LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

2. DERZON

Act II: DERZON

When strangers are coming... They come to your house, They kill you all and say, We're not guilty not guilty.

Where is your mind? Humanity cries. You think you are gods. But everyone dies. Don't swallow my soul. Our souls.

-English translation of "1944", originally performed by the Ukranian band "Jamala", winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

City of Andis. Anderson Spaceport. Planet Derzon. SD 195-05-08

In the edge of the Confederation of Planets (ConFed)'s space, there's small, but self-sufficient colony world of Derzon, who enjoys the flow of interstellar commerce from many other solar systems, despite the conflicts between the military arm of the ConFed, the Extraplanetary Defense Force (EDF) and the Independent Lepine Republic (ILR). Disregarding all this, the planet has managed to remain neutral during the whole conflict so far, and while the hostilities are fought from a relative close distance, roughly 18 light years from Derzon, the war itself doesn't not concern too much to the people of the planet, who have better things to worry about than thinking about a war that doesn't concern them in the slightest.

Meanwhile, in the Andis' spaceport, there's lots of traffic, both local and interestingly enough, from the ILR, whose ships were the overwhelming majority of the traffic from the aforementioned place. In the control tower, two male controllers, a Rodent and a Feline respectively, were working that day managing all the incoming air and space traffic coming to Andis. They were working untiringly, while cracking some jokes about how much of the traffic came from the ILR, for some odd reason. Not that they care much about which nationality the traffic came from anyways.

-"ILR 470, please taxi on ramp 7, over."- Said the Rodent controller to the ILR aerodyne who was landing in that moment.

-"Roger, Andis"-

The ILR aerodyne, a vehicle capable of VTOL landing and take-off, was ready to land in the Andis spaceport. Meanwhile, the other controller, the Feline one, cannot avoid cracking just another joke while the ILR vehicle was landing in that moment.

-"You know, with all this ILR traffic we are having today, one could think we're being invaded by those Lepines, HA HA HA HA!"-

-"Yeah, you're right. I doubt they're gonna bother to invade this insignificant planet anyways, when they have more juicy targets elsewhere, like Danet, Ish-tako or..."-

-"Wait a minute, I have a heavy one in the radar"-

The Feline controller noticed another, bigger flying vehicle was trying to land on Andis as well.

-"Andis spaceport, ILR 471 heavy, requesting permission to land, over."-

Both controllers noticed the vehicle was a very big one, and looked more like an air fortress, a military flying ship, rather than a civilian vessel. While the spaceport doesn't have any rules against military vehicles landing on it, due of the actual situation of war between the EDF and the ILR, it makes the landing of such ship extremely suspicious.

-"Ehh, ILR 471 heavy, please describe the reason for landing. Air fortresses are considered as military vehicles and there's a state of war between the EDF and your country."-

-"We need to refuel ASAP. We are not armed anyways, so don't worry about that. over"-

Meanwhile, the Feline controller was checking out the database regarding vehicles in the planetwide computer network and noticed something out of place regarding the fortress: By design, an air fortress cannot enter a planet's atmosphere without the help of a bigger spaceship or a dropship, which means that the intentions of the air fortress are completely different from those specified by the pilots of the ILR.

-"Hey pal, there's something fishy about that fortress. Why an ILR air fortress would attempt to land here without the help of a external ship, and even with a spaceship or..."-

-"Wait a sec!"- The Rodent one says frantically while figuring out there's something wrong in the spaceport right now. -"Hey! ILR 470! What are you doing?"-

Both traffic controllers noticed the ILR 470 was deviating from its established route and it moved near the Andis spaceport's control tower, rather than going to a ramp. That action put both controllers hysterical because both knew that something bad was happening at that moment.

-"ILR 470, YOU ARE GOING THE WRONG WAY! ILR 470, DO YOU READ ME? RESPOND IMMEDIATELY!"

In that moment, the ILR cargo aerodyne unloads his payload: A full military ILR platoon, complete with heavily armed Lepine soldiers and many ACVs following them, ready for entering into action. They also noticed the remaining ILR traffic that already landed in Andis also unloaded a full cargo of soldiers, military vehicles, ACVs and they even brought a full-armed air fortress, which many fighters were taking off to have the control of the skies of Andis, and probably from the entire planet as well.

They just realized too late that they were being invaded.

-"Oh, Khai! It's an ILR assault force! WE ARE BEING INVADED!"-

-"CRAP! QUICK, WE MUST CALL..."-

Before they could do anything else, a full ILR platoon stormed inside the control tower, aiming their guns towards both traffic controllers and ready to fire at will when needed.

Both the Rodent and the Feline quickly figured out the entire deal with the both the fortress and the remaining ILR traffic was a diversion for keeping them busy while invading the city without issues. And now they are now their prisoners in their own workplace.

-"Don't move, and don't touch anything else from that console!"- A Lepine soldier, probably the leader of the platoon, says menacingly towards both Derzonii men.

-"WHAT DO YOU GUYS WANT FROM US, YOU LEPINE PIECES OF S..."-

Before he could finish saying something else, the soldiers opened fire on them in the most brutal way possible, firing their weapons until both men were completely full of lead.

-"Unit three here, the control tower is now secure. We also need some people here to clean the whole mess..."-

Now that the ILR invading forces had the complete control of the spaceport, the first thing they did was proceeding to race towards the city of Andis, with the sole purpose of attack the resident military and police forces of the city, without anyone there being able to stop them. They where also backed-up with jet fighters watching the skies, who also neutralized the remaining Derzonii fighters and having complete air superiority over the city.

Derzon has never faced any kind of conflict, even during the very first Lepine War, something that helped them greatly at developing their planet without having to worry about spending too many resources into training and creating a full-fledged army, space force and air force as well. In fact the whole concept of warfare was basically a distant construct created since that last bloody conflict decades ago, the same one who planted the seeds for the creation of both the Independent Lepine Republic and the Extraplanetary Defense Force.

Luckily for the people of Derzon, there's still resident representatives of the EDF, who were there in the case something like a invasion happened someday.

-"Commander, we have confirmed the enemy attack on the planet"-

-"Do you have a hint about the identity of the invading forces?"-

-"Well, it's more than evident they look like ILR troops, that's for sure. Other than that, we don't have any intel about ILR activity in the planet, at least nothing that can convey any kind of political effort or other self-evident reasons. Anyways, you should worry about the incoming light armored vehicles heading to your position, Commander."-

-"Understood."-

The EDF commander of the Andis Homeguard, who is a female Vulpine, tried to keep a straight face, knowing that the ILR is heading to their position, the EDF Homeguard headquarters, who was located downtown. The invading forces bring out many light armored vehicles, and approximately more than 300 soldiers with sole purpose to raze off with the building and everyone inside of it. Luckily the ILR jet fighters aren't backing up their own ground forces, meaning their role is exclusively for combat air patrol (CAP) and not for striking ground targets, as far they knew about the current invading ILR forces.

-"All right, everyone! The ILR is coming right to us. I want everyone with a gun in your hands before things get worse. If we're lucky, we can get a standoff, but I don't know if we're going to survive this..."-

-"How many weapons we have right now, Commander?"- A man said while readying his weapons he had right now.

-"Well, we have some claymores, explosives, many rifles and rocket launchers, with enough ammo to at least inflict some damage to them and keep them busy on us rather than causing harm towards the civilian population. The ILR is well-known for fighting to the end and they will not rest until they see each one of us dead."-

-"Oh, khai!"- Another man said, knowing against what they were facing.

-"Those cowardly bastards really loves to see non-Lepine blood flow, that's for sure!"-

-"Yeah, just look what they did with all our forces and with the civilian security forces in the outskirts. I heard they didn't leave anyone alive there!"-

In the meantime, the ILR were gathering their troops near the building, just waiting the order to take over the edifice by force. One of their commanders, a veteran Lepine with yellowish fur, was standing still in his vehicle trying to analyze the current situation around the EDF HQ in Andis. He knew the people inside the building are trying to stand against them, but he is trying to be careful to not wasting the lives of his men on a probably suicide mission.

-"Well, well, well. It seems the EDF still have some aces in their sleeves right there"-

A voice comming from the radio is suddenly heard in the ILR Commander's vehicle requesting for orders.

-"What we should do now, sir?"-

-"Surround the building in all four directions, while we bring some troops to storm the EDF HQ. Remember, you should take no prisoners. Understood?"-

-"Yes, sir!"-

Meanwhile, in the EDF HQ, a man was watching the ILR troops were menacingly approaching to the headquarters...

-"Commander, they're here and they seem to be ready."-

-"Remember guys, let them draw first blood. And keep those recorders going, as we need all the info we can gather and send it to Central Headquarters. Even if we die, at least our sacrifice will not be in vain."-

-"Yes, sir!"-

The ILR forces noticed that the EDF HQ forces stationed in the building were not doing anything. The commander noticed that they didn't probably have any way to repel their attack, so he decided to give the order to attack.

-"To all forces, CHARGE!"-

The ILR foot soldiers proceeded to storm the building in all four directions, but they were repeled by some EDF soldiers attacking them with rocket launchers, managing to score some hits on many light vehicles. The ILR counter-attacked with machine gun fire on the building, killing some of the attackers in sight. Even with that, the brave EDF Derzonii men and women inside the HQ are willing to give the ILR the fight of their lives, even if they had to die for the salvation of their world.

-"All ground forces, proceed to assault the building! Eliminate all enemy forces inside the place! Leave no single ConFed soldier alive!"-

The ILR commander was beginning to lose his already thin patience, due of the heavy resistance inside the building, but he has not yet lost hope of seizing the building.

Concurrently, some EDF soldiers were finishing to set some claymores and improvised booby traps in the stairs of the building with the hope of slowing down the invading Lepine soldiers storming the HQ.

-"That claymore charge should be right about there. That should be enough to stop them for a while downstairs."-

-"Yeah, I hope so..."

Meanwhile, in the headquarters' lobby, the ILR ground forces managed to enter the building, but when they tried to going upstairs, the claymore charges exploded right under their feet, killing and maiming many of the Lepine invaders. What follows was truly Dantesque: We see missing arms, legs and even ears in the ground, while the remaining living soldiers were screaming in terror and pain...

