaring and the auto hammer clanging on the bit of metal that Honey was getting shaped. I didn¡¯t say anything, and didn¡¯t need to, his sense of smell was probably better than mine. I also wasn¡¯t going to risk startling a man who two weeks ago had slowly murdered one of his countrymen in public. The murdered man had raped, then slit the throat of one of the chinese refugees, and then been caught.


    Prophet had learned of it and asked Honey to make an object lesson of the man in the old and brutal customs. Honey had one upped Prophet and started in human form, then changed and skinned the man alive. There are drugs and other things to keep you awake through the worst things and cause you to not bleed. It¡¯s amazing what meth and red hot iron do in place of proper things. I¡¯ll be honest, I vomited when I watched the recording, and there were only a few unemptied stomachs from the ones who¡¯d watched in person. Honestly I think the worst part was that Stanley had quietly and happily helped his human murder someone slowly. I think it was  actually calming for the little demonic creature of hatred.


    The best part about it was that Adam, the AI, happily and rapidly transmitted the video to anyone that asked about it or seemed inclined to...how did Albert put it¡­.oh. Force someone into a struggle cuddle...fucking bunnies. Little shit was a bad influence on Adam, but Captain Rowland didn¡¯t seem to mind. It was a simple form to be filled out for the murdered crewman instead of dealing with judiciary hell. It was a much simpler bit of paperwork for myself as well, and we didn¡¯t really have more than the mp¡¯s anyway, who had happily let Honey drag the screaming man from the brig and through the ship to a nice public setting.


    All Prophet or Honey had said about it to anyone not of their religion was simply. ¡°We cannot be as we once were. We are few and are faithful, Allah will understand. Or we are damned.¡± And then they casually shrugged and walked away, but I couldn¡¯t be upset at their hope to salvage a bit of their faith. The Chicoms had turned a good chunk of the middle east into a nuclear wasteland, hell they¡¯d even nuked the shit out of Israel.


    I was still daydreaming and thinking when the steel shard brushed my fur and sank into the wall behind my head. It snapped me back to reality and my eyes locked onto the grinning face of Honey, who had three more steel shards in a raised hand. ¡°Would you please stop doing that, you may be able to shift and dance a jig and sing a tune as calm as can be, but some of us have issues.¡± I huffed and pulled the shard from the wall. ¡°Besides¡­it makes me nearly piss myself when I¡¯m good and distracted.¡±


    That got him laughing, a rough booming laugh that sounded much more crazed now than it had before. Not that he¡¯d ever been sane, or a stable normal person. His rank was a given and uncared for thing like Xavier¡¯s rank, but his job as our weapon¡¯s officer was due to his skill. The fact that the man could make a blade or zip gun out of about anything helped, but his skill at using them helped teach others. ¡°One of these days, Major, I may even pierce your ear to teach you not to daydream in my shop. I also live with and am friends with the most angry and hateful being on this planet. If I can keep from losing parts to Stanley, I can keep out of your reach.¡±


    A snort ripped out of my nose and I shook my head as I moved around benches and machine tables. ¡°I know. I have to bribe the violent little bastard to do things for me, hell everyone bribes him when they want to simply ask him something.¡± I handed over the shard as I got closer to him and watched as he laid the oddly sharp metal strips into a cup beside the press. ¡°How have you been faring?¡± I asked him first, because I had more questions, but that was most important.


    He let out a hiss of a sigh and shook his head, a slight slumping of his shoulders. ¡°I have been doing as best I can, Major, aside from my religion, dealing with the aliens, having religious conversations with a creature of pure hate, and the manic curiosity of the bunnies.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m just fine, I have slipped in my progress to be a better person, but I am truly trying my best. The rage has actually calmed since Miss Li visited me in my old forge.¡± He got a slightly sour look on his face as he turned and looked me in the eye. ¡°And electrocuted me as if Allah pronounced I should be smote.¡±


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I couldn¡¯t help but smile a little at him. ¡°The recording of you punting her out of your shop is still one of the top rated videos according to Adam.¡± His eyes narrowed for a second and I shrugged. ¡°The most watched ones are still of Isaac and Spots¡­¡± He snorted loudly at that and shook his head. ¡°Have you been praying?¡±


    He sighed and nodded. ¡°Yes I have, though we are not supposed to have the saliva of animals on us when we pray. My spit is the spit of an animal now, does this make me unclean and my prayers unheard?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Prophet has his hands full with the others and they¡¯re terrified of me now.¡±


    ¡°I wonder why¡­¡± I mumbled.


    ¡°Kiss my lovely brown ass you fluffy infidel.¡± He said with a hint of a smile as he checked over parts, which I had no idea what they went to. ¡°I was doing what was needed, and I may be damned for murder in the eyes of Allah, but he needed to die.¡±


    I snorted and shook my head. ¡°Yes, I know you also lost your temper in doing it. I¡¯m just glad that you and Prophet took care of it before one of the ladies did it. My wife being one of the ones who wanted to...how did she put it...oh yes.¡± I cleared my throat and picked up a nearby hammer. ¡°I¡¯m going to nail his organ to a tree and break every bone in his body.¡± I couldn¡¯t manage the proper squeakiness she got when angry. She was so cute when she was enraged.


    He raised a finger. ¡°And that is another point, most of these people, the aliens...they¡¯re just people. There are so many things to wonder about, would Allah be their god? Is their Goddess kin to Allah? Do we adopt their faith now that we are away from home? Do we preach to them of ours?¡± He sighed and set down the parts on another table. ¡°Not to mention¡­¡± He waved a hand around. ¡°How in the name of Muhammed do we figure out where Mecca is!¡± The last came out as a slight bit of a snarl. ¡°We don¡¯t even fucking know what direction Earth is from here!¡± That came out a full snarl...which cut off when I shoved a cigar into his mouth and spat flame on my thumb, holding it for him to light his smoke.


    ¡°With our current conditions and regeneration rate, smoking is of no harm to any of the berserkers unless smoking near explosives.¡± I said in a rote tone. ¡°I asked, and this blend helps with the nerves and stress, also not much addiction risk for us...so smoke, or I¡¯ll have to change your handle to Salty.¡± He didn¡¯t really smoke, none of the muslim contingent did. One of those old banned things. Thankfully he leaned his head and puffed to light the cigar, taking in a deep inhale and starting to choke.


    ¡°Easy...small puffs and inhale some air too. It¡¯s rather strong until you get used to it.¡± I said in a soft growl and popped a cigar into the corner of my maw and puffing it alight. I took a puff and a deep inhale, holding it before blowing it out my nose up at the ceiling. I took one more deep draw, dash of breath, and then held the smoke in my lungs until they burned. Barely a puff escaped when I exhaled. ¡°I stopped praying or caring about god when I lost most of my family.¡± I admitted and felt the claws grab hold of my heart as I closed my eyes. ¡°God, Allah, Buddha, doesn¡¯t matter where the fuck Mecca is or that there are aliens here with their own religions. What matters is what you and your people do.¡± Another deep drag and I opened my eyes, locking onto his nearly black ones. ¡°You, Omar, are a high functioning madman. You care about your people, and you have your faith.¡± I growled out, smoke rolling up from my maw as I talked. ¡°We both know that you don¡¯t give two shits about most people here, I want you to not be what your old man was and take care of yourself and your people.¡±


    He puffed on the cigar and held it awkwardly as he spent a moment thinking, taking his time and trying to properly place things. He finally nodded and moved over to a small box, pulling something out and walking over to me. ¡°I will do my best, Major, but only if you take this. I know how you Christians love your symboles. If you are willing to pray again, I will pray for guidance.¡± He gave me a manic grin. ¡°Allah knows I need it¡­¡±


    I stared at the cross, looking at the flecks of Caltunium worked into the gold alloy, the careful work of the loop, the strong yet simple chain it hung from. It was my turn to take a moment before I nodded and gingerly took it, slipping it over my oddly canine head and letting it settle on my neck. ¡°I can do that, and you¡¯re not the only one that needs guidance. I have an alien wife and a child on the way¡­¡±


    Honey choked on smoke and thumped his chest with a fist as he sat his cigar on a metal plate, finally taking a deep breath. ¡°I know, leave it to you to end up playing Captain Kirk and getting an alien princess pregnant!¡± He barked a laugh and sauntered over to a table covered with a dust tarp, the parts he¡¯d been working on still in his hand. ¡°I have something for you, oh prince of alien heathens.¡± He bowed lightly and jerked the tarp free.


    I was looking down at the table next to me and wondering if I should hurl a hammer at him or one of the blanks of alloy that the mad machinist had piled up, but stopped dead. Sitting on the table was a nine barreled, six foot long, gatling gun, though all of the barrels looked like the interiors were small. There was a helmet beside it that looked oddly proper for me, and I could see a trio of ultraviolet lasers mounted just above and to either side of the barrels. It also had a damned stock attached to it and was set up to be fired as a rifle. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s beautiful, what does it fire?¡± I asked as I looked at the receiver breach, which looked like I could stick a finger in safely.


    He leaned over the gun and picked up a shell, tossing it to me. ¡°Something that Isaac came up with to punch through the crab¡¯s shells.¡± The casing was like a regular fifty caliber, but the actual bullet was one of the five point sevens. ¡°Casings will be pulled back into the feed sleeve and dumped into the base of the ammo pack as it is emptied. Since marines can break anything, I have four settings worked in, safe, single, burst, and bullet hose.¡± He grinned and was starting to attach the last finishing bits to the gun. ¡°You have to hold it with both hands to fire it, a pressure button on the foregrip spins the barrels, and there is a secondary safety in the firing grip. Let go of either and it will stop firing, no unfriendly friendly fire if the user is shot in combat.¡± He made a face, because he¡¯d seen it happen and I nodded.


    I couldn¡¯t help but ask, because saving shell casings was a need, but having it built into the gun was odd. ¡°Why is it built into the weapon to feed the spent casing back into the pack?¡± I asked as he went over the gun checking it over.


    ¡°Oh because the casings are the same alloy as the gun, the propellant isn¡¯t powder, it¡¯s composition four.¡± His hand shot out to catch the round as I jerked away from it, my ears snapped up and apparently looked hilarious to him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry so much Major, we¡¯ve tested these rounds and Boom is very careful about making sure each round has the proper amount of explosives¡­¡±


    Boom? A bunny? I couldn¡¯t stop myself. ¡°Who the hell is Boom?¡±


    His manic grin broadened and he set down the shell as he moved to a door I figured was just a closet. Instead it led into a tunnel, a lit tunnel that was carved out of rock and had reinforcements bracing the walls and ceiling. The most shocking part was that I felt comfortable in a tunnel, I could fit the warg down this thing and have a little room. My head was on a swivel and my ears were twitching as I could faintly hear machinery noises. ¡°Our small friends have been very busy. They connected this tunnel to my shop about three days ago, and the one called Arnold has been leading this project.¡± He waved a hand casually at the wall.


    ¡°Arnold...isn¡¯t that one of the dwarf tanks like Lola, just a little guy?¡± I half asked and then nearly missed a step. ¡°This is why your shop was cool, it¡¯s being fed air by these tunnels¡­¡± I looked like a nearly dumbstruck puppy as I looked around, and had walked over a hundred meters on a gentle slope downward. Arnold had also been one of the ones interested in a form of industry, mainly machinery, and had been to the Eda ship.


    ¡°Yes, the little fluffy ball of muscle, he and the four horsemen, and of course a few others...figured out something very interesting.¡± He turned and gave me a grin as we came to a hatchway built into the rock that had about three dozen different hazard signs. I¡¯d forgotten about my cigar until he casually plucked it from my maw and set it in a tray, nodding to one of the many ¡°no smoking¡± signs. ¡°This is where Boom does its work.¡±


    It¡¯s work? Maybe a mant¡­.he opened the door and my brain stopped working for a very long moment. Behind the door was a room that could hold every vehicle in the colony, if you were willing to stack them. There were tracks running in from a tunnel that had a blast door ready to slam shut, and what looked like wooden carts on the rails literally filled with shell casings, bullets, and a single one of C-four. I knew it was C-four because I could smell it at a distance and had worked with the marine¡¯s playdough before. All of that my brain could handle, it was the fucking massive tree in the middle of the chamber that was pulling in the carts on one side and pushing away carts of ammunition on the other. There was the mild red tint to the room that made me look up and notice the orb of no doubt radioactive material hanging over the tree.


    Honey looked around casually and then back to me, calm as could be with a giant tree mimic producing ammunition for us. Not to mention the nuclear christmas tree star, or the four foot tall mantis on the wall beside me. It was casually talking to a male Lo¡¯Kar that had a bunny on either shoulder. Aaand then a composite and alloy bug leg tapped me atop the head. ¡°Excuse me Major, but you might want to close the door. We do try to keep this room sealed from the rest of the tunnels.¡± The bug buzzed from above and behind me, and of course there were blast vents and all sorts of safety plans in place. I hoped there were at least.


    I reached back and pulled the hatch closed, then blinked a few times as I looked around the room more. ¡°The...they can make things?¡± I asked stupidly, because brain no work now, please try again during normal business hours.


    ¡°Has the Major become broken?¡± Buzzed from behind me and I looked up the mantis that was standing on the wall looking at me curiously. Its coloring was odd, and hard to properly pick out with my messed up ability with colors. The prosthetic bit of leg told me that this was the emissary from the bugs that dealt with the alliance heads. It had an odd sort of pack on its back and it really did look like a giant damned mantis, which was keeping out of my reach thanks to a few bad reactions humans had to its people. The pitch a human adult could rise to when it had a four foot tall bug scuttle past them on the ceiling was amazing.


    ¡°I think a little bit, I didn¡¯t warn him about this...I just said that Boom makes the ammunition for us, and he asked about Boom...so I brought him here.¡± Honey said from beside me, and then he grabbed my fluffy tail and made me stiffen. ¡°Did the brain reset work?¡±


    I growled softly and huffed out a breath, my clawed hand swatting his away from my tail. ¡°Yes, but you know I hate it when people grab my tail¡­¡± A hand was gently starting to pet my arm from the other side and I looked down into three sets of eyes, which thankfully belonged to three people and not a mimic petting the giant puppy. That had happened already and was creepy as hell.


    The oddly lithe male looked up at me and kept petting my arm as the dwarf bunny on either side of his head watched me curiously. I knew both bunnies had to be an oddly bright yellow or orange, which was just a guess. Colors yes, I could see colors, picking out shades..um, nope, not happening. The male had on the simple pants, shoes, and vest that his people wore, but I noticed that he had fur lining it. ¡°¡±Greetings, are you feeling stable my lord?¡±


    I stiffened at his words and slumped as Honey snorted behind me, because he¡¯d heard this before. He¡¯d been around when a few of the Lo¡¯Kar had come to visit. ¡°Do not call me Lord, my rank is Major. Call me either Major O¡¯Connell, Roderick, or Hound please.¡±


    His head cocked to the side, but it was the mantis that spoke first, well buzzed first. ¡°Major is an annotation or description of size, not rank. The small furry ones call you Uncle Fluffy, would that not be better?¡±


    I actually whined at that, because there were dueling bunny giggles. ¡°No, only the small fluffy ones are allowed to call me that.¡±


    ¡°Why, you are rather fluffy compared to a Ca¡¯zeze. Much thicker fur, and it is also longer.¡± This from the small hairless Lo¡¯Kar and Honey was NOT helping me at all with his sniggering.


    ¡°No. Only the bunnies.¡± That was definitely a whine.


    ¡°I have anteni much like their ears, may I use the name that they use for you?¡± The bug buzzed and I wanted to run from the room. Aliens were as bad as toddlers!


    I looked around and then pointed at the giant tree. ¡°Why tree make ammo?¡± I growled out in pure barbarian and Honey had to put a hand over his own mouth to quiet the laughing he didn¡¯t want echoing around the cave. It took me a moment to notice the coins being tossed past me to the bunnies, Lo¡¯kar, and bug, which is why I turned and glared at Honey.


    Being glared at by his superior officer, and a giant werewolf didn¡¯t bother Honey a bit, but he lived with the small fuzzy lord of hate and violence. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for days¡­¡± He sniggered and coughed, keeping out of my reach now. ¡°You didn¡¯t expect me not to have people mess with you after I¡¯ve heard every tiny fuzzy one calling you that...and heard it chorused when they see you? Honestly Major, I¡¯m disappointed you think so little of my ability to mess with people.¡±


    I glared at him and shook my head. ¡°Honestly, if I could get you drunk, I¡¯d tattoo The Star of David on your ass, literally your ass, maybe I can talk Stanley into doing¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare!¡± Honey yelped and glared at me. ¡°Don¡¯t you fucking dare give that little infidel any ideas!¡± His voice was near pleading and I grinned, snapping my ears straight and wiggling them. It was then that he realized that I was messing with him and he slumped. He¡¯d bribed four others into helping and no doubt planned this for a day or so, and I won with a casual threat involving his former pet and now evil partner in crime. And then he grinned up at me wickedly and I heard a squeak, my ears twitching as another sounded. ¡°It¡¯s a draw then¡­¡± He said and held up the little squeaky chew toy he pulled from his pocket. It had tooth marks all along it from very sharp teeth. ¡°Honestly it helps with stress, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    I huffed and looked over at the tree. ¡°Yep. So the mimics aren¡¯t just some native and weird as hell alien animal?¡± Back on topic, ignore the tempting chew toy. That¡¯s a good Major¡­focus.


    ¡°This is still restricted information.¡± Buzzed from the mantis and I turned to look up at it, because it¡¯d moved spots on the wall. ¡°The polymorphic creatures are an accidental creation of sentient life, not all of them are able to function at the level that their origins were able to. I am unsure as to what it originally was meant to become other than a polymorphic crystalline based fabrication system. They were able to do molecular changes and fabricate things without the heat needed to melt and bend metals or other materials.¡± It watched me and twitched an anteni.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that the creatures that are all over this planet acting like rocks, trees, and tires are an industrial accident of life?¡± I asked, a brow raised and my arm was being pet again by the little male, make that males because the bunnies were petting me too. I¡¯m not made of glass! I could take in information without breaking, but the petting did feel good. Especially when a neon bunny started using claws. I might of let out a murr and had to fight my traitorous tail from wagging.


    It chirped, what did a chirp mean? Cricket much? It started buzzing out words again and my translator went to work. ¡°Yes, originally they were made to turn radioactive elements into what the Eda call Nobu crystal, what you humans call Caltunium. It wasn¡¯t the mutative energy holding material we now have, that is the accident. This system was sealed to contain the accident...and what the other Eda believed was the last of the issues that had started a war.¡±


    I was leaning into the scratching claws, but that last sentence made me snap straight and stare at the mantis, who twitched at my sudden movement. ¡°War, and what issues?¡± I got out before having to bat away Honey¡¯s hand from my ear. ¡°And I¡¯m still stable, stop that!¡± I barked, kinda literally, and then whined. I wanted to be able to relax and be human, not have a tail, not have a fur coat, little claws felt good scratching into my...fur...damned bunnies.


    The mantis made that cricket noise again and cocked its head to the side as it watched me, then it tapped itself in the chest with one of those weird bug arms. ¡°Us, four other races that no longer exist, and those egg stealing crabs.¡± That last came out in a weird and very angry sounding buzzing noise. ¡°It is a very long story and a very depressing one. I may tell it to you later. The important part is that the accident happened, some of the Eda were desperate and tried to create a better, more effective crystal...your ship finally laid one of them to rest.¡± Odd bug arm pointing up at the ceiling of the room and my jaw dropped open.


