A/N: Well this was a hassle, been killing myself at work all week and this chapter just kept going and going and going. Well we're quickly approaching the end of this one, but, you know how often things get worse before they can get any better. Thanks again for all the support and such.

The footsteps in the darkness ~ SkullFox

Where We Stand...

There had rarely been a reason for guards to be stationed outside of the Council Chambers on Corneria, most of the time deliberations lasted very little time which meant they rarely hard reason to shut the doors. When deliberations reached a standstill the council would be locked inside the chamber until an agreement of the majority could be made. The longest this had ever taken was a three week stent in which the Council had taken in order to determine the act of declaring war against Venom some years back, now they were approaching a new higher level of deliberation but, recent thoughts had brought a curious black fox to the doorway, with two others in tow; an equally onyx furred rabbit to his left, and their younger daughter to his right, each of them armed and ready to storm the building if necessary. The building was one that most people only ever saw on the news, though Dravyn had seen it several times in his short life, and this time was no different. It was not a large building on the outside, but he knew it pushed down several floors underground where facilities were in place for the councilmen to stay if they needed to. It was generally the size of a small, two story courthouse hidden near the center of the city, squat in between several military buildings, it was tall and white mostly made to resemble marble of some kind, with large pillars in the front, high vaulted windows in between each of the standing pillars, and a large metal door, designed in the image of an old wooden double door. It was clearly meant to resemble a traditional courthouse from back in the day, but was not. Sort of an illusion of the long gotten past of the city if nothing else. As the two guards stepped into their paths at the top of the stairs that led to the door, Dravyn drew his sword and narrowed his eyes, the General had already given the word that the system was now under constraints of martial law which meant the two of them were clearly not working for the military anymore. Dravyn shook his head as he put his sword away he brought his little trio to a halt causing the two at the peak to smile cockily at them, however, that much seemed to change as he turned to his mate and gave the lapin a gentle nod. The vivacious rabbit brushed back her long black hair before sauntering up several steps causing Dravyn to gently tap Sierra with his elbow...

"Watch this."

The young hybrid cocked her head to one side watching as her mother took several long strides up the stairs, she swayed her hips almost seductively, swinging one of her long shapely legs far in front of the other as she did so. The two guards seemed to be at a loss for words or even actions for a moment, however, everything descended into frantic action once Angle's right heel fell for the sixth step; with a sudden burst of speed and agility that was difficult to track. Angle shot from one side of the steps to the other in a zigzag pattern each of her steps suddenly a leap of incredible distance and fluidity, the two guards opened fire with their rifles but, in the instant they would take aim their target would no longer be there. Suddenly in a flash of unseen steel the barrels of the two rifles clattered down the steps, and a spray of crimson shot into the air as massive wounds opened in their chests at the same time. The tossed and spun as their legs seemed to buckle at horrific angles, and one of their severed arms even flipped through the air as their bodies finally fell to the ground rolling down the stairs before getting caught up in their own lifeless limbs and coming to a halt. Standing at the top of the stairs Angel shook her head causing a bit of blood to be loosed from her raven locks, from her left forearm arching out over her fist a segmented, fan-like blade hummed as it seemed to shed blood in all directions. In an instant the blade seemed to retract, it's motion flinging more of the crimson liquid about the area. Sierra had known about her mother's false arm but, had rarely heard or seen anything of the blade, she was however still stunned at what she'd witnessed, not only was she not aware of how quickly Angle could move, she'd never really even seen the blows that had ended the two fake soldiers. Dravyn quickly made his way up the steps, though still limping as he always had so long as Sierra had known him yet, as he approached the doors he allowed all forms of manners to go out the window, he simply strode up to the door and placed his hand on it. A few moments passed and a large, oval space just taller than he was began to turn red and produce a deft glow as it grew hotter and hotter, the wave of heat caused Angel to step away as the metal of the door slowly began to change color as it seemed to well up on itself like melting butter as it sloshed to the ground at Dravyn's feet. Soon there was a massive hole in the door and a puddle of rapidly cooling liquid metal on the steps, finding other ways inside would have been no use, the doors only opened from the inside now it had no choice.

The wind that seemed to blow from inside the building caused Angel and Sierra to cover their noses, the rancid smell was something they were all familiar with, it was the putrid, septic smell of rotting flesh. The three rushed in passed the hall that led to the main floor, a circular room; along it's walls a desk circled the room, another just up and behind it and another behind that. It was a three tiered desk each space along it's long circumference housing a single grinning corpse, so gaunt and old that the flesh barely clung to their bones giving them all the fetid appearance of the walking dead. They all stood there mouths agape at the sight, most of them seemed to have burns or bullet wounds, some had been impaled with some implement or other, at the highest seat of all of them, the Cornerian councilman sat, his head turned a full 180 atop his neck. How long had they been in the chamber, guarded by individuals that were either brainwashed or under some form of mind control? It had to be somewhere between one and two months for such a smell to be locked into the chambers. He looked about for any ideals of what was going on...

"Wait," He paused opening up his communicator, "General are you there?"

Peppy's voice was somewhat broken, "What's going on over there Dravyn?"