-"MY EAR, MY EAR! AHHHHGGG!"-

-"WHAT'S GOING ON?!"-

-"THOSE BASTARDS HAS SET BOMBS IN THE STAIRS AND ALL OVER THE DAMN LOBBY!"-

The ILR commander tried to frantically communicate with the surviving members who were still inside the HQs.

-"WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? GIVE ME YOUR STATUS REPORT!"-

-"SIR, WE LOST MOST OF UNIT 3 DUE TO BOOBY TRAPS AND CLAYMORES! WE CANNOT CONTINUE ANYMORE WITHOUT RISKING ANY MORE MEN! THE BUILDING IS PROBABLY FULLY BOOBY-TRAPPED TO NO END!"-

The commander knew that the EDF HQ is right now a dangerous death trap for any ILR soldier who dared to enter inside, so he decided to take the matters in his hands and he decided to resort to a more drastic measure.

-"Unit 4 to Hifusah, requesting air support ASAP, over"-

-"Hifusah here, which ground target do you need to strike to?"

-"Uh, we need close air support (CAS) against the EDF HQ in downtown Andis. Drop anything that could bust that building. Here's the position of the edifice, over."-

-"Understood. We will sent CAS to your designated coordinates, hang it there."-

-"Thanks."-

In the meantime, in the skies of Derzon, we see the ILR air fortress Hifusah flying menacing near the borders of Andis trying to reach the city after receiving the request for a CAS.

The Hifusah was the first generation of air fortresses built by the ILR with the intention of transporting jet fighters from one point to another and being able to take-off from the skies, in the case a ground runway is not available anywhere. These air fortresses are build in modules, so they can be brought to any planet quickly and being ensambled in the ground via small-sized vehicles designed ex professo for that purpose. Once ensambled, the air fortress can take-off and land via VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) via the use of powerful fusion-based engines, the same ones used by their smaller cousins, the aerodynes.

We see a young Lepine pilot gearing up for the upcoming sortie to Andis. He was middle-sized, his fur was completely grey with a few black stripes and his eyes were brown. He was slightly tired, since he was previously resting from a previous mission he had few hours ago against a EDF airbase near Andis. That mission didn't offer him any kind of challenge, since the base was razed up in less than ten minutes, and no EDF fighter came to return fire against them. He hopes this new operation could bring him some challenge for a change.

A somewhat robotic voice came out from the pilot's communication device he had in his uniform, while almost finishing to prepare for his next sortie.

-"Lt. Ruby, your fighter is ready and refueled. Be sure to report yourself immediately in the hangar for further instructions."-

-"I'm on my way."-

Ruby goes directly to the hangar, where his fighter jet was ready for takeoff. His fighter jet is one the first generation fighters build for air combat, the R-101 Delta, a fixed-wing vehicle. The Delta was build using lightweight materials, and features many hardpoints for missiles, bombs it also had a Vulcan machine gun as well.

-"Hey, Lieutenant! Are you ready to go?"-

That voice came from one of his wingmen Iqit Athuzhuzh, one of the members of his squadron, the Scarlet Meteors, of which Ruby is the leader. Iqit had a fame of being friendly with everyone else, even with his superiors, but that doesn't bother him in the slightest. In fact, that was helping him to forget they were fighting a battle that only his superiors knew the reason why they were risking their lives, and he need a reason to remain sane in the middle of such fatuous bloodshed.

-"Yeah, I'm ready. What about the others?"-

-"They're also ready as well. The captain told us he will give us the mission briefing on the go, since it's a urgent sortie. The only thing he said is we need to do a CAS in Andis. That was all he told us now."-

-"Another CAS?"- Ruby said somewhat displeased by hearing he and his men will had to fly just another CAS. -"I was expecting something different, rather than flying another damn CAS."-

-"Well, it can't be helped. You know how our bosses like to shove dumb missions on our asses, right?"-

-"I already know that, Iqit! Since we came to this stupid planet, we have done nothing more than bombard bases and cities, and no one has give us a single hint of challenge, at least for me. This is starting to become boring as you don't have an idea."-

-"Yes, I also think the same."- Iqit said as he finished putting on his helmet.

-"OK, Let's stop talking before the captain starts to scold us. We have a mission to do."-

-"Yes, sir!"-

Ruby quickly gets on his jet and settles into his seat. All of a sudden, the same voice he previously heard before is now heard from the console of his Delta. That voice was from The Net, the computer network who controls almost every single system, from personal computers, houses to even spaceships, not only in the ILR, but also in the entire known space. No one knows who created him, other than it exist from centuries ago, since the Awakening Era. But he didn't had time to think too much about that right now.

-"Good afternoon. Lieutenant Ruby. All the systems are go. Waiting for clearance to take-off."-

-"Thanks. Please check out one last time all the systems just in case."-

Meanwhile, the cockpit of Ruby's Delta closed, while the Net was doing a quick check-up before taking-off, while waiting permission for take-off.

-"Second check-up completed. All the systems are go. You can take-off after receiving clearance for do so."-

-"Thanks again."-

-"You're welcome."-

Ruby's jet was ready to go and he proceded to taxi the vehicle to the air fortress' internal runway, awaiting orders from his higher-ups...

-"Sorry to keep you all waiting for a proper briefing session, but we had an emergency request from Unit 4 on ground."- The face of the captain of the Hifusah appeared in the screen of the jet's main panel, with a worried look in his face. -"As maybe some of you already know, we have received an urgent request for a CAS, so here's your orders. Your mission is destroy the EDF HQ building in downtown Andis, with extreme prejudice in the designed coordinates you will receive right now, while protecting our troops on the ground. Your Deltas are already armed with the required ordnance for the sortie. We do not expect a very strong opposition as much of the local forces are already subdued right now. Good luck and return home safely, just in case."-

-"We will, sir. Thank you!"-

-"Scarlet 1, you are cleared for take-off."- The Net said.

Ruby took the controls of his jet, while his gaze is directed to the gate of the air fortress, which opened quickly so that all members of his squadron could take off.

-"SCARLET 1, R-101 DELTA, LET'S DO IT!"-

Ruby and his Delta took off from the Hifusah, while the rest of the members of the Scarlet Meteors also took off as well. In that moment, five R-101s were soaring the skies, while en route to their target: The EDF Homeguard HQ in Andis.

-"OK, all systems OK, nothing important to report so far, other than we have to blow up that building to tiny chunks along with their people inside of it, over"- Ruby sarcastically said, while giving his first report post-takeoff.

-"Do you have a problem with the mission, Lieutenant? over."- The captain of the Hifusah said somewhat annoyed by his subordinate's attitude regarding the mission.

-"No, it's not that. It's just I was waiting for something more challenging than being a glorified wrecker in a big, fat jet, while no one in the ground can offer a good fight. over"-

-"Well, this is a war. Sometimes, there's interesting battles, and sometimes there's very boring missions to do. That's the painful reality of war, and we, as soldier, we have to tolerate that, no matter what. over."-

-"Whatever you said, sir."-

Ruby's squadron quickly found the building, and everyone else were ready to proceed with the mission as quickly as possible. Even if that mission could be considered a waste of time for Ruby, he's prepared to do his best anyways, for the his own sake and his homeland's one.

Meanwhile in the besieged EDF HQ, all the members look at the windows the ILR jets were approaching very fast to the building. They quickly figured out the ILR was prepared to do whatever it takes to eliminate all their enemies, even if they have to wipe out the entire building from the face of the planet.

-"Commander! We have detected ILR fast movers (flying vehicles) coming straight to us!"-

-"Oh well. We have sent all the information we need to send to Central HQ. The only thing we can do right now is to defend ourselves with whatever we have in our hands. If we die, the only thing I can say right now is I'm very proud of everyone of you and I hope our sacrifice will not be in vain..."-

-"Yes sir!"-

The ILR Deltas were approaching fast to their assigned target, while descending to acceptable altittude. On the other hand, the rest of the members of the Derzon's EDF Homeguard inside the building were bravely repelling enemy fire from the ground, knowingly they are going to die anyways...

-"Scarlet 2 here, we have the target in sight, ready to proceed as you please, sir!"

-"Roger, Scarlet 2"- Ruby said that while confirming the target by himself. -"Everyone fire at will when I give the order to do so."-

The Deltas quickly went into a diving manouver towards their target, while the inhabitants of the building proceeded to open fire against them with anti-air artillery, especially with RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), but without success, as the ILR fighters quickly evaded the enemy fire.

-"OK everyone. Fire at will!"-

After receiving the order from Lt. Ruby, all the ILR fighters fire their ammunition, mainly bunker-buster bombs and vulcan guns, mercilessly against the EDF HQ, destroying many chunks of the building in a very violent manner. While this was happening, the ground ILR forces also opened fire against the edifice as well.

-"DO NO STAND THERE AND KEEP FIRING!"-

The brutal combination of airstrikes and ground attacks by artillery caused the building to finally collapse in a dramatic fashion, including all the living soldiers who were still fighting until the end. The ILR soldiers cannot help but exclaim with emotion after seeing that the building has finally fallen, leaving aside a montain of debris and mutilated bodies of the heroic EDF soldiers who gave their lives to protect their planet.

But the ILR forces on the ground doesn't seem to care about that anyways, as their consider themselves as superior to anyone who is not a Lepine like them, and anyone who doesn't belong to their species must be eliminated from the face of the universe. For them, those EDF soldiers got what they deserved from a long time and seeing their corpses rotting in the sun did nothing to them.

On the other hand, Ruby, who was still flying with his squadron over Andis, cannot avoid to feel the only thing he did was wasting his time. Personally, Ruby never cared about politics, the racist ideology of his nation, or any kind of ideology for that matter. The only thing that matters for him is being able to fly, and nothing else.

-"Mission accomplished, sir. The target has being eliminated without issues."-

-"Well done, Lieutenant. Return to base ASAP."-

Ruby remained for a few seconds silent, with just the sound of his breathing being heard on radio.