    ¡°The massive monster that took anti-ship missiles to kill¡­.was one of the Eda...that caused the accident to happen.¡± I really had to focus to get the words out like a proper person and not sound like drunken scooby doo. The whole brain lock thing was trying to happen and I found myself rubbing my temples. ¡°And not just that the giant monster that I now use its skull for a home was a being near my size once. They messed up and turned a crystal used for power and a goo into a mutative mineral of power and a sentient species?¡± Tiny little claws were working up my arm, my shoulder, and around my neck. ¡°And I can¡¯t go telling anyone about this?¡±


    ¡°Correct, my people decided to slowly inform different people within each race. The small fuzzy ones of course refused to listen and all of them know to a point what is going on.¡± A slight tilt of the mantis¡¯s head and I think it was glaring at the bunnies. ¡°They have been digging several chambers and keeping them secret.¡±


    The male Lo¡¯Kar made an odd clicking noise and looked between the bunnies and the bug. I was going to have to ask his name again, and find out the bug¡¯s name. The bunnies were another guessing game of names, but judging by fur color, they¡¯d chosen a dangerous profession. ¡°There are also those of us from the Lo¡¯Kar scientific and engineering fields that are in on this project. Though the most disturbing issue is the polymorphs that have taken a liking to combat, it is worrisome for us that they seem to be enjoying it.¡±


    I just sighed and brought my hands up to rub my temples and I¡¯ll be damned if the little male hadn¡¯t been right, I had much thicker fur than the Ca¡¯zeze. Mine also wasn¡¯t some weird metallic coloring like most of them. ¡°I¡¯m guessing a few Ca¡¯zeze and Rodu are also in on this?¡± I asked as an oddly rhythmic sound was starting to make my ear twitch.


    One of the bunnies, I think he was neon yellow, chittered. ¡°I am Tik and this is Tok.¡± It was a female apparently and I oddly hadn¡¯t scented that out, but distractions. ¡°There are at least a few from each group of people in this project. Sadly Major, you¡¯re the last of your special group to learn of this.¡± And then she in less than a second was over by the hatch and chittering into a com unit. Apparently she was a blur, and as my eyes shifted to Tok, I could see that the male while adorable and fluffy as hell, could probably toss me across the room.


    Tok didn¡¯t move as rapidly, but there was a definite weight and force to his movements, like the kick from my shoulder, the thud against the wall, and the flip and thud to land beside Tik. ¡°It seems that those taking the accelerated training have come to gather you.¡± He chittered loudly enough for my translator to pick up. I still couldn¡¯t understand raw chitter, and yes they called their odd language of squeaks, clicks, and funny noises...chitter.


    ¡°What? Who?¡± I asked and found Honey shoving me for the door, and being honest, our compacted human forms were just a fraction shy of the strength of our turned forms. It was very hard to not get shoved for the hatch since Omar ¡°Honey¡± Ayad was sadly stronger than me, fucking honey badgers.


    The hatch jerked open from the outside and I was shoved through, though I heard the bug scuttle out onto this wall. My eyes were on what was ahead of me though, nearly one hundred people stood in various forms of combat gear. Every one of our races were there, even the avians...which to me looked more like you took a tall Howard the Duck and crossed him with a really cranky eagle or falcon, only they had feathers meant to blend into a forest. They also got very angry when you made duck noises at them.


    Some natural looking humans I knew were from the squads and a few that had heavily mutated and some with only a minor oddity or two. It was easy as hell to tell the tanks from the others, because the human tanks had all taken to carrying a Ma Deuce like it was a carbine. I did notice Sergeant Johnson in full battle rattle at the head of a mixed squad, which looked like it was full of snipers. I got a small nod from her and a few others as I met their eyes.


    Lo¡¯Kar combat troops apparently seemed to wear some sort of heavy plated armor that could be gotten out of rapidly by the one wearing it. The oddest thing about them was that the helmets had a definite air channel on their forehead that ran over the top. The helmets sported special face plates that could snap up and back down for their Pulsars. Each of them had the same sort of five point seven rifle I¡¯d seen the bunnies using. I knew if something had to be done in a body of water, they¡¯d ditch their armor and dive into it.


    Ca¡¯Zeze troops had what looked like a mix of hard plate armor and shrapnel resistant cloth, and I say resistant because proof is such an evil word. Each of them had a small pack on their back that pumped fresh cool air into their combat suits to cool them, and make them hard as hell to notice with thermal sensors. Each of them carried a heavy laser rifle, cloned by Isaac from my wife¡¯s rifle, or a heavy slug shooter...and a shield. Not a force screen or some sci-fi fancy toy, they each had a tower shield with a slot in it to rest their weapon on.


    Rodu combat engineers were terrifying to look at from a soldier¡¯s point of view, and also a wondrous sight. They wore combat gear that was covered in many armored pockets, pouches, a backpack you could stuff a small Thai family in, and two grenade launchers. Because if you have two sets of arms, why not have two heavy weapons. I also knew from a talk with my wife that they no doubt got along great with Hiroshima, I¡¯m fairly sure each had enough high explosive to level our FOB on the edge of crab territory.


    Avians had a very lovely sounding name if I could ever get my translator to not shit a chip when it tried to convert it to english. It worked out ok into something in Mandarin, which sounded like nonsense when it was translated to English. The birdmen and women all had wings as well as arms, and much like my little bunny buddy...could fly. Lighter armor covered them and each had an odd helmet that was flanged in the back to allow them to snap their heads up just over ninety degrees. They each had one of the five point seven rifles, only they had longer barrels than the other ones I¡¯d seen.


    I heard a chirp from above me and looked up, jaw dropping at the two squads of heavy laser toting bugs. Instead of armor, they had a power pack on their back, and an odd sort of color shifting ghillie suit that was making it hard to focus on them. A trilling sound made me look down and I saw my wife talking with one of the Pulsars. My eyes slid past her to the most odd and disturbing part of the whole lot of them all.


    Bunnies with exoskeletons they¡¯d refit like mecha, a few of them with ¡°heads¡± that were mounted weapons. Bunnies in an odd sort of combat armor like the Ca¡¯zeze wore, some holding overly large weapons for their size. A pair of the giants actually had a dwarf riding them and holding to what had to be a quiver of spears...for a bunny. But getting shanked with a metal bolt hurled by a tiny bunny that can flip a car would ruin anyone¡¯s day. All of them had fur colors that would blend well with the forests.


    Thunder came over to me as I was looking over the silent troops, a smile on her face as she looked up to me. ¡°Husband...I hope you like your present.¡± She beamed up at me and I stared down stupidly at her, before she made that cute little otter squeak. ¡°Well our present...Xavier.¡± She made a few more cute noises that made me start smiling down at her. She was so cute when she was nervous. ¡°He and Lola talked them into assigning people to work with you and the other ones.¡±


    Squeak Squeeee Squeak! ¡°Ah-Tennn-SHUN!¡± How in the ever loving hell had Xavier gotten that shit programmed into all of the trans...I was suddenly saluted by every single one of the soldiers before me. Every damned one of them was looking toward me and I snapped gunny straight and gave them a parade ground perfect salute. It was also about that second that I realized those LOUD as hell squeaks had come from between my ears...and there was a tiny weight on my head.


    My eyes rolled up as I dropped the salute and I huffed. ¡°Xavier, we are going to talk about this.¡± I said firmly...before I was brutally face hugged by a twenty pound bunny and cracked my head against the wall. The last thing I saw before darkness enveloped me, was Lola¡¯s smiling face.

 Chapter 15, Bad Memories and Nosy AI

    System of the Damned,


    Chapter 15- Roderick


    Bad memories and Nosy Ai.


    I was crouched down behind the cover of a few wrecked cars, static buzzing in my earbud and showing that coms were jammed. Davis, my squad¡¯s pointman, had been taken out with a Ma Deuce, which had also taken down, Bravo team. That is why we¡¯d lost contact with them and damn the tanker pricks that had setup in the cover of a turned over semi and only poked the Abrams nose out to shoot.


    ¡°O¡¯Connell, you still alive?¡± Captain Martinez asked over the com, and of course he could reach me, he had White with him, and her radio could power through the jamming.


    I didn¡¯t have the backpack unit that Corporal White had, so I pulled a flare from my thigh pocket and struck it. I raised up just enough to hurl it out toward Davis¡¯s body and bolted for another hiding place from¡­.the tank rapidly that turned my previous hiding place into shrapnel. They¡¯d tried to use the main gun on a tank to shoot me!


    ¡°Good, keep moving and prepare to break down the alley you¡¯re aimed at.¡± My ears were ringing rather loudly and I could feel the thudding in the ground from the tank moving. I peaked under a Toyota and saw that the tank was moving more into the open, it¡¯s pintel mounted machine gun blazing away and another deafening roar of it¡¯s cannon firing. When I saw it¡¯s tread start to grind over Bravo team¡¯s bodies I snarled, Army pricks!


    I brought up my Milkor MGL and leaned it against the Toyota¡¯s fender, pumping all six high explosive shells out as quickly as I could. The turret started to turn toward me as the shells arc¡¯d through the air, and then I remembered that two of Bravo had been carrying demolitions. Four shells slammed across the tank, but two hit under it...and the roughly eight pounds of high explosive that Bravo had left.


    Fire and steam exploded out from the street as the explosives cut down into gas and steam lines, the shockwave grabbed me like the hand of god and hurled me back into a car. Pain wracking my body, but mostly in my eyes and ears. I couldn¡¯t hear anything and there was so much blood in my eyes.


    **********


    I was soaked in sweat and felt pain pulsing through my veins as the adrenaline surge and panic of the dream tried to kick start a change. My jaws clenched tight as I fought it, fingernails digging into my palms as I tried to take in calming breaths. Then Thunder was suddenly holding my face and holding open my eyes with pad tipped fingers, forcing me to look at her. ¡°You! Are! Safe!¡± When a woman had a husband with nightmares and a risk of turning into a ten foot tall slobbering monster, it was amazing how well she could learn a new language. Not to mention her ability to chant a trio of words like a prayer as she sat on my stomach like a church pew.


    It felt like hours while I fought the change and the burning pain that tried to flow through my human body and twist it into a monster. I knew it was only a trick of adrenaline and there was a fancy term for it that I might have known once, but couldn¡¯t remember now. It was only a minute, maybe two before I slumped against the bed, still human, pain slowly fading from my body. Her head nuzzled at my neck and under my chin, causing me to smile as I gently rubbed her back, working my thick claw like nails gently into her short fur.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said softly and lifted her chin with a little work from mine so I could kiss her. Lo¡¯kar didn¡¯t kiss like humans and Ca¡¯zeze. Well that would just be terrifying to watch them try to make out like humans did, I mean honestly, picture two kinda humanoid wolves making out. It wouldn¡¯t be cute in any way, it would be absolutely horrifying like they were fighting to the death.


    She purred as we broke the kiss and trailed her clawed fingers lightly over my chest as she sat up. ¡°You¡¯re having them less now, which nightmare was it?¡± She asked as she did every damned time I woke her up like this. She rolled her R¡¯s like she was speaking spanish, but I knew it was only because her speaking English meant she had to nearly purr to make some of the sounds. My wife was also a very smart woman and knew my dense ass would never properly learn Ca¡¯zeze and the Lo¡¯kar language was impossible. There was no way for me to hit the pitches that they did, let alone make them out listening to them.


    I huffed and kept gently scratching and petting her, because I knew thanks to having lots of body hair¡­it tended to itch. Well it itched unless you bathed five times a day. My thoughts went to the nightmare and I know my face must have screwed up in thought, because her head cocked to the side curiously. ¡°It was a memory. One I didn¡¯t think I would have.¡± I was getting more confused the more I thought about it.


    This sort of thing had happened before and I knew it was thanks to the gene mods I¡¯d gotten, being a guinea pig in some of the first runs of such things had that effect. I honestly still couldn¡¯t remember my childhood, but that memory didn¡¯t line up with my records. Her fingers caressed my face and I looked up into her dark eyes. ¡°Roderick¡­.¡± It always sounded so cute when she said my name, partially because she mangled it, and partly because she always made a face when she tried to switch from R to ick. ¡°Why would you not have a memory that you have? Your people did not have this technology to make false memories...only hide them?¡±


    I shook my head, my hands moving around the sides of her slowly growing pot belly as I thought for a moment. ¡°No we didn¡¯t, aside from what they used to block memories.¡± I felt a little shift under my hand and blinked as she let out a squeak and groaned. ¡°Always has to be comfy...silly kid.¡± I looked up at her and smiled. ¡°Want to go with me? I need to go talk to Captain Rowland about this.¡±


    She purred as she looked down at me and smiled a toothy grin. ¡°After you pay me back for waking me up my husband¡­.¡± Her hips slid back for mine and I decided talking to Andy could wait a while.


    *************


    A few hours later I walked down the steps that curled down along the side of the Skull from the left eye sockets to the ground. Everything was blindingly white thanks to the three feet of snow on the ground, because winter on this damned planet was long and dark. Tall poles had been stood up a few weeks ago and lights mounted to them only a few days before the first snowfall hit. Needless to say, the bugs kept themselves to warmer places, and talking Lady Jira into going outside was as useful as slamming your forehead into a wall repeatedly.


    The horde didn¡¯t care about the snow, though I could see a flare of flames from over near Honey¡¯s shop and figured Stanley was assaulting the snow with a flamethrower...again. I didn¡¯t mind too much other than the bright lights and snow glare, until I¡¯d lost my fur coat and became human again. From bare feet and shorts to thick boots and a puffy coat, which currently had my wife riding on the back of it. She¡¯d learned that she could hook her toes into the waist of my fatigue pants and belt, and then she could ride me and see things from higher up. Damned short woman, ok yes I¡¯m in love with her, but still, I¡¯m not a damned horse.


    Luckily for our issue with the damned crabs, they didn¡¯t seem like the cold and had been leaving our forward base alone. Sadly with the weather and overall hatred of cold with half of my troops...I¡¯d not gotten the line pushed any further into crab territory. I didn¡¯t try to force it since it reminded me of how things looked in Russian winters¡­and never invade Russia in the winter.


    Granted that had meant China had simply nuked parts of Russia off the damned map during winter. I shook my head to chase the memories away, and smiled as strong slender arms curled around my neck. The love was coming out more as we spent more calm time with each other, I could hear the voices less now and was more stable, while she used her hammers less and less for diplomacy. Granted she¡¯d used the hammers on me for diplomacy lessons, her excuse was that I healed rapidly. She¡¯s also ticklish, not saying where though.


    My truck sat in a somewhat cleared area near other vehicles the Rodu had provided, and a few human made ones. I have to admit that the Rodu vehicles tended to have less chance of sitting on the ground with no wheels, something I was still trying to figure out about the mimics was their love of synthetic rubber. I of course had mounted the doors and hard covers over the cab, even I wasn¡¯t that hardcore. ¡°You can drive if you want.¡± I offered and grunted as Thunder sprung from my back and into the truck. Omar (Honey) had made her pedal extensions and basically a booster seat she could slap into the driver¡¯s seat of the Warg.


    As she strapped in her booster seat, which I was never going to tell her the idea was mainly for children, she spoke. ¡°Humans have such interesting cuts of clothing, though your second in command...Ef...Evans!¡± Sometimes V¡¯s were annoying for her, that whole purring thing. ¡°She spoke of something called a brat? Supportive clothing?¡±


    ¡°Bra.¡± I corrected and was so glad that she couldn¡¯t see my face, because it was twisted with the laughter I was forcing not to come out. Instead I poked at the truck¡¯s tires, always making sure I hadn¡¯t picked up a mimic. ¡°And human women wear them to support their breasts, which usually swell more when they produce milk.¡± I said and stood up from checking the tires, not even noticing the snowball that flew past my head.


    She let out a bit of her cute squeaky laughter and smiled at me as I came over and stood beside her door. ¡°We have not met another race with that...oddity. Attracting males by storing up condensed fat around their mam.¡± A snowball splashed over her little muzzle and the top of her head.


    I turned as I heard her start to growl and caught five tiny snowballs across the side of my head and some of it went down my back. The yelp that shot out of me was ended by the snowball that exploded against my mouth, making me cough, and my coughing always ends in...flames.


    Thunder squeaked and jerked her door shut as flames shot out of my mouth and nose, which was why my clothes were all fireproof. The barrage ended and I managed to pat out the flames coating my torso and arms, though I looked around curious and confused. Then a gatling gun¡¯s rate of tiny snowballs started to pepper me from head to foot and I heard it...bunny giggles. I¡¯d taught them with the rest of the squads that had joined the combined forces, and I¡¯d be proud that I hadn¡¯t heard them...if they¡¯d stop pelting me.


    A dark long eared head with a big spot around it¡¯s left eye peeked up out of a snow bank and grinned at me. ¡°Mission complete! Next fire mission!¡± Boomed out in chitter before Left Spot vanished back into the snow and I looked around confused, then shook myself like a dog to get the snow off. And now I knew why Stanley was violently clearing snow, even he wasn¡¯t safe from their pranks and games.


    I huffed and tapped a knuckle on Thunder¡¯s door, then noticed her shaking her head and pointing at the side door. That was right, I¡¯d said she could drive, and I wasn¡¯t about to try and talk her out of it. As I walked around my truck, I noticed a few areas of the snow that had little humps in them. The little shits were tunneled through the snow and were ambushing people...I was so damned proud of them that I saluted no one in particular.


    She was making cute little noises of annoyance and had turned the heater up to nuclear levels with every vent she could get...facing her. ¡°Cold¡­¡± Was all she said and I just had to sit and wait for her to get warm, which meant I ended up out of my coat, sleeves rolled up, and contemplating walking the trip before she poked the button to turn on the rest of the controls. ¡°I liked snow...but the baby makes me get cold easily.¡± I¡¯d heard this grumble before and knew it was thanks to me, and therefore our kid, having a lower core temp than her.


    I let out a sigh of relief as she turned down the heater, relaxing back into my seat and chuckling. ¡°Which is why I don¡¯t mind you baking me when you need to or trying to crawl into my coat when the wind picks up.¡± My clothing was thicker and baggier than normal clothing, thanks to the snaps that held the extra fabric at bay for when I turned. I looked over at Thunder as she poked the drive button and floored the truck, because she was worse than me about speeding. A smile crossed my face as she let out squeals of joy, the truck throwing up four plumes of snow and dirt as she tore down the stake lined road. Lights lined the near straight path of the road ahead of us. ¡°You¡¯re almost as bad as the bunnies...little speed demon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not nearly as bad as they are, my husband. The smaller ones are the worst...even if they do not blur.¡± Her finger pressed the button to turn on the lights that now ringed the top of the cab, showing that we had a jet black drone flying on either side of us. Two drones, each with a bunny laying low over the main body of it and a five point seven machine gun mounted under it. The pilots were in an odd heated suit that Xavier had come up with, and the sudden flare of flames from the back of the drones showed the alcohol and nitrous oxide main drive firing. ¡°And...they¡¯re gone.¡±  she said as the duo of ¡°drones¡± shot away like rockets, climbing higher.