"Peppy they're dead," Dravyn replied, "all of 'em. When was the most recent order sent out from the council chamber?"

"Two days ago."

Dravyn shook his head as he examined the room again, "These people have been dead for at least a month. What was that last order given?"

Dravyn's eyes went wide as he heard it, "Full coverage of Titanian aerospace."

Dravyn thought for a moment as he stood by, "Did any of these Councilmen know about Fox's little project?"

"I suppose Donnovan Telliari may have, he did have a fairly large financial hand in the pot when the Colletta was being built," Peppy replied, "but I don't see why that would..."

"Peppy, I need you to get me a full report of all the local commands issued from this council chamber in the last two months," Dravyn said as he waved for the two ladies in the room to fallow him, "I'm headed for Sauria. I have a bad feeling about all of this, and I hope they're wrong."

Unknown Space

Unknown time

Fox brushed his fur off he'd been wandering for what felt like forever; he did not recognize the landscape, there had been nobody around either; for all his figuring there was nothing about but him, and a dull, warm, mid-summer heat. At least it would have been had he found himself on Corneria, which he was certain he was not. The land was barren and dry in places, and yet others felt like patches of cool wet forest, others yet, felt like small, wonderful plains covered in light grass and wildflowers. When he approached certain areas he found himself wishing that Krystal had been there to share it with but, something bothered him more than anything as he examined his surroundings. It was the sky over the strange land, the dense black voids of space lingered about with infinite stars visible throughout the backdrop, while a pair of moons, one massive and imposing taking up a large portion of the horizon, while the other was small and was dwarfed by the larger in comparison. He continued along his way only until a strange figure appeared far in the distance near the boarders of what looked like a jungle of some sort. He'd been amazed by the looks of the world and the huge variety of ecosystems he'd seen so far. The figure in the distance beckoned him with a waving arm before he finally wandered close enough to make out a detail of the man's appearance. It was a fox, and not just A fox, but, a Cerinian of all things. He was tall, much taller than Krystal who had been his only real standard for Cerinian physique at this point. Like Falco had always been this individual was rather tall, ever so much taller than Fox himself, and his appearance was that of a muscular but not very physically intimidating specimen. He wore a garb similar to what Krystal had when they'd first met; a simple cloth sheet over his loins, a pair of golden manacles, a pair of anklets and sandles, while a familiar jeweled diadem rested on his forehead, the blue of his fur was nearly the same shade as Krystal's but, rather than a patch of white down his front, he was covered in leopard-like spots of white from head to toe. He made an odd gesture however placing a hand over his hear before extending the same arm out to his side almost in a standing wave...

"Interesting mind you have here friend."

Fox took a moment to look around, "Wow maybe this is what I'm so confused lately."

The stranger chuckled before nodding somewhat, "Yes, a mind in turmoil can be a confusing place even to it's rightful owner," He pointed out, "tell me, who are you that I would be brought to your mind? I do not recall having met you in my previous life. That you have memory of me would be a far flung fact indeed."

Fox thought for a moment at the strange Cerinian's mode of speech it was odd, as if the individual had been gone away from the physical world for what would have been ages, "It's nice to meet a friendly face, in my dreams I guess but, Krystal is still the only real Cerinian I've met."

The individual blinked as he seemed to recognize something, "Krystal?" He asked with genuine intrigue, "tell me, is this Krystal a rather attractive young female, with a large patch of white stretching from her forehead all the way down her middle?"

Fox nodded as he stood there, "You...know her?"

"Know her?" The stranger chuckled, "I am her mother's father. Still I find it odd that I would appear here for you rather than she. Now tell me who are you?"

"Well," Fox shrugged his shoulders, "I am …...her husband," The Cerinian cocked his head at the word causing Fox to stammer, "um...mate?"

The stranger cocked his head from one side to the other, "Odd, you do not look like the fellow I have been watching these short few years. He was a red furred warrior from a far away world...not a...well, rather burly Cerinian but, one of ours nonetheless."

Fox held out a hand in protest but, before he could reject the words the blue fur of his arms took him by utter surprise. Rather than the rusty red he'd known his entire life, he was looking at white hands which gave in to fur just as blue as the stranger across from him. His entire body was covered in a layer of deep blue, only just shades different than that of his beautiful young wife's. The real difference was the starburst of white at the center of his chest that outstretched a white line of fur along his arms and legs, terminating in white socks, while a fifth stretched up, ending in a white ring around his neck, the only out of place white bit remaining the strip of hair atop his head, which he could not directly see at the time. Fox continued to study the state of his being as he pondered the situation until something he recalled hearing from Slippy before entering the strange tank that was meant to save his life had said. The short term effects could be fairly easitly recovered from but, the long term effects could only be guessed upon. Could it really have changed him on such a radical level? To the very day, genetic engineering was one thing, but this would be the first time anyone had ever had their DNA completely rewritten. Suddenly something he'd failed to directly notice caught his attention. Mother's father...he blinked in sudden realization to the severity of what this individual was telling him and snapped to a form of attention...

Wait!" He shouted, "grandfather? And what did you mean by watching me?"