-"Something wrong, Lieutenant?"-

-"No, it was nothing. I was just thinking for a while. That's all. over."-

-"I know what you're thinking: You're surely think this was a complete letdown for you, and you hoped to see a little bit more of action, right?"-

-"I would lie if I say that's not true, sir"-

-"Well, it can't be helped. Just return to base and you and your boys should take a good rest for a while. I doubt they will require us again for a while, unless the EDF came back here with reinforcements, but that will take some weeks. Meanwhile, you must rest, as you will need it later."-

-"Thank you, sir"-

While all of this was happening in Derzon, an in-orbit EDF satellite quickly received the distress call from the destroyed HQ in Andis, while listening and analizing enemy communications as well. Once the satellite gathered enough information of the current situation on the planet, it quickly sent all the vital information via both encrypted information using The Net and also using message torpedoes in the case the digital versions were intercepted or destroyed. This is especially important because the ILR destroyed all the ground-based networks and also the orbital relay satellites orbiting around Derzon. Even with all these measures, it will take many weeks to take care of all the monitoring systems or even the covert ones created precisely for such eventuality.

Meanwhile in Derzon, the ILR ground forces proceeded to their next step, now that they have control of the whole planet. And that step was a very sinister one.

-"Eh, sir, we have the complete control of the city. What we should do now?"- A young ILR soldier said to his inmediate superior, who was checking some data in his tablet device.

-"According with our orders, let's create some teams, get those identity dossiers with you, and bring up some men with some additional support, just in case. This could get somewhat messier."- The ILR officer said with some devious grin in his face.

-"Yes, sir."-

Not only the ILR wanted to had control over the whole planet for some reason, one of their goals was track down any ILR Lepine who was there in Derzon. Some of them were expatriates who lived there in the planet and they don't had any problems with the ILR authorities.

A group of ILR soldiers knocked on the door of the house of a ILR Lepine citizen who lived in Andis, while checking his profile in their tablets. While the citizen was obviously scared by the whole situation, he didn' had anything to fear...

-"Do you have a problem with me, sir?"-

-"So, you are Dahan Ichinah? You will come with us inmediately."-

-"sigh, Well, seems I don't have too much choice in that matter, right?"-

On the other hand, there were a group of people who escaped from the ILR and make Derzon their home. Those expatriates didn't receive any kind of benevolent treatment once the ILR forces found them in their homes...

-"OK, old geezer! We have you now!"-

Another group of ILR soldiers brutally take an elder Lepine from his house, while his wife tried to stop them, without success. Their screams can be heard on many blocks of the residential district of the city.

-"Anda, dear! Let him go!"-

-"Chenchia, please, run away! Those bastards want me, not you!"- The old man said, while the ILR soldiers proceeded to unleash a brutal beating on him in the floor.

-"SHUT UP, YOU TRAITOR!"- A ILR soldier yells while kicking the old Lepine in his face, breaking him some teeth. The old man's wife can only cry for him while the soldiers vent their fury on the poor old man.

-"YOU FREAKS CANNOT CONTINUE DOING THIS! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?"- The old woman screams in pain for her beated up husband, who was bleeding in the floor, in a attempt to stop the soldier from continue beating her mate.

One of the ILR soldier, probably the group's leader, put his sights on the old woman as he pointed his shotgun at the old woman in a very menacing way.

-"Hey, it seems you also want a piece of this thing, or am I wrong, old hag?"-

The soldier put his shotgun in the face of the old woman, and the woman began to tremble with fear, insomuch that she started wetting her clothes.

-"The only thing traitors like you deserve are two things: Lead and Death."-

-"WHA...?"-

The last thing we heard is a loud gunshot, and we can see the body of the poor old woman, whose brains are now splattered in the wall after receiving a headshot from the ILR soldier's shotgun.

-"NOOOO!"- The old man screams after seeing the dead, headless body of her wife, while the ILR soldier was coming for him right now.

-"Don't worry, old man. You will follow your wife right now. I'm just following orders, you know. Next time, think it twice before betraying us."-

-"YOU WILL NOT GET AWAY FROM THIS, YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF REPUBLICAN SHIT!"-

We hear two more loud gunshots right now, and the only thing it remained from the old man's head was a big red blob of brain mass in the floor, while the culprit was only looking at the dead corpse without any kind of emotion in his face.

-"Well, it seems you're now turned into shit instead."-

Two ILR soldiers who watched the scene, despite having some battlefield experience regarding such situations, cannot avoid feeling bad after watching such event, since they thought that was too much for even the standards of the Republic.

-"Do we need to do such kind of brutal stuff every time we take on a traitor?"-

-"Well, what do yo expect? This is the expected treatment for them anyways."-

---

-"Great! It's so nice to be able to take a break without having to walk around in a flight suit and eating something better than field rations!"-

-"And you know, we'll see we can also do right now in this cherished free time, right, my dear Erma?"-

In a very distant planet, far away from Derzon, we see a young couple of Feline lovers, one of them is a girl with brown fur with a white, slightly paler spot in the front, long brown hair and also green eyes and her mate also had brown fur, except he doesn't had any head hair, who are also members of the EDF, taking a deserved break after a tiring training session. The young male Feline invited her girlfriend to eat in a quite expensive restaurant downtown so he could be alone with her, and managing to get a three-day vacation for them, via some... unorthodox methods.

-"Judging by your face, I can see you were planning all this since the last week, eh, Tavas?"-

-"He, he, he. Well, you got me on that one, but, what else could I do now? The sole idea of being three days alone just with you will drive anyone crazy, don't you think?"-

-"Well, I enjoy all this and I thank you for all this, Tavas, but don't tell me you did an unauthorized communication just for this."- Erma said somewhat worried because her boyfriend did something under-the-counter just to get a date with her.

-"And you should have seen Anard's face! It was priceless! HA HA HA HA!"-

-"Well, if you say so..."- Erma said, somewhat annoyed by hearing Tavas blatantly admiting he did an illegal act, but she didn't want to think too much about it, as she wanted to rest first before badgering about insignificant things.

While this was happening, the sound of a communication device inside Erma's bag was heard in a noisy manner. Both Erma and Tavas knew very well the meaning of that sound...

-"What's that?"-

-"Hey, Erma! Don't tell me you did brought your handset with you, right?"-

-"That seems so. There's recall from the base, so we have to return as quickly as possible."- Erma said while reading the messages coming out from the device.

Tavas was really annoyed his perfect date was ruined by Erma bringing out her communication device that allowed her to be located anywhere when required. Now, they have to return to base as soon as possible.

-"DAMN IT! If you hadn't bring your device, our perfect date wouldn't have being ruined like this! Do you know how much money I expend for this?"- Tavas angrily berrated Erma from bringing out her device with her. -"That was all my earnings from two whole months!"-

-"Tavas, don't be ridiculous! Even without it, The Net would had located us anyways. We can resume it this any day you want, so stop crying, OK?"-

-"You did intentionally, so admit it, Erma!"-

-"Look, Tavas. I'm not in a mood to discuss this with you right now. This is an order from the base, so we must comply with it. So let's move out!"-

-"OK, if you say so."-

A few minutes later, both Erma and Tavas took a monorail towards the Homeguard base located in the outskirts of the city. Erma noticed her boyfriend looked very furious as she never see him before, but she cannot blame him that his date with her was ruined by an unexpected recall order from the base, causing him to lose his money. Even leaving aside such incident, the fact Tavas yelled at her just because she bring out her device with her, something mandatory for all the members of the EDF, really grinded Erma's gears regarding with Tavas right now. But Erma doesn't want to dwell on the topic of Tavas and his attitude right now, partly because the orders they received from the HQ were extremely vague other than reporting to base as soon as possible.

-"Crap, I wonder what's wrong with Tavas right now? I've never seen him so angry before, especially with me."- Erma thinks after watching Tavas's furious expression in his face while both of them were headed toward the base.

A few hours later, both Erma and Tavas reached the base, and after identifying themselves at the gate, they went straight to the HQ, when Anard, Erma and Tavas' superior officer and a Canine, was waiting for them.

-"Hello, Officer Anard. Can we ask what 's going on?"- Erma ask to Anard as soon she reachs to him.

-"Oh, it's you two. So, Pilot Officers Erma Felna and Tavas Ikalik, I need you two for a briefing about the current situation in an hour before lift-off from here. You should both of you bring your gear along with their respective mobility kits. Also, there's a full communications lock-out in the whole base, so no unauthorized calls of any kind inside or outside the base will be allowed."-

-"I see."- Tavas said somewhat worried after hearing they are going to lift-off out of the base in that moment. -"Can you tell us what's the current situation in which we must leave from here right now?"-

-"You will receive your answers in the briefing. To be honest, I don't know either, so it could be something big or a exercise, so both of your must be ready, so get going!"-

-"Yes, sir!"- Erma and Tavas answered him quickly and they went straight to base's locker rooms to suit themselves with their flight gear.

Erma, just like Tavas, wasn't particularly happy to going into another possible military exercise, especially when she was going into a date with Tavas, but she knew her duty as a soldier was paramount before any personal desire...

-"Khai! I didn't have time to unpack this! I hope this is just another inconvenient readiness exercise. Maybe Anard wants to punish us thanks to Tavas and his stupid idea of doing irregular stuff just to have a date with me, and since everyone knew about this, he wanted to ruin the date in a worst way possible."-

Erma noticed in that moment she cannot heard Tavas gearing himself in his bunk, despite she and her boyfriend went straight to their respective lockers at the same time and his locker was next to her.

-"Hey, Tavas, are you there?"-

She noticed Tavas was not there in his locker and his flight suit was still there, along with his personal belongings. Erma scratched her head trying to figuring out what happened with her mate.

-"I wonder where he went? Maybe he went to the hygiene unit or something. Anyways, I have to go now. I don't have time to waiting him and he will catch me later before we going out of here."-

Erma went out of the HQ after suiting herself with her flight suit, while carrying out her mobility kit along her, who was really heavy for her, but she tries her best on doing it, even if she cannot avoid complain about it.