    ¡°They stole some of the Rodu fuel compressors, little shits are using them to compress hydrogen and oxygen, which they also then use for fuel.¡± The second batch was already learning fast and the third batch was growing in the iron wombs, which thankfully was going to be the last batch. The first batch of the horde had been busy underground, so I wasn¡¯t surprised when a squad of fast-attack turretless tanks rocketed up from a hidden tunnel. ¡°They¡¯re also producing ethanol style fuels¡­¡±


    ¡°They got them working!¡± She squealed and kept us centered in the road as five tanks roughly the size of a sedan flared out flames from the turbine exhaust. ¡°They¡¯re still running over fueled.¡± She commented as you could tell when the little tanks shifted gears, blasts of greenish yellow flame shot out of the air intakes. It didn¡¯t take away from three of the five being armed with thirty millimeter chainguns, another had what looked like a single fat railgun.


    The last one...caused me to laugh, because it was an extra...and had a more person sized canopy. It also had a fat heavily armored laser unit, which looked to have more than one of the shoulder fired units feeding to it. It also had what had to be a dozen different hazard signs painted on it, and the image of a mantis with laser eyes. ¡°They got one of the bugs to drive one of those damned things?¡± The little tanks were only the size of a sedan, but they were louder than the fuel powered tanks I remember. Well sort of remember, do nightmares count as remembering?


    Thunder squeaked and shook her head, the truck pounding through the snow, the tanks roaring and hurling snow as they escorted us. ¡°Manti! Not bugs!¡± She said firmly in that royal wifey tone she got when I¡¯d used a wrong term. ¡°You have to learn to say things properly!¡± She¡¯d of crossed her arms and given me the look if¡­was that needle pegged!?


    It was my turn to squeak as I realized that she¡¯d pegged the Warg¡¯s speedometer, which I¡¯d jokingly had set to max out at eighty miles an hour. Sure I¡¯d pegged it quite a few times, but that wasn¡¯t in snow. ¡°There''s a turn...slow down¡± My answer was a disgruntled clicking noise, which was her form of a harumph. ¡°Thunder...that¡¯s a turn¡­¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Males¡­¡± She clicked again and popped the button to down shift the truck, jerking the wheel hard into the turn, and then toward the outside as the truck broke traction and went sideways. I might have made a very terrified squeal as she stomped the throttle down, I personally expected the heavy truck to dig in and flip. Instead she drifted the corner with all five tanks drifting with her. ¡°You do not use brakes in snow.¡± She said in that same damned noble wifey tone, which was still squeaky and cute, for me at least.


    I huffed and stopped gripping the center console and the grab handle over the window as tightly as I had been. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that shit again or I¡¯ll tickle you until you are a squeaky twitchy mess.¡± I said firmly, and I knew why the Lo¡¯Kar were so matriarchal, the males were smaller. They were also stuck with an odd two females for every male breeding issue, which had ingrained the ¡°protect the males¡± mindset into the females to where it was instinctual. ¡°Your people have spent more than a generation or two dealing with strong males¡­¡±


    ¡°Strong males that can break and need a strong female to rebuild them!¡± She snapped and jerked the wheel, slamming me into the door as she drifted the next turn in the road. ¡°Husband, I am trying, but you have your odd human ways and I have my odd ways from my mother.¡±


    ¡°Strong women also need help, like you¡¯re going to need help when your belly gets bigger.¡± I smiled. ¡°Honestly hoping the kid is more your size than my size.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not the only one, husband.¡± She said as she straightened the truck out, letting out a soft sigh as the lights of the colony came into view, though it was more the lights shining off of the hull of the Yangtze that I could make out. ¡°You know that he is going to force me to come in for a check up if he finds out we are there¡­¡±


    She meant Albert, the tiny bunny was so damned fanatically curious about not just the fact that I¡¯d gotten her pregnant, but that the child was growing well. ¡°Hold up.¡± I said as one of the little tanks fired up a red flare ahead of us. The group had come to a stop in a line across the road, my eyes barely making out the flares of small thrusters in the air. ¡°They¡¯re moving a herd¡­¡±


    A few clicks rolled out of Thunder as she throttled down and got the truck to roll to a stop a short distance behind the tanks. ¡°Of all of the creatures on this planet¡­your people chose to herd your beasts with those¡­¡± She waved a hand in a way she¡¯d picked up from hanging around humans too much, because ahead of us were O¡¯Pangs chuffing along with the shaggy coated long horned cattle we had. The only reason the cattle had thick shaggy coats¡­was a certain bunny, who had gotten the herd dosed with a retrovirus.


    A smile split my face as I saw an odd outline breaking from the herd, Bowler had grown quite a bit since he¡¯d been adopted by the bunnies and various others. The main ¡°other¡± was Yinyang, who was currently riding the spoiled adolescent monster as if he were an ox. Bowler was heading for the truck and I sighed. ¡°Be a moment Thunder, if he¡¯s riding over, it means he has something to report.¡±


    She waved a hand. ¡°I don¡¯t mind, cold out there and warm in here..¡± Then she zipped up her coat before I stepped out into the snow, and I could hear her chittering and squeaking grumblings as I shut the door. She hated not being able to do everything she had, let alone the fact that I knew if she¡¯d come out¡­she¡¯d crawl into my coat like a squirrel.


    I walked a little bit from the truck and only had to wait a moment before Bowler plowed his way through the snow to me and shoved his big fuzzy head into my chest. ¡°Hey Bowler¡­the cranky one treating you well?¡± I asked and used my small claws to work into the thick stiff fur around Bowler¡¯s head.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Snow splashed up beside me and I casually cocked my head to get a look at Yinyang, who was shorter than me, but built just as strongly. His ancestry was most definitely mongolian, and Miss Li had mentioned something about Ghengis¡¯s offspring. He always looked like he was squinting, though he was standing knee deep in snow in his bare feet, shorts, and a vest. ¡°It¡¯s so cold out here that I finally had to put on a vest¡­¡± A vest he reached into and pulled a small tablet from, passing it to me. ¡°That, and I had to bring this to you. Albert told me that you asked to have the files on all of the problem cases?¡± He half asked as he looked up at me with that stone faced squint. All of my asian berserkers lacked the engrish sound, and much more cultured ways of speaking it. Better than I spoke it naturally.


    I rolled my eyes and shook my head. ¡°You and Jira need to snuggle¡­I swear, maybe then I can get her to do something other than try to hit me when I try to get her outside.¡± I had asked for the files and everything on the troublemakers in the colony, which meant Albert had gotten Adam¡¯s assistance. The Ai had his cybernetic fingertips into everything, but at the same time I didn¡¯t want him bored.


    He glared at me¡­at least I think that was a glare, god it was so damned hard to tell. ¡°Jira¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°She already has used me as her personal heater. And she also bites.¡± He shifted the shoulder of his vest off to show many faint lines of scaring. ¡°Did you know that she¡¯s poisonous even when human? I found it out when Albert woke me up in the medical bay.¡± He growled and Bowler head butted into him, not allowing his favored person to be angry.


    I flipped through a couple of the files, the usual sorts of Karens and Kevins that had little notes about visits scheduled to work crews. Crimes that we didn¡¯t simply kill for like rape and murder, were sent to do hard manual labor. ¡°Yes I know she is, she¡¯s bitten me as well, just bite her back, or remind her that she too can have a thick fluffy coat.¡± What I meant was Albert¡¯s constant offer to give anyone and everyone¡­fur. Hell one of the lab crews always had at least one person that looked like a brightly colored lab experiment gone wrong.


    ¡°I learned that on my own, I was never like her or Miss Li, I only got the mods so I could better do my work. I only killed people when I had to.¡± He pet Bowler, who was wagging his broad plated tail like a multi-ton puppy. ¡°It is hard for me to do what you all do in combat¡­and Spot¡­he¡¯s finally gotten to where he doesn¡¯t try and chase his weapon¡¯s laser.¡± He shook his head. ¡°It would be funny if it wasn¡¯t such a damned danger. And have a talk with Isaac please.¡± He sighed. ¡°Get him used to all lasers¡­and not to do all but red dots¡­¡±


    I grinned wickedly. ¡°Oh no, you don¡¯t ask me that¡­you ask his mother.¡± Those damned squinty eyes snapped wider as I spoke. ¡°She isn¡¯t like a Don or a Grandfather, or whatever the Tong had, she¡¯s worse¡­she¡¯s a mom.¡± I winked. ¡°Fear not the warlord or the warrior, fear the woman he loves and behaves for.¡±


    Yinyang groaned. ¡°I will have to bring her some steaks and fresh vegetables from the grow houses later. And then she is the proper one to talk to, bunny issues should be handled by them?¡± He asked curiously.


    ¡°Within reason, depends on who it is for the person you bring it up to¡­¡± As I went to looking at a new set of profiles¡­the screen blanked. ¡°The hell¡­¡±


    Then the damned tablet showed a pale synthetic face with jet black hair and a trimmed I guess euro styled mustache. Red eyes looked right into mine from the screen as binary flowed across them instead of having pupils. ¡°Good day Major, the rest of the gathered profiles will have to wait until after you¡¯ve spoken with Captain Rowland.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t stop my brow from snapping up that sentence. ¡°And why is that Adam¡­and a new look? Tired of the whole biblical thing?¡±


    The figure bent into a bow on my screen as the view pulled back, showing Adam¡¯s avatar was wearing a very fine suit as well. ¡°Yes I was and Dorothy helped me pick out the new clothing, she¡¯s doing some other upgrades as well for me, hence why I can reach you currently.¡± His form shrugged. ¡°The profiles¡­well a few of the ones remaining are people you cannot view until after you have your chat with the Captain¡­soon to be voted Governor.¡±


    ¡°Are you rigging an election?¡± Yinyang asked curiously, moving more to my side and looking down at the screen. Him and those damned squinty eyes¡­.


    ¡°Oh no, since he is the highest human commander¡­he by Alliance treaty cannot be listed as a warrior. So Commander Wulf will soon become Captain Wulf, and Captain Rowland will be Governor¡­for the first full planetary cycle.¡± The Ai said cheerfully, just shy of the cheer a teen had after having sex the first time.


    ¡°That¡¯s kinda short isn¡¯t it? I mean one year before someone else can try for the position?¡± I asked and brushed some snow from around the warm screen.


    The Ai let out a snort and then looked at Yinyang and my faces in disbeleif. ¡°Gentlemen, each of the seasons here is slightly longer than an earth year. I have gathered this from information smuggled to me by various sources¡­¡± That was right, thanks to a little pushing from the four horsemen¡­still wondering who came up with that name for Xavier and Lola¡¯s kids¡­but after a little pushing from them, Captain Rowland had put Adam in charge of intelligence.


    Yinyang groaned and shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s why I see Miss Li talking to thin air sometimes, and Jira¡­¡±


    ¡°And many more Yinyang, but yes those two help me gather intelligence data, the bunnies, and others. The issues for the Major are less to do with newly gathered intelligence than intelligence I¡¯ve stolen in the past and recently decrypted.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but let out a bark of a laugh. ¡°They were always scared you¡¯d go Skynet on their asses back home, you just went around stealing all the files instead?¡±


    He put a hand to his avatar chest and feigned shock. ¡°Major O¡¯Connell, you think I¡¯d have gone through my own side¡¯s databases and taken every shiny bit of classified data I could?¡± He asked and then smiled. ¡°You¡¯re right, serves them right for being all wimpy about thinking I¡¯d go insane and use you all for batteries or some shit.¡± He scoffed. ¡°Fission and fusion reactors would be better, but I get along with enough humans and the bunnies have been¡­therapeutic.¡± Fingers snapped and he looked to me. ¡°Oh and Albert says that your wife should come visit him while you¡¯re talking with the Captain, something about testing she¡¯d asked the results on.¡±


    Yinyang huffed and gave me a little side eye. ¡°Alright, well I have to get back to work getting the herds into the other pastures¡­¡± Skilled theive¡¯s fingers plucked the tablet from my hands. ¡°And you need to chat with the Captain and let Thunder get to Albert.¡±


    ¡°Be safe Gentlemen.¡± Came from the Tablet before it powered down.


    ¡°It¡¯s odd seeing him with the new form and all that¡­.when did he do that?¡± I asked and brushed the snow from my shoulders.


    ¡°Back when we were first getting the mixed forces working together¡­he¡¯s been as nosy as your government used to be, you know he can tie into anything in our systems right?¡± Yinyang asked and shook himself to get snow off.


    I shrugged. ¡°Could be worse¡­I¡¯d rather have a nosy Ai than a murdery Ai.¡± I winked at him and turned back for the truck. Thunder had been keeping herself busy reading translated books, because english was hard enough to speak..let alone the spelling of the words. Then you had british english and american english and¡­I could bitch about all this for hours. I slipped myself into the truck as quickly as I could after brushing off the snow.


    She didn¡¯t even look up from her tablet, eyes scrolling across the words as casually as if I¡¯d not come in. ¡°So, how is your spy?¡± She was so damned casual about it that it took me a moment to realize what she¡¯d said.


    I blinked. ¡°He¡¯s not a spy¡­he¡¯s just very good at gathering information on problem people for me.¡± I snorted. ¡°Besides he doesn¡¯t like blatantly killing people, I think he handled projects for the Tong, but none of them want to talk about that.¡± I buckled back into my seat and let out a sigh.


    She made a clicky purr and finally looked over at me. ¡°No wonder you humans have so many mental issues¡­and you¡¯re more tribal than the Ca¡¯Zeze¡­¡±


    ¡°Says the half Ca¡¯Zeze¡­.¡±


    She growled¡­and it sounded so cute to me, like a puppy or a really small dog, the murderous tint to her eyes wasn¡¯t as cute though. That part would scare anyone¡­who didn¡¯t get the look daily like I did. ¡°I am¡­and you¡¯d best be happy about that husband. After all if I wasn¡¯t¡­then I would have not gone into heat¡­and we¡¯d not be wed currently.¡± She took that imperious tone and squeaked when I pinched her behind.


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh as I fended off some very strong swatting hands, finally catching her wrists in mine. ¡°Oh¡­and while I¡¯m talking with the Captain, Albert has something you asked him about?¡± I said with the question in my tone, because I was going to be nosy on this.


    She went rigid for a second, then jerked her hands free and held the steering wheel. ¡°It is nothing you need to worry about¡­and if it is, it won¡¯t be bad. I asked him to run some tests, and get back to me with the results. It¡¯s a surprise and I¡¯m not saying anymore on the subject.¡± She swatted my hand as I tried to poke her, hard enough for it to sting¡­did I mention my wife was stout as hell?


    ¡°As you wish love¡­I¡¯ll find out soon enough.¡± I might of flinched at the side eye glare she gave me then. ¡°When you tell me of course. I wouldn¡¯t go behind your back¡­¡±


    *****************************


    The medical labs took up what had once been the med lab, animal area, a storage bay, was secured by Ai controlled doors, and a rotating crew of bunny guards. Said bunnies tended to wear the mark four and five suits that Marie had designed. Fours went to the non-tanks, and fives sounded like a car walking around, because Tanks needed everything reinforced.


    One of the most cute and terrifying things I¡¯d seen so far was Miss Jira and Li teaching the bunnies hand to hand combat. The meditation tricks they taught also helped keep things from randomly exploding or being ripped to bits.


    Thunder had sent me off to speak with the Captain after we¡¯d reached the labs¡­and the outer guard said I could go in¡­if I wrestled her for it. I passed, since getting kicked through a steel bulkhead would smart badly. I also had somewhere else to be.


    Freight lifts had been set up as the ship¡¯s modules had been shifted and moved with the large amounts of cleared space. The ladders now had doors over their nitches and I was thankful that there were more open stairways than we¡¯d had before. It allowed more people to use them at once, or some of us larger folk to not constantly be bashing our heads and elbows into things. Even if the first stair refit had happened when Jira had gotten stuck and ripped out two floors of stairs getting free¡­the new ones were nice.


    There wasn¡¯t even a bit of rattle as my feet pounded up the steps, yet I knew they could be released on command. No one wanted to risk a berserker getting stuck¡­and going berserk. It also let us put lots of cameras in the stairways, and let some of the technical and engineering crew test out having the mimics help in building. Apparently Li Wei had gotten with Dorothy and Isaac to translate the alterations to the mimics¡­and a horde of them had eaten and rebuilt the stairwells. Very few had heard the story I had, but word was gently spreading that the Mimics could build some things.


    There was also a former storage bay that had mysteriously been completely altered into barracks and housing fit for a thousand rabbits. There wasn¡¯t a thousand rabbits on this planet, but they were also rabbits, so it wouldn¡¯t take too long. I didn¡¯t know before that normal rabbit females had two wombs¡­ye flippin gods, thankfully neither Lola nor any of the other females had that issue.


    I had to pause in my fast pace because one of the bunnies was blocking the path while two others were guiding a mimic that was running fat bundles of cable and seeming to grow piping over them. ¡°Be just a moment Uncle Fluffy¡­running new power feeds for some of the sections we¡¯re going to be altering next.¡± His translator spoke and I saw a shrug then leaned on a wall to wait. He had one of the spiffy new models that looked like a throat mic and had an ear clip, just as nice as the one Grek used.


    I looked up between the stairs and noted that there was a human man on the landing above me, no doubt making sure that no one came down. ¡°No worries. I¡¯m good so long as no one decides to hand me a flashbang without its pin again¡­¡± I saw the ear twitch on more than one of the bunnies. ¡°Ah¡­so you know about those games?¡±


    ¡°We tend to use other things inside the ship, the Captain has gotten cranky about us doing such things with flashbangs¡­¡± Came from the one sitting on the railing.


    ¡°There¡¯s still a blank spot on the wall of the barracks from where he walked in there when we were painting it¡­¡± Came from one of the ones checking the mounting for the pipe.


    I snorted. ¡°Let me guess, you were either using paint bombs and he came to check out the thumping, or you were using a suit to spray the place down and hosed him?¡±


    ¡°A lot from column A and a dash from column B. His one set of clothes is stained forest green now.¡± The one sitting on the railing said and motioned me up as the mimic went into the wall, the rabbit hopping over to an open access hatch to vanish.


    I couldn¡¯t help but shake my head as I started back up the stairs, not only did we have intelligent races on this planet. Humans had accidently gone a step further and made another race out of simple animals. Then they¡¯d made friends with the only AI we had, which took care of everything automated, and now we had hundreds of them. That wasn¡¯t even counting the various other lab experiments set free and ¡°adjusted¡± by the mad scientist Albert, and a few of the humans.


    My thoughts left that subject as I headed down the hall through what had become the new officer¡¯s country, which actually had quite a bit of brass used in various places now. It was almost as if some smart ass that had been in on the refit of this area had slipped in higher brass fitting use. And then I was stopping and staring, that wasn¡¯t brass, that was red gold, I was going to have to have a talk with someone about the use of shiny things in rebuilding the Yangtze from colony ship to primary colony building. Not that it mattered a ton with the salvaging work going on in orbit, something I¡¯d yet to get up to see. Apparently Blitz had talked with the other pilots and all of the berserkers were currently black listed from field trips into space.


    That said, I didn¡¯t really mind. I wasn¡¯t a fan of zero g stuff, and most of our pilots seemed to simply like crushing their passengers with gravity. The one point three g¡¯s of this planet were fine for me, and helped me do as I was doing now, trying to walk quietly. I loved being a rather big guy, who could walk really quietly, in space I had to wear mag boots and couldn¡¯t be quiet. I wasn¡¯t one of the acrobatically weird spacers or like some of my people that didn¡¯t need the boots, instead I¡¯m a ground pounder.


