AN: Sorry about the extra long wait all, I am still working on this but, I don't have a lot of time on my hands ATM. Soon enough I'll have time to work on this daily and no more worries. Work has been slowing down so I can actually get some of this done there. I'm also currently working on some other stuff, unfortunately some of it is request work and I won't be able to post it here LOL
Anyhoo Thanks for reading as always all.
The footsteps in the darkness ~ SkullFox
The warmth of simulated sunlight woke Skye; she was surprised to wake up still high above the ground. An unfamiliar blanket that was draped over her and the branch she lay on; it was odd she didn't even recall falling asleep. She took the few moments to slowly climb back to the ground but, the moment her feet touched the grass turf a sudden rush of wind took her breath away. The landscape was suddenly very alien to her; a deep sandy desert spread out all around her, the smoldering remains of a massive flagship littered the horizon. The muffled audio of the area caused ensuing explosions to sound like claps in the very far off distance; it wasn't until her eyes met the dislodged wing of the ship, which peeked out of the sand like a towering skyscraper, the seal on the side of the structure was enough to cause her jaw to drop. This was the Vinna Colletta, scattered over the course of miles beyond where she could see; the sand lay scattered with the wrecked remains of her crew. Dismembered limbs and scattered body parts painted a sadistic mosaic across the wreckage, in the vast distance what looked like a survivor rushed away from the burning wreckage, flames and embers of their smoldering fur kicking off behind them in a show before they finally collapsed to the sand. It wasn't until an odd, loud sound cracked from nearby that she turned to face something she was even less prepared for. A tall blue fox stood with another person arguing incessantly with them; the argument seemed to end as the person who's back Skye was facing suddenly slapped the blue fox. A moment of silence finally ended as the back of the blue one's hand met solidly causing the other's body to fall to the sand. Arching from the distance however, something from their location soared before finally landing at Skye's feet. She let out a horrified scream as the her eyes met with those of the severed head below where the same eyes looked back to her. The scream became quickly muffled however as the far off fox found his way before her; if he weren't so tall and fit, she'd have easily mistaken him for Marcus. However as she stood by, he looked to the severed head and then to her. There was nothing in his eyes but blank depths before he raised a fist ebbing a blue light before she closed her eyes as his fist took flight.
Skye awoke tumbling from the upper branches of the tree with a scream; her body slammed into a lower branch before finally she managed to dig her claws into the second branch she hit on her way down. It wasn't like her to have nightmares, especially not one's so intense and realistic that she still felt the desert heat on her skin beneath her fur, she could still smell the smoldering metal hull of the ship. She quickly clawed her way back up to the branch she dangled from and rolled onto her back only to have a familiar looking blanket drift down over her face. Pulling it away she quickly began to realize that the blanket was the exact same one from her recent dream. She didn't understand how a dream could be that real, everything right down the feeling of the sand brushing through her fur and against her skin. Fortunately she was certain there was at least two people in her life now that could explain; an hour was nothing, enough time for a long hot shower and a quick video call. She felt free enough to wear nothing but a towel around her waist since her door was locked, but, then again her questions were ones that she wanted no one else to hear. The tall mirror like screen located on the wall near her closet suddenly sprung to life with the surprised image of an orange furred fox who quickly averted his eyes and vanished from the screen...
"Geez kid put some clothes on!" He shouted as he clearly pushed a blue vixen into the scene.
Krystal stood there for a moment stunned and wearing only a bit of black lace which did nothing to hide the bulge forming in her belly, "Skye?" She chuckled looking the young canine over, "so this is what caused Fox's freak out. He's not used to such things. Dear are you alright?"
Skye lightly shook her head before sitting on the edge of her bed, "I don't think so...Krystal," She paused, "what do you know about dreams? Weird ones? Not like normally weird, super real, really messed up dreams?"
Krystal suddenly pulled a small seat into view before sitting down, "Start talking..."
Skye left out nothing, not even the smallest detail of what she'd seen, the mention however of another Cerinian being involved in her dead in the scene did draw Krystal's attention. She knew that she was not the only one to make it away from her home world, but much more she knew that others could also easily infect someone's dreams with images like the ones Skye mentioned. All she was certain she could do at that point was comfort the young O'Donnell and keep her mind free from outside thoughts long enough for her to calm down...