-"Damn! These things have not become any lighter with time, that's for sure!-

The young Feline officer noticed there's a lot of military traffic going in and out-base right now. Normally in a military exercise, the traffic would be very light and sparse, but in this case it's now very heavy and there's lots of military vehicles rarely used in a run-of-the-mill exercise, including some fighter jets.

-"I wonder what's happening right now? There's lots of traffic here, it's like there would be a war or something like that."-

-"Can I take your bag please, Erma?"-

Erma heard a very familiar voice for her. After looking behind her, she noticed Tavas Ikalik was in front of her with a smile in his face, but she noticed something is wrong with him right now: Rather than being dressed in a flight uniform, he was dressed with the current formal EDF uniform normally used outside military operations, meaning he is not going to go outside the base anytime soon for her.

-"Tavas! Why are doing here, and why are you dressed like that?"-

Tavas put his hand on Erma's mobility kit, as a sign of trying him to stop Erma from keep going to her aerodyne. She was incredibly shocked of her current boyfriend's attitude in such important moment for her.

-"Me? I have come to get you out from this situation."-

-"WHAT?"-

-"Well, I thought it will a good moment to formalize our relationship, you know, so you don't have to do all this."-

Erma dropped her kit due of the impression of Tavas wanting to formalize their relationship between them while going into duty to the EDF. She noticed something was wrong on all this and she wanted answers in that moment...

-"WAIT A DAMN MINUTE, TAVAS! What do you mean with all the "formalizing our relationship" stuff? Why do you want to rush things now?"-

-"To tell you the truth, I managed to obtain some inside info: This is not an exercise, but a real military mobilization to another planet! The ILR has invaded the outer world of Derzon a few weeks ago and your whole wing will be head the initial task force there."-

Erma was neither surprised to hear what Tavas said about her current mission nor happy about what her mate was trying to imply with that, since Tavas was trying his best to avoid having to got himself into military danger and he also wanted to drag Erma out from active duty. On the other hand Erma, who endured years of hard training just to be able to go into combat like any other soldier, despite her aristocratical backgrounds, cannot stomach the fact that her lover tried to stop her, especially when she had very personal reasons to deal with the ILR...

-"I see, Tavas."- Erma snarks for a minute, trying to hide her disgust about Tavas trying to stop her, while he also wants to avoid going into combat to Derzon. -"But at least tell me why are NOT you suited up for combat?"-

-"I just want to tell you I managed to got a staff position here instead. You don't have to go to Derzon either since there's a room for a joint-spouse posting and we can still fly training missions without any kind of penalty for us. The EDF will not deny my request if this allow to keep you out from action."- Tavas keeps discussing the advantages of his proposal to his girlfriend. -"Also, we can get a nice apartment downtown just for us, and maybe for something more. We can get lots of opportunities as well, especially if the action goes hot, so we don't have to do anything dangerous for a while..."-

After hearing about the whole proposal, Erma cannot avoid feeling lots of untapped rage towards Tavas for trying to implicate her not only to avoid her duty, but also involving her in a plan to take advantage of the sacrifices of her fellow soldiers, while the two of them remained in home watching the war from afar. Her hands were tembling in an attempt to avoid punching Tavas in his face.

-"No! This is not right!"- Erma yells to Tavas while pointing her finger to him in a very violent way. -"Did you bother to at least to consider about what I want? Besides, there's no single way I'm going to stay here in a desk job with my ass in a chair, reading casualty lists of all my fellow soldiers dead in a distant land, while you and me are inside some dumb shack having hot sex with you like any other stupid girl!"- Erma keeps yelling loudly, since she cannot avoid unleash her fury after hearing all Tavas' plans for both of them.

-"Erma, please! At least you should hear me! I just don't want to lose you in some pointless war, you know very well that I love you!"- Tavas tried desesperately to convince Erma to change her mind. -"This is not a game!, this is a full-out WAR! Many people will die there and I don't want you to perish in Derzon! You should at least UNDERSTAND THAT!"-

-"And who is going to take your position, while you avoid your duty, Tavas?"-

-You know, there's lots of hot-shots who would die for staying in my place right now. Besides, I'm still in service, but not in combat, so I'm still doing my duty in some way."-

-"And who is going to fill their places when they're not available anymore?"-

-"What do you mean with that, Erma?"-

-"What I'm trying to say is you don't care a single damn about your duty as a soldier as long you are the one calling the shots, while the rest of us die just for keeping your sorry ass out of danger!"-

-"Erma, please. Stop with all this nonsense of trying to be a heroine. We can be together in home completely safe of all this dangerous situation. I really love you..."-

-"No, you don't really love me! I trained most of my life for this moment, and I'm not going to let it go just because you told me so! I have a duty for my squadron, the EDF, and above all, my family!" I'm not going to give up all of these just for your sleasy ambitions... or even you!- The young Feline girl is still discussing with her lover, with almost tears in her eyes. -"For you, I'm just a trophy and some kind of living ornament just to show off to everyone what kind of pitiful being you are, especially after what I saw when we were in the restaurant a few hours ago!"-

-"What?"-

-"Admit it! You were mad with me after I brought my device, and you were angry all the way to the base because all your plans for you and me went away!"- Erma keeps accussing Tavas, after pointing out his flaws when they were in the restaurant. Tavas remained silent after hearing that issue, trying to find a way to defuse the situation.

-"And so? I'm not the only male who tries to save his girlfriend from dying a pointless death in the battlefield."-

-"Tavas, do no try to stop me right now. We will discuss this another day."- Erma proceeded to go straight to her aerodyne, while Tavas stayed behind in the runway.

For a first time in his life, Tavas Ikalik, a young ambitious man who rarely has accepted a "no" for an answer, much less from a woman, felt incredibly furious like never he felt before. Not only Erma Felna, the first woman who he really loved sincerely, was rejecting his proposal for a comfty and safe life with him, she also rejected him as well, something that never happened with him before.

-"Are you completely insane or stupid enough to do this, Erma? Do you prefer to risk your life in a battlefield in some distant planet rather than staying here with me?"-

Erma remained silent after hearing that, ignoring what Tavas said in that moment...

-"What's the meaning of all this nonsense? Do you want to go to a war just to kill some Republicans just to avenge your father from what they did with him? Or do you want to show to everyone else you can kick some ass, despite you are a woman? Also, what about US? We can have a nice and peaceful life without dealing with all this bloodshed. We can also form a family!, you and me, for Khai's sake!"-

After hearing such words, and after hearing Tavas mentioning Erma's father, who was tortured by the ILR during the First Lepine War, she stops walking for a while, and while avoiding turning her back to Tavas, her voice became from a femenine, soft voice to a very louder, angrier one. Tavas made the mistake of using her father with the intention of talking down to her, and the sole fact of someone else, even someone like her mate Tavas, of insulting her family, it's a enough reason the enrage her like never before, even if Erma does her best to contain her wrath.

-"Tavas, you made a mistake with me. You thought you could control me like any other girl and you also thought I'm going to accept everything you say because you thought I'm just another woman who needs a man to do anything in her life. You always tried to manipulate my life to your own tastes, and you always tried to fill the void of not having my family on my side by trying to win me with gifts and money. You thought I'm just another shallow and boring girl because I'm from a more standpat world like Dornthant..."-

-"Erma! Please, CUT THAT CRAP! I'm just only want what is good for us!"-

-"No, you ARE the one you should cut YOUR CRAP! You only want what you really want! You never cared on any moment about me! And in that case I prefer doing my life by MYSELF rather than hanging my life with such a low-life like YOU!"-

-"ERMA!"-

-"I have a job to do, Tavas Ikalik. As far as I'm concerned, you can screw yourself."-

Erma starts to run towards her aerodyne who was parked in one extreme of the runway , with tears in her eyes, while Tavas was still there, being unable to say or doing anything else after receiving the most serious verbal beatdown of his life. The only thing he can do in that moment is...

-"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT! SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!"- Tavas screams in the runway, stomping the ground furiously and throwing his beret. "How dare you doing this to me, you filthy Dornthantii BITCH! One of these days, I will make you regret for this, did you hear THAT? I SWEAR IT! "-

In that moment, Tavas kicks the wheel from a vehicle parked near him causing him to scream in pain.

-"DAMN IT! AHHGH! MY TOE!"-

After that incident, Tavas grabs his own communication device and he proceeds to talk with someone...

-"Yeah, it's me, Ikalik. I need to urgently talk with..."-

---

Meanwhile, inside the EDF headquarters, we see another man, a Canine (wolf) gearing himself for the sortie to Derzon as well like Erma, while he heard a voice from the The Net, albeit it's not The Net itself who is talking with him right now.

-"Commander, since we need extra men right now, you have been moved to the planetary defense wing here."-

-"Oh, I see. And who will replace me?"-

-"Lt. Erma Felna and Lt. Twitty will lead the squadrons in your place. The whole ops (operations) will be handled by the task force command center on the battlefield."-

-"Understood. I'm on my way."-

The Canine commander proceeds to move to an aerodyne parked in the runway. On that moment, he meets with another, younger Canine (also a wolf) who was emerging from the aerodyne right now. That person seems to be an acquaintance of the commander.

-"Hey, Hotzektel!"-

-"Oh, how are you, Commander Quetselhoioi?"-

-"Well, I will not be able to be with you... Unfortunately, I was ordered to stay here to protect this planet, so you will have to go without me for a while."-

-"I see."- Hotzektel said somewhat sad after hearing this. -"So, who will take your place, sir?"-

-"Lt. Erma Felna. Even if she is somewhat young and naive, she is pretty intelligent and she can give you a hand when you need it. You would do well to listen to her."-

-"I will. Please be careful here, sir..."-

-"Thanks a lot, Hotzektel."-

Commander Quetselhoioi gave a hug to his subordinate, and later both men proceeded to go to their respective ways...

While this was happening, Erma was helping to load her aerodyne with some light armored vehicles, while trying to forget what happened previously a few moments ago with Tavas. She doesn't had time to worry about her personal life and her mind was exclusively on fulfilling her duty as a soldier. She was talking with another fellow member of the EDF, a Canine, while both of them finished to load the aerodyne with the ground units.

