Chapter 16: Boarders

(Wolf's P.O.V.)

Looking out the window as we ascended towards the local space station, I could only look on in marvel at how beautiful it all looked. Cerinia was visible down below, but above it was a gentle bluish green glow, and while I was able to see the storms that were taking place over different parts of the planet, I was also able to watch the graceful flying of spaceships. This wasn't anything I would have been able to experience back on Earth, and while it held a beauty, I could only look to my side and at something even more beautiful; Krystal.

Catching my gaze being directed at her, she glanced over into my own eyes, and while we remained like that, I felt my heart fluttering inside my chest as I was enraptured in her eyes. She squeezed my hand a bit firmer as she leaned against me, but I felt a brief fluctuation in the gravity.

During that brief zero gravity, I had managed to catch another glimpse out into space, and that was before the last of the windows showed out into space; something had latched onto the side of the station. Shrugging a bit as I looked over my shoulder, I saw everyone else, save Samantha and Tyler, was looking towards Krystal and I.

Feeling a bit of heat flush into my cheeks as I noticed the small din of conversation was no longer present, I made to release Krystal's hand, but she only tightened her grip over my own. Hehe... get used to the attention Wolf, you are going to get a whole lot more of it after we go back to Iris.

Looking towards Krystal once more, I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off by the intercom hissing into use. "Welcome to Station 003. Follow the yellow lines painted on the left wall upon your departure of the lift in an orderly manner. Thank you, have a pleasant stay." Just as the lift we were in started to slow down, I heard a few clicking noises from outside the metal box, and as the noises ceased, conversation began to start up again. This was only one of ten compartments, and if what I had gleamed from my conversation with one of the soldiers was accurate, then this was only one of over two dozen other strands.

SSSSS...

The door hissed open without another sound as the box finally stopped moving, and when it did, I followed the pull of Krystal out into the open room. When my eyes landed on the wide expanse, I felt my internal jaw drop. There must've been nearly a hundred or so Cerinians already in this single room, but before I could fathom how they arrived before our supposed first lift, I was pulled to the side by a grinning Krystal. "Krystal, where are we going?"

"We are going to one of the private decks. Mom and dad will join us as soon as they get through the crowds..." Glancing over my shoulder, I did indeed see all the other doors were opening, and a mass of Cerinians were filing out. I saw Tyler giving me a disgruntled look, but the governor... er, dad, was simply giving a tired look towards his surroundings. "Come on Wolf!" The insistent tugging on my hand forced me to follow Krystal, least I receive her vengeful wrath of a foot stomp.

Turning a corner, I saw that this hallway was filled with doors, but the many doors that were open were showing what appeared to be offices of some sort, though a few looked like modest rooms. The further I was pulled into the extensive pathways, the more lost I got to where we had come from. But something that did catch my attention, was a pair of massive bulkhead doors that seemed to be reinforced somehow, but had a single word painted across the sliding doors; ARMORY.

I'll be back you room of mysteriously beautiful weapons!

Krystal giggled from beside me as I followed her further into the corridors, and it was after another turn that we came to a stop. Krystal looked towards me with a smirk as she said, "If you liked looking at the stars from the surface to space lift, then you will enjoy this."

As she walked backwards, her hands on both of my own, the doors slid open silently. Following her into the solid walled room, I was curious as to what she wanted me to see, but I followed nonetheless. I don't see anything special about this room...

The thought to myself didn't go unnoticed, as Krystal opened her muzzle and spoke in a loud, yet clear voice, "Open observation panes."

The lights flashed momentarily, before they started to dim at a considerable pace. When they finally shut off, I felt Krystal slowly pull me into a hug. I accepted, and as I wrapped my arms around her lithe form, she sighed happily, before I felt her muzzle slide across my cheek, and her head slowly lower into a crook beneath my head. We stood like that in the dark for nearly half a minute, before the sound of machinery sounded, and a rumbling took over the entire room. It was gentle, and it didn't raise any suspicion in my mind, and while I stood there, eyes closed, arms around Krystal, I felt a smile crossing my lips.

Krystal moved a small bit in my hold, before she gently whispered, "Open your eyes..."

Complying, I felt my smile widen as my eyes began to open up, but that was before I was left speechless. Past the blue pointed tips of Krystal's ears, there lied the celestial expanse, with an infinitable amount of stars against the black backdrop of space. Below our feet was Cerinia, glowing in all its glory, and the sunlight that radiated from it through Krystal's now visible face into a beautiful halo of light. My heart felt like it was going to explode.