~Betino Orbital Gatestation and Research facility~
Sierra pulled the limp form of Marcus McCloud from the cockpit of his fighter shortly after landing. The young vulpine had only enough time to set coordinates and landing procedures before fading off during their trip from Fichina. Sierra had remained on edge for hours, capable of doing nothing but stare at the small window feed into his cockpit from her ship's HUD. It didn't even seem to bother her being only dressed in what Marcus had given her before; but, the jacket was more than enough. She was surprised however to find both Professor Toads in wait, one holding a suit of clothing for the little vixen while the other eagerly accepted the young McCloud. As she slid on a pair of dark gray pants, Beltino took a glance at Marcus, forcing an eye open for a moment...
"Your message said he's been like this for six hours yes?" He asked checking the boy's heart rate.
Sierra nodded as she continued to cover herself with the fairly familiar feeling suit, "Right, he said we were heading here and set his auto-pilot then he just mumbled something about Miss McCloud and then he was gone."
"Wait," Slippy rushed to Marcus's side inspecting his nose and opening his mouth, "look, it's just like that time Krystal saved Fox from that grenade. Blood in his nose and mouth."
Beltino nodded, "Right you are Slippy," He said as a pair of young bunnies arrived with a small stretcher, "get this young man to sick bay. I want full scans of his higher brain functions and a CTC as soon as the doctors are able I'll be along shortly to offer my assistance. I'm afraid I'll have to inform his parents of this...especially Miss Krystal, this sounds like something she's all too familiar with," He said placing a hand on Sierra's shoulder, "what about you my dear? Are you alright?"
Sierra nervously rubbed her arm as she watched the emergency staff cart Marcus away, "I am thanks to him. Is he gonna be alright? Dad told me what can happen when we overuse our powers, I don't want to think what it could be like for Marcus. I mean, is this bad."
Slippy shrugged his shoulders, "Low side, a little memory loss, a hell of a headache. High side?" He paused looking from his father back to Sierra, "permanent brain damage. You have to understand, the brain is a powerful thing but, what Krystal and Marcus do...it isn't normal. It causes an incredible stress on the mind, hence the bleeding. He could even develop a cerebral hemorrhage, it's all a matter of how far he pushed and how much he can handle," He sighed, "anyhow, we've got a league of experts on neuro-physiology here he'll be fine. We got a call from Maryk too, he'll be here shortly. We'll call when we know more."
Sierra was forced to watch as the two professors slowly walked away, and further more was left to wait for her muscle-headed teammate. She often found herself alone with her thoughts; these moments were not particularly her favorite, not only because she was concerned about Marcus and his current status, but, equally because no matter how often she attempted to ignore how she felt about him, her unusual attraction to her blue furred captain caused more stress than she was apt to deal with. Seated in the docking bay of the station, though the docking bay wasn't really empty it did not stop the young vixen from feeling that way. She wondered how Maryk was doing, even it was simply a way to keep her mind off of Marcus being injured. Maryk had, after all, been there for the most part of the life she could recall. He'd been more like an older brother to her than a friend, even in the academy he'd always looked after her. She'd often been asked about their relationship, but, there wasn't one to speak of outside of his always looking after her and protecting her, even where it wasn't wanted. Even long after she'd found a place to sit and wait, even after their third companion stood before her with an injured arm and leg. Fortunately the little vixen's only words caused the pain that Maryk felt at the moment to melt away...
"Mayk..." She sighed looking at the floor, "...am I...unattractive?"
With a heavy sigh Maryk lifted the little vixen off the crate and into a reassuring hug, "Kid...I don't ever wanna hear you talk like that again. Understand?" His voice was soft but demanding causing her to gently nod against the side of his face, "no matter how hard you want things to change, the heart isn't so easily swayed away from what it wants. Trust me...leave it be, you'll be a lot happier if you just accept the way things are."
Pulling away from the large black wolf Sierra shook her head, "But he's always so unhappy."
"Well," Maryk replied setting the vixen back on her feet, "sadly love can do that to a body, but, look at it this way. From what you managed to overhear, you've only got a short couple years; and when she turns him down again, you'll be there...right? Then you can...do whatever it is you plan on doing to him from then on out," He chuckled poking a large finger into the end of her nose, "just don't let me hear you question yourself again alright? Cuz let me reassure you; one hot cocktail dress and a little work on that wild hair," He laughed rubbing her head, "and you'd have a line of men behind you a mile long."