-"Well, I think that was all, Lieutenant. But Khai!, after having finished a week of troublesome battlefield practice work, now we have another exercise!"- the Canine EDF member said, somewhat annoyed by having to going into another movilization outside the planet.

-"We'll see about that"- Erma said in a sadder tone of her voice.

-"What do you mean with that, Lieutenant?"-

-"Let's say we have to be sure to have those vehicles ready for real action, just in case."-

-"Oh, please! Don't you think we are going to get involved into a real battle, right?"-

Erma remained silent for a few moments, trying to put her eyes on the vehicles and ignoring what her fellow soldier said.

-"Do you have a problem, Lieutenant?"-

-"No, nothing at all..."-

-"When you came here a few minutes ago, you were crying..."-

-"I said it was nothing, that's all."- Erma interrupted him in a rude way.

-"Well, if you said so..."-

Few minutes later, Erma enters within her aerodyne and before she proceeded to enter to the cockpit, she checks the final details with her loadmaster, a Rodent named Tad, who was fine-tuning everything inside the vehicle.

-"Hello there, Tad. Is everything in order?"-

-""Everything is perfect and in order to take off, Lieutenant."-

-"Are you going to come with us?"-

-"Nope, why the question?"- Tad said somewhat puzzled why Erma wants him to be with her.

-"I was just thinking we could need you, just in case."-

-"Thanks for your consideration, but I need to do this with other units. Besides, I'm not authorized to go out-base in this moment, we're really busy moving all those things inside the aerodynes and we need all the people available right now."-

-"Oh, I see."- Erma gave a final look at the vehicles before takeoff, while their respective crews were entering them beforehand. "-Anyways, thank you for your work and good luck."-

-"The same goes for you, Lt. Felna."-

Erma proceeded to enter to the cockpit of her aerodyne and before taking-off, she turned on the microphone to her vehicle to warn the crews of the AVs. (armored vehicles) :

-"Your attention please? We will take-off to exo-atmosferic flight in a few minutes, so fasten your seatbelts and turn on your life support units until we reach our destiny. Now, prepare for powering up the aerodyne and for taxi on the runway. Thank you." -

Erma turns on her aerodyne and she starts to taxi on the runway, ready to take-off on any moment.

-"EDF 084, you're cleared for take-off. Good luck!"-

-"Thank you."-

In a few minutes, the aerodyne took off from the runway and half an hour later, it leaves the planet's atmosphere.

The aerodyne, one of the most important military aereal vehicles used by the current civilization, along with fighter jets, is a flying transport machine powered by fussion energy, who uses pure and raw thrust rather than using wings to stay in the air. Due of the lack of wings, an aerodyne looks more like a flying brick than a spaceship, not that stop those vehicles to be useful in that era.

A typical aerodyne, like the one Erma is using right now, is normally intended for transporting armored attack units, like light armored vehicles, small vehicles, etc. It also have their own weapon systems, so it can be used to provide airstrike support, not to mention tactical command and control for smaller areas. In that moment, Erma's aerodyne was preparing itself to rendezvous with a VLLSS. (Very Large Logistical Support Ship)

---

-"Sir, Dr. Baherranian is in the office's waiting room right now."

-"OK, Let him pass, please."-

We see a high-ranked EDF officer, a Feline (lion) who received in his office late at night a very important person in the EDF Lepine community. His name was Dr. Baherranian, an Lepine ILR expatriate who was considered as an important person representing the civilian ILR expats who live in the ConFed space. He was very short compared with his Feline guest, and his fur was brown with white stripes. Both men shake their hands, despite the EDF officer tried his best to greet his counterpart lowering his head.

-"Hello, Doctor. I have to apologize for calling you at late hours, but we have a very grave situation that will seriously affect your community as a whole."-

-"I had the bad feeling that something terrible happened, but can I ask what exactly happened now?"- The Lepine said in a worried tone.

-"We have received a distress call from Derzon reporting that the whole planet was invaded by Lepine forces. It seems that the Derzon EDF HQ was probably destroyed by the invaders as we cannot receive any reply from them."-

Dr. Baherranian was really shocked after hearing that, since he knew very well what that event could mean for the entire Lepine community in the ConFed space, as Lepines sometimes suffer from discrimination due to all the acts the ILR did during the First Lepine War many years ago. The terrible, barbarical acts the Independent Lepine Republic did during the conflict were so shocking, and so repulsive than their entire race was stained with the stereotype of being war-mongering, racist maniacs bent to conquer all the known space by themselves. People like Baherranian would have nothing to do with the worst things associated with their country and so many of them like him emigrated from the ILR for a better life in ConFed space.

-"sigh I understand. Do you expect some kind of problem with us?"-

-"Both the EDF and the local Homeguard will make sure that the rights of everyone are protected according with the law. I already talked with the Derzon governor, who is in the run right now somewhere on the planet, and she told me that she will do everything in her power on the issue."-

-"I get the point, sir, but I have to suppose in the meanwhile you would want us to not doing anything else for a while?"-

-"Unfortunately, no one can know what could happen between the EDF and the ILR in these moments. So, while there is no any kind of official restrictions, like a curfew or anything like that for now, it would be very wise to avoid any provocative actions that could be interpreted as a violent act from your side."- The Feline officer said with a sad tone in his voice. -"Meanwhile, the ILR expatriates would likely be monitored, as well as any kind of rimworld spaceships, until the whole situation can be resolved in some way."-

-"Is that all?"- Dr. Baherranian said, somewhat happy that the situation with the ILR expats didn't turned as worse as he expected.

-"Yes, that would be all for now."-

-"I see. Anyway, in the case you need something from me regarding my community, please drop me a call. I will try to do my best on this situation as well."-

-"Very well. Just be careful out there, we don't know what could happen from this moment at all...-"

---

A few minutes later, in another region of the outer space, the EDF VLLSS ship was orbiting near the planet, while receiving swarms of aerodynes, each one of them loaded with the necessary troops and AFVs (armored fighting vehicles) to reclaim Derzon from the ILR. The VLLSS is not simply is not merely an extremely large spaceship: It will be a mobile HQ from the outer space, since not only will transport all the required hardware and troops from one planet to another, but it's also basically a space mobile factory, meaning it can build its own weapons and even it can rebuild the infrastructure of a single planet by itself, something that will be much needed afterwards.

Meanwhile, inside that ship, Erma Felna was walking towards the briefing room to receive what would be her orders inside Derzon. As she walked into the room, Erma is with an old friend from some time ago, Lt. Hotzektel, who was in corridor of the ship waiting her to talk.

-"Hello there, Hotzektel!"-

-"Nice to see you, who else could it be besides me? -

-"Glad to hear that. By the way, did everyone else show up here?"-

-"Well, yes, everyone except Commander Quetselhoioi"-

-"What?- Erma said somewhat surprised, since Quetselhoioi was her commander and inmediate superior officer, and she didn't expect him not to come to Derzon as well, taking into account what happened with Tavas a few minutes ago. -"Why the commander didn't come?"-

-"He told me he will not come, as he was transfered to another unit to protect the planet while we're in Derzon. I just heard about it while we were in home a few minutes ago".-

-"Oh, great!"- Erma cursed her luck, since she knew what that means. -"Then, I have to assume I 'm going to replace him, right?"-

-"Yes."-

-"..."-

-"Please, Lieutenant. Do not take it so badly, since I will try to help you in anything I can. The commander told me you could give some advice as well."-

Erma put her hands on her face as a sign of nervousness, since that was her first time that she takes the lead, rather than Commander Quetselhoioi. She never did take command before, other than receiving theoretical courses about strategy and command in the academy, so Erma knew well what kind of responsabilities she had over her shoulders.

-"Hotzektel, to be honest, I don't know if I can do this. I never took the command before, and right now, I don't feel in the mood to do this kind of stuff."-

The young Canine officer put his hand in Erma's shoulders in an attempt to cheer her up, as he noted she was somewhat stressed.

-"Hey, Lieutenant, I know you can do it! The commander wouldn't had chosen you if he had not been sure of your skills. Besides, I saw your skills when we attended the academy and I'm completely sure you can do a good job at leading us."-

Erma sighed for a few minutes, and then, she put her hands on Hotzektel's shoulders as well, as a sign that she was more vibrant after his comrade in arms said to her.

-"Thank you, Hotzektel. I really need that."-

-Well, what we are waiting for? Let's go!"-

Both soldiers went straight to the briefing room, where a large group of soldiers of many different species were awaiting the arrival of the EDF superior officer that would give them orders for their mission on Derzon.

-"Hello, everyone!"- Erma and Hotzektel greeted everyone when they entered the room.

-"Hey, hello there, Lt. Felna and Lt. Hotzektel!"- The rest of the members inside the room replied to them"

In that moment, the aforementioned superior officer, who was an enormous male Ursine, appears in scene. Judging by his uniform, he had the rank of general. Everyone in the room stood in his presence.

-"Officers of the Fourth Aerospace Expeditionary Force"- The Ursine general said with a somber tone in his voice. -"It is in my deepest regret I must inform all of you we have been mobilized after receiving a distress call from what appears to be an armed invasion to planet Derzon, in the capital city of Andis..."-

-"So, Tavas was right after all!"- Erma thought in that moment, after hearing those words. -"But I can't understand why that idiot decided not to go..."-

-"...Most of the major population centers of the planet were occupied by both armored vehicles who were disembarked using ships with commercial callsigns. Both the EDF and ConFed personnel in the planet resisted as best as they could, but they were eliminated by a combination of ground fire and heavy air bombing. Also, there are reports the enemy forces brought out jet fighters and there's even another report about the presence of a giant air fortress flying through the skies of Derzon..."-

-"WHAT? AN AIR FORTRESS?"- Everyone in the room panicked after hearing that. They knew their enemy not only had fighter jet technology, something the EDF didn't had right now, but they also had even bigger flying vehicles.

-"I don't think our 'dynes will be enough for take'em out, that's for sure!"- Another soldier complained loudly.