The stranger nearly doubled over laughing, "Yes!" He shouted through his laughter, "I no longer doubt that you are indeed the one who has bonded with my little Sapphire," His face suddenly turned very stern, "then I wish you to not hesitate with what I have to tell you. Come...let us walk together. There is much we must discuss."

Fox followed after him as he was instructed, as the strange Cerinian walked in front of him, his hands held together behind his back, "I...um..." He interrupted as they walked, "...sir?"

Again the old Cerinian chuckled, "Forgive me child..." He sighed looking toward the starry sky of Fox's mind, "...when living as no more than a singularity of conscious thought, names tend to...slip..." He chuckled a bit harder as he looked to Fox, "...I am Tallis. As you would say I am, or was...Krystal's grandfather."

"Fox McCloud," Fox smiled extending a hand to the old Cerinian, "this is an odd meeting but, it's a pleasure sir."

Fox was surprised to have the, fairly large, tall individual pull him into a rather forceful hug, pattin ghis back as he did so, "Such formalities never need be placed for one who has put so many smile on Krystal's face," He said this before pushing Fox out to arm's length, "sadly, what I have to tell you may not leave one on yours."

Fox nodded and the two continued to walk into a large, beautiful fores which took his breath away as the strange scenery mutated before his eyes. Trees vanished, what appeared to be strange multi-pointed street lights shot up from the ground, the pitched soil turned over on top of itself replacing itself with strange firmament that was clearly manufactured. A number of unfamiliar vehicles shot pass not far off as would traffic in any city. Spires of unknown construction fired up through the ground like massive trees sprouting thousands of years of life in the flash of an instant. The skies became an intricate dance of small ships of unknown design and purpose, and the pathways, many resembling sidewalks became littered with the bodies of not Cerinians but, common vulpine like he was before waking into this dream world. The skies shifted and soon he was looking out over a gorgeous pink-red horizon fed by a massive nearby blue star. Whatever this place was it was advanced even far beyond what he saw with Corneria. Tallis held out his arms as he looked about, the people around them seemingly avoiding them at all times.

"Look upon our past Fox," He said as he turned fully about once, "this is the home we left behind many ages ago. Long before Krystal's time," He informed Fox as they walked through the streets of the city, a massive citadel with several peaking spires high above the skyline, "we have always been a stubborn and proud people, as you well know from your experiences with Krystal. It has always been one of our most valiant strengths and unfortunately also one of our most stringent weaknesses. It was proven when we but realized what we had done to our beautiful home of Cerinia..."

As Tallis spoke the world once more shifted to a horrifying scene; massive ships fled from the planet's surface unarmed ships. No, not ships...Arcs. Escape ships; watching on further one of the massive ships faltered and sank a bit before an silent, far off explosion rocked the ship, the shock wave tearing shreds out of the ship, before finally the stricken behemoth fell like a slain giant and as it's side paralleled the streets, a thunderous, and absolutely terrifying display of pyrotechnics, the ship rocked through the nearby buildings, which he now realized were also very clearly torn by a lengthy war. Fox finally looked up into a rumbling tidal wave of earth and steel as some form of explosion tore at the firmament in such a way that it threatened to engulf both him and Tallis, only to have the older fox touch his shoulder. The two seemed to fly at unreal speeds until they now stood in the voids of space, Fox watched a scene he'd only ever heard of. At the precipice of some massive explosion centered near a far off continent on the little green planet, a massive Shockwave of fire and ear traveled through the planet at a frightening pace following massive spider-webbing fissures as the planet began to take on a dense glow. Though he'd never seen a cataclysm take place, he'd heard of them fairly often and had seen videos of what others had imagined it would look like, he knew the planet was done for long before the silent blast sent shards of the celestial giant scattering through the cosmos at comet speeds. Several more of the retreating ships were dashed to ribbons., yet the majority seemed to escape...

"I was not even a child when we left our home," Tallis continued, "My grandfather was still quite young. We had come to the conclusions of our folly long after anything could be done to save our dying world. All we could do is watch as it was snuffed out by our own childish ignorance."

It felt odd walking about in space, no floor beneath their feet and yet, Fox felt as though it was solidly there the whole while; they followed after one of the massive ships, "The records showed that we traveled for a long time, so very long, and then..."

The scene sped forward and soon enough, Fox recognized constellations, stars, moons, planets; The Krazoa System; Slippy had been right so many years ago when he'd guessed where Krystal's home had been. At the far edge of the system, a small moon hovering over one of the planets was beset by the rush of ships slowly descending into the atmosphere. The small jungle psudo-planet was perfect for their necessities and soon he and Tallis were standing in an open glade where several ships released their occupants whom walked out into the glare of an alien sunrise as the system's far off red star painted a gorgeous purple horizon over the endless jungles of their new Cerinia. The scene traveled forward through the throws of time until a small village began to slowly advanced up into the trees of the jungle...