Sierra looked herself over; her fur was a bit ragged, and her outfit didn't do much portraying her feminine side, "I really haven't been trying very hard have I? I look more like a bodyguard than a potential date," With that said she reached up kissing Maryk's cheek, "I wish you were my real brother."
As they began to walk toward the sick bay Maryk gently nudged her with a shoulder before a thick arm pulled her to his side, "Don't kid yourself..." He huffed, "...I am your brother; and I'll permanently shut the jaw of anyone that tells me different."
While Maryk was being treated for his own minor injuries, Sierra found herself watching over Marcus; as a friend, and team mate. With their captain down, there was little that could be done other than to contact his family, whom immediately met the comments of his injury with regard of them both heading to the station.
~Titanian Surface~
Skye looked out over the endless sands forever blinding even through her protective eye-wear. It was here that she'd been led by Mick whom currently stood on a dune in the distance surveying the area only to eventually make his way back toward the group. Skye's landing party came to consist of five members so as not to draw too much attention to themselves if stealth ever became a necessity; herself, Dax (who she'd come to trust over her time as captain), Mick (whom knew more about tracking than any of them), Inary (whom insisted that she could be more helpful than any), and Artimus (in the case that his mechanical, technical, or overall knowledge would be needed). Inary's part however, was already felt, as through some sort of skill of the Drogaan she was currently managing to keep them all from the heat of Sol from bearing down on them. Dax had however, been oddly uncertain about the whole thing, complaining far more than usual, clearly heat was not his favorite situation, Art however, had managed to busy himself taking general readings of the environment and samples of this and that while keeping fully aware of his own position in the group. It felt like they'd been on foot for ages even though it hand only really been a short few minutes after hours of riding aboard a land rover, a sort of small cavalry vehicle meant to bear troops across rugged terrain. Mick however approached the group before taking a long drought from his canteen...
"Was 'ere the other day," He pointed out tipping his hat back so the string held it against the back of his neck, "look like the 'hole bloody thing jess up an' walked off."
Art jostled about a small vial in his green fingertips, "That would make a lot of sense actually," He cut in, "this area recently had a large pocket of geothermal activity caused by the intense heat of the sand baking the elements beneath the soil to create large pockets of natural gasses that could easily power their fuel cells. Follow these pockets of gas, and I'm willing to be it would lead us right to this...walking base."
Mick nodded with a lighthearted grin, "Oi mate, yer a quick study eh?"
"You already knew that?" Art asked with a chuckle, "how?"
Mick calmly walked toward Art before producing a massive knife from behind his back. As he approached Art he jammed the knife into the sand and pulled it back out before holding it up to the toad's face, "Smell that?" He asked causing the toad to cringe, "liquid methane. See when ya extract gasses using certain methods. Tends ta..." He paused, "...conde...con...condensate. On it's way up the tube. That liquid...worst smell out there. If ye kick up the sand you can catch a hint of if. If ah was in their shoes, I'd head north...toward them mountains in the distance."
Art nodded again, "Right, eventually that base is going to need to restock it's water supply. The base of those hills are bound to give way to underground reservoirs."
The ruby scaled dragoness stepped toward the group suddenly, "If you would humor me for but a moment."
Standing there Inary closed her eyes for a moment of concentration before opening them again, causing all color to drain from her eyes. In that moment she seemed to look about at the ground. What the others could not see was the vulture high above them, who's eyes she'd stolen for the time being, using the bird's amazing eyesight to scan the grounds before the light and color faded back into her eyes...
"You are both correct as I would come to expect," She smiled pointing north, "there is a massive structure in that direction, it is moving very slowly toward the mountainside," The stupefied looks of her new friends caused her to giggle into her hand a bit before pointing toward the sky, "I simply borrowed that bird's eyes for a moment. We Drogaan possess a fair number of abilities akin to what you call magic. We have always called it "The Knowing" it is much less energy based, and more a deep understanding between the soul and the elements. Sadly most creatures are capable of it, most have even used it at some point or other in their evolution. Sadly it simply is usually … for less better use of words, deleted from their memories over time and simply fades into myth. Perhaps I will tell a story or two on the subject when we are more safe for the ware..."