-"As far we know about the invading forces, the hostiles are all Lepines, using ILR-type equipment..."-

After hearing the words "Lepine" and "ILR", Erma cannot avoid to clench her teeth hard: The Independent Lepine Republic and their armed forces not only were the responsable of the First Lepine War who was waged many decades ago before Erma was born, a war that caused millions of deaths in many planets, bu it was also the same war who robbed Erma's father his sanity, and destroyed most of her childhood. She trained most of her life for this moment, but she never expected that moment came so soon for her...

-"I can't believe we're going to have another war against the ILR!"- Erma tried her best to repress her anger, but some people on the room, especially Hotzektel, noticed Erma's stern face, a face that barely tried to hide the fact she was furious. Even he was starting to worry about her comrade in arms in that delicate moment.

-"Lieutenant, are you all right?"- Hotzektel said quietly.

-"I'm fine."-

-"You don't look very fine for-"

-"Let me hear hear what the general is saying, please!"- Erma said in a soft but angry voice to his partner.

-"...meanwhile the ILR ambassador denies any activity of his country on Derzon. But, until we get more intelligence information to prove otherwise, we have to assume a defensive position in home and retake Derzon as soon as possible. In order to accomplish both missions, we have allocated some members of 255th Aerospace Strike Squadron and the 270th Space Defense Squadron will stay in-system for defensive reasons. For the same reasons, some members from the rest of the task force have been reassigned to do other ops as well. Maybe you already know Commander Quetselhoioi will not partake in this operation to Derzon..."

-"Yeah, we already know that, but we don't know who's going to replace him"- One of the members of the squadron said somewhat worried about the news.

-"Yes, we want to know who will lead us?- Another voice was heard as well.

The general resummed his talk to the squadron in the same serious tone as before:

-"Commander Quetselhoioi's role will be filled by Lieutenant Erma Felna for this mission, by his own personal request."-

A sepulcral silence filled the briefing room after everyone heard Erma's name as the replacement for Commander Quetselhoioi. No one can believe a woman would take the lead of the squadron, a fact that shocked everyone, as with the sole exception of Erma, everyone else were males and no female has ever took over lead positions in the past, and this was the first time a woman would do that.

-"With the due respect, sir, why Lt. Felna will be the leader rather than anyone of us?"-

-"Yeah! Besides, no matter how good she could be, she is a newbie here, not to mention a woman."-

Many male voices, with the sole exception of Hotzektel, complained in loud fashion about such shocking decision, causing Erma to put her hands her hands in her face due to nervousness. While she already knew she would replace her commander, she didn't expected that would be disclosed in a very public fashion and causing a massive commotion on her wingmen.

-"Damn! What I'm going to do? It seems no one wants a girl to lead them..."- Erma tought for a moment, while being worried about the outcome of the whole situation.

-"Lieutenant Felna was chosen by Commander Quetselhoioi due of her results in the Danet's sniper crisis and also her outstanding results in training. That was the reason given by him for his decision regarding her."-

-"Anyway, I really doubt she could lead a full squadron of men just because the commander said so."- Another man said in a very arrogant and smuggish tone, in open defiance about Erma being the leader of the squadron.

-"In that case, young man, you should address your complains to Commander Quetselhoioi, not me, regarding this. As far I'm concerned, this issue is not under discussion. So, unless everyone of you have anything useful to say, this briefing is dismissed."- The General said visibly annoyed by the attitude of the male members about the whole issue about Erma.

Meanwhile, Erma herself was somehow divided about the whole thing: On the one hand, she was glad that Commander Quetselhoioi have took her into account for this mission, but on the other hand, she was worried that her election as commander could have an adverse effect on the morale of the other pilots. Everyone in the room started to complain about the fact that a woman would give them orders, but since Erma was appointed by their own commander, they didn't had other choice but comply, but that doesn't prevent them to even foul-mouth him and also Erma in her own face.

-"Damn it! What the heck the commander was thinking by giving a girl the command position?"- A loud voice was heard in that moment.

-"Yeah, there's no way a woman could lead a freakin' squadron, for Khai's sake! At least she should work in a desk!"- Another, more angrier voice was detected in the room, trying to show publicly his dissatisfaction about the whole deal.

Erma could not help feeling bad for being the center of the discussion regarding that she would be the leader rather than a male. She would have preferred that Quetselhoioi was the commander and not her, not to mention she already had enough problems to deal on herself, especially after Tavas decided to stay in home rather than fight with her and the rest of her comrades-on-arms. In such tenseful situation, Hotzektel tried to calm her in some way.

-"Don't worry, Lieutenant, I'm really confident in you and I know you will do an excellent job."-

Erma, who was in that moment with her hands in her ears trying not to hear the whole heated discussion about her, really appreciated those kind words about her skills. She felt terribly about being the apple of discord along her wingmen, just because she was a woman and she needed a nice push from someone more kinder than the rest of her misogynistic partners.

-"Thanks for your words, Hotzektel. I really need that..."-

---

At the next day, Erma and the rest of the remaining flight leaders, along with the members of her squad, were studying in another briefing room about the tactical configuration of the operation. Since the original leader, Quetselhoioi, was switched over with Erma in his stead, she must do now the required adjustments regarding the new tactics that Erma will use in Derzon. Everyone with the sole exception of Hotzektel was watching her carefully and somewhat in a notorious bad mood since they have to obey orders from a woman and they don't have a choice on it. Erma tried to ignore the situation the best she could and she only focused on discussing the details of the mission with the straight face she could.

-OK, everyone, here we are."- Erma sighed for a minute, while watching her data pad with the data about the mission in front of her. -"Since Cmdr. Quetselhoioi is not present here, I'm supposed to being at command and maintain our unity in this mission. Meanwhile, I suggest we should do some simulations regarding planetary assault landings, so we can get used with the new tactical configurations. I also want extra simulations in the case the chain of command is broken either through jamming or death. And by the way, I also want everyone not only fullfill their missions, but also take over squadron leadership, in the case something terrible could happen to anyone of us."-

Everyone began to look at each other after hearing that, because they realized that Erma was more intelligent and rational than they originally expected from a woman. They didn't expect a such young Feline girl like her turned out to be quite an expert regarding tactics and strategy. What they didn't know was that Erma had previously studied additional military strategy and theory from many sources from The Net, besides the information she already knew, the whole day after that heated briefing with the EDF general, since she wanted to show everyone what she could do, regardless of her gender. She quietly continue to discuss with her plans in a very soft and gentle tone, even if Erma tried to hide her own worries regarding the whole thing.

-"I know everyone of you, including myself, had done enough psychological simulations to prepare ourselves for whatever danger can await us in the battlefield and we wouldn't be here if we there is any kind of uncertainty regarding our ability to stand under enemy fire. I don't need to remind you this is the real thing, something no simulator in existence can prepare us for it."-

Everyone in the room started to discuss what Erma said. She in her mind was glad to listen that her advice was heard by every member of the force.

-"Anyone has something to add to this?"- Erma said in an attempt to make sure everyone payed attention to her words. Many voices were heard from distant points from the room.

-"Eh, no sir."-

-"Ditto"-

-"Perfectly understood, sir"-

She was more than happy to hear those words, even if some members of the force are having a hard time to stomach the idea about a woman being in a leadership position.

-"In that case, this session is dismissed for now. And by the way: Tell their crews I will be available for questions when required, and also we will have some meetings ASAP later."-

Everyone in the room left it as quickly as they can, leaving Erma alone inside of it. She quickly sat in her chair trying to think about her own personal situation and above all, what had happened with that person she considered her lover, Tavas Ikalik.

-"Well, I'm finally the leader. Great."- Erma thought cautiously as she looked at her computer, unable to stop thinking that the things could not be much complicated for her. -"At least I hope they can deal with this unexpected modification in the chain of command, especially when they have a woman like me as their leader."-

Erma started to type furiously at her computer, trying to think about her mission to come, rather than thinking about her current dilemma she is facing right now...

-"Tavas should be here, at least to give me a hand..."-

...but suddenly, she slammed her fist against the keyboard, almost breaking it, as Erma was enraged like she never has been before. She could not believe that the person she once loved chose to cower at the last minute, and worst of all is that not only Tavas decided to escape from his duties as a soldier, but also intended to involve her in his plans, and if that was not enough for him, he also insulted her father, something that she would never, ever, forgive him.

-"TAVAS, YOU SELFISH, MANIPULATIVE BASTARD!"- Erma screams in rage inside her mind. -"I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'VE HAD YOUR WAY LIKE THAT!"-

And suddenly, Erma crashed her head against the table, with tears in her eyes. While she almost avoid to show any kind of strong emotion that could be used against her by her peers, she is completely overwhelmed by the magnitude of he current situation and the fact she doesn't had anyone to turn to for help, as almost everyone other than her superiors resents her for being a woman.

-"Khai, Now what am I going to do?"-

She quickly wiped out her tears and she put her sights again on her computer trying to analize the data about the mission on Derzon once more.

-"I cannot cry now, especially in such difficult moment. I have to remain calm right now."- Erma tried to keep her cool again, even if her face said otherwise. -"At least the mission it's not too dangerous as I thought, but I hope we can get it done without losing too many good men on it..."-

---

In the following days, Erma and the rest of her squad, along with the remaining squad leaders spent the next days preparing, simulating and testing every single detail for the upcoming warfare operations on Derzon that awaits them. She had a monumental task to do, since her fellow pilots were still struggling with having a woman as their leader and sometimes, they were uneager on accepting her role in such delicate situation.

Luckily, all that training and simulating helped them on not only build confidence on Erma's skills as a leader, but also to get rid of many sexist gender stereotypes about her, seeing that Erma was also as capable as any pilot, even if everyone, Erma included, knew very well no simulation can prepare them for the outlook of dying in combat.

Meanwhile, the EDF VLLSS was on its way to Derzon at full speed. The massive spaceship, who can be described as a giant cylinder with thrusters, will need a full week of thrust to get into a favorable position to jump.

Jump or Jumping is the in-universe slang for faster-than-light travel, a feat accomplished by going into full speed until it reach the vicinities of a "gravity well" from a celestial body, such as a planet or a star, in a way it could enter into another dimension, a charitable form to describe the way how the ship and its crew disconnected themselves briefly from the laws of physics, until it reach its destination, who is always into another gravitational well from another celestial body.