"Our elders had the ships hidden, under the hopes they would never again need to see use," Tallis continued as the scene slowly advanced into a new state of tribal civility, "we suffered through the many years and slowly we began to see a difference in our people as well as the way we saw this strange new world. As the years progressed, we began to show certain abilities, we heard each other's thoughts, we saw and did things that no creature we had knowledge could do. And our sorted past was thrust into the far reaches of our ancestry," As Tallis continued to talk the scenery continued to change as now, blue furred individuals began to litter the village, "little did we know that this new home had something hidden beneath the surface. Our scholars attempted to find what it was that inspired the change but, our fur began to change, and our minds and bodies," A familiar looking little one covered in leopard spots ran about laughing and playing, "the village was in a peaceful place when I was a child. I...I did not know these things that I would learn later in my life; but, as I grew older and learned of love," His younger self continued to run about playing with others until he seemed to pair off with a single young female who's body was nearly perfectly divided down the middle of white and blue, "I also began to learn of the many other things the elders held in secret due to the many superstitions of our people. Primarily I learned of the ships hidden away in the far off mountains. What little technology we continued to keep was that of our weapons. When young we are told that it is magic, the process which uses a staff, or other Cerinian weapon, to summon up ice, or fire, or even lightning with little to no effort..."

Fox nodded, "Slippy figured that one out too. High output nano-machine driven energy converters."

The elder nodded, "Yes, I rather like your Slippy," He chuckled, "focusing the energy of our minds into it, converts it into the energy we need and can be released at our leisure. The other that I learned was of Krystal's other grandfather. At the time he was a powerful Elder of our people, though I did not understand why until I happened upon seeing him using his unique ability on another member of the council. He took full control of the poor fellow's will forcing him into submission until he fully agreed with the plans he was fostering. It was not a long time before he however disappeared, and was replaced with a much younger individual his own son Tyrius. Who became the youngest Elder on the council despite his youth. It made no sense, so I began to watch him closely; it was not too long before he and my youngest daughter stole away from my sight and bonded, at first I had planned many things, most were plans to get him away from her...until my little Sapphire was born. My heart was instantly stolen, and as she grew her father became more and more brazen. They never learned how it was I had died, I however, was poisoned he had used the venom of a known insect in the world. The trap was ingenious, a pin set in the back of my council seat, the wooden pin broke as soon as I relaxed into my seat. I was dead before they could so much as catch my falling body."

The scenes rushed on again, "Krystal grew up alone, not letting her father know about her constant urges to attempt contacting me. Yet, I suppose it simply was not allowed. But I stayed by her side and watched over her and soon enough, something began to pervert out new home as well..." As he continued the lands began to turn a sickly brown, trees and plants slowly wilted far out of season and the entire village looked as though it could fall apart at any moment, "...it was this turn in events that caused Krystal to retreat from the planet; that I believe, is where you found her," As a small ship left orbit Fox and Tallis watched as the masses swarmed toward the mountains, but only several small ships managed to make it out of the ridges on the horizon before the scene changed again to one of the massive ships floating helplessly in space, "once again we were forced to abandon our home. Why? We do not know; but, it is this which I ask your help."

The scene changed again, zooming into the ship where Fox now stood looking into a massive chamber where thousands of large pods held bodies in suspended animation, "They made it out?"

"Yes," Tallis replied, "and they require your help. I wish I could tell you where they are."

Fox shook his head as he forced the scene to rewind until they were standing outside the ship again. He pointed to a far off star, "See these stars here?" He asked, "this is a constellation called Norsaris; Lylat orbits the brightest star in this constellation," Being an expert student of Peppy's in the realm of star mapping Fox figured it all quickly, "we're some where just outside of the Stygian System. Unexplored space really but, not that hard to reach."

Tallis smiled at him for a moment, "You are quite a scholar."

Fox shook his head, "Nope. I used to have this idea that I would become a Cartographer when I grew up. My place as a fighter and pilot only came from a necessity."

"Necessity?"

The elder's question caused Fox to look to him from the corner of his eye, "Someone murdered my mother and father..." He exhaled angrily, "...for that he had to die," He sighed with a pause as the world of his mind returned to it's previous state, "was this the only reason you came here?"

Tallis shook his head with a sad sigh, "No, I have been watching and this world of your is also in turmoil. I simply feel it necessary to warn you that everything is much more than it seems, the connections are deeper than they appear and..."

He'd have noticed her sooner had all his senses been on end in this place, but, the sound of that voice was beyond compare to his ears it had felt like ages since the last time he'd heard it. He had heard her voice only moments before the force of her muscular body lacing around his neck nearly threw him to the ground before he managed to catch himself, his hands under her arms as he swung her high into the air...

"Fox!" She shouted before he pulled her into a loving embrace. She suddenly pushed him to arms length, "look at you. I had imagined you would still look like yourself in your mind, maybe somehow you already knew."

"What are you doing here?" Fox asked hugging her again.

Krystal returned the loving gesture, "Slippy said you would not be ready to wake up for at least a few days. So I am here to see if more than my color rubbed off on you."

"Perhaps I too can be of assistance."

The sound of the voice caused Krystal to freeze before she gently turned to notice the spotted Cerinian standing there. In an instant she was on him hugging him so tightly that his feet left the ground jostling him about before setting his feet back to the ground, "Grandfather, why are you here?"