The small group quickly boarded their rover, the idea was not directly to catch up with their quarry much the less to simply get it within their sights to better figure how to deal with it. As they rode along the deserts of the dry planet, Inary kept her focus on the birds overhead, her sight though their eyes providing them all with valuable Intel on the scope of the facility moving toward the hills. According to the bird's eyes, it was a massive structure, at the very least the size of a small military installment; it was surrounded with security monitors and was supported quite a number of feet from the burning desert sand. The act of boarding the facility had become fairly evident very early on, as slowly as the facility moved it was clearly possible to get beneath it and move their way up through the shafts used by the moving fort for fuel. After the longest time of travel however, the moment seemed to supply itself. The massive facility pulled to a stop, while several of the large spear-like pipes beneath it powerfully dug into the ground. Under the massive shadow of the facility the team began to inspect it's underside only to take note of something very specific; high up along the underside of the facility's base lay a series of catwalks, clearly meant for maintenance in the case that something should go wrong and require repair.
Art chuckled as he produced a suitcase from his things in the back of their vehicle, "I would be lying if I said that I had prepared for this on purpose. In fact, I have no formative prove that this will work at all but...just maybe..."
Opening the case for the others to see Skye looked over what appeared to be several odd shaped belt buckles, "Fashion is no easy answer for what we're doing here Art..."
"Not quite what I had in mind Captain," The toad chuckled, "they're personalized AGF emitters. They use a similar scientific method to the G-diffuser system to generate a small Anti-gravitational field. If I have this down just right, we may be capable of jumping even that high. All I have to do is adjust the settings to reduce gravity around out bodies a bit."
Skye sighed before leaping out of her seat, "Well there's no time like the present. Strap me in and let's give these things a shot."
It took only a few moments to clip the small device to Skye's belt, Art fiddled with the device for a moment before backing away and allowing the device to hum to life before going silent. A sudden shiver worked through the young canine's body causing her to shiver and cross her arms over her breasts, "Whoo...that feels creepy as hell..." She said shaking off the feeling, "...like hands touching me everywhere. I can't say that I like this Art," After another Skye looked back to Art, "so is there any chance this could end badly?"
Art chuckled nervously, "Umm...well, worst case scenario. Emitter malfunctions and turns gravity up so high it crushes you but, so far there haven't been any tests runs with that particular problem. Otherwise it lowers the gravity so much you rocket into the base of this place and crush yourself. Slightly less probable. On the plus side if this works I can submit these to the R&D board for Vector never know these could be useful in combat situations."
Skye looked to the catwalks still resting a good three stories up; with a deep breath she exhaled and finally crouched before looking back to Art, "Just know that if this kills me...I will kill you."
With a sudden yelp of surprise, Skye lept into the air firing off like a small furry rocket; the speed at which she shot toward the catwalk made her arms flail frantically for a brief moment beofre she finally managed to stop herself by reaching out and taking a hold of the security railing as it passed by, unfortunately the force of her momentum caused her to swing around the rail causing her to swing face first into the metal catwalk. One by one the others made the same varied attempts, of course each having less and less trouble reaching the catwalk with a proper level of speed, Art and Inary of course bringing up the tail end of the group. It took Skye a few moments to settle herself before finally looking to Art...
"Well...that was..." Skye paused shaking her head, "fun?"
Art grimaced a bit while looking to the device on his own belt, "Need's some more work clearly, but it does seem to do the job when dialed in correctly. Question is how to automate the adjustments. Perhaps using an accelerometer to dictate too much or too little speed?"
Skye removed the object from her belt before handing it to Art, "Whatever the case this isn't the time or place at the moment."
It took a short time to get to the upper decks of the maintenance area, the catwalks went on for what felt like forever but, the strangest part came when they finally reached the surface, in this case what looked and felt like a small city. There were paved streets, small vehicles moving about, different parts of the surrounding area looked like buildings as well, some merely parts of the structure itself, while others were clearly barracks-like buildings. The vehicles were unmanned, just as the buildings were in fact small droids hovered about the area like a hive of bees. Of the whole lot of them, Mick had finally stepped forward taking in all the sights and sounds that he could all at once...