While the whole process of "jumping" is instantaneous, it does has some notable limitations regarding distance and direction, as the ship must be into a reasonable distance out from the well of a celestial body. Also, there's lots of variables that could endanger any ship who "jumps" from one point into another, including jumping into another unintended place and sometimes, the whole process of "jumping" itself could and can destroy a ship without any warning, so the crew has to perform all the necessary calculations before any operation involving faster-than-light travel to avoid any tragic incident.

After the VLLSS managed to get the required thrust to enter to "jump" speed, the ship was shrouded in a shaft of light and "jumped" into another dimension. For the crew inside the ship, the process is almost unnoticeable and the only thing they see and feel when the jump happens is a brief blaze like a flash of a camera after taking a photograph. Once the process of "jump" is complete, the ship was within the Derzon solar system, but it will take a few days to reach the planet itself.

In the meantime, the crew of the VLLSS launched into the depths of outer space a series of unmanned vehicles called ACV, the acronym of Autonomous Combat Vehicle. An ACV is basically a space drone built to withstand the rigors and dangers of outer space and can be used for many roles that could be dangerous for a living pilot in space, including reconnaissance, communications and even the same ACVs can be used as improvised missiles when the opportunity arises. These vehicles can also be fitted with conventional armament, like missiles and small beam weapons, and can be used as unmanned space fighters, being more practical, cheaper and above all, safer for any pilot.

The ACVs were wandering across the Derzon space surveying the planet searching for potential landing sites, enemy positions and, if necessary, doing preemptive strikes on enemy assets in space, like small ships or other ACVs. As mentioned previously, they can be used as missiles and can be used to bombard the planet against the invading ILR forces. Unfortunately for the EDF, they didn't figured out that the ILR fighter jets are faster enough to evade the ACVs, causing the rogue ACVs to strike against unintended targets in Derzon, including cities and population centers, as if the damage caused by the ILR was not enough for the poor people of that planet.

Meanwhile, Erma and the rest of the task force were taking off their suits after wearing them for basically many days without even sleep. The lack of sleep has already took a toll on Erma's body, as when started to taking off her clothes, her whole body, especially her fur, reeks on basically every unpleasant odor know to everybody. Despite this, even those who resented her choice as the leader congratulated her for her great job she was doing so far, but the first thing she wanted before any kind of recognition is to take a good bath.

-"Damn, I just want to take a bath. I smell worse than a open sewer, for Khai's sake!-" Erma complained aloud while she went straight to the ship's hygiene unit to take a bath, as she couldn't stand her personal odor anymore.

The hygiene unit, the in-universe term for a bathroom, differs greatly from a regular bathroom in many ways. For obvious reasons, a ship's hygiene units are built to take into account the lack of gravity in space, so it can recycle the water for later use. There's also the issue of the WC, as depending of the species, it could be a regular one like the ones used in the western countries of the Earth or a Far Eastern-style one for people who requires to do their physical necesities on squatted position. In Erma's case, being a Feline, she only needs a western-style one. There's also two kinds of showers for hygiene units: the regular ones like the ones who exists in the Earth and the ones built for spaceships, who have many small sprinklers around, so it can spray water around the body efficiently and with less waste. Also, at least in Erma's case, she needs to use a respirator in her muzzle to avoid aspirating the floating water due to zero gravity.

After taking a shower, Erma went straight to a machine specially built to groom both her hair and fur after the bath. Since many species has fur or feathers and a regular brush and comb are not always enough for this task for physiological reasons, robotic stylists were created exclusively for spaceship use. There's also regular people on land who also does this job as well, albeit their availability varies from planet to planet and even in some planets this job is something normally reserved for the privacy of someone's home and there are even people who are outright scandalized to see that.

Once she finished grooning her hair and fur, Erma went to her bunk to sleep, as everyone would need to rest as much as they can before the battle began, especially after many days with their suits on before and after the "jump", just in the case if the enemy attacks them during the process. She felt incredibly tired and sore after many restless days of work and the only thing she craved in that moment is to sleep.

-"Well, at least I can worry now about how my life sucks..."-

After she said that, she went straight to bed and dived her head to her pillow, trying to sleep instead.

-"Or rather not"- Erma said in a dull tone -"Net, please turn off the lights."-

-"Understood."-

Once the lights went off, Erma went to sleep as soon there's no light anymore...

---

The next scene shows Erma completely alone in a very dark place, without anything else to see. Obviously enough, Erma was scared, since she didn't know where she was.

-"Where am I?"-

She starts to wander around the mysterious place she was in for a few minutes in an attempt to find someone or something along the way, without success.

-"HELLO? IS ANYONE HERE?"-

Erma beings to worry after not receiving any answer and after wandering around without finding any sign of life.

-"Why is no one is answering me? Where is everybody?"-

Suddenly, she hears a voice and also saw a pillar of light that was in front of her from a few steps far away from her position. She quickly identifies the voice like the one from a little girl...

-"Is it that a girl?"-

Erma quickly noticed a few things about the girl: The girl was a Feline like her, she also shared the same color of her own fur and above all, she was crying in a soft tone. She cannot avoid to feel pity for that poor, little kitten girl and she came close to her in an attempt to confort the girl.

-"Are you OK, sweetie? Why are you crying and where are your parents?"- Erma said in a cheerful, motherly voice, while trying to came close to her.

Erma noticed to girl was still crying, while still ignoring her words. She starts to get frustated by the attitude of the Feline girl.

-"C'mon! I don't like being ignored by some little girl, will you? At least tell me your name. My name is Erma Felna. So, what's yours?"-

The girl, who had her face buried between her legs, so Erma wasn't able to see her visage, suddenly stops crying and she pointed her finger towards Erma, but she didn't say anything else. The girl's attitude was starting to anger the young EDF officer like no end.

-"HEY! DID SOMEONE TELL YOU ABOUT NOT POINTING YOUR FINGER TO YOUR ELDERS? AT LEAST SHOW ME YOUR FACE, DAMN YOU!"-

Erma, in a fit of rage, took the girl's arm in an attempt to force her off the floor where she was at that time, but she noticed something incredibly unusual about the little girl.

-"I do not like being pitied, AT ALL."-

Not only the little Feline girl spoke to Erma with some rageful words directed towards her, but she also noticed something else that horrorized her...

...that little girl was Erma herself when she was a little girl.

-"Surprised? You shouldn't. And you don't have the right to be surprised as well."-

After hearing those words, Erma suddenly released the girl's arm in shock.

-"You've always wanted to be here. I always wanted to be you."- The younger Erma said to her older counterpart with a very creepier look in her eyes.

-"Wha-, what do you want from me?"- Erma said, while being genuinely scared by that younger version of herself.

-"Me? I don't want to hurt you, but I also want to be with you..."-

-"What do you mean with that?"-

Suddenly, the younger Erma and the pillar of light surrounding her disappeared in an instant, leaving her older counterpart alone once again.

-"One day, you will find your answers soon.-

Erma was completely bemused and at the same time frightened by what she had just seen. Who was that girl who looked like her and what was the meaning of her words?

But before she could start to answer those questions, the pitch black "place" she was standing right now faded suddenly to white, and before she could figure out what was going on in that moment, Erma noticed she is now in a very different place from the dark and oppressive location she was barely a few seconds ago.

-"Oh, Khai, and now where am I again?-

Erma noticed she was standing still in what it looked like a military runway, and she also noticed there were many aircraft parked there.

Except she quickly figured out no one of those aircraft looked like anything she knew previously before, as the aircraft were propeller-powered, something that was almost obsolete and impractical in her own setting.

Erma also quickly realized that the buildings where that runway was were very different from what she knew in her homeworld. As if it wasn't enough, she also noticed the runway was located in what it looked like a jungle, as near of that jungle there was what it looked like a volcano.

What terrified her more was not anything previously mentioned: She also noticed the people in the airbase didn't look like anyone she met before. Every one looked like they belonged to the same species, and their faces were flatter compared with her own, and other than their own heads, no one had either fur or feathers in their skin.

They also spoke a language she didn't understand, but she noticed something they were mentioning continuously...

But before she could figure out anything else, she heard a loud noise from what it sounded like an alarm...

---

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Erma suddenly woke up after hearing those loud beeps, while breathing and panting violently. That dream she had was something that really frightened her like anything she had even experienced before. The aforementioned beeps were the sounds from Net's alarm she previously adjusted before going to sleep, so she could wake up if she overslept...

-"It was... pant ...just a dream."-

The young Feline officer put her hands to her head because she had a severe headache due to that freakish nightmare she had. She tried to analyze the meaning of that nightmare and what it meant. Who was that little girl who looked like her when she was a kitten girl and what was the meaning of that incredibly alien-looking place for her. But each time she tried to figuring out those bizarre images, The more she tried to analyze the meaning of those bizarre images, her head ached even more.

-"Khai! My head REALLY HURTS!"-

Meanwhile, she heard someone rang (or pressed a button, context-wise) the doorbell of her bunk...

-"Who is it?"-

-"Sorry for bothering you, Lt. Felna. It's me, Drumbo. I need to talk with you."-

Drumbo, a Canine (wolf) officer and a long time being Erma's comrade-of-arms since her days in the academy, despite being older than her and technically being Erma's senior, seems to want to talk with her, despite she already had more important things to worry about at that moment, like the meaning of that nightmare, but she couldn't afford to worry about strange things in such critical situation and much less when her own personal image as a leader is in stake.

-"Well, I can't start to worry about senseless stuff right now."- Erma thought in that moment. -"OK, Drumbo, come in!"-

The door slided and Drumbo entered into Erma's bunk quickly. He had brown eyes, and also brown fur as well, with a lighter patch as well. Being Erma's elder, he was somewhat taller than her, but he looked very nervous and somewhat shy, compared with Erma's more acertive personality.

-"Can I help you, Drumbo?"-

-Well, eh, I was wondering if I could talk with you, about, uh, if it's no trouble for you, about the whole deal of seeing combat and all that."- Drumbo said with a very nervous voice, but Erma wasn't annoyed by his attitude at the slightest.