After a moment or two Tallis pushed her back a bit, "I was curious about that myself. I had so often attempted to visit you only to find I could not reach you. Then I suddenly felt this one's mind," He said looking to Fox, "you have found a strong, handsome mate."

Krystal narrowed her eyes at Fox, "Hmm..." She half growled, "...and stubborn."

"We are all stubborn," Tallis replied with a chuckle, "perhaps he was more Cerinian than expected long before this had all taken place. In the mean time however, let us find what your...husband," He cleared his throat after looking for the word for a moment, "is capable of."

-Somewhere between Venom and Sauria-

Mick had successfully rescued Skye, though by the time he had managed to reach her the resourceful young captain had found her own way out of the chamber she'd been kept in. The sentiment was however not lost to her, of all the individuals located at the mooring of the Colletta, Mick had not hesitated to go after her. Skye had heard before that a Argon's loyalty is unwavering when faced against something they have dedicated themselves to, she now knew the extent of that. Seated in the Croc's larger than normal but still fairly small ship, Skye found herself with a great deal to think about; what was happening with her being gone? What was this news about Xenass crashing into Papetoon? What in the world was going on in the System? It felt like everything was simply slowly falling apart, and it was getting worse and worse by the day, it was almost as if something was drawing out all the negative in the Lylat system, and magnifying it somehow. It couldn't be the Cerinians that she'd heard of who'd scuffled with Marcus; she knew that every Cerinian, according to Krystal anyway, had specific traits unique to that individual, if that was the standard than someone who could cause such horrible turbulence between people and nations didn't seem to far fetched. Krystal herself could force her own ability to heal onto other individuals, if that wasn't odd enough what was? Controlling fire? Moving things with your mind? Controlling free will? If everything had weighed heavily on her before, it only seemed worse now...she felt...

"Small?"

Mick's voice cut through the awkward silence of the ship causing her to snap out of whatever stupor she'd put herself into, "What?"

"Small..." He repeated, "...we all ah..." The croc seemed to fiddle with a few switches near his seat in the cramped bridge of the ship, "...when it all comes down to it, we're all pretty small 'eh? Know'n it don't make it easier though, does it? Should see wha' it's like fer someone like me. Ta watch me dah grow'n up; man like a mout'n. An' it's all still big'ah yet. Can't says ah know what's go'n on, I don't like the smell o' it though. So," A smile curled at the corner of his long mouth, "what'a ya think'n Cap?"

Skye nodded with a smile of her own, "We kick the asses of anyone that threatens this system, even more so to those that threaten my crew."

"Atta girl," Mick sighed as he leaned back in his seat with his hands clasped behind his head, "so, what first then?"

"The longer I'm gone from the Colletta, the more time people have to start worrying and getting out of hand," She replied, "we can't have that, after all Caruso didn't succeed completely, but a display like that is bound to tell some individuals that I'm not capable of being Captain," She sighed heavily before pounding a fist into the arm of her seat, "and I think I've had just about enough. Nobody's been as hard on me as I've been, and it's kinda pissing me off."

Mick smiled, "So yer think'n we split some skulls. Show 'em who's serious. Then split some more skills?" He chuckled, "ah like it."

Skye tugged at the shirt she wore, it was several sizes too big, Sewry really was a busty little thing, "That's not the most of it. I need information on everything going on around here; like you said whatever is going on, I don't like the smell of it," She replied snatching up a small food bar that lay nearby, "Leona was bad enough, but, I doubt she had enough pull for something this scale. I need to get to Dax..."

"Yer lil' boytoy? What's he gotta do wit' it?"

Skye shook her head, "My head was up my own ass before," She sighed, "I had a lot of time to think down there in the cold. Why would Marcus lie to me? He slapped me in the face with the truth and I responded the only way I've ever known how to respond to an attack. I hit him back..." She lowered her head as she took a bite of the small food bar in her hand, "...I just think...maybe I hit him a little too hard. I need to speak with Dax because I think he really does know a lot more about these two Cerinians than I thought. They have something to do with all this...I'd bet my own tail on it."

Mick shook his head, "If that's the case, what makes ye think, he'll even be there?"

Skye responded with an exhausted sigh, "I don't. If it's all connected, then I'm betting he's already ditched the Colletta and left them to the wolves..." She chuckled, "...so to speak. Although there is a part of me still hoping he'll be there when I get there. I have a lot of things to talk with him about, and..."

Mick chuckled as he turned away, "An' beat 'is arse if'n it turns out true?"

"No," She replied cracking her knuckles one fist at a time before lowering her hands and shaking her head, "I...I intend to turn him in. It's the right thing to do, it's what I should do..." She looked to the reptile hopefully, "...right?"

The thick Argon shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, the thick muscles seemingly making his neck vanish for a moment, "Ain't ma place ta say," He replied, "look. If ya care, talk with 'em. If you understand each othah' that should be enough, eh?"

Skye laughed a bit at the indirect answer, "Are all Argons so articulate?" She asked, "or do you have any straight answers in that ocean of philosophy?"

