Planets of War
Proxima Centauri region. 46 standard years ago.
Deep in space, the starship Shine, a small grey and red Black Arms fighter, was traveling through space. Traveling at an alarming rate pursued by a much larger ship. The Shrine was taking heavy damage as the larger ship pounded it with a barrage of cannons.
In its cockpit, a light green fox was wrestling with the ship's controls, attempting to get it back on course. The fox was female, with her hair tied back in a ponytail reaching down to her tail. Her face looked young, as did her body, and beautiful beyond description. She wore a skintight suit, over which she'd draped a synthetic jacket. Despite her efforts, the ship continued to slow, and the larger battleship gained on them.
"Mercury!" she yelled behind her. A second figure came into the cockpit. It was a male cat, grey furred with a similar suit, except his was covered by a black cloak. His boots made a distinct metal clink on the floor, as if the sole was made of metal. "We can't shake them! Jupiter's got to us too quick after we made the jump." The cat, Mercury, groaned.
"4 light years out, we're so close!" he looked over at the control panel. "Can we make another jump yet?" Another direct hit rocked the ship, nearly knocking the two animals over. The fox grabbed hold of her seat to steady herself.
"I don't think the Shrine is ever going to make another jump!" She pointed to a readout of the ship's engines. "We've lost nearly all our fuel and two of the back thrusters." She sighed. "We're either going to have to fight, or flee." Mercury shook his head.
"Venus, neither of those are options! Jupiter aboard that destroyer and who know how many spawn. The only way to flee is in the escape pods, and they'll take too long to reach Earth." He banged his fist against the wall. "We've lost!" Suddenly one of the video screens on the windscreen lit up. On it was the face of a red and orange eagle.
"Starship Shrine, stop any attempts to escape or prepare to be boarded." The eagle said bluntly.
"Let's think, no!" Mercury retorted. The eagle appeared to sigh.
"Mercury, Venus, please don't do this. I don't want to destroy my own brother and sister, so just hand yourself over and return the control system. I promise I won't hurt you."
"Jupiter, please listen to us!" Venus pleaded. "You can't let Black Doom get this controller! It will condemn an entire planet to hell. We can't let that happen, can you." The eagle sighed again, putting his head in one hand.
"Another's life is not worth more than mine, and that should be how you see yours. Black Doom kills any who disobey him, even you. So you are refusing to surrender? Very well, prepare to be boarded."
"No, wait…" Venus said, but Jupiter cut the connection. The fox slumped in her seat. "I guess that settles it. We're on our own and screwed," she turned to Mercury, who was staring out into the stars. "I hope you know what you're doing." Mercury looked down, pulling his hood over his face to hide his face.
"I've lost my family today, and I've caused you to lose yours as well." He stopped for a second, unable to go on. After a second he composed himself. "You shouldn't have followed me. Tell Jupiter I forced you to help, he may…"
"No you don't!" Venus cut him off. "We're in this together, no matter what happens!" There was the sound of shrieking metal from the cabin behind them.
"Looks like they're here." The two moved from the cockpit into the main cabin. Compared to the cramped cockpit, the main cabin was very open. Corridors led off to the sleeping quarters and the engine compartment. To one side was a one man escape pod.
The roof was glowing red as the metal was cut through by a laser. The two figures waited under it, not acting to stop it, as they knew it was impossible. The roof turned from red to white as the heat increased. Venus turned to her companion.
"Mercury, there's something I have to tell you."
"What is…mmmff?!" the cat's remark was smothered as Venus kissed him under his hood. Mercury was stunned, and Venus pressed him against the wall, kissing him more passionately. Her hands fumbled on a button on the wall, finally typing the release code. The door behind Mercury opened and Venus pushed him into the escape pod. Mercury stumbled back and landed on the floor. The green fox threw something into the pod beside him. It resembled a TV controller, but with many more buttons on both sides. A small screen with the glowing outline of a hedgehog took up half of the item top.
"What are you doing?!" Mercury yelled as he tried to right himself. Parts of the cabin's roof were beginning to collapse under the heat.
"I'm sorry Mercury." Venus whispered.
"No!" Mercury tried to jump out of the pod, but Venus waved her hand in his direction. Instantly, the metallic grey cat was thrown back by an increase in the air pressure on his body. The pressure remained, like a block of lead weighing down on his body, preventing him from rising. Venus tapped a few keys on the pod's navigator. "Please don't do this, Venus," Mercury pleaded. "Please!"