    That aside, I¡¯d reached Rowland¡¯s door and found a cap hanging from the knob and smiled since the cap was a trick my people used. I spun the cap on my finger as I put my wrist to the scanner beside the door, which read the new implants that Dorothy¡¯s team had gotten working and not shorting out from the Caltunium. There was a soft click as the bolts let loose and I slipped in, leaving the cap on the knob. Of course that was when I noticed the scents in the quarters of rutting and such, and then the sounds of the Captain having fun with¡­a sniff of the air¡­Hellena Evans and Andy Roland. Naughty brits had kept this rather quiet, but I also heard a guitar blaring.


    I stepped out of my boots in the entryway and looked down the hall, seeing not only was the bedroom door open abit, but Maestro was jamming on the kitchen table with Elizabeth and Bubbles enjoying the music the bunny was playing. Of course it was ¡°Voodoo Child¡± that he was playing with hand-paws flying over the strings of his custom dual guitar, and his ears working the cords. Or at least that¡¯s what it looked like when I locked eyes with him and the song phased down. Quickly enough he started playing ¡°War Pigs¡± and I snorted, rolling my eyes as I started that way.


    As I passed the door and noticed a familiar rear end doing the motions I took a slightly deeper sniff, being passed the doorway before I spoke. ¡°Your old implant died, you¡¯re fertile!¡± I called out, just helping of course.


    ¡°Bollocks!¡± Flew from Rowland¡¯s mouth as the bed audibly creaked.


    Feet clapped on the floor and I heard Evan¡¯s sigh as she moved to change around their fun. ¡°Oh you like bein a bugger¡­¡± The door slammed shut on the room as I let out a mildly loud braying laugh.


    Of course that laugh died when I took a sudden Bubbles to the face, and had to pet the mimic as he crawled over me. Bubbles loved being pet and kneaded on, and luckily only ate ¡°his person¡¯s¡± clothes.


    It only took a moment for Bubbles to settle down hanging from one of my shoulders, though Elizabeth came over and both my hands ended up being used to pet them. Maestro slowly stopped playing and slipped his guitar into its case, hopping over to make more coffee. ¡°One for me too please.¡± I said as I sat back and relaxed, petting the two hand whores and listening to a british musical. That got me thinking on comments about Lo¡¯Kar women being loud, but oh look coffee¡­


    Maestro got back to the table and slid me a mug of coffee, which apparently his people had started to grow¡­somewhere. A second later, he was back on the table with his own cup and sipping from it as his ears were flipped back. After a contented sigh, his eyes flicked toward me and he made a motion like playing a guitar and gave a little chin nod at me.


    ¡°I can¡¯t play a guitar, little buddy¡­¡± I wiggled claw tipped fingers in the air. ¡°My claws are a little harder on strings than yours are.¡± He slumped at my words and I pat Bubbles softly. ¡°G¡¯down Bubbles, I have to see if the Captain still has something.¡± My getting up caused Maestro to turn his head and follow me with his eyes as I moved to check on¡­oh yes he did have it still. ¡°Well shit, I knew he¡¯d keep the damned thing.¡± I reached in and pulled out a heavy case that wasn¡¯t that thick, but was about five feet long.


    As soon as I put the case onto the counter, I had small fuzzy hands helping me work the latches and open it. As I saw what was inside, I admired it for a moment before looking at Maestro¡­who was staring slack jawed. It was a full keyboard with a wireless set of foot triggers, which had cost a ton back on Earth. ¡°This¡­is what I can play.¡± I was grinning like an idiot as I shifted the case and relatched the latches to new points so it was now a stand. ¡°Thing cost me a few months'' pay.¡± I bent to put the pedal box on the floor and got hopped on as Maestro plugged my rig into a socket.


    A moment later I got everything set up and with a few tries on keys, I nodded and smiled. ¡°Pianos are massive and heavy¡­how about Through the fire and flames?¡± I saw his ears snap up and he actually did a backflip from the counter to the table, getting his guitar strapped back on. ¡°Ready?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but grin as he nodded early, bending his head to curl the ends of his ears around the necks of his guitar. ¡°Ok, 3¡­2¡­1¡± His claw tipped fluffy fingers flew over strings as mine started to fly over keys.


    Both of us had our volumes slightly higher than polite levels, not the Bubbles or Elizabeth minded. The Mimic was bouncing and changing colors to the music, while Elizabeth was wagging her tail and bobbing her head to it as we jammed. We soon enough went back into things like Crazy Train, Enter Sandman, and others that Maestro picked out with his tablet.


    That is until we were finally interrupted by Evans and Rowland strolling into the kitchen, the former in a robe, and the latter in night pants. Maestro put his guitar back into its case before moving to rub his ears down with an ointment Albert had being made for them. And one might wonder about him using his ears to play a guitar...they were muscled, hence the ointment being used. ¡°Bout bloody time you got that thing back from me, now I can use that closet for a closet.¡± Rowland said as he poured coffee for himself and Evans. ¡°Adam said it was time to talk about the fun things.¡±


    I looked between them and shook my head. ¡°So is that why Helena is in a robe, so she can use the orbs of distraction on me if I get upset?¡± I asked them curiously as I was packing my keyboard back up into its case.


    She snorted. ¡°No, I¡¯m in a robe because it¡¯s comfy. If you go batty or act like a twat¡­I¡¯ll just ask Bubbles to hog tie you.¡±


    As Rowland was taking a drink of his coffee I smiled. ¡°And here I thought you¡¯d be cheerful after getting your crumpet munched¡­¡± I grinned as the good Captain choked on his coffee, which got me a well earned punch in the arm from Helena.


    ¡°Tosser¡­thanks for the warning though.¡± She said before sitting down and nodding to Maestro, who punched in a code into the keypad by the stove. The clack of the main door locking sounded as the bunny moved to open a drawer and get out a syringe. ¡°Before we talk, use that. I got worked up when Andy filled me in¡­quit giggling ya knobhead.¡± She sighed and rolled her eyes before pointing to the injection. ¡°Use it.¡±


    Andy moved over and sat down at the head of the table, idly petting Elizabeth as he watched me drain the shot into my neck and hand it back to Maestro. ¡°Alright, first of all let me just say that I¡¯ve known of this issue since we made the FOB. Adam asked me to keep it secret due to issues it might cause with the crew, especially a certain tosser of a werewolf. Who might I add, had recently turned into a half feral emotional bag of joy.¡±


    I sighed as liquid fire flowing through my veins rapidly turned into an intense calm, this batch was a really good one. It didn¡¯t stop me from making a rolling motion with my hand. ¡°Alright, so you didn¡¯t find out until a while back. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Helena sighed and rubbed her face. ¡°The Federation tried to kill us and use that Chicom bunker to do it, and as a way of covering it up.¡±


    My reaction was a simple shrug. ¡°Most of us kinda figured that from the start, we were the used and unloved.¡± My eyes flicked to Helena¡¯s. ¡°And Hel, you know I told the teams that it didn¡¯t matter since we¡¯d survived. Aside from it cutting all our ties to back home, well¡­this is now home.¡± I¡¯d had to talk to several of my team leads about it, and still felt we had more to worry about here than the pricks back home.


    Andy poked a button and kicked on a vent before he tossed me a cigar from a drawer and lit one for himself. Maestro and Helena didn¡¯t smoke, but they didn¡¯t care so long as we didn¡¯t blow it into their faces. ¡°The problem is the dozens of sleepers and fanatics they slipped into the damned cryopods as civilians. Fake backgrounds and covers for the whole lot of them.¡± He bitched and leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°About 9 dozen to be exact, but we think ten of them died already thanks to accidents and the mineral.¡± Helena continued. ¡°If the accident failed, they were supposed to send the colony into chaos and all that.¡± And then she smiled. ¡°But aside from being lucky with Adam, we also got lucky in that an agent that had his family with him¡­wasn¡¯t so happy about hearing all this news.¡± She got a predatory grin. ¡°An agent¡­that you and I both know.¡±


    I froze, cigar between my fingers, eyes locked on hers, smoke rolling out of my mouth before I sucked it in with a deep breath. It took a second, but I let the breath out slowly and shook my head. ¡°He supposedly died while we were taking Korea, let me guess, they lied to us about that?¡± I asked and was still slowly taking deep breaths, I could feel my eye twitching and took a puff of my cigar.


    Andy spoke up this time. ¡°No, he faked his death, and killed several other agents when he blew the building.¡± He was watching me like I was a shiny coin he thought might explode, damned crow eyes. ¡°Bloody good thing too, he¡¯s been very helpful since Adam figured out who he really was. Thomas Washington.¡±


    My knuckles popped and I looked down at my free hand, shaking it out and letting out a sigh as I held it up. ¡°No fur, still good.¡± I took a moment, sighing as I tried to process the lead ¡°Agent¡± that had handled my teams was still alive. He¡¯d been the epitome of the uncaring and heartless government agent, and the bastard had always carried a damned squeaky toy with him. ¡°So let me guess, the idiots they sent to sabotage us¡­are thinking he¡¯s the second coming?¡±


    Helena let out a short giggle and smiled. ¡°Yep, a few of them recognized him and he¡¯s been doing his best to keep them from actually messing up the colony, or murdering aliens, or the dozen other things they wanted to try.¡± She nodded to Andy, knowing full well that Thomas Washington had been someone I had never liked or gotten along with.


    ¡°He¡¯s run low on options of keeping them busy, and some of the fanatics are starting to question him. Thankfully, he¡¯s reported through dead drops that he¡¯s gotten all or close to all of them rounded up. All he needs is the sign that the round up is going to happen so he can get his family safe. Wife and daughter, wife was saved by Albert.¡± Andy said and sighed and nodded to me. ¡°You¡¯re still head of our security, the choice is yours mate, capture them, or kill them?¡±


    I didn¡¯t even hesitate. ¡°Give him the warning to get safe¡­but purge the others. I just want to have a talk with him after¡­and I¡¯ll need another shot for it.¡± And then I heard a throat clearing behind me and figured Maestro was just getting some flem loose. Right up until a somber tenor filled the air. ¡°Adam! Code Judas Priest. Mission type is, All Guns Blazing.¡±


    Adam spoke from the room¡¯s intercom. ¡°Acknowledged First Strategist. First sergeant Xavier and First Mother will arrive on target in ten minutes.¡±


    I could hear the song starting to blare through the Yangtze and no doubt the entire colony, but I was staring at Maestro. ¡°I thought you were a damned mute!¡±


    ¡°I was, I had Albert fix it.¡± Maestro said and took a sip of coffee. ¡°And I need to save my voice for singing.¡± He spoke softly.


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re speaking English and not chitter.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I mentioned singing.¡± He said and took in a deep breath before making my nearly fall out of my chair as he shouted. ¡°ALL ABOARD!¡± And then he smiled at me and bowed. ¡°I am Maestro, battle conductor and First Strategist of the Order of Bun Bun.¡±


    His voice finally clicked in my head and I blinked a few times. ¡°Albert gave you a voice like Ozzy!?¡± The name might of come out in a dash of a squeak as I stared at the bunny, who simply nodded.


    ¡°Mate, he was singing for hours before you showed up, and been jamming as well.¡± Andy said and I looked back at him to see him grinning. ¡°You sent em to me to practice and learn. He wanted to learn from the start, like you no doubt had to learn beethoven whenever you learned to play that.¡± He nodded at my stowed keyboard.


    Helena got up. ¡°Now let¡¯s go sit on the couch and Adam can send us the feeds to watch. Lola has been wanting to test out the mark 10.¡±

 Chapter 16, Heavy Metal Murder

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 16-Xavier


    Heavy Metal Murder


    The newly constructed heavy lift shuttle was spartan and massive, but it had been built out of Rodu shuttle and ship parts. The mechanic leaning part of my mind loved it, everything was so easy to get to and work on! The dad part of my brain screamed that this thing was a flying testament to the human phrase ¡°hold my beer¡±. Though I have to admit that the mixed crew checked over everything before trying to lift off from the ground or come back from space, the ship just always looked ready to fall apart.


    I was currently checking over my shiny new mark nine suit in the smaller cargo bay, and this deep in the hull I could barely hear the rumble of the engines. My suit though was quite literally shiny thanks to it being a new titanium alloy, but it was hitting the paintshop when we got back. My name is Xavier, not Patton thank you very much. It was less sleek than the previous models I¡¯d tested for Marie, but this model had all the gear I¡¯d asked for. All it cost me was trying an inhibitor that Albert had worked up, and Evans had told me and a few other blurs to use while in space. It had worked well at keeping me from hitting the dangerous end of my speed physically, and below stopping point for mental.


    Sadly this meant we now had a few dozen rats added to the Order, but these were rats that could speak human language. That had been another of his tests, but the rats had learned Mandarin and not English, which was fine with me. But back to the shiny new suit¡­armor¡­oh hell let''s face it, the damned thing was a mech. The feet were still able to be used to grab things, but had armoring over the top now. The calves stored power units that along with the smaller units in the biceps, kept the suit powered for a couple days at most. Captain Rowland had shot down the request to use fission packs, and I could understand his reasoning. There hadn¡¯t been enough testing and research done yet.


    It was also twice the weight of my last suit since it¡¯d been designed for combat, which meant the thruster ports in the back of the legs all had armored covers. I couldn¡¯t fly on planet anymore, but I could get some good jumps in. There were also ports in the arms with armor that covered them when not in use, and I had enough dried food and water stored in it to last a couple weeks. My version was custom, but also a base for human models. They¡¯d not have all the snacks, and their version had a thicker back to hold the power units that mine had in the limbs. I was currently on its shoulder cleaning around the helmet, which was full of sensors for mine, and also the ejection port.


    I had to manhandle the brush I was using to clean, and this suit was larger than my last one in height as well, standing just under seven feet tall. Across the storage room from my suit was a behemoth of armor standing eleven feet tall and weighing three times what mine did, the mark ten. My wife was taking a kettle back from one of the ship¡¯s crew and hopping up to snap it back into place in the forearm. Like my suit, it was a base for a human suit, but very customized. Where my suit was customized for combat, light space flight, and general use, hers was customized to take care of others¡­and be a walking tank. Both suits now used a ¡°cradle¡± system with sensory feedback and options to use keyboards and the like. Hers, though, was a walking mobile home that could move vehicles and equipment, haul and treat wounded, cook dinner for an army¡­or absolutely ruin someone¡¯s day.


    Her suit couldn¡¯t fly in space and had been tethered to the ship to catch and stack salvage while I¡¯d been out helping gather and bring it in. It could mildly fly on planet, but less like a bird and more like strapping turbines to a boulder. It was great for her or the people like my person that were giant and broke things naturally. Since her suit literally dropped its forearms and hands to use as cooking stands, they¡¯d put turbines into the wrists and made the hands able to fold back against the arms for ¡°flight¡±. There were also the same in the feet, but with armored ports, and a heavy armored pack on the back for more turbines and power units. I know for a fact that her suit had a fission battery along with caltunium power units, but no one argues much with my wife.


    I don¡¯t even argue with her much and she loves me, but she¡¯s six inches of loving and brutal fury when she wants to be. So I watched as she casually put kettles, ladles, and other utensils up into their spots in the arms and chest of her suit. And just to show how customized this massive suit was, when she used it to cook, the chest opened perfectly for her to walk on and pull utensils from the arms as she worked. That wasn¡¯t even counting the medical kits in the thighs that were full field trauma kits. Bare in mind she could literally walk down into the thighs and upper arms of her mech. I could easily survive in my suit if it wasn¡¯t trashed, she could trash the FOB and then make dinner.


    ¡°Xavier dear, you¡¯re staring and brooding again, aren¡¯t you?¡± Hit my ears as I noticed Lola was watching me stare at her suit. She was wearing her little pink apron with a crossed ladle and mace on it.


    I shook my head and shrugged in that human way toward her. ¡°Just thinking about¡­well how crazy that thing is. The biggest and most armored mech the kids have designed yet¡­and you turned it into a field kitchen and hospital.¡±


    She smiled at me and closed up the arms of her suit, poking a button in the chest that made it relatch the lower sections of the arms back into place. ¡°Well yes, I enjoy cooking for everyone, and you burn everything but coffee.¡± She pointed a dainty ear down at the legs of her suit as it stood itself up fully. ¡°I decided that it ought to have medical gear as well, people get hurt, we tend to visit the¡­forward..oh the base that they¡¯ve set up.¡± She waved a hand-paw dismissively.


    I couldn¡¯t help but snort. ¡°That¡¯s because half the injuries that the medical gear you have would be used for¡­are caused by you. Honestly love, you¡¯re very strong¡­stop hitting so many people with ladles when they annoy you.¡±


    Her ears wilted down and she sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve asked Albert if he can change my strength, but I like being strong.¡± She shrugged and gave me a worried look. ¡°I¡¯ve always had a temper¡­and do not give me that look, I know I have issues.¡± She slipped off her apron, folding it to stuff it into a pouch. ¡°This helps though¡­¡± She pulled up a pinner as Captain Rowland had called them, a rather thin and tightly rolled cigarette, which she lit and puffed on.


    A smile slid over my face and I nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve actually asked Albert the same for myself, the inhibitor is just the first try on it.¡± I hopped into the open chest of my suit and put up the cleaning brush, grabbing my own cigarette and lighting it as I moved to step back onto the chest plate. ¡°Honestly I¡¯m amazed neither of us has accidently killed anyone yet, the kids and the clan are all going to be using this stuff¡­the blurs at least.¡±


    She squeaked out a snort and made a face. ¡°Yes, they¡¯re working on one for us..tanks¡­¡± She huffed and shot smoke from her nose, giving me a look. ¡°I want to smack whoever came up with that term.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that was Albert¡­well I think it was all of our kids.¡±


    She took another drag from her cigarette and held it for a moment before purring. ¡°This is really good stuff, and Xavier¡­you don¡¯t have our four, and then hundreds of others, all calling you dad.¡±


    I gave her a cheeky grin. ¡°Oh no love, you did that yourself. Our humans call you a den mother, but I know you were needing some time away from our people when you agreed to come with me.¡± I chittered, shaking my head. ¡°I know you hate flying, so much that you¡¯ve never let our humans see your wings¡­¡±


    She stared at me for a long moment and huffed, closing her eyes and shivering as thinly furred wings that were sort of large for her size, grew from her back. After a moment she flicked the ash from her cigarette and stuck it in her mouth, her wings wrapping around her like a cloak. ¡°Best I can do is hop or a little gliding. I can¡¯t really fly with them, I¡¯m too¡­¡± I could see her struggling. ¡°I¡¯m too heavy, another reason I want to see if he can fix me.¡± She made a face and sucked down the last of her smoke, spitting the butt into a tray in her armor¡¯s lowered chest.


    ¡°Well after this mission is done and we can relax¡­we¡¯ll work on getting us both fixed up. Honestly I miss rutting that doesn¡¯t end with one of us having to leap away from the other¡­¡± I grumbled, making a face and moving to poke my com unit. ¡°Adam, has my person been informed?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, though I have to say that you and Lola have won the bet with your children. The Major informed the Captain of her implant not working and she chose to not risk pregnancy, these alternate mating styles that humans have are¡­odd.¡± Adam said with a little smirk as he appeared on a nearby screen.