"Is this thing automated?" Skye asked moving as a droid floated by, clearly ignoring her presence.
Mick shook his head, "Nah. Least it weren't bout a day ago..."
"What makes you so sure?" Dax asked as he approached the large reptile.
The aqua skinned Argon ignored him as he simply pointed to the ground off to his left to a white, dusty boot print laid into the perfectly black asphalt, "Hover cars, hover'n Droids...someone missed a boot print during their clean up."
Skye started forward looking about as she inspected one of the automated vehicles only to find that this parked vehicles was clearly not automated, "Yeah, something pretty suspicious. This one is meant for a driver," She said pulling a small wrapper from between the vehicle's seats, "you're right Mick...someone was here not too long ago, but, then why leave? Why so suddenly?"
Mick shook his head before chuckling a bit, "Power supply..." He said, "...think bout it mates. Perfect place fer refuel'n. Droids do all the work, methane fuels this fort, fort charges fuel cells, fuel cells sit in standby fer a ship. Nevah on the ground longer n' ya have ta be. So let's find that hanger, an' we'll 'ave a few more answers."
It took them a leg of exploration to find everything in place, a large closed off area littered with mechanic's equipment as well as multiple shut down droids meant for regular maintenance. It was here that Mick went to work once more looking about the area and exploring. He moved from droid to droid, clearly seeing details the others would never have noticed as he moved about. Finally at the far end of the hanger-like area, Mick sighed taking off his hat and scratching his head...
"Kay folks," He said placing his hat back on his head, "droids are not new but not old either," He said, "looks like they're shut down whenever they're not needed. Judge'n by the size and span on these land'n tracks..." He said tapping his boot against a nearby impression in the tar-mat, "...they're ship too small ta be a Colony Ship, too big ta be a Dreadnought. Look'n at a Cruiser maybe a Frigate. Depend'n on their last refuel, maybe a month before they come back," He scratched his chin with narrowed eyes, "someth'n ain't right though, all ma track'n pointed ta 'ere. Hmmm...maybe I'm a bit off...we should get back."
Skye scratched her own chin for a moment, "Hmmm...maybe," She said turning on her communicator, "Lamont, I want you and Tilly down here, gather a few more crewmen and taken one of the Colletta shuttles. It's safe to land but make sure the shuttle's hidden when you do," As the crew headed out to leave the facility, Skye fell back stopping Mick and waiting until everyone had passed onto the catwalks below, "you got wind of it too right?"
"Aye," The croc nodded, "ya got a whistle blow'a," He replied, "what's yer kin on it?"
Skye scratched her chin, "I'm gonna keep the Colletta in synched orbit for a while, we'll put it off for a systems check. Ship hasn't had one in a while, so it'll fly. While we're going over the systems check, you and I will head off and start looking for someone acting suspicious."
Mick scoffed, "How ya plan on bleed'n 'em out?"
Skye chuckled as she shook her head, "Word gets around," She replied, "just before we left I may have unintentionally leaked some false implications to a few loose lipped crew members. I've been thinking this out for a while. So what's gonna happen is, I've got trackers on most of the more involved people on the ship. Asnyone starts acting suspicious, we'll know before anyone else. Once everything is in line, maybe let 'em wait is out for a few days. We put the ship on red alert lock down and make 'em panic."
Mick laughed out loud, "Looks like Uncle Fox picked a good one, eh. So idea's to let 'em bleed themselves out? I like it. What until then though? This whole thing ain't just gonna blow ovah, and there's no tell'n 'ow long we'll be up there."
Skye sighed, "True, but, if there's a mole on-board the Colletta, we need to weed them out, if not we'll never get anywhere."
Happy to finally have the thought out in the open about the mole, Skye finally took after the others alongside the young Argon. She'd been mulling over how to deal with the idea of a traitor for some time but, was glad to have Mick there to help her sniff them out when the time did come. For now she was going to swing her plan into action and hope that everything went as it was otherwise planned. Part of her wished that Mrs. McCloud was there with her, a little time scanning through minds at the rate the older vixen was capable of and she was certain that the mole would be found out almost immediately. At the moment however, there was no telling how long it would take to force these people out of hiding. She shuddered to think of what would come of all this but, even moreso did she wonder if she was taking the right steps at all...