Watching as she slowly leaned closer to me, I felt light as I did the same, but while she slowly tilted her head to the left, I tilted mine to the right a bit. Her muzzle was open a tiny bit, as were her eyes as I felt her hot breath rolling over my lips in shallow puffs. Closing our eyes the rest of the way, I felt my lips press against hers, but it was like an explosion rippled through my mind, as I once again felt lightweight.

The feeling ended abruptly when I slammed into my back, and my eyes shot open as pain erupted from the base of my head. Krystal was sprawled across the top of me, and while she looked just as stunned as me, she pulled her muzzle away from lips as she sat up. Something that made my cheeks heat up, but not from the rush of blood to it due to pain, but instead embarrassment, was I just now realized a chilling fact. Now that I was on my back, and Krystal was sitting up, she was practically straddling me from her current position. It didn't help that she was beautiful, or that she was already highly attractive without the glow of the planet over her body.

"WOLF, WE NEED TO G... go..." Feeling a bit more heat flush into my face as the sound of Tyler's voice filtered into the room. Krystal and I both looked his way, and he seemed to be looking down at us with a deadpanned expression, before he spoke in a tight, yet seemingly embarrassed tone, "I'm sorry to interrupt your foreplay Wolf... but eh... we are under attack."

I had wanted to refute that statement, but what he said last caught my attention more than what he said. "WAIT, what!? Under attack!?"

There was a shadow that shot across the room, and I looked over, and saw small ships flying by under the glass, shooting what looked like science fiction energy based weapons as they raced by. There was a dull rumbling as the station shook lightly, and a cold chill ran through my spine, before Tyler said, "Get moving kid!"

He promptly left the room as he ran down the hall, and as he did, I looked towards Krystal, who was giving me a smirk as she seemed to push herself away from me, but that wasn't to say she herself wasn't blushing.

Once we were both standing up, we were quick to leave the room, but not before I looked back and saw a fireball erupt in outer space...

...

Running down the hallway beside Krystal, I held her hand firmly in my own as Sam and Tyler ran ahead of our group, weapons in their hands, with mom and dad in the middle of our group. There was a panic on the station, and many of the passages were filled with fearful civilians. Right now however, we were rushing towards where the majority of the fighting seemed to be coming from. It was then that the intercom came on.

"...Listen, Governor, if you can hear this, you need to get off the station. There are boarding parties, and they are searching for-BANG-..." the sound of metal over metal came through the speakers, before the speaker began in an even more frantic voice, "T-They found me! G-Governor, you need to esc-PEW!" a gurgling sound came through the speakers, before the sound of zapping filled the intercoms.

It was then that a deep and gravelly voice came over the speakers, "One more pest is eliminated. This is Commander Dow to all boarders, kill any and all that oppose you. Top priority is to find and eliminate the Governor and his family, but if possible..." there was a deep and throaty laugh that seemed to send ice into my muscles, and I felt Krystal flinch and shake in fear at what came from the speakers, "Bring me that blue vixen... alive..."

I felt myself tense a bit, before the speakers emitting a hissing sound, and all was silent, and our small group slowly came to a halt. Everyone was now looking at Krystal, except me, as I slowly scanned the surroundings, watching each different hallway that led out of this main corridor. There were sounds of weapons discharging all around us, but it was caused from echoes within the facility. The worst thing about that threat was the direction we were heading towards, the sounds of weapons grew louder; and that meant the boarding parties were going to be in that direction as well.

Facing Krystal as I held her hands within my own, I smiled towards her as she looked up at my eyes, "Hey, don't worry, I won't let any of them lay a single hand on you." Turning back towards the direction we had been walking, I saw the others were looking back at us, and I looked at each of them in turn. Each of their gazes held a level of disgust, but they also had various emotions running through their eyes as they continued to look back at Krystal and I. It was when Krystal's hand tightened within my own that I chose to speak up, "I think we should keep going, especially if these guys are as confident as they sound."

After we began to move again, I felt Krystal step closer to me, but even with the familiar closeness, she still shivered a bit from beside me. While we walked briskly, I did just as Tyler was; I scanned every corner of every room we passed. There were a few dead bodies here and there, but other than that, everything was devoid of life. There was still the distant echoing sound of blaster fire from somewhere on the station, but it was near impossible to distinguish from where it was coming from. For all we knew, we could be running towards where the fighting was.