"We have to stop from getting that controller and destroying that planet. If that means I lose my life, so be it." She couldn't meet Mercury's desperate gaze. "The chamber can only support one life." She hit the last button and the escape pods door shut. Mercury dived at the door, trying to pry it open with his claws. Venus smiled through the one glass window. "I love you." Then the pod ejected, throwing it's precious cargo out at one tenth the speed of light.
At the same moment as Mercury's pod left the Shrine, the cabin's roof collapsed and the first of the boarders came in. Venus swung round, bringing her hand up as instinct at the first three spawn came through the hole. They were hulking red and black beasts, head and shoulders taller than the fox, with bulging muscles and little brain. Each was armed with a standard Black Arms laser.
Using her powers over heat and pressure, Venus sent two of the intruders into the wall hard enough to knock a bull spawn senseless. The last was hit by a scorching heat wave, so hot it's brain shut down as a general defense mechanism. Two more grunts tried to get down, but as they did they began to float. Reduced pressure had made them near weightless. It took a few seconds for them to adjust, and in that few seconds they were hit by Venus' fists and feet, knocking them beyond recovery.
"Come on Jupiter!" she called angrily up the hole. "Come down here and fight me like a man!" In answer, a rusty red wolf came down, dodging Venus' first attempts to attack him. The wolf was only a bit taller than Mercury, but much more muscular. His suit, identical to Mercury and Venus' was torn to show his strong upper body. An energy sword was strapped to his back and two hunting knives hung off a belt.
"Hello Venus," the wolf said, grinning to show a row of razor sharp teeth.
"I expected better of you Mars," Venus said. "You let the grunts come down first." The fox moved as Mars lunged at her again.
"Boss' orders," Mars told her. "Didn't want to lose his best troop first." He feinted, then struck to her right. Venus predicted this and dodged again, this time sending a heat wave towards him. The attack connected and the canine roared in pain. "You little…" Mars snarled. He pulled the energy sword off his back and held it like a giant toy. It began to ripple with electricity running along its edge. "Now where's mini Merc? I've been looking forward to kicking old metal man's ass. Come on, where is he?" Venus smiled and pointed to the empty escape pod bay.
"Him and the controller's gone," she said, smiling at the look of shock on Mars' face. "Guess who have to report to Black Doom that it's gone."
"Rhaargh!" Mars screamed in rage. He charged recklessly at the green fox. Venus sidestepped the wolf, and then slammed her palm into the side of his head. Her strength combined with her power of pressure, created enough force to send Mars off his feet and cart wheeling into the wall. Hard.
"Is
this the best you can do?" she mocked. "Honestly, I might have
well kept the controller with me."
"It's gone?!" a voice
boomed. Venus spun to face the new voice. A giant eagle, red and
orange streaked feathers with gold eyes, floated down slowly from the
above ship. He was at least a head taller then the average spawn,
literally towering over Venus like a skyscraper. Like the other, he
wore a black skintight suit, but on that were pinned many medals. His
gloves and were metal and his long boots were of the same material.
Sparks seemed between to fly between his fingers. Round his neck was
a chain of different symbols.
The eagle landed and began to walk slowly towards Venus. Automatically, Venus began to back away out of fear. "Where is the controller Venus?!" he boomed. His voice sounded somewhere between the sudden crack of thunder and the steady roll of a drum.
"You'll never find it Jupiter." Venus spat. "It's long gone by now, and with Mercury guarding it you'll never get it back." Jupiter raised his hand. Venus tried to dive away, but she was too slow. Bolts of lightning moved from the Jupiter's hand across the cabin into the fox's body. She snapped upright, all her muscles spasming as the current passed through her body. As it left her she fell limp to the floor, her body exhausted.
Jupiter walked over to her unconscious form, giving Mars a kick as he passed. The wolf moaned slightly, but didn't stir. "Oh get up you useless excuse for a soldier," he said to Mars. He looked down at Venus. "Sister, what did he do to merit such trust from you?"
Far from the Shrine and it's captive, Mercury continued to pound on the door even though he knew it was hopeless. He mind couldn't compute what had just happened, what Venus had done to him.
"Why?" he whimpered. "Why are you doing this to me, Venus?" His mind began to cloud over as the cryogenics used to save those who had to use the escape pods kicked in. His cloak swirling around him, the grey cat fell to ground. His last thought before his mind stopped was of his target, Doom's son, Shadow.