Mick chuckled himself as he spun his seat to face her, leaning forward he shook his head, "S'the point yer miss'n sheila," He replied, "there ain't no straight answers. Only perceptions and misconceptions, how ya see it, is just how ye see it," He scoffed giving her a cheeky wing, "Vexx family secret of success eh? Make sure ya got the details before making a fuss o' it eh?"

"Play it by ear huh?" Skye replied with a chuckle, "some philosophy."

Mick shrugged his shoulders before turning back and retrieving something that was quite possibly a beer from somewhere near his seat, "Nevah said it were a good secret, just a nugget ta think on. There's a showah near back, it's a dinky one but, it's there. The stuff Sewry brought before we high tailed it outta' there should be in the spare room. Down the hall and off ta the left."

Without word Skye turned and headed off, the clothes she was wearing were quite a bit big on her and wearing something her own size might make her feel a little better. Whatever the case would have been, she was happy to be alive and out of the whole that she'd been taken to. For some reason she still thought about Leona; it didn't seem to be fair that she was left all alone, or that she'd been used by Leon Powalski the way he had, she would have to eventually inquire about this strange cloning project that the McClouds had been using, because whatever it was it was the cause to Leona's sickness. It might not have been her fault, but, she'd chosen to kidnap and torture Skye so there was no mercy so far as she was concerned, a warm shower would calm it all away before she was ready to face what she'd find on Sauria...

Sauria

Thorntail Hollow

Several hours later

Breaking out of the clearing and into the open of the Hollow, Skye stopped to examine the sights of what she'd known to be her crew's camp, the Colletta was not far off still visible in the forests just off below the cliffs and to her great relief a very familiar conglomeration of bodies moved about the camp. She tugged at the tight fitting top she wore now, Sewry had clearly not known Skye's style; what she'd found in the package Mick had left in his spare room was a dark blue midrif bearing shirt that only just cleared Skye's naval, a pair of shorts that were, far too tight, and a pair of black shoes that were...well actually remarkably comfortable, she didn't like the fact that every time she moved she felt like her tits were trying to escape but, then again with the way things had transpired before, it wouldn't be much else that anyone had seen at this point, soon enough she'd have her own clothing on again. Nobody seemed to notice her at first as she began to slowly walk her way into the middle of the Hollow but, suddenly a voice broke the silence "Skye!" the loud shout shot from across the area before a familiar silver furred tower of feline grace rushed through the camp, several bystanders being flung violently out of her way, a wolf was thrown head first into a tent which deflated like a balloon around him, while a young feline was forced to leap away from a nearby camp fire as the female body shoved into his back had threatened to hurl him into the flames. The snow leopard continued to barrel across the hollow regardless before sweeping her captain up and into her arms; Skye's head and neck immediately vanished into a valley of fur and flesh. Mick stood by and chuckled as the young canine's arms and legs flailed madly around her new prison before her hands found the only real grip she could, and with a hand mashed into each of the fleshy mountains around her head Skye pressed her feet into Tilly's torso and pushed as hard as possible, finally free she took a deep, gasping breath...

"Tilly!" She screamed as best she could, "AIR!"

The young Hadian dropped her suddenly while slapping her hands over her mouth, not bothering to hide the short stream of tears under her eyes, "Sorry Skye," She sniffled, "when they took you away we didn't know what was going to happen."

"I know Tilly..." Skye said between breaths with her hands on her knees, "...damn those...things are dangerous."

Nearby a familiar voice drew Skye to notice a young cheetah printed vulpine, his prosthetic arms, looked to be at least somewhat in disrepair, which were folded across his chest, Lamont laughed, "I remember the first time she did that to me," He stopped laughing as he looked to the incredibly friendly Hadian, "pretty pleasant form of asphyxiation really. Though I'd much rather she boobed me to death than actually got mad and tried to fight me," He shuddered, "Hadians are scary when they're angry."

Skye finally stood up and looked around, the group was slightly smaller than she'd left it, "How's the crew doing?"

Lamont looked back over the camp, "Fairly good actually," He sighed, "a few people packed it in and headed home. Said they weren't ready to die out here. No offenses meant of course," He pointed out dropping his hands to his sides, "I served them their severance pays, pretty big checks for dealing with the bullshit. In total, lost about sixty people, not much really. Art and his new bestie Inary went north to study what he called; Unstable Metaphysical Geothermal Anomaly; they've been gone for about four days, but, you know Art, once he smells science..."

Skye smiled, "Yeah, he'll be back."

Lamont finally chuckled again as he turned to look his Captain over, "So...what's with the new look? Kinda cute."

Skye blinked in surprise for a moment as she looked Lamont over. She then looked to Tilly whom found her way back beside him and back to him again, "I'll be damned," She half laughed, "look at you. All standing upright, and front and center, and speaking out of line like you own the place. Who knew a big fluffy tail was all you needed to give you a little confidence."

Lamont cleared his throat as he sheepishly turned away, "Yeah, well I was in the middle of something so It's good to see you're okay. Thanks for going after her Mick."

"No worries lil' mate," The Argon chuckled, the red of Lamont's face visible as it had even spread to the back of his neck, "glad ta see ya hold'n down the fort while I was out," He smiled jabbing Skye with his elbow, "she's a real lookah too mate, careful wit them Hadians though mate; word has it they be a voracious sort eh? Careful she don't eat'cha alive."