    Lola huffed. ¡°Yes, they are odd at times, but are we going to be getting sent in?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they are working on telling him now. So please do suit up. I am unsure whether it will be to capture or kill yet.¡±


    ¡°Kill.¡± I chittered as I moved to climb into my suit¡¯s cradle and power it up. ¡°He will choose to kill all of the ones that pose a serious threat rather than risk long term effects of them spreading malice and hate.¡± The chest closed on my suit and let out a hiss as it sealed, my wings growing out and into the space in the cradle made for them.


    My wife had her suit moving before it had sealed fully, my cameras picking up the view of her pulling her mace from a wall to clip it to her suit¡¯s hip. She had stolen my person¡¯s newest weapon from him after it had repeatedly knocked him down during testing. ¡°Omar is making your person a new and better weapon for his personal use.¡± Was all she said as she snapped a drum to the base of her weapon that held roughly four to five hundred pounds of rounds. Five hundred pounds of rounds with a fifty caliber shell and a five point seven steel bullet. It had art worked into the metal of the casing.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you let Honey and the Order name your weapon¡­¡± I shook my head as my suit pointed to the etched artwork of a broom hitting someone. ¡°Momma¡¯s Broom¡± was artistically worked into each barrel of the gatling gun. It was then that I got to watch her suit shivering, because I could also hear her squeaky laughter.


    ¡°Oh, like yours is any better.¡± She waved her suit¡¯s hand at the long jet black rifle that I was setting aside. ¡°It has a leather belt worked into the body of it, you just didn¡¯t let them work the lettering in.¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m also part of the human¡¯s military, I have to keep up a semblance of standards.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the mirth from my chittering as I snapped magazine cans to my suit¡¯s hips, and then put in fresh canisters into the forearms of my suit. My pistols snapped to the thighs of my suit and when in use, drew rounds through the hands into the grip of either pistol. I¡¯d only be using the pistols since I was also needing to snap another weapon to either shoulder to take down non-combat targets.


    ¡°Dart guns? You think they are keeping that heavy of a control on their prisoners and forced recruits?¡± She asked as her monsterous suit watched mine attach the magazines to the weapons and snap them to its shoulders.


    ¡°Yes, plus there is also the risk of panic and stupidity of any involved that aren¡¯t getting a bullet.¡± I leaned in my cradle and wiggled my foot, making my suit do the same, then both myself and Lola went through the routine of making sure everything worked. Ear tips working switches and touchpads to make armor open and close over ports, wings shifting to make turbines whine.


    Adam spoke as we¡¯d started back for the main cargo doors of the hauler. ¡°It¡¯s all guns blazing.¡± One of the spare screens in either of our suits started to cycle through the various humans that were marked for death. ¡°These are marked for death, Agent Washington and his family are marked for recovery. The Major wishes that you rescue any non combatants that you can, there are also a few targets from the original group that are marked for capture if possible.¡±


    ¡°The ones that have things being used to force loyalty.¡± Lola growled. ¡°I hate some of the human tricks that they do to each other.¡± Her suit slowed as we got to the cargo doors. ¡°How long until we are in position?¡±


    ¡°Two minutes, I¡¯m having to almost hover and drop you off about a mile from your target. Adam warned me about a stolen AA turret that one of the patrols saw being uncovered.¡± Came from the pilot. ¡°Gonna use the main door and crack it open for you to drop through.¡± I couldn¡¯t for the life of me remember his name, but he was one of the oriental breed of humans, very nice pilot. He was also an albino like me.


    ¡°Copy, moving low level drop. Just don¡¯t drop us on any mimics please.¡± I chittered and switched channels back to Lola, who was cursing in Lo¡¯kar. ¡°Lola¡­are¡­¡±


    She suddenly turned and punched a section of scrap hull strapped to the deck, almost breaking the chains holding it down as she put a large dent into it. Her suit¡¯s fists clenched before she ripped a spare bit of chain from a tie down and secured her ¡°broom¡± to her suit¡¯s chest. She had me worried as her suit started tapping at thin air. ¡°Override engaged¡± sounded from the ship¡¯s intercom before music started to play at full volume. It was what humans called classical music, but my eyes were focused on Lola¡¯s suit, which was moving like a conductor


    Then Maestro¡¯s tenor went over the com. ¡°Valkyrie flight one and assault team two, move to secure landing sight.¡± Ride of the Valkyries! That¡¯s what this song was, and I watched as the crew that¡¯d been working around the bay rushed out of it.


    ¡°Copy that, moving to support the First Mother.¡± Was chittered over the com as I stared like an idiot at the walking and orchestrating titan that was my wife¡¯s suit moved to stand at the large cargo doors.


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    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you loved this sort of music.¡± Was all I could say as the lights in the bay flicked to amber colored.


    Her suit shrugged and the hands ratcheted back onto the forearms. ¡°Orchestral music is very soothing for me.¡± I could hear the grin in her voice as her suit poked at empty air, which soon thundered with...was that celtic or norse? Either way she was blasting the deep bass drum riddled music from the ship¡¯s systems, and her suit.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Was all I could say as I walked my suit over to stand beside hers, which was doing a little wiggling dance.


    ¡°Love you too.¡± Was the last thing she said before clipping something to my suit, and for the briefest second I saw a flash of olive drab snap out the opening doors. ¡°You¡¯re suit can¡¯t fly anymore on a planet th¡­.¡± I didn¡¯t get to hear the rest.


    My suit was ripped out of the cargo hauler as the parachute opened outside it, and it is something akin to being manhandled by my person¡­but less gently. The less gently part was due to the fact that I was hanging from a drop rig for cargo and my suit was spinning like a top for a few seconds. Then my suit¡¯s thrusters opened up to stabilize itself and I got to watch my wife run her suit out of the ship¡¯s open bay door.


    The night lit up when her suit¡¯s thrusters all lit at full burn to slow itself down as it dropped down for the ground. I myself had to break the clip she¡¯d snapped to my suit to drop down the last twenty or so feet with my suit¡¯s thrusters firing at max. The reason was a barrage of tracers that had missed me.¡±


    ¡°You ear biting! Blowhole licking!¡± Lola was cursing in Ca¡¯zeze and Lo¡¯Kar again, and that¡¯s just a rough translation of the start of her rant as I heard the clanging of rounds through the com. That is also about the time that the Valkyries made themselves known, three heavy chainguns roared to life as the flyers made a pass from the air.


    I slammed into the snowy ground at a run, drawing my pistols and moving from cover to cover as the tracks and flyers pulled back from the heavy fire that flew their way. The gods quickly vented their rage with a demon of screaming and flame, just kidding¡­Lola was using her new gun. It looked like some ancient god got angry though, flame flew out the end of the barrels for ten or fifteen feet? The noise of the high cycle motor was drowned by the roar of the bullets firing, and the sound of trees exploding. There was also the shattering of concrete, a few vehicles being shredded, and the sudden thick fog from her weapon vaporizing snow.


    It was only about ten seconds of actual firing from her gun before she let off on the trigger, and then Adam beat me to speaking. ¡°Checking. Checking. Nine names checked off on the hard kill list and two seriously wounded from the possible capture list.¡±


    ¡°Medical team enroute.¡± A human voice came over the com as my suit¡¯s sensors picked up one of the heavy human vehicles moving away from the colony and for this storm bunker. Well it had been meant to be a storm bunker, instead it¡¯d been used as a hideout for bad humans. Sadly most had gone past getting a whack with a newspaper, and were into putting them down areas of being a bad pet.


    ¡°You also have confirmed kills on two tractors, one bulldozer, fifteen small all-terrain vehicles, and several tons of reinforced concrete.¡± Adam added cheerilly. ¡°Marie has also been notified about the need for insulation to dampen impact noise.¡±


    It took about a minute and a half before Lola stopped cursing in three languages and settled enough to properly speak something other than curse words. It was hare raising to hear, I mean I turned white it was so bad. ¡°Thank you, and let my daughter know that it is also quite noisy when flying.¡± From cursing to polite and proper as could be in the space of a deep breath.


    ¡°Will do, and also you have collapsed the primary entrance, you will need to dig it back out to enter in your suits.¡±


    ¡°Balls it¡¯s cold up ere.¡± Came a new voice and my suit tripped, earning cursing from the speaker. ¡°Damnit boss, watch where you¡¯re goin¡­and that hole¡­¡± Arnold, it was Arnold, the one damned tank as strong as my wife¡­who also loved digging and making things to dig with. The reason I¡¯d tripped on a dwarf bunny was because he was wearing a depleted uranium alloy suit, which is why he was as strong as my wife. His warning was also just in time for me to dodge the eight inch wide hole he¡¯d dug. ¡°Hey Ma, figured you¡¯d end up breakin the place and came to help out..¡±


    ¡°Thank you Arnold, you¡¯ve always been such a helpful buck.¡± When any of the Order was properly polite to Lola, my wife couldn¡¯t help but be just as polite back. That meant that as much chaos as the Order caused or routinely ran on, everyone was usually quite polite. After all, we¡¯re our own people, gotta stick together in growing and taking better care of our pets.


    I bent my suit down and picked up Arnold, his alloy suit was bulky on him, but it was largely full frontal armor. The back was lighter plating and a small pack with spare bits in it. ¡°I¡¯d tell you to give more warning next time, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Coms don¡¯t work through rock worth a damn, and you know I can¡¯t keep a com workin boss. Don¡¯t worry though, crews gonna come by and put in a proper exit for that tunnel.¡± Arnold shifted in my suit¡¯s hand and motioned for me to take him on for the broken bunker.


    ¡°Yes, I know. Adam, can you make sure all the known exits for the bunker are blocked?¡± I said as I started walking my suit along, the heavy yet graceful tread of my wife¡¯s suit stomping snow into patches of ice as we walked.


    ¡°The Spots are working with Master and Blaster and have them secured.¡± Adam said casually as could be, even as I watched five other flashes in the night from charges going off. ¡°They are secured and will be monitored.¡±


    The walk to the shattered bunker entrance was rather uneventful, though I set Arnold down and helped Lola dig out the surviving wounded when the medical staff arrived. The rest¡­I think the human word is Ew. It honestly looked like I¡¯d punched these people repeatedly. At speed. Because they were mostly a mildly chunky red paste that was smeared on the shattered concrete, ventilated vehicles, the ground, a surviving wall, and there was a lot of pink snow. Actually it made me think of salsa, which I now wanted.


    I ended up spending a few moments moving wreckage away from the parking area so the medical team¡¯s truck could pull up properly. I ignored the pained noises from the two humans that weren¡¯t on the hard-kill list, they¡¯d live. They¡¯d just end up in a medical tank for a few days, or maybe a week since that was a truly shrill scream from the one. I have to admit that the screamer wasn¡¯t as loud as Lola or Arnold¡¯s digging. Lola¡¯s suit was tossing chunks of reinforced concrete to the side, or small sections of it after Albert punched it free.


    Literally Albert, First Miner of the Order of Bun-Bun¡­mined with his fists. His armored suit protected him from the debris of his punches, because he is as strong as my wife. When he was doing careful work, it sounded quite a bit like a jackhammer, but faster. He had different gauntlets that he¡¯d used for different things, and had to get them replaced often. So to the humans inside the bunker, it probably sounded like one of the construction crews was working.


    Once I saw that the two seriously wounded could be stabilized and were being tended to properly by the human vet...medics. The humans called their vets Medics, at least the military humans did. So now that the shrieker was sedated and being tended to, I went over and used my suit to toss rubble out of the entrance to the bunker. Our resident jackhammer was having a snack of jerky and a drink of water, no doubt given to him by my wife. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much use your broom is going to be inside of here with how much damage it caused to the entrance.¡±


    Lola tossed a mass of rubble away and paused, her suit¡¯s domed helmet spinning to look at me. ¡°You¡¯re right...I¡¯ll have to use my mace down there. I haven¡¯t had another gun tailored to this suit¡¯s hands yet.¡± Her massive suit shrugged and shifted to latch the gatling cannon to its shoulder so that it hung down its back. ¡°There, much better.¡±


    I nodded and went back to work, which took us another half an hour to clear enough debris to start getting shot at again. Arnold ended up having to hammer open a spot that I could slip my suit¡¯s arm into, and with that I used the camera on one of my pistols to have a look. ¡°Pellets, they¡¯ve got one of the heavy mg¡¯s at the end of the main hall. That¡¯s gonna have the good armor piercing rounds.¡±


    ¡°Boss, toss in a flash and a smoker.¡± Came from Arnold as he took off his helmet and revealed his black furred head to pull on a balaclava. He called them dust masks, but it was honestly a balaclava, which he put his helmet on over.


    ¡°Arnold dear, your suit won¡¯t protect you from that gun any better than ours will, and Marie told me that your armor isn¡¯t really rated for even normal rifle rounds.¡± Lola said sternly, which made me blink and look at Arnold curiously.


    ¡°Oh she worries too much, and so do you Ma. Why I said for him to toss a flashbang and then a smoke grenade. Give me cover to get up close and break them or that slug slinger, then you an him can come in behind me.¡± I could hear the grin in his voice and rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Fine, I can¡¯t get a bead on that gun.¡± I kept a few nonlethal grenades on my suit¡¯s belt and pulled one of each from it. ¡°You know the preferred capture targets?¡±


    ¡°Ever seen Ma here punch a human in the ankle or knee? I don kill nothin less I got no choice boss. And that ain¡¯t a flashbang boss¡­¡± Arnold said pointing to the grenade I was about to yank the pin on.


    I looked down. ¡°Oh¡­silly me.¡± It was an HE grenade, which I popped the pin from. ¡°It makes a flash and a bang.¡± I let the spoon fly and snap tossed it down into the hole.


    ¡°Balls!¡± Came from Arnold as he jumped to my suit and slipped to hang from the back of the shoulder, which was a good idea since the grenade blew out a nice hole from the rubble. ¡°Is this cause I¡¯m courtin Marie!?¡±


    ¡°Possibly, and doing stupid shit out here. You¡¯re not allowed to die Arnold¡­¡± I ordered him in a growling chitter and tossed in a flashbang and smoke grenade. I¡¯d checked this time to make sure.


    ¡°By the tank of my birth Boss, I treat er right.¡± Then both of us looked over as there was quite a bit of shaking from Lola¡¯s suit, and then. ¡°Ma! I hear you squeakin ''giggles in there! Seriously, you two are gonna gimme a heart attack¡­I think I¡¯ll go play tag with the crazy humans. Safer in there¡­¡± Arnold bitched as he hopped off my suit and slipped his way into the smoking hole.


    Lola and I tried to not make any noise near the entrance, instead she walked her heavy suit around as if pacing in annoyance. Right up until we heard the first loud clang and human scream. I heard the crack of bone breaking, even as Lola ripped the last bit of rubble out of the way.


    That let me slide my suit down into the bunker in time to see a female human point a rifle into Arnold¡¯s face, except he simply slammed one of his mining spikes into the end of the barrel. Well it was the spike on his gauntlet and he punched the gun, but the spike went into the barrel, and caused the backfire that hurled the rifle¡¯s bolt through the right side of her head.


    ¡°Pull back.¡± I chittered as I drew my pistols, my suit¡¯s systems had night vision, thermal, a sort of sonor, and sound tracking. So I could easily pick out the various humans, my suit¡¯s systems marking them all as hard kills, and I gave them each a round to the head as I walked my suit up. A flick of a switch and my suit¡¯s broadcast speakers turned on and translated what I chittered next. ¡°This is First Sergeant Xavier, surrender now or your deaths will be very painful.¡±


    Lola worked her way down into the spacious hall as I was using a guncam to look around a corner toward an intersection of hallways. ¡°You know they won¡¯t surrender.¡±


    As she said that, a lanky gold furred human dragged a brown furred woman into the intersection with him, using her rather well for cover as he held a gun to her head. She was bound and gagged tightly, sensors showed a fast pulse. ¡°We have hostaAAAAAAH!¡± He ended up screaming thanks to a shot from my pistol that took off his trigger finger, the next three rounds went through his wrist, hip, and knee.


    Lola moved into the hall as the screaming man dragged the woman to the floor, her suit¡¯s massive hand dragging the woman up and back. As soon as the female was safe, Lola moved on and I moved to follow her. I¡¯d not noticed one of the teams coming in behind us until a mark four took up station inside the entrance. ¡°Good kids.¡± Came from Lola as her suit¡¯s foot crushed the gold furred human¡¯s chest.


    You¡¯d think that it wouldn¡¯t take a long time to dig a bunch of misbehaving humans out of a hole and put them down, but it did. They didn¡¯t learn from the first human I put down and another soon enough tried to use a hostage. I think the hostage will need therapy for years after having the man¡¯s guts splash over him as Lola¡¯s suit ripped the male apart. A note, you never, ever, even if your life depends on it¡­ever threaten a child around my wife. With or without a suit, she will break you.


    As one of the teams got the boy out, Lola moved for cover as weapons fire rattled down the hall and peppered her suit. She drew her mace and motioned to me, so I called back. ¡°Scout!¡± I kept myself calm, so I saw the streak of light and didn¡¯t jump when a dwarf appeared standing on my pistol. ¡°Report?¡±


    She bowed, her body and fur glowing softly. ¡°Hostages on the right, I disarmed the charges in that room. It has one guard, there are six down in the next two rooms, and one human tank with armor in the room across from the hostages.¡± Her ear flicked that direction and she was suddenly gone.


    ¡°Lola and Arnold take care of the tank. I¡¯ll move down the hall and provide covering fire. Recovery team is to get the hostages out.¡± I chittered over the com and pulled a flashbang around, blinking as it turned out to be another dwarf, who was holding a glowing shard of Caltunium. Another of the recovery team reached around my suit and fired three smoke grenades down the hall. ¡°Three¡­two¡­¡± I hurled the dwarf down the hall at the same time Lola walked her suit through a wall.


    It quickly sounded like two O¡¯Pangs were having a spat in the left room, my guns raising as I came around the corner in time to see the glow vanish from the shard and the dwarf suddenly erupt in arcs of current as he kicked off a wall into the right room to subdue that guard. I¡¯d warned these bad pets at first that they¡¯d die painfully, so I put bullets into shoulders, knees, wrists. There was one of the possible captures, and they got three darts after I¡¯d shot their weapon to ruin it.


    Arnold flew through the air and cracked the concrete of a wall that he hit, making me look into what had been a stocked storage room. It was now a complete disaster zone with broken shelving. Lola¡¯s suit was locked in a grappling match with the human tank, which is most likely why the helmet snapped up. My wife flipped in the air as her suit fired her at the ceiling, surprising the human. I gawked as the man looked up and his wide right eye was suddenly filled with four inches of hardened alloy, one of Lola¡¯s cooking knives. The man crumpled as she kicked it into his brain, letting her land atop her armor and drop back into it.


    ¡°Ow, that fuggin hurt.¡± Arnold grumbled as he climbed my suit, giving a wave to the still arcing dwarf. ¡°Hey Sparky, damn you cooked em good.¡± I turned my suit¡¯s head to scan the very dead human, his hair smoldering still. The flesh looked baked, meaning this person hadn¡¯t had more than the barest amount of mineral. That is most likely why they looked almost malnourished, probably boiled most of the nutrients from their food to get the mineral out as much as possible.


    ¡°Scouts forward!¡± I chittered and moved to drag the capture target back for the recovery team, and just in time as Lola walked through a wall and crushed the chest of another dying human under her suit¡¯s foot. The front of her suit had dozens of scratches, little dents, and furrows from all of the weapons fire. I knew she was annoyed by it, mainly because she kicked the dead and dying from her path.