Tyler held up his fist as soon as we reached the next hall, and when he looked over his shoulder, he silently pointed at the wall, before moving his palm towards it. Even though I only saw hand gestures like that in video games, it was still self-explanatory, so I pulled Krystal towards the wall to keep her out of any possible danger, which was when I heard it. The sound of conversation around the corner than was almost too muffled for me to make out. Yet that didn't seem to be a problem for the others.

Tyler and Sam were at the front of our group, and while Sam leaned around the edge of the wall in a crouched position, Tyler leaned around it while he remained standing. Dad was standing behind Tyler, but closer to the wall but in a fashion that protected mom should someone or something come around the wall. Krystal was looking off into space with a fearful expression, so I moved closer and wrapped my arms around her to try and at least comfort her to some degree.

She didn't make any sound as she moved to bury herself within my hold, so I rubbed my hands as soothingly as I could up and down her back.

I looked over in time to see Tyler's knee brush past Sam's shoulder, and they both fired simultaneously, and the bright flashes from around the corner flashed not just once for each of them, but multiple times. The sound of cries of pain reached us, and then there was a single flash of plasma that splashed on the opposite wall, before all was quiet. Krystal shivered within my hold, but that was all. Tyler looked back at us before speaking in a rushed tone, "Come on, we should go before someone else comes by."

That was all it took before we were all around the corner, and when my eyes landed on the scene, I understood why Tyler had us stop; the group of boarders consisted of nearly a dozen bodies, and the element of supply had apparently won us this small amount of favor. As we rushed by, I momentarily let go of Krystal as I stepped a bit closer and took the nearest weapon. It was a pistol like blaster, and I would have gone for something larger, but I didn't want to have to linger while grabbing one from under the steaming bodies. The only one that noticed my action was Krystal, and as soon as I was beside her again she grabbed hold of my arm.

I simply held the blaster at a downwards angle as we ran on, and it was just as soon that we quite literally ran into another group of boarders.

As Tyler ran around the corner, he smacked face first into the leading member of the other groups' leader, who must've been just as surprised. His large weapon was trapped between his and Tyler's body, but Sam couldn't help, as their momentum forced them to collide with her as they fell. The four other invaders behind them didn't have that problem as they lifted their rifles towards the rest of us. I had simply grabbed the blaster as a form of self-assurance to calm my fraying nerves, but now that I had a use for it, I didn't have any quarrels against actually using it.

As quick as I could, I raised the blaster and fired as soon as the tip was somewhat pointing at the four invaders. My eyes went wide as I quickly pulled the trigger multiple times, and the soft thumps against my palm from the recoil didn't faze me. It was seeing the angered and pained expressions as skin and fur was vaporized that seemed to pierce my eyes, and I watched as the bolts got absorbed by their chests, but when the bolts mostly crippled, I felt my heart threatening to explode. As one of the invaders started to fall while holding his neck in one hand, his other holding his rifle spasmed, and I felt a lance of pain shoot through my leg.

I felt my leg sizzle a bit, and I let out a yelp of pain. I fell down almost immediately along with Krystal, who had been holding my arm firmly. I was glad however when she fell beside me and out of the way of any harm.

When I looked over to see who was left, I saw the last invader take a knife to his throat. I flinched when the blood instantly started to flow through the wound in his neck. Tyler grabbed his dropped weapon and quickly moved over to me. Sam seemed to be nursing her hand, which must've gotten hurt during the struggle.

"We need to go!"

Nodding, I looked over and saw Krystal getting up, and when I took a step towards her, I fell to my knee with a hiss of pain. Looking down, I saw the skin along my thigh was slightly blackened through the hole in my shorts.

"Wolf, you're hurt!"

Krystal was instantly at my side and looking at the wound, and I heard Tyler curse beneath his breath. I knew this was bad. I would only slow them down, but I knew how it would go if I tried to tell them to continue on without me. It may be cliché, but it held a truth to it; they wouldn't leave me if it meant they had a better chance at survival.

Damn... I guess it is time to take it like a man, as they say...

Forcing myself to my feet, I had to squint my eyes through the agony that simple action brought to me. Krystal instantly forced my arm over and around her shoulders as she helped alleviate some of the pressure from my leg. There was shouting behind us, and I didn't need to know how dire our situation was as Tyler asked, "Damn it all to hell! Fuck! Krystal, are you sure you can help Wolf?"