Tilly shook her head at the two of them while Lamont ran off, "Don't be silly Mick," She smiled, "why would I eat someone that makes night time so much fun?"

Skye chuckled as she looked about the camp, a bit upset by the fact that the one person she'd hoped to see wasn't there, "Speaking of which. Dax?"

Tilly sighed, as she looked to the north where a far off tower stood over the horizon, "We thought he had run off," She said pointing to the tower, "but, when we sent Gryph out to scout the areas from above, he said that he found a small camp out on top of the Krazoa Palace. Said it was only really big enough for one person."

Skye turned toward the Colletta, stopping to rest her hand on Mick's shoulder, "Get everyone back to the Colletta, no matter how this goes we're heading to Papetoon..."

"Xenass?" Mick asked.

Skye nodded in the affirmative, "Yeah, no telling how long it'll take other groups to get there and we're pretty close. Get everyone on board and into orbit, if I'm not back by then I'll meet up with the Colletta in orbit and we'll head out immediately."

Without another word, Mick sprang into action, Tilly as well; the prospect of leaving Sauria after such a long visit there was music to their ears. Skye on the other hand made her way down to where the Colletta lay in port and quickly shot from the ship's docking bay in her personal fighter. Watching the Palace grow ever closer in her cockpit's window, she felt a swell of fire build up in her stomach; something was telling her this wouldn't be the kind of reunion she'd expect would normally take place. Even as she made her first pass over the palace she could make out his form. His fighter was up there, parked nearby, and there was still plenty of space for her to land her own Arwing. When she leaped from the vehicle, she found a light rain filled the air, so gentle it was almost not raining at all; there was a strange, primal response to seeing his back, where gray furred wolf sat with his legs hanging off the roof of the structure, told her to rush into his arms but, there was something a bit more cautious underneath it all. Without hesitation she swallowed hard, all of her uncertainty and with steeled resolve made her way to his side, seating herself beside him. Sitting there for the most uncomfortable of long silences, Skye took a moment to turn her eyes in his direction. Though she'd never considered such things before, he really was a handsome thing to look at, even sopping wet, but, there was something keeping him from speaking and after a very long time of sitting there on that root top, an explosion of sound rushed over the valley as a truly enormous ship began to rise up from the forest below. Within three minutes it was high enough into the sky that it's only sound was a distant roar on the air...

"I'm happy you're alright..." Dax finally said in a voice that sounded full of utter defeat.

Skye scoffed, "Not such a white knight huh?"

"I guess you have it all figured out then?"

Skye sighed heavily, "I had a lot of time to think while I was down in that hole," She sighed, wiping an arrant tear from her eye, "I guess I just wanted to hear your explanation."

Dax shook his head, "There is no fighting it once they have your will..."

"You know what I want to hear."

"I do..." Dax replied nodding, "...but it's not what you're going to hear. I've been feeding them every bit of information that I can since long before you were here. I even sent the coordinates to Caruso; I knew that coward could never hold you for long. After what happened between us, I sort of just hoped you'd use the opportunity to go off and do your own thing. You just never seemed to have wanted to be here, despite the fact that I know you're the right choice for the captain of that ship."

Skye sighed as she leaned over, kissed his cheek and found her way to her feet before walking a ways away where she turned to face him and took stance, "Dax," She gritted her teeth she wasn't sure out of anger or to keep her voice from cracking, "you're under arrest, for treason against the Accord, the Cornerian Alliance, and the Council. You can come quietly or by force, at this point I don't think it matters."

As he stood and turned to face her, Skye, possibly for the first time, became very aware of how large he actually was in comparison to herself. The black thank top he was wearing did nothing to hide the bulk of his fit, toned structure as the wet environment caused it to cling tightly to his body. Regardless however she still stood defiant, "This is how you're really gonna do this?" He asked, strangely showing no emotion.

Skye shook her head, "I was thinking about what Tilly had said back when we first met," She replied, "Draxxians don't feel pain; even said that they possibly don't feel anything. I wanted to believe that was a lie, so I never did this...you did."

Dax sighed holding out his hands, "I won't lie, I've never really felt anything. There's something there when I see you standing there, ready to fight me but, what it is I'm not sure," He replied, "whatever the case, I don't wanna hurt you."

"Then surrender..."

Dax's dark amber eyes narrowed as he shook his head, "I can't do that, and you know you can't beat me. So why even try?"

Skye shook her head, "It doesn't have to be like this," She replied, "I believe in you even if nobody else does; nobody that has gone through what you have can honestly say they have no feelings. You can help us stop these freaks, that would be enough to get you off the hook."