    *************


    It took another hour and a half to clear the rest of the bunker of hostiles, defuse four bombs, and kill almost every living being inside. My wife¡¯s suit was heavily scarred by the end and dripping blood, while my own suit was scarred and missing one of the dart launchers, the other was barely there. Arnold¡¯s armor was scorched and he along with one scout and two of the recovery team were getting treated outside, an idiot had a flamethrower down here. The idiot and his flamethrower were both still slowly burning in a closed side room. Flame throwers don¡¯t like when you shoot their fuel tanks with incendiary rounds.


    Agent Thomas Washington had greying black fur that was trimmed short on his head, dark tanned skin, and bright yellow eyes that glowed softly in the light. The..native american breed human was tall and lithe, while the smoking barrel of his shotgun was hanging toward the floor. His ¡°inner circle¡± lay dead in the room aside from one, who¡¯d wake up after some medical treatment. Behind him, his wife and daughter were in a safe room with some of the kids, who were being cute¡­and distracting. ¡°A pleasure to finally meet you, First Sergeant.¡± He nodded to me and leaned his shotgun against a wall, then bowed softly to my wife¡¯s suit. ¡°Mam, a pleasure to meet you as well.¡±


    ¡°I see that the Order has mentioned that I prefer proper manners, Skinwalker.¡± Lola chittered as she climbed out the open helmet of her suit, which earned a toothy grin from the man. ¡°It will be a short bit before we can get you and your family out of here.¡±


    ¡°I guess that not only did the AI break into my files fully, but we¡¯re not going to be staying here for a while?¡± He asked and I nodded my suit¡¯s head. ¡°I hope you didn¡¯t suffer many losses in this fiasco.¡± He waved a hand at the bunker.


    ¡°No deaths, some of our people will be requiring time in one of the medical tanks though.¡± Lola looked around and nodded. ¡°And you did very good work in gathering all of the problems in one place. This would have been much more of an issue if we¡¯d had to hit a bunch of different places.¡± She nodded when she saw a picture hanging on the wall of a house with a mailbox at the fore of the art. ¡°That is the dead drop?¡±


    His eyes lit as a grin spread across his face. ¡°Yes, indeed it is. Even with your people digging and mining, the idiots never thought to check my walls.¡± He moved the picture from the wall in a certain way, revealing a one inch hole in the concrete. ¡°Where are you taking my family and I to?¡± He asked casually.


    ¡°You¡¯re being taken to the Lo¡¯Kar and Ca¡¯Zeze settlements, though you¡¯ll be staying in the Lo¡¯Kar areas.¡± I said as I puffed on a cigarette, the smoke venting out of my suit¡¯s helmet. I got to watch worry settle on his face. ¡°Yes, you¡¯re going to be staying with Stormwind and Grek. Moreso your family is being resettled at the new lab complex they¡¯ve built, and yes¡­he will be coming there soon with his wife.¡± I meant my person.


    He deflated and sighed. ¡°I¡¯m never in the rest of my life ever going to accept a job because my wife wants me to.¡± He looked at me, well my suit. ¡°He¡¯s her great uncle¡­as soon as she heard that he was alive, I had to take that job. And now the man is going to be back in my life¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re in your forties¡­Major O¡¯Connell is only in his middle sixties. The math doesn¡¯t add up.¡± I chittered softly.


    Agent Washington let out a bark of a laugh. ¡°The man is in his nineties¡­the man listed as his father in his files is actually him! Roderick O¡¯Connell fought in the Coup that happened when they tried to order the military to go against civilians. I think it was something stupid like over civilians owning guns¡­¡± He waved a hand. ¡°Honestly I think that¡¯s the only reason we didn¡¯t lose more than a few states at the start of the war.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re saying that he¡¯s nearly thirty years older?¡± Lola asked.


    ¡°Yes, he almost died in the battle for DC. Heard he blew up half a block when he took out a tank, but they used him to test early cryo. He was really messed up, and by the time I was in the agency, someone was using him and some others to test genetic alteration therapy on. He¡¯s a marine, so were most of the others. But he¡¯s broken, they fucked up the first treament and he¡¯s got absolutely no fucking flight response!¡±


    ¡°WHAT!?¡± Came over a nearby com and then it clicked off.


    ¡°Well, guess the Captain is going to be using that dart gun he keeps around in his quarters.¡± Came from the Lo¡¯Kar holding the com unit, and a portal staff. ¡°Shall we?¡± He asked and moved up to look up at the Agent. Then the Lo¡¯Kar male grinned up at the towering lithe agent in a feral way. ¡°Great nephew¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuck me¡­¡±

 Chapter 17, Inlaws and Implants

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 17-Roderick


    Inlaws and Implants.


    I must admit that being a werewolf is a pain in the ass, forehead, chest, and thighs, all the places two of my friends shot me with tranquilizer rounds when I had a mild freakout. Just a little one, I mean who wouldn¡¯t freakout finding out that your government broke you. And turned you unwillingly into an ice cube for a decade or three, and that your grandfather was your dad and you¡¯re your dad¡­no reason to freakout at all. Cue a massive freakout and being turned into a fluffy dartboard. Maestro even nailed me between the eyes, that was still sore.


    Anyway, less bitching and more of what is going on, like Thunder throwing a hammer at me when I woke up. It wasn¡¯t my fault that human babies drank milk, or that she¡¯d asked Albert about it and he¡¯d given her a shot. On a side note, do not try to play with a pregnant woman¡¯s budding breasts. A five foot tall female is the perfect height to uppercut say a ten foot tall werewolf in the junk. Though it¡¯s truly not my fault that she has four of them, luckily the gods of mood swings had her crying and snuggling me after a moment. I think she felt bad for taking it out on me, and the swing went ass over tea kettle with it.


    I also have to mention that I woke up in a house that I didn¡¯t bang my head into the ceiling of. Stormwind and Grek had gotten a home built for Thunder and I, which was really nice, had comfy furniture, and was the only building I could move in without whacking my head into things in town. Yes, town¡­er well small city? It was the Lo¡¯Kar settlement that was built along one of the big rivers a couple hundred clicks from the Yangtze. All of the doors had two sets of handles, the doors were bigger, and there were two comfy chairs. I sat in mine with Thunder coming down from her latest mood swing and my chest fur damp from tears.


    While I rubbed her back, she looked up at me. ¡°So you¡¯re only twenty three? What season were you born in again?¡± Sadness gone and curiosity filling her eyes.


    I blinked and shook my head. ¡°No, I¡¯m ninety two or three, and I¡¯m not sure. I¡¯d have to ask Thomas about that.¡± So that¡¯s why the man had been such a dick over the years.


    She just stared at me. ¡°That means you¡¯re twenty three here. Evans told me that a year here is around four on your home planet. I didn¡¯t know I had married such a young man¡­¡±


    My maw hanging open appeared to give her a clue that this wasn''t normal for humans, even ones like me. I was trying to come to grips with being not only past middle age, but elderly as hell. Sure the gene mods had perked me back up, but how long would that last? A gentle hand used a finger and poked my maw closed, finally bringing a dash of sense back to my brain. ¡°Young man? I¡¯m old, like really old for a human¡­¡± I trailed off as she glared at me rather fiercely. ¡°Thunder¡­how long to Lo¡¯Kar and Ca¡¯zeze live? And um¡­how old are you?¡±


    She drew herself up, and it would have looked rather prim and proper¡­if she wasn¡¯t sitting on my lap. She twitched her little ears and sniffed, which earned her a slobbery lick from me that went from her neck to the top of her head. We¡¯d gotten to having little fun ways of correcting each other, and I had to cover my face to protect it from a flurry of swats. ¡°I am thirty one summers. I have at least seventy to eighty left. I am not OLD!¡± She was so cute when she snarled, well cute to me at least.


    I just stared and blinked as I looked at her. ¡°You mean that Ca¡¯zeze and Lo¡¯Kar live for¡­four hundred human years!?¡± And yes it came out in a squeaky yip, cause I was old as hell, but my wife was¡­a hundred and¡­twenty¡­four. My math brain was still using a dart for a pacifier.


    She nodded and scratched under my chin as a smile spread across her face. ¡°And you will live just as long, possibly longer. It''s the testing I had Albert do, because of your mods and the Cal..Nobu crystal, you will live a very long time husband.¡± She almost used our term for the mineral.


    There was a very large train wreck that happened in my mind and it apparently took me a little while to get the pileup cleared. When I finally shook my head to clear it, Thunder was sitting in her chair and having tea with her younger brother Squall. Their family tended to name their children after what weather was happening around their birth. Thunder¡¯s name was more ¡°First heavy thunder of summer.¡± while her brother¡¯s was ¡°Harsh squall of winter.¡± But unlike summer and winter, they got along.


    Squall was a hunter, his clothing was leathers and furs that murdered my ability to place his scent among them. He was also speaking. ¡°Yes sister, I¡¯ve got the young human down at the lab now. He¡¯s going over all of the files on your husband¡¯s medical past with the doctors. Albert Stein¡¯s team is also there going over things with them.¡± I tried not to move and gather attention, but I noticed Squall was somewhat chubby? He hadn¡¯t been that way when I¡¯d met him months back, he¡¯d been kinda lean.


    Thunder nodded softly and sipped her tea, eyeing her brother. ¡°You know I worry about all of this, just like your mates worry over you being a hunter. Humans have never had the medical treatments that we have, nor the implants¡­¡± They were both speaking their native language, but my translator was still clipped to my ear.


    Her brother trilled softly and gave her a soft smile. ¡°Oh yes I know, sister. Mother is bad enough with fattening me up for winter hunts, but my breeding partners are just as bad. I swear they are trying to make me too heavy to hunt, and that won¡¯t do. I chose to be a hunter, and I¡¯m one of the best we have.¡± He waved a hand at her. ¡°Like you working your way to the head of the Pulsars.¡±


    ¡°Yes, well they have every right to worry about you. You¡¯re a male, there are few of you around, and even with as many of you as we have¡­¡± She trailed off and growled softly.


    ¡°Mother and your father experimented and made you, because we don¡¯t have enough males to not have issues in another generation? Are you still angry over that, or is it the fact that you¡¯re pregnant? Hormones¡­or is it the other females asking to breed with your husband?¡± Squall said and I think he knew I was lucid, because he was smirking.


    Thunder on the other hand was no doubt a deep violet under her fur from blushing, and she was growling. ¡°I am next in line to rule if I don¡¯t prove incompetent, I have a right to claim a husband as my own¡­even if did have to grow brEASTS!¡± The last came out in a pulse of sound as I yoinked her out of her chair and into my lap to nuzzle her and murr, taking the flailing slaps she landed on me.


    I paused as I got her into my lap and rubbed her sides and chest out of habit, and then not only remembered her growing breasts, but finding out that she was cold. Then she bit me and I pinched things and she slugged me, and I tickled. Then we both slowly stopped as there was loud trilling and almost chuffing laughter coming from Squall, who was half laughing and half coughing tea from his blowhole. I slowly shifted my hands around and chuckled, starting to laugh, Thunder joining us and snuggling into me. After a moment of getting my arms moved like a teddy bear¡¯s to snuggle, I smiled. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to get used to those being there¡­and if you¡¯re cold love, put on a shirt.¡±


    Thunder huffed and looked down at her chest, where she had two breasts in the normal sort of human spots, but also two right under them, and all four of them were fur covered. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to have all of my armor and clothing remade. Albert said that I¡¯d need to keep these things for future children. Stupid human evolutionary fat storage¡­¡± She trailed off glaring at her brother, who had started to laugh again, while using a cloth to wipe tea from his head and face. ¡°Shut up, Brother! This isn¡¯t funny!¡±


    Squall took a moment and then managed to get a mild semblance of calm. ¡°Oh Sister, it is hilarious. You don¡¯t get it though, do you?¡± He cocked his head to the side. ¡°Lo¡¯Kar women do not naturally produce milk or anything from their own bodies to feed their children, you had the ability. I¡¯m less laughing at you than the fact that our females that try to breed with humans¡­will have to adapt.¡± He grinned in a rather evil way.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Thunder and I just stared at Squall for a moment before she spoke in a soft tone. ¡°Oh my goddess, you¡¯re right! Mother managed with me by having to make a special mix that father knew of. What are they going to do if they interbreed with humans!?¡±


    ¡°Grow tits¡­¡± I trailed off as my brain caught up with what my mouth had just spat into the air and I blinked as I looked down into the startled eyes of my wife. ¡°Or maybe what your mother did, but I bet part of the mixture that you were fed, was milk of a sort. Possibly donated from a heavily producing Ca¡¯zeze female, but no doubt a milk.¡±


    ¡°Lo¡¯Kar young¡­are born with teeth, and so are the Ca¡¯zeze.¡± Thunder said and looked down at her own chest, then back up to me. ¡°These things are sensitive! The hell with the other females, what am I going to do with our children!?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way around it if the kid is bitey.¡± I said softly and nuzzled her, giving Squall side-eye and noticing that he was biting a bit of leather to keep from laughing noticeably. ¡°Human kids usually don¡¯t bite much until they start teething, but if they¡¯ve already got teeth¡­¡± I shrugged and looked at her. ¡°We¡¯ll have to see, and I¡¯ll help where I can. There are also pumps you can use for the milk.¡±


    ¡°Pumps?¡± She just stared at me. ¡°I¡¯m not feeding our child through a hose. That is not how¡­¡±


    ¡°The pumps suck the milk out, you put it into a bottle, and then feed the child with the bottle. Not a damned hose.¡± My ears flattened out as I looked down at her, letting out a huff. ¡°Honestly it depends on how much you produce¡­¡± I trailed off and looked at her chest, then shrugged. ¡°Which aught to be more than enough. Human women only have two after all¡­¡±


    ¡°I would rather go into a border dispute with the crabs naked with only a stick than have to learn all of this now!¡± She growled, then took a few slow deep breaths to calm herself. ¡°But I¡¯m pregnant, there is no changing that now, we¡¯re going to have a child. I will face this as another challenge in life, I have beaten all of the others that have¡­¡± She trailed off and hopped off my lap, running for the bathroom.


    I waited a moment and nodded. ¡°She¡¯s not cursing, so she made it to the toilet¡­¡± I trailed off as Squall lost it, trilling and doing that odd chuff of laughter that the Lo¡¯Kar did. I waited for him to calm down and huffed, reaching into my thigh pocket and pulling out a pack of pre rolled smokes. ¡°Come on, I¡¯m not going to smoke in the house.¡± I waved my hand around and Squall got up to follow me to the door.


    Once outside he waited for me to light my smoke before he spoke. ¡°Do you think the other humans would be willing to mate with our females? My sister has spoken of the culture difference between our races, I¡¯m unsure how well your various males and our females will interact.¡±


    Smoke shot out my nose as I snorted. ¡°Which group, we have several different small groups of our home world¡¯s culture, which is seriously weird to say. But we do, some will love the idea of having sex with alien women, others will dislike the idea of it, some will want to bond and raise the child, others won¡¯t.¡± I puffed on my smoke and took in a deep breath. ¡°I also haven¡¯t told a soul about stamina, your people¡­¡±


    ¡°Can go for a day or two, and before spring you will see me with much lower weight and taking a week from hunting. I have five breeding partners, and it is a male¡¯s duty to please them, which is another cultural thing.¡± He looked over and well¡­up at my face, poor guy was only about four foot nine. ¡°I worry about all of your modifications, you and the ones like you are not truly human anymore.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but nod, looking down at him. ¡°I know, I haven''t been really human since that first major storm. I will see what I can do about finding willing participants for your gals, I have one in mind that will be interesting to see how things go with this.¡± I gave Squall a little grin. ¡°It will be a lovely test to see how well your females can mix with the troubled end of our males.¡±


    Squall¡¯s eyes focused on mine and a puff of hot breath shot from his blowhole to steam the cold outside air. ¡°You mean the other broken male of your special group? The weapons master with the small creature that hates everyone and everything?¡±


    My grin turned wicked and I nodded. ¡°Him indeed, they will have to find a small group that like what he does and wish to try with him. He¡¯ll want to marry them due to customs like I did with your sister.¡± I saw his eyes flick to the cross laying against my bare fluffy chest.


    ¡°I have a few of the females that I will send his way, and you will have to check with the other males to see who else is willing to help the Lo¡¯Kar here not fade.¡± He looked back at the house. ¡°Mother will be coming by here soon to have you both come to the medical labs, your special group is getting implants like we Lo¡¯Kar have.¡±


    I sighed and finished my smoke, spitting a little flame to puff the roach to ash. ¡°It isn¡¯t something humans have gotten nearly as far with. At most it¡¯s medical implants, but your people are actually linked to a network? I know Adam was wondering if your people or the Ca¡¯zeze had working Ai¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°We are, that is actually how males like myself keep track of who we can safely breed with among other things. Sadly though, our forefather¡¯s ships didn¡¯t have surviving Ai¡¯s, neither us or the Ca¡¯zeze due to battle damage and¡­¡± He trailed off and pointed at the sky. ¡°Damage from entering the scrap yard as your people call it.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about that, not my field of interest. I do know that we lost most of our advanced military tech, Isaac has helped restore some of it to us.¡±


    I lit another smoke and raised a brow as I looked down at him. ¡°You still prefer using a spear though, your sister complains about it.¡±


    A huff of air shot from his blowhole and swirled into fog over his head. ¡°She has no room to complain, she still carries her hammers with her everywhere she goes. I do not carry all of my hunting gear with¡­¡±


    ¡°I can smell the metal of your spearhead.¡± I said it softly and caught him turning violet as he realized that he was busted. ¡°Where do you carry it?¡±


    His arm snapped out, a flash of metal leaving his coat to stab into an almost crimson colored wooden porch post. The spearhead was about a foot long with serrated edges along its tapered oval length. ¡°I keep it in the sleeve of my coat.¡± As he spoke, he moved to pull the spearhead from the wood as carefully as he could. The sleeve of his hide coat was hanging open, letting me see the sheathe strapped to his forearm. ¡°I cannot complain, a hunter must always carry it with them. I¡¯m a hunter like my father, and I have six other siblings aside from Thunder.¡±


    ¡°Cause your guys get around, I guess you really have to¡­¡± I trailed off and shrugged, then my ear twitched as I heard the clatter of dishes being gotten out. ¡°I better get back in there, joining me?¡±


    ¡°By the goddess, no. I have to deal with pregnancy cravings of my breeding partners. I have no wish to see what my hybrid sister is craving.¡± Squall said and flipped up the light hood of his coat as he stepped out into the darkness and snow.


    ********************


    I won¡¯t go into describing the unholy concoction that Thunder made up to suit her craving, all I will say is that I wasn¡¯t hungry after I smelled it. After she ate it all down and let out a belch that literally shook the walls¡­I was so damned proud¡­her mom came by. The best part was that absolutely no one had told her about Thunder growing breasts. Watching an apparently ancient mother staring at her daughter¡¯s chest in stupefied bewilderment for a solid three minutes is epic. Especially when said mother reaches out in that bewilderment and pokes at the new objects on her daughter¡¯s chest, and I didn¡¯t say a word¡­I was standing to the side recording it all with a helmet cam though.