She gave a firm nod, and before anything else was said, we were once more moving. However, once we rounded the corner, we entered a massive room. There were tables overturned, chairs discarded everywhere, and pockets of fighting. One side had what looked like emplacement turrets, and I could see civilians being ushered behind the defensive line towards what looked like a hallway of some sorts. On the other side was a group of black armored figures. Between them on the opposite side of the room was the hanger doors. Our destination...

There was no way we would be able to reach the friendly forces, and the enemy forces would see us before we were even halfway across the room. And then there was the sound of shouting behind us. Instead of Tyler, this time it was me that let out the foul words of frustration. "Tyler, we need to run across!"

"We will be killed in the crossfire Wo-"

"Yet we will be killed where we stand if those behind us reach us! How about-"

BANG!

There was a deafening explosion on the friendly side, and it looked like one of the automatic turrets just exploded. Then there was a hail of fire that forced the invaders into cover. That was when our respite revealed itself as neither sides were firing, and I looked towards Tyler, before I said, "Should we go n-"

"There they are! Kill them!"

Behind us laser bolts began to streak through the air, and I didn't need an answer. Sam and Tyler looked at each other before turning around and opening fire. "You four run! We will catch up!"

Mom and dad looked back at us, and we were all soon running, it seemed that the return of blaster fire, though not directed at either of the main forces, was an invitation for both sides to begin firing their weapons at the same time. I chanced a glance back to see Sam and Tyler running after us, and that was when I noticed the squad worth of troops chasing after them. A few took hits, and others were forced into cover. For those that continued to chase us though, they added the third direction of crossfire that made our bolt to safety even worse.

Before we even reached the cover of the hallway, there was a loud explosion far off to our right, and the ground buckled beneath our feet. There were dual explosions throughout the facility, yet that seemed to make all the others duck for cover, as almost immediately all fire ceased, and we ran into the hallway home free.

We were running towards an intersection that seemed to lead to different hangers, but as a loud explosion rippled through the station again, there was a screeching sound above us, and I looked up in time to see support beam falling towards Krystal and I. The heat from the flames that were engulfing it along with the sparks of electricity from the electrical wires that were being torn with its trajectory promised a more than painful death. Using a bit of strength, I pushed Krystal to the left and out of its path, and with a surprised yelp, she pulled me with her as well.

Our fall was ungraceful, yet we were both still alive.

Now however, everyone else was on the other side of the flicking flames. I raised my arm as I looked up into the flames and saw their worried expressions on the other side of the flames. "Wolf, Krystal, are you two alright?"

Krystal and I looked at each other, before we looked towards the flickering flames and she called back, "I t-think so! What do we do?" As we waited for a reply, we slowly began to get to our feet. There was no running and jumping through those flames...

"Krystal, dear," I recognized the voice of mom speaking over the now moderate roar of the flames, "You and Wolf need to find a ship and get to one of our warships! The hangers aren't interconnected... you both need to stay safe!"

"Wolf," this time it was dad that was speaking, "You keep Krystal safe! We will meet you after eve-"

"GUYS, WE NEED TO LEAVE!"

Tyler's voice was soon followed by blaster shots, and I knew what that meant. Our pursuers were closing in.

The sounds of footsteps began to run away, and I looked over at Krystal and saw her worried expression. Her eyes met my own, and I saw the worry intensify. "H-Hey, don't worry, we will see them again, I'm sure of it!" The sounds of more footsteps running towards us was all the motivation I needed to pull Krystal closer as we began to make our limping run down the hallway. I wasn't sure what was at the end of this hallway and in the hanger further on, but I knew that Krystal and I needed to get off this station...

A.N.: Sorry all you waiting readers. I won't bother with excuses this time, but I will try to promise not to force you all to wait for 2 months again. I was thinking yesterday when I was typing, and I realized that it was a mistake to start this up when I had, as I was not willing to dedicate my time to it how I thought I would've been. Anyways, as they say; 'The show must go on!'

bryan mccloud: heh, there is no way in hell that I am rewriting Hero's Return. Not only was that my first 'M' story, but it is also my second longest story. And let me be the first (hopefully) to tell you writing multiple 7k+ chapters isn't as easy as it used to be for me...