Dax simply took up his defense, it was a stance she'd sparred against so many times she could not count them all. Any attack that approached him seemed to simply slide off, he could only question why it was she seemed to set on attacking him when Skye knew the defense had no holes, it was seamless, and so as she rushed in at him, the wolf did not bother to move. The left hook that tore in at him, and as usual as it fell upon him Skye felt the blow glance, but suddenly Dax stumbled back away from her in shock as he'd felt the solid strike of a ridge handed blow collide with his collarbone. At the very moment of impact with his body, she'd shifted all of the blow's momentum into a completely different attack in a downward course, leaving his defense flowing, but in the wrong direction. As if to not waste any motion Skye darted forward, her right leg swinging in wildly at his ribs; the situation repeated itself. His defenses flowed with the kick, his body's own natural reaction at this point, but, her kick instead caused his knee to buckle as it shifted from one style of kick to another instantly conserving her momentum and force. Recovering from the kick, she quickly spun on her heel, bringing her opposite heel in at the left side of his face with incredible force, for a third time the defense failed, rather than deflecting off his face her heel shifted and fired down at an angle sending Dax sprawling to the floor. The gray furred wolf rolled back to his feet where he found his left arm hanging uselessly from his shoulder socket. He quickly took stock; three strikes had landed, he could feel his right knee beginning to bruise and was difficult to stand on without it buckling, his vision was blurred from where her chop to his collar had stricken a nerve, and now his left shoulder was not dislocated but shattered. She not only meant business, she meant to bring him in in pieces if she had to...he'd underestimated her, not only now but he realized that he'd always underestimated her. It wasn't until now that Dax noticed the river of tears, every blow seemed to be tearing her apart worse than it was him. With a howl unlike anything he'd heard from the young canine, she rushed in at him again, her attacks however, shifted from calculated and strategic to insanely barbaric.

Skye swung in at the wolf, her right hand shooting in like a spear with such force that he'd not even noticed as her fingertips sunk into his shoulder before raking down and across his chest. Without such warning her left tore five red stripes across his abdomen. Each new pass of her hands tore into his flesh, the short, stout razors at the ends of her fingers slashing into his body with every pass spraying blood across her body. She was lost, somewhere inside she'd completely lost control of herself and he was certain that she now had every intention of killing him and his defenses were doing nothing to stop her. Finally Dax managed to get his still functional arm up, and after swatting away several more attacks, another dizzying spin kick swung in causing him to catch her left ankle before pure fire shot through his face, in a ridge-handed swipe of her hand the tips of her fingers tore a valley across his right orbital. He fell back, there was no real pain but, something was clearly wrong as half his eyesight instantly turned white, as he pulled his hand away from the wound, there was a puddle of white and red fluid, the eye was gone. Yet, her attack didn't stop; she'd only fallen back for a moment, seemingly to gauge what it was he was doing; this time however, as she shot in Dax dropped low for the first time dodging rather than attempting to defend; again her savagery tore in at him however, a spinning sweep of her legs caused Skye to plummet, face down to the floor before a stiff knee driven into her abdomen rocked her back to her senses. The wolf spun, the rain went quiet, and for a moment it was impossible to breathe as fire tore at her lungs and throat; but, after a moment she managed to drag herself to her feet only to find that even with the time she'd been downed, Dax still stood there rather than having fled when he easily could have, it wasn't until now that she noticed one of his once beautiful amber red eyes was now slit down the middle leaking a trail of white puss like fluid down his cheek, and his torso was riddled with dozens of tiny cuts forming a latticework of crossing red lines. She looked down to her gory fingertips where bits of his skin and fur still mucked up the space under her claws. She also realized her own damage; the knee he'd thrown and at the angle she had been in the air when it was thrown could have easily killed her; but Dax had never been one to really pull punches, why would he now? Wiping a bloody forearm across her teary eyes, Skye repositioned herself. Once again she shot in at him with full intent, but, the punch drew wide as Dax managed to slip under the blow, but, as he came up in front of her there was no real counter attack instead his one powerful arm swun around her lower back and pulled her muzzle into his. Her hands flew up in defense but, slowly fell around his neck sinking into his embrace the way she had before all of this. Her eyes shot wide open as she felt something slide down her throat causing her to push him away from her; whatever it was her vision was already blurring and her knees went soggy as she fell to her knees trying her hardest to bring it back up, however, a hand on the back of her head brought her to look him in the eye...

"Don't worry, just a tranquilizer," He said gently laying her onto the stone roof, "I don't deserve your affection Skye," He said kneeling with her as he lay her there kissing her forehead as he did so, "but, for what time I had your love..." He smiled brightly despite all the clear damage he'd sustained, "...it was fun. Please don't come looking for me..."

The effects were lucid but, the drug he'd slipped her had her almost fully paralyzed, "D-aaaa-aa..." She did her best to call his name. She'd seen something, despite what he would say it was there. Tears from his one good eye, he wasn't used to such a thing so of course he wouldn't have noticed but, it was there. The gentle mist hadn't been enough to saturate their fur, yet a clear trail had been cut from the corner of his eye. He didn't want to leave.

The rush of his fighter's engines lifting off the root of the Palace assaulted her with water and air and as her arms began to regain their feeling, the young canine clawed her way toward her own fighter. Every moment that passed, she felt more and more strength return to her arms, they effortlessly pulled her up and into the cockpit of her fighter but, by the time she managed to call in for help, she saw the lights of a ship in orbit breaking into hyperspace.