    The growling pulse that shot from my wife broke her mother¡¯s bewilderment and she stepped back, but her eyes kept flicking to the four fuzzy orbs of distraction. Thunder put her hands on her hips and glared at her mother in a way that told me she¡¯d been spending more time with human women. ¡°Mother, they are very sensitive. Not even my husband is allowed to touch them for the time being¡­¡± She trailed off as there was another poke at her orbs of distraction, which she answered with a hard slap of her mother¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Love, this is why humans give them so many nicknames. I prefer orbs of distraction myself, best put on a shirt I think.¡± I said gently and watched her roll her eyes, which she¡¯d learned from being around humans so much. Instead of a shirt, she put on a short apron made of something like wool, and finally broke the trance her mother was in.


    Stormwind blinked a few times and looked to me and then her daughter and finally back to me once more. ¡°Why does my daughter have those? I know she had nipples and mammaries from her father¡¯s side, but those are¡­¡±


    ¡°Tits, breasts, funbags, pillows, orbs of distraction, chesticles, or a few hundred other nicknames that humans have come up with over the millenia. You¡¯ve seen them before, just not four fuzzy ones on Thunder¡­¡± I said with a grin and had been pouring a cup of tea as I spoke, catching Thunder¡¯s swatting hand, and putting the cup into it. ¡°Care for a cup as well, Stormwind?¡±


    Stormwind, basically queen of the Lo¡¯Kar on this world, mother of two, partner in bonding two warring races forever¡­stared. She was obviously in a mild state of shock and I broke her out of it with a cup of tea and a lick up her face. Thanks to practice with Thunder, I danced my towering ass away from swats and punches and leaned on the counter. ¡°Thank you for the tea, but no licking my face ever again! My husband is the only one allowed to do such thi¡­¡±


    ¡°I bet he¡¯d love to know you''re as fertile as can be right now, Thunder told me he¡¯s been wanting a second child, maybe even a son. I¡¯m sure Albert could set you up with some..¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± It was less cute when Stormwind got the whole imperious indignant tone than when Thunder did it, more practiced I guess. ¡°I will not be growing¡­¡± Her eyes flicked to her daughter¡¯s chest. ¡°Those things¡­¡±


    Thunder smiled evilly. ¡°But mother, what about the females that wish to try breeding with humans? Their children require milk from their mothers, which come from these¡­¡± Her hand waved at her chest.


    Stormwind went quiet, and I was so proud of Thunder that she¡¯d calmed enough to not only mess with her mother again, but to leave out things like formula and pumps. Letting her mother¡¯s mind go into the train wreck that was babies born with teeth and sensitive things. I made myself some coffee and managed to take a sip before Stormwind slumped and¡­was that a whine that came out of her? ¡°We¡¯re doomed¡­how am I going to talk our females into breeding with humans if they have to¡­you at least had the parts. Do you know how terrifying it was to even get the mixture from your father¡¯s people? You needed a bit of milk too and we made a formula for you, you were so angry because you were hungry.¡±


    Thunder pulsed a bit of sound at her mother. ¡°Grandmother got some of them to try and become males¡­I¡¯m sure growing these will not be a problem¡­¡±


    ¡°That went as well as an asteroid impact, most of them went insane. Only one of them actually made it through the change and a year, the rest went insane and died. Her¡­his¡­that one¡¯s children are the same as their parent.¡± Stormwind was grumbling and I just stared as she talked about the lengths they¡¯d gone. ¡°We have a family of ten from that one¡¯s line.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Our people did that years ago, flipped genders with genetic therapy and all of that. I know during our la

 Chapter 18, Surgeries, Suits, and a Surprise Attack.

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 18-Albert


    Surgeries, suits, and a surprise attack


    Unlike what most people might think with high levels of technology and superb medical practices, giving someone implants takes time. Especially when that person is a human berserker, and there are seven of them now. As it turns out, Agent Washington had gotten second generation mods quite a bit like Uncle Fluffy¡¯s. After she had a nice discussion with his wife, Miss Li promptly tackled him into a containment cell, bit a power cable, and turned him. Within five minutes we found out that an eight foot tall coyote¡¯s safe word is ¡°Daddy!¡± said by his ten year old daughter. He went from snarling and bashing at the walls to stopping and staring at his daughter, then whining, and then once we were sure he was calm, we let him out. The best part about it was watching the little human girl giving her father scritches and pets.


    Berserkers had to be given implants in stages due to their high rates of healing and having to stop and make sure they were stabilized before continuing. My wife, and yes I just said wife, Eir was helping with the surgeries since she was the first non-human born berserker. I didn¡¯t mention to Uncle Fluffy that when my person Snake was turned and twisted by the accident, that the other one had been Eir. As it turns out, some of the Order were at very mild risk of becoming were-humans, or more properly termed, anthropoids. Sadly this meant that Adam had to do quite a bit of processing to analyze for the genetic triggers that neither of us had known were there. Honestly she didn¡¯t mind except when it came to the cold, because humans sadly have a dramatic lack of fur. So I sat by the medical tank holding Uncle Fluffy and watched as a foot tall naked human form worked her tools to guide implants into place as she swam around him.


    I think it had been the mod I¡¯d done for her that let her more easily breathe in the oxygenated water of the tanks. Her long ears had morphed back into what the humans might call elvish, longer and pointed. Neon green hair flowed behind her and contrasted against her coal black flesh, and even the half of her face that was a pale white. She had strong lines and the lack of fur showed off her muscle, especially in her legs and flanks¡­ok stop staring at your wife Albert! I shook myself and left my wife to do her work. Some of the furless were helping by slipping in components and specialized neural wiring into compartments she could access. My wife of course had gotten implants before me, lucky little doe. She was a Rex, so it was easier for her to take them.


    With the help of my wings, I got to another section of the lab complex easily enough. I stopped in the room that held my parents, the first dwarfs to not only get implants, but the treatments to give them a more active and safe limiter. It was ingenious and not my invention, the neural implants when linked properly, could limit us. Some of the humans worried about it, but for us, it was a boon. I¡¯d also done a little genetic adjustments on them, mom could still toss a truck and dad could still blur, but they were more balanced when not activating the limit breakers. I already had blurs and tanks throughout the Order asking for the adjustments when they got their implants installed. I just didn¡¯t mention to anyone other than my parents that I¡¯d slipped in a little addition into it.


    Adam and I had gone over the data a dozen times and worked out a tiny addition that would allow dwarves to grow over our exceedingly long lives. If one of us lived to say a Ca¡¯zeze or Lo¡¯Kar¡¯s old age, we¡¯d be around the size of a shorter Giant, and there was an even slower rate for Rexs. This would let our brains grow and we would not end up losing memories or going completely insane, and I was quite proud of myself for it. I have to say that as much as my parents try to deny it, they both snore horribly. That was fine with me, it let me check the instruments and see that they were meshing well with their implants without risking waking them up.


    Since they were doing well, I moved on, flying down a hall, through a ventilation duct, and into the lower levels. There I nearly got kicked out of the air as I flew into Miss Li¡¯s practice session, and didn¡¯t even flinch this time when she hooked me with her fluffy foot and brought me around to her hand, then back into the air on the other side of her. I dove for the floor to dodge a flying Spot, not the human, one of the twins, who¡¯d been hurled by his brother. I liked the martial arts, but I was a blur. Aside from calming and meditation, it wasn''t useful for me. The scary thing was that the rats were studying ninjutsu of some sort, especially since some of them were tanks. I¡¯d edited their genes to cure that constant tooth growth issue, same as we bunnies had, but they still chewed on things. Some instincts are harder to break than others.


    The Lo¡¯Kar had been very nice and installed vents into many rooms that activated when I got close. So as I flew down the hall, I slipped around a corner, through a vent, and went into Miss Jira¡¯s room. Amazingly it didn¡¯t burn the fur from my flesh when I flew into the room, and found her in her human form. She was in her heating vest and shorts doing some sort of handstand pushups in the center of the room. I landed on her left foot softly as a feather and checked her pulse by touching her hallux, and found it strong and calm as always. ¡°How are you feeling?¡± I asked curiously in chitter, knowing her new implants would translate.


    She did another pushup before speaking in the raspy voice she had, the humans called it a three pack a day voice. ¡°Like I have a friendly ball of fur tickling my foot and playing with my toes¡­¡± Her English was better pronounced than Uncle Fluffy¡¯s and some of the other native English speakers. She was also a former agent for a large organized crime group of some sort.


    ¡°I can¡¯t exactly check your neck, it¡¯s a good enough place to check your pulse, and I¡¯m not going to be getting my implants till all of you are done and we know that none of you will need an emergency tweak.¡± I chittered as I moved to her heel to glide down to her bed.


    She huffed and flipped herself forward from one last pushup, landing almost silently on her bare feet. ¡°Dorothy told me that you four are last because Adam is running extra simulations for you. Even your parents went in line before you, but they aren¡¯t the heads of development for their fields in the Order¡­aside from your mother.¡± She gave a soft smile as she leaned her tall form down to grab a bottle.


    I rolled my eyes and twitched an ear before I chittered again. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me, and mom is the First Mother¡­and the one handling all of the cooking classes.¡±


    ¡°Linguistics is what I meant, Albert. She can actually speak Lo¡¯Kar and Ca¡¯zeze, I¡¯m not sure she¡¯s mastered the Rodu language yet, not that many of them speak to me.¡± She started to do those odd stretches and body bends that humans liked to torture themselves with. The best term for her body type is densely muscled much like Uncle Fluffy, who¡¯d called her an amazon I think. Roughly seven feet tall, smaller fat reserves on her chest, thick dense muscle, and absolutely stank of predator. She also had short cropped thick stiff hair on her head that looked more like bristles on a brush than human hair.


    ¡°You smell of nothing but a predator, just like Uncle Fluffy, and Miss Li, though they don¡¯t have your tendency to bite people that annoy them. They¡¯re also not venomous like someone I know, and don¡¯t look at me like that. I can say the hard truths¡­¡± I quickened my pulse and stopped the world around me, taking a stroll to a different spot on the bed. When I slowed my pulse, a shoe shot through where I¡¯d just been standing. ¡°Because like my sister Dorothy¡­you can¡¯t hurt me. I must admit that you¡¯re doing much better with your anger, you looked for something to throw instead of just lunging at me.¡±


    She growled at me, which wasn¡¯t like Uncle Fluffy¡¯s growl or even a Lo¡¯Kar, it was more like a deep rumbling clicking before a hiss. Then she closed her eyes and took a few slow deep breaths before starting back into her stretching, which was amazing considering she was so large. ¡°I¡¯m hungry, quite often actually, and everyone smells like food¡­¡±


    ¡°Cannibalism is usually a frowned upon act with most races that we talk to, especially humans. Would you like me to take another crack at seeing if I can adjust your dietary options? I did manage to tweak a few things and you won¡¯t be getting that itch again until you want to.¡± I watched as she relaxed her posture at those words. ¡°And, I checked, you have no risk of having to lay eggs. Normal mammalian live births for you.¡±


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    Jira was oddly bent in a normally impossible way for a human, standing on one foot, other leg raised behind her, and leaned up hugging that leg against her back. ¡°Thank you, the twitch of a heat cycle was worrisome and I had to bite Yinyang to chase him from my quarters when I realized what it was.¡±


    ¡°Part of the implants is a control system that will let your hormones flow, but pause your cycle for the most part. We¡¯re going to be making it standard for all human implants, you or any female can come into medical and get it disabled to start your cycle back up. Whether you or a more normal human, the hormone rush will end quickly in pregnancy.¡± I chittered and watched as she bent into different odd shapes.


    ¡°Good, since there isn¡¯t much sense in actively continuing the old business here, I think when things calm, I might like a child or two. I do hope that you¡¯ll be giving Lady Thunder a set like this after her pregnancy, else I¡¯ll never get to properly spar with her.¡± She slowly moved to a more normal standing position and slipped down into a lotus. ¡°When are we getting our suits? Dorothy said that we had to get implants for us to control them properly, I have my implants now, so does Li.¡± Her slightly forked tongue flicked the air and then she promptly snapped her jaws shut and bit it, apparently still fighting that unwanted instinct.


    I chittered and moved to the tablet laying on her bed, punching some things into it, then nodding. ¡°I¡¯ve just ordered you a heavy lunch and one of those big batons that Uncle Fluffy likes to poke himself with. I think the others call them cattle prods?¡± I waved a paw. ¡°Part of your hunger is your body trying to keep up with the demand for energy.¡± I wiggled my ears when she wanted to speak over me. ¡°No no, we¡¯ve tested this. The lot of you burn stored energy from the caltunium in your systems first, then fats and muscle. You¡¯ve lost weight, you¡¯re not keeping enough of a charge for when you change.¡±


    ¡°Very well, I will start using those things. I haven¡¯t due to personal issues¡­¡±


    I chittered and cut her off. ¡°You haven¡¯t used them because you¡¯ve had them used on you in the past as a means of torture and punishment within the Tong.¡± My translated words were firm as I chittered. ¡°Now, you could bite one of the main power junctions used to charge the vehicles and you¡¯d at most twitch, maybe get shoved back. The worst that will happen in that case is that your implants might need to reboot and you¡¯ll glow for a good while. Miss Jira, you are not my person, you are my sister¡¯s claimed person, and as such I wish for you to be healthy and long lived. That requires you taking care of yourself.¡±


    She simply watched me for a long moment and nodded. ¡°I used to eat rabbits as a food source, and now I¡¯m basically a giant iguana pet for a rabbit¡­¡± Her hands moved and rubbed at her face. ¡°Do you know how strange that is? Not to mention the other things, aliens, the mimics, turning into a monster¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t even twitch at the mention of her having eaten rabbits, instead I shrugged. ¡°Think about how I and my family feel¡­aside from mom. We¡¯re tiny, sure we¡¯re fast¡­but we can go maybe a click without stopping for food, less for water. There are predators all over, many of our humans smell like predators, some of you are predators. I have thousands of years of instinct I have to fight on a daily basis to not end up hiding in a hole. I also don¡¯t like the taste and texture mix of humans, the texture of one meat, but the taste of another¡­and it¡¯s so tainted by what you eat¡­don¡¯t look at me like that.¡± I chittered as she got mildly slack jawed. ¡°Some of us wanted to know and we cooked up a few of the ones that mom and dad put down.¡±


    ¡°You really view us as pets, don¡¯t you?¡± She asked flatly.


    ¡°Yes, but not like how humans view most pets. More like your race first bonded with large dogs or wolves in its past. We can¡¯t survive here without you, and we help you, you help us. Many of us have found damaged or broken humans that we¡¯ve claimed, some have found humans that are perfectly fine and made friends, and a few have befriended and claimed our alien friends here.¡± I waved a paw around at the oddly smooth walls. ¡°We¡¯re not like cats, which you humans have served for millennia.¡±


    She was taking a moment to think on that when the door opened and a Ca¡¯zeze female with white fur flecked with black walked into the room with a tray. A small plate was taken from it and the tray handed to Jira, who dug into the freshly cooked meats and fish hungrily. The female set down the small plate beside me, then turned back for the door without a word. Jira didn¡¯t even notice her produce a large cattle prod from her vest until it crackled loudly against her. A soft stiffening and then a relieved hissing sigh rumbled from her, followed by a belch as the Ca¡¯zeze walked out of the room.


    ¡°Better?¡± I asked as I sat at my plate and went to eating my salad, which of course had a helping of meat with it.


    Jira¡¯s teeth were basically a mass of fangs jutting up from her gums in much the way that komodo dragon teeth did, which was why she was eating with her hands, and ripping off sections of meat. It was chicken, we¡¯d grown several of them and they really didn¡¯t like being ridden, so back to a meat source for them. I managed not to flinch at the loud crack of her breaking bone in her mouth before she swallowed and spoke. ¡°Yes¡­you win Albert in Stein¡­¡± She gave me a soft smile, then remembered her food.


    I just huffed at her around a mouthful of greens and chicken, the latter was given to the Lo¡¯Kar to ease hunting needs. For some reason they did better processing chicken than red meat like our cattle. Jira earned herself a glare for citing my nickname, which I had to admit was the reason I¡¯d taken Stein as my last name. ¡°Steins are very comfortable for me to sleep in, but I¡¯m glad that you admitted that the voltage ingestion helped¡­¡± I almost had to dodge a chicken thigh, but hungry females tend not to like to waste food, so instead of throwing the raised food item, she ate it¡­.bones included.


    Humans as pets will be great, he said. We can grow with them and become our own race, he said. Humans are so warm and cuddly that we at most might have to look cute, he said. Yeah dad, right up until we have to deal with our home world¡¯s most evolved predators turning into monsters. Then it¡¯s calming them down, keeping them from chewing on the furniture and each other. Why did my little sister have to adopt the most angry one of them!?


    *************************


    A week later saw me and my siblings playing with our new implants and flicking lights on and off, machines, automated systems. Dorothy accidently let free a slightly unfinished AI that caused the Lo¡¯Kar to panic and shut down all of their systems for a few hours. Once she and the Lo¡¯Kar had Jackelope contained again inside of a non-networked system, things went back to moving along. I was still having to get used to being able to access and see data just by thinking about it, and we all learned a valuable lesson. Never scare Marie when she¡¯s focused on running a system¡¯s check on a new suit, said suit tends to spasm and break things, and I get yelled at. She was wide open though, it was worth it.


    Mom and dad were at the FOB with Thunder, who was checking in on the troops and of course the mining project that Arnold was in charge of. Of course that meant that one of the squads was with her as well. Which meant that I had to work with Uncle Fluffy solo, who was doing well enough with his implants. He¡¯d stopped using the built in com of it and randomly calling people at least, now if I could get him to stop trying to walk his suit around when he wasn¡¯t in it! And yelling at him didn¡¯t help! I was going to have to yell at someone about adding that function to the suits¡­Marie in particular.


    Jira was much more peaceful with regular voltage ingestion like Uncle Fluffy had, and her suit didn¡¯t have a thruster pack like mom¡¯s suit did. Instead of being able to fly, the suit had a pair of back firing thrusters. They could be used to jump the suit, but the main purpose went along with the tracks in the feet to let the suits charge. Uncle Fluffy of course had this same suit option since he was afraid of heights. Honestly, how can someone so tall be afraid of being higher up, double his height and he panicked. Jira though, used the thrusters to do things that made Marie panic, apparently the Mark Ten wasn¡¯t made to do jet assisted martial arts. She used a fifty caliber machine pistol and a trident with the suit


    Uncle Fluffy¡¯s suit had armored gatlings mounted to either forearm that fed from shoulder and back mounted packs. That was the primary reason his suit couldn¡¯t fly, it weighed more than mom¡¯s suit. There were also the twelve gauge revolvers and speed loader pouches on the suit¡¯s hips. There were also vents in the dome style helmet that he could breathe fire through, which was why his suit was a matte black. He referred to it as two tons of walking war crime, hence the addition of ¡°War Crime¡± and a red templar cross to the shoulder pauldrons.


    Miss Li, Spot, and Yinyang used heavily refitted mark tens. Yinyang and Spot had roughly the same suit, which was a shortened mark ten, and didn¡¯t have any set hardmounts. Instead Yinyang tended to use something called a meteor hammer and a fifty caliber pistol. Spot had done well with his therapies and used a laser cannon¡­and chains. Spot had already hog tied Uncle Fluffy with said chains, which were an alloy the Ca¡¯zeze were producing. Miss Li used that giant rifle she¡¯d stolen from Uncle Fluffy and a pair of tonfa. All three of their suits could fly, but Miss Li¡¯s was customized and had odd tail thrusters.


    That is why I was currently watching Jira and Li moving about the testing room seeming to be trying murder each other. Jira¡¯s suit had more servo power along with her innate strength, but Li¡¯s had speed and more thrusters. We had plans to upgrade them later to be able to be used while in their human forms, but currently they were stuck using them as their ¡°monster¡± forms. That is one reason why Li kept using her thrusters to blast herself in odd directions while the guys stood off to the side placing bets.


    Uncle Fluffy made a good spot to watch the two females fight from, his attention being on adjusting how his pistols sat. ¡°I can¡¯t believe he made me shotgun revolvers, and that I can use them in and out of this suit.¡± He said as he stood in front of it.


    ¡°Well he said that there are many different options for the shells that you can use, and that he was banned from making you a melee weapon by Thunder.¡± I chittered and winced as Jira punched Li out of the air. ¡°I owe you a hundred¡­¡± I trailed off as Li slammed into the floor.


    He snorted. ¡°Speed is wonderful aside from you blurs, if you can keep from getting hit, you¡¯re fine. As soon as the bruiser gets a solid hit though, it¡¯s over.¡± He wiggled his ears to warn me before he turned and clapped. ¡°Good match you two, check over your suits and get them loaded with ammunition.¡±


    ¡°Still going to do that patrol march?¡± I chittered curiously and hopped from his head to his shoulder.


    ¡°Yes

 Chapter 19, Patrols, Demon frogs, and flashbacks

    System of the Damned


    Chapter 19-Roderick


    Patrols, demon frogs, and flashbacks


    Prophet was in a tank regrowing his left leg from the thigh down, so I had to cover his duties with the help of Honey. Vehicle and equipment losses had been heavy, like the loss of both of our siege tanks, but it was the loss of people that had hurt us the most. Gunny Anderson had been killed along with the other crew in Kermit, while Miss Piggy¡¯s crew was nothing but ash after the fire. Nearly a full platoon worth of veterans and newer recruits were either in the tanks or being laid to rest. That was just the humans, the bunnies had lost sixteen in the attack, all but three of them were classed as civilian tradesmen.


    The Lo¡¯Kar lost the squad of pulsars that¡¯d been protecting my wife, giving their lives in the line of duty. The Ca¡¯zeze had lost three squads worth of people when they¡¯d tried to come and help, their forces had ended up mainly portalling into another trap. The crabs had apparently been watching us closely, far more closely than we¡¯d thought possible. With my existing memory issues and the possible issues that might cause for me in the future, I put in a call to Honey, who met me at the Skull. Almost all of our furniture had been moved to the house or the barracks that was being dug out, so that left us with most of the kaiju¡¯s brain cavity for my idea.


    Thankfully the Skull had been basically mined for its minerals and refilled with stone, so it was safe for myself and Omar Ayad (Honey) to get a catwalk setup. Two and a half stories worth of wall space, so we started at the upper level and I just didn¡¯t look down, nor did Omar try and make me look down. Instead he¡¯d brought a machine to make dog tags, and another to cut knife blanks. Every single death from our first battle during the storm now had a tag with name, rank or title, birth and death dates, and a gold alloy blade to hold it in place. The same went for every death since then from any of our battles or from accidents on colony projects. The only difference in the tags was a slight difference for race, which would make it easier for the others to find the names of their dead.


    I spent hours and hours using a hammer to gently tap in the alloy blades to hold the chains of the tags, and more hours walking back and forth reading the names. It wasn¡¯t until I felt a small weight on my shoulder and got a tap on the side of my head that I paid attention to my surroundings. The tap came from Xavier, who was wearing a coat since he was regrowing his fur after the mine battle. He hugged my face and motioned at the wall and hugged my face again, but this time for a long moment. There were sounds of work being done that echoed softly around the inside of the repurposed room, and once I got down to ground level I found various people building stairs up to the variously marked catwalk levels and smaller catwalks built for the bunnies. It wasn¡¯t just humans, but Rodu, who¡¯d also lost some in the last attack, Ca¡¯zeze, Lo¡¯Kar, Bunnies, even a Manti wrapped in leathers and furs.


    I got head nods, various salutes, two hugs, including one from a Rodu that picked me up in said hug. A short bit later I grabbed my coat and slipped it on, walking out into the cold morning air, which was lit like early morning. That was apparently thanks to something the Eda had done in placing something in the solar system to bounce focused light and heat to the planet we were currently on. It was focused mainly on the equator, so we only got residual light, but it was enough to take some of the bite out of the air. My attention was brought back to the present when Xavier finished getting comfy beside my neck inside my hood and spoke, er chittered as they call it. ¡°We need to talk about some things.¡±


    I let out a huff and held up a finger where he could see it, then dug around and got out a cigar, after I got a good puff off of it, and he got a hit, I spoke. ¡°The Order is multiracial, you need to talk to the Alliance as a race. You¡¯re bunnies in the same way that I¡¯m human, I am, but I¡¯m not at the same time. Are you ready for that step? It¡¯s a pain in the ass dealing with politics.¡±


    ¡°I deal with them, you, various races, your soldiers, the Order, my kids, the horde, and also lost most of my fur when I ejected from my suit to turn a crab to paste.¡± He chittered back and we both took another hit of calming smoke.


    ¡°Thanks for that, but what are you going to call yourselves?¡± I asked curiously as I walked carefully along the cleared path for my truck.


    ¡°Albert has coined the term Lagosapiens, since much of our initial enhanced dna was human. I think it¡¯s rather fitting, and Eir agreed.¡± He stole another hit. ¡°I¡¯m making her First of medical sciences, she¡¯s earned it.¡±


    ¡°She does good work, and I like the mix of the words. Lagosapiens.¡± My implants and his were able to translate at the speed of thought, so neither of us had to pause for translation anymore. It also meant I¡¯d been able to work through a command list and started the hydrogen engine that sat in the Warg now. No sense in needing to wait for the truck to warm up, and no one would say who¡¯d installed the engine. I had a feeling it was something Xavier had come up with, especially since I was one of the few that knew he was a gear head.


    Him being a gear head was the most likely reason that my truck had a track loaded in the back of it. ¡°I¡¯ve been working on that since I got the specs for my suit¡¯s size, I figured that since you had your truck, I could have a track.¡± He chittered calmly about the turbo and supercharged, sedan sized, armored assault track. They refused to call them tanks due to that being the term for their strong lot, even when I mentioned the term was taken from actual tanks.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re riding with me then, since it looks like it¡¯s latched into place as well.¡± I paused and gave him a little poke in my hood. ¡°Latched to tie down spots that appeared at the same time as the new motor¡­you did have that put in, didn¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°That was Piston, and he asked Thunder first to make sure that it was ok to do. She agreed and he installed it along with the enhanced transmission. It also has stronger winches than it used to have since someone asked to be able to drag a mark ten away from combat¡­Thunder to be exact.¡± Xavier waited until I got into the warmth of my truck and peaked out to sneak another hit from my cigar.


    The engine was based on a beefed up and over tuned diesel engine that had almost no electronics, which had been the brainchild of the giant Piston. He¡¯d worked with CPo Li Wei and the duo had been converting many of our vehicles to that with a battery backup. I just hadn¡¯t known that it had been asked of my wife, the speed demon. ¡°Are they still using liquid nitrogen for cooling?¡±


    ¡°The green flames are less about the cooling system and more about it being a pain in the ass to not end up with nitrogen mixed into the fuel. It also looks rather cool and the crabs do not like fire of any color, so we haven¡¯t fixed it for now. The tracks are still running rich as Piston put it, but that is now optional.¡± He chittered and shoved my hood off my head for me and hopped to strap himself in. Yes, my truck has seats for bunnies.


    ¡°How long are they estimating on refitting and repairing the tanks?¡± I asked as I started off down the road.


    ¡°Months most likely, especially on the one that had been set on fire. That is also without rearming them, that is just the general repair time. I¡¯ve been told that the fission power systems need to be pulled and redone. I¡¯ve been asked if they can scrap them.¡± I held my cigar over so he could take a hit and then took in a puff.


    After thinking for a long moment, I nodded. ¡°Approved, I know someone is no doubt working on a new design with the shiny new tech we have access to.¡± I took another puff as we took a corner much more sanely than my wife took them. ¡°Call it and its variations,The Anderson. In honor of the Gunny.¡±


    Xavier went silent for a moment with his eyes closed, then finally nodded. ¡°Done, I have also tasked the Order to begin digging new construction spaces for the new tanks. It will most likely be between the Jackalope production area and the colony.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°I gotta ask, what¡¯s with your people and making bigger and bigger things? I know there¡¯s a joke around about little guys with big trucks¡­.¡±


    ¡°Having tiny penises, and yes I do have a tiny penis, but I¡¯m tiny.¡± Xavier looked at me and arched his brow. ¡°What¡¯s your excuse?¡±


    ***********************


    Hours later I stood in front of my armor hugging my wife and nuzzling her. ¡°No beating anyone to death during this talk please. You or Lola¡­¡± I trailed off because Xavier and I had decided to let our wives go to the talks about the bunnies joining the Alliance.


    A few clicks left her and she batted my hands away from her swollen belly. ¡°I will make no promises about that for either of us¡­which is why you and Xavier asked us to go. Lola is loved and feared, and I am¡­¡±


    ¡°A hormonal hot potato?¡± I half asked and she didn¡¯t even punch me, instead she looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Mmmmm, potatoes¡­I want some of those¡­maybe with some¡­¡± I won¡¯t write down what she described, because pregnant women eat some weird things. They can also get some crazy cravings. ¡°Oh, and be careful on your patrol. I know you will be going into their territory and you haven¡¯t seen one of their herd animals yet. Don¡¯t leave your suits.¡± She poked me so I leaned down and we kissed before she left to go and be a diplomat.


    I might have forgotten to mention to her that Jackalope would be there with Dorothy, not at all as a possible emergency backup. I hadn¡¯t asked Dorothy or Jackalope to loiter close or be nosy, I didn¡¯t have to. Just me asking them to make sure that Thunder and Lola were safe would be enough to ensure the former would happen. Jackalope played twenty questions about everything, and let''s see you try and ignore the equivalent of a curious toddler when it can hack your com system. I¡¯ve tried, it doesn¡¯t fecking work. I¡¯m going to be raising a new word sponging child, I¡¯m trying to more creatively curse.


    On to the fun of my day though, the wife was off doing proper talky political things, and I was going to go on the ancient tradition of a patrol. A patrol is a wondrous thing, you go for a ride or more usually a rather long walk and look around. This usually makes enemy forces get the idea that it would be fun to attack you, and I¡¯d just recently been given this nice shiny sack of grenade rounds. So our plan was simple, go into the recently missile hit region and ¡°patrol¡± then when the enemy forces attack, we kill them.


    ¡°You¡¯re wanting us to go on a long hike through the snow, in recently bombed areas, and see if the crabs are pissy enough to attack us?¡± Miss Li asked in better pronounced English than I could do with a maw. Her suit was still marred from the mine-fight, though I noticed she had more ammo pouches strapped to it than before.


    ¡°That is the idea behind a patrol, we are going to be taking a nice long hike, checking things out, and killing anything with more than two legs that tries to pick a fight.¡± I moved to climb into my suit, the chest and head lowering down to latch and seal over me. ¡°


    Yinyang and Jira were helping around the FOB and the major issue of securing the tunnel the enemy used, so it was Spot that went into a string of Mandarin curses and not Jira. I just smiled as it went on for a good minute as he climbed into his suit. ¡°And you¡¯re going to stick me with those two insane twins again, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re very good at using your chains to bind up the crabs¡­¡± I trailed off as two Mark Eight suits walked in, which were heavily armored mining suits. The addition of a grenade launcher to the shoulder of either suit was new though. One had the mk nineteen launcher on the left shoulder, while the other had it on the right shoulder, both having nice big ammunition boxes on their backs. ¡°We were just speaking about you two¡­are those chainsaws?!¡±


    The duo held up the respective arms of their suits that ended in nasty looking chainsaws, revving them up to a high pitch scream. ¡°Burrow Saws!¡± Boomed the twins as they moved to take up position on either side of Spot, who gave a thumbs up. His own laser cannon was mounted to his left shoulder.


    ¡°You three are going to be point team, Li is overwatch.¡± I said firmly, or in my ¡°sergeant¡¯s voice¡± as Evans called it. ¡°I¡¯ll be in the middle of the team with¡­¡±


    ¡°Me¡­¡± Sounded with a gentle tone from a Mark Nine that stepped out of a portal with a wrapped¡­something. It was much like Xavier¡¯s suit, except this one had a portal staff¡­well the big gem of one mounted to its shoulder in an armored mount. The helmet¡¯s face was lifted up showing a Lo¡¯Kar female with more swirl patterns in her flesh than usual. ¡°You may call me Echo¡­that is my team name as you humans call them. I am a hunter and first wife of Squall.¡± The ¡°hunter¡± part showed in the fact that her suit carried no ranged weapons, well if you didn¡¯t count the bushel of spears hung from the back.


    I nodded to her. ¡°Echo is going to be our evacuation and reinforcement caller. Keep her covered and safe¡­¡±


    ¡°This is for you from my husband¡­¡± She said as she moved to me, her suit unwrapping the hide and leathers from¡­my gods. It was beautiful. It was an ax much like a brush ax, but the handle was some sort of alloy and bone. ¡°It was his father¡¯s boarding weapon, the bone is from what you might call a shark from our home world. Since you are now the next lord in line¡­.¡± She pulsed out a squeak as my suit picked hers up in a hug.


    ***************************************


    Five hours later we were miles out from the FOB trudging through the knee deep snow, the Spots were about fifty paces ahead of me. Echo was two paces behind me, and Li was about fifteen paces back¡­and was up in the trees. We¡¯d run across small groups of crabs twice already and had dealt with them. Those burrow saws were some sort of caltunium, diamond, and alloy mix that glowed nice and bright as it sawed into a crab¡¯s shell.


    ¡°Canyon up ahead, looks like the missile really messed things up.¡± Spot called back on the com.


    ¡°Send a feed.¡± I called back and after a second I was looking through his helmet feed as he looked out over the blast zone of the first missile. Frozen ponds of ice were meshed with shattered trees strewn across the landscape. There were also the broken husks of crabs and the odd organic weapons they used. The troubling part was the signs of recent movement that had to have happened after the strike. ¡°Even with the damage, that is defensible¡­look on the east side. The hell is that moving over there?¡±


    The view shifted to the side and slowly zoomed in on¡­shit whatever it was moved back behind rubble. ¡°Permission to poke it?¡± Spot asked curiously.


    ¡°Left and Right, five rounds around that area.¡± I could hear the ¡°thump thump thump¡± of their mk nineteens and noticed Echo looking over at me, so I held up four fingers, then three, then two, then the thuds of the rounds hitting reached us. ¡°Report.¡±


    ¡°The fuck are those?¡± Came from Li on the com as I got fed her view¡­from the tree to my right, hadn¡¯t even heard her hop to it. The view though¡­


    ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± Was all I said as I tried to process what I was seeing, it was a horde¡­herd maybe? But the animals or whatever the hell those were, were hopping around in an angry mass that were moving more into the open.


    ¡°Let me see.¡± Echo said calmly and after a moment I heard a string of familiar Lo¡¯Kar curses. ¡°Rika! Major, we need to call in heavy fire if a herd of them is here. They are very dangerous creatures.¡± She sounded worried, which made me think for a moment.


    ¡°Li¡­shoot one of them, use a phosphorus round.¡± I said firmly and watched from her view as she switched rounds, took aim, and fired. The thud of sound was reduced quite a bit by that massive suppressor she had, but I saw several of the creatures turn our way. ¡°Oh¡­shit¡­¡± The one she¡¯d shot was knocked over onto its back flailing as the round set it on fire. It didn¡¯t kill it, instead I saw the view zoom into onto the most unholy frog I¡¯d ever seen.


    ¡°Oh, fuck this planet.¡± Came from Spot as we all got to see a close up view of¡­ok. Take a toad, now take a handful of scales and some fur for giggles and glue it all over it while snorting cocaine. Now glue a wide beak onto it and stuff its mouth full of sewing needles, and finally¡­make it the size of a small car. Then feed it a bunch of pcp and hate, and take a bucket of about four hundred of them and shake it to piss em off, then pour them out. That is what we got to see pouring out of the canyon¡¯s half a click wide mouth¡­at us.


    ¡°Forward! Move up in line with the Spots!¡± I barked out and rushed forward, raising my suit¡¯s arms as I got in line with them. Echo grabbed the grenade round bag from my suit along with one of my pistols. ¡°Fire for effect! Fire for Effect! Fire for Effect!¡± I snarled out as both Left and Right Spots launchers snapped up and started to chug out rounds.


    ¡°We need help!¡± Came from Li as her suppressor landed behind me, the air suddenly being filled with the blast of her rifle firing.


    As it got very bright from Spot firing his laser cannon into the leading edge of the tide, I flicked on my com to the FOB. ¡°Calling for fire support forward of my position! We have a Rika herd incoming!¡± Another big flash of light since the laser cannon had a cooling cycle.


    ¡°The hell is a rika?¡± Came back over the com.


    ¡°Oh a demonic toad the size of a fucking car. I need your guns to be firing soldier!¡± I snapped back.


    ¡°One five five incoming!¡± Luckily we¡¯d managed to save the artillery and I¡¯d ordered them manned at all times since the surprise attack. Aside from one really unlucky crab that got fed a one hundred and fifty five millimeter shell at point blank range, they¡¯d not been used in that fight.


    Spent casings rained down from my suit¡¯s arm weapons, from the tree behind me, and were piling up around the Spots as their launchers ran dry. ¡°Echo! Second level reinforcements!¡± I barked out, and yes literally barked. Ha ha, he¡¯s a big dog¡­go feck yourself.


    She sprinted back from the short line and I got to hear her com call. ¡°Level two reinforcements needed. Opening portal!¡± Two hundred meters was the closest demon frog, and even with the scream of shells coming in, the Spots bombardment, my fire, and Li shooting them in the face¡­there were a lot of them. In other words¡­we¡¯d just pissed in a very angry pond.


    And then the Spots and I¡­got run over¡­from behind. Xavier had been in charge of reinforcements and apparently level two, the ¡°oh shit¡± middle answer was assault tracks. The second track to run over me got ramped into the air as I shoved myself off the ground, drawing up my remaining revolver and my new ax.


    The not that bright day was lit up rather well as two shuttles erupted out of portals, and was that my damned truck! Yep, that was my truck with Lola¡¯s armor standing in the back and gatling cannon firing at the mouth of the canyon. I just stopped and zoomed in on the cab of my truck as it ran into a crab that had been in the mix of Rika, getting to see Johnson driving. Ok, it wasn¡¯t Thunder.


    There were crabs in this herd of Rika though and shells were flying past me from the revolver Echo had borrowed, my arm lifting up my remaining one to fire shells into the horrors twenty meters off. The legs and torso of my suit locked in place as the ammo bins were opened on it, I barely heard the rattle of shells being fed into the system. Two more mark eights moved up and started loading belts of grenades into the Spots suits.


    A wrench thunked my helmet as my suit unlocked, letting me step forward as I holstered my empty revolver. ¡°Hold the line!¡± I roared as suits, tracks, and that damned mecha formed around me. Flashes of light flared around me and the world shifted, the claws started to te