-"Why do you say that?"-

-"You know very well I've been in the EDF for 10 years, including training and some sorties out there and I totaled about 12,000 flying hours. But, to be honest, I've never being shot at, and I don't really know how I can deal with such situation, sir."-

Erma looked at Drumbo with a somber face and she tried not to give importance to the whole issue, in an attempt to act a little bit haughty, but even Erma herself is right know struggling to keep a straight face, taking into consideration she had her own demons to deal in that moment.

-"To be honest, that one time I was under enemy fire, I guess I was too busy piloting my aerodyne to worry about being killed in action. This mission has to be something similar, I think."-

-"Really, Lieutenant?"-

Erma got up from her bed and put her hands on the shoulders of her partner in an attempt to calm him. He felt very well when she did that.

-"Look, Drumbo, we'll have so many things to do right now that facing death will be the least of our worries. So, instead of worrying about things that have not happened yet, you should relax and starting thinking how do you plan to expend the money you will going to receive for this mission, OK?

-"Understood."-

-"Good to hear that. If you excuse me..."-

-"By the way, and sorry for interrupting you and, if you don't mind answer me, what happened with you a few minutes ago?"-

-"What do you mean with that?"- Erma said somewhat annoyed by being interrupted in such way.

-"When I went to your bunk and before I ranged the doorbell, I heard you were doing weird noises and you were saying unusual words I never heard before."-

-"Khai! Did I was talking while I was dreaming, and he also heard everything?"- Erma thought quickly and she tried to ask Drumbo questions about that. -"Which words I said then?"-

-"Something about a pearl in a harbor and something that sounds like in the middle of the way and also about oh-ah-hoo or a thing like that."- Drumbo said, trying to explain to Erma what he heard when she was dreaming.

-""Pearl in a harbor"? "In the middle of the way"? "oh-ah-hoo"? What's the meaning of those damn words and what was what I was dreaming then?"- Erma put her left hand in her head, in an imperative effort to understand all those words and their meaning in the context of that dream. She didn't see any "pearl in the harbor", at least any kind of literal "pearl" in any harbor anyways, as the last images of her dream were related with a mysterious military airbase located in the middle of a place she never was before and the base was staffed with people from a different species she never saw before in her life.

-"Something wrong, Lieutenant?"-

-"No, nothing at all! I was just... thinking right now."-

-"Did you have a nightmare, sir?"-

-"Sort of, but thanks for worrying about me, Drumbo. I really need to know that."-

-"You're welcome, sir."-

---

A few minutes later, Erma went to eat her breakfast in the ship's dining room, since she and her men will part out to Derzon in the next hours, as the spaceship went closer to the planet's orbit. The dining room was very comfortable and big, due to the large number of soldiers and crew members who needs to eat there and due of the nature of their mission, they need to eat as much as they can before going into combat.

-"OK, young lady, here's your breakfast. Hope you enjoy it!"- The cook, a female Hippopotamus, greeted Erma as she served the food.

-"Thanks, ma'am!"-

On that moment, Erma a well-known voice for her. It turns out to be no one else than Lt. Hotzektel once again, who also went to eat as well, while both characters decided to talk while eating.

-"Good morning, Lieutenant!"-

-"Hello, Hotzektel. I have to assume that you already got used to the new arrangement of the squad, right?"-

-"Well, that's right, Lieutenant, but that's the least of my worries..."-

-"What do you mean with being the least of your worries?"- Erma said somewhat puzzled by Hotzektel's words.

-"It's the food what corcerns me more than anything else"-

-"The food, you said?"- the Feline officer scratched her head after hearing such statement. -"Did the food of the ship tastes bad for you or what? It's just like the food in the base, you know."-

-"Frankly, my stomach does not agreed with such words."- Hotzektel said while looking the food with utter disgust, as if the meal itself was something beyond being distasteful for the Canine officer.

-"Maybe you're being somewhat picky about the food, don't you think?"-

-"It's not that!"- Hotzektel protested. -"You know very well I am somewhat a spiritual person and I have my reasons for acting like this."-

-"Well, if I remember right, you and the Commander are members of a spiritual group that deal with Khai in you and the commander's free time, am I right?"-

-"Yes. you're right on that, and neither the commander nor me are ashamed of that."- Hotzektel said in a proudful tone, possibly thinking that Erma was annoyed by his beliefs.

-"I didn't mean that, and I'm truly sorry if I offended you in some way."- Erma said somewhat worried after seeing Hotzektel's face after she said that.

-"He, he, don't worry about that. I'm not offended at all."-

Erma sighed after hearing that, since she knew that topic is a very controversial one and she didn't what to be embroiled into a heated discussion about otherwordly stuff, as she never worried very much about that issue, and much less to start to thinking about that in such delicate moment like the one she and his comrade are involved right now.

The word Khai is the in-universe word for the people Erma, Hotzektel and everyone else, regardless of their country, planet or species, refers as their Creators, the people who created them and probably put them centuries ago in the planet Arras Chanka in the year SD (-)54. No one knows who they really are, or how they are physically and that is one of the biggest mysteries of their civilization, a mystery that has perplexed many scientists for years and no one has gave a definitve answer for it. The closest thing for an answer, for put it kindly, is the fact the whole civilization wasn't created in that planet naturally, but put it there instead by someone and they were awakened later without any previous memory of their past, other than the knowledge about the use of their own technology.

But for Erma right now, she had more important things to worry about than the people who "created" her, but to worry about why his friend doesn't want to eat his food...

-"In that case, can you tell me what's wrong with the food?"-

-"We, in our spiritual group, have come to the conclusion that Khai, our creators, used to eat organic beings and also natural food from the soil. As a result of this, This is not "real food", since it taste like steel and plastic for us."-

Erma was somewhat surprised by that damning conclusion, since she never thought in her life that the people who created them ate organic beings, even if Hotzektel didn't bother to explain what kind of "beings" he was talking about, but that was not the point for her in that moment.

-"I see, but you never noticed about that issue before, for what I can remember right now about you. And, to be frankly honest this is the first time I noticed what you said about the food."-

-"You are very clever, Lieutenant. This is not food at all. The only real food that can be considered as authentic "food" is the one who came from a dead being."-

Erma begins to feel nauseous and her face showed a rictus of disgust after hearing such a theory, to the grade she stopped eating inmediately. Even someone like as pragmatic as Erma was considerably grossed out by such idea.

-"Hotzektel, PLEASE! Are you going to tell me our Creators are or were... cannibals or something like that?"-

-"Well, not exactly in that way. We think Khai were people who had to kill other beings and using them as food, in the same way we have to kill other people to protect ours. Also, it's also probable they see life in the same we also see it as well: As something special that must be protected, even if they had to kill to for it."-

-"Personally, I found your last statement about the sactity of life as somewhat confounding, not to mention ludicrous in my opinion. I really doubt the Khai can be insane enough to reach such levels of debauchery just to survive. I'm not exactly a spiritual person, if you ask me, as I always thought the Khai are something outside our understanding, I think."- Erma gave her point of view about the topic to his friend, even if she felt such topic was too complex for her to understand as a whole, but she cannot avoid to at least had an opinion about it.

-"I understand that, sir. To be honest, war is always an issue for me as well, and I'm not the only one who thinks the same way, as Commander Quetselhoioi thinks the same. In fact, he is also my spiritual leader."-

-"Really? I didn't know that about him."- Erma said somewhat surprised after finding out that unknown facet of his superior officer

-"Yeah, that's true. He doesn't like to talk about the topic, because despite he also hates war, his duty as a member of the EDF is more important than any spiritual reason he could had. The same goes for me as well, if you ask me."- Hotzektel keeps describing the whole deal regarding his personal beliefs about the Creators in a very emotive way. Even Erma, who knows him from some years ago, was really interested about what he has to said about the whole topic, even if she doesn't have too much to say about it, but Erma tries to be as respectful as possible on him. -"In our opinion, we don't have problems with stopping violent acts by using force when required, but we don't like to kill people just for the thrill of it, quite the opposite, if you ask me. But I'm a member of the Extraplanetary Defense Force and I swore to both to serve the EDF and the Confederation of Planets as well."-

-"So, what is your point with that?"-

-"The point I want to get across is, I have to kill. Pure and simple like that. Or, in more vulgar words, kill, or be killed."-

-"I thought you already know that the day you enroled to the EDF. Sacrifices must be borne for the sake to protect the people in the ConFed, and that includes having to kill some people for it."-

-"I UNDERSTAND THAT! It's just the fact that sometimes Sometimes I wonder what the Creators would have done in a situation like this!"-

Erma was astonished after watching Hotzektel's emotional outburst, since he's normally a very quiet and somewhat shy person, but the stress of the upcoming military operation could had snapped him in a visible way. He put his hands on his head in nervousness after such excessive display of emotions.

-"Sorry, Lieutenant. Guess I got angry..."-

Erma put her hand on her Canine comrade and the only thing she could do is trying to reassure him.

-"Hotzektel, I understand the kind of personal dilemma that conflicts you, but I don't have the right answer for you."-

-"Oh, sorry about that"- Hotzektel said somewhat ashamed of screaming on her and due of his outburst.

-"Don't worry, it's OK. I think the stress is causing us to think about lots of things, since not everybody are happy about having to go to the battlefield and seeing blood. I personally have my own problems to deal as well, but I prefer to deal them in private, since they could hinder the perfomance in a mission. You should do the same too, my friend."-

-"I suppose you're right about that... I'm really sorry to be bothering you like this, sir."-

But as it happens, a feminine voice was heard from the ship's sound system, since the mission was about to begin.

-"Your attention please? All the members of the Derzon strike force must report in the ship's hangars immediately for immediate deployment."-

-"Well, seems that we have a mission to do, Lieutenant."-

-"Agree with you in that. Let's go."-

---

A few hours later, Erma and the rest of the task force were ready to take-off in the ship's hangar, while their aerodynes were in their last tweaks by the ship's mechanical crew. Meanwhile, she was finishing on gearing up her flight suit, while she was thinking about her current situation.

-"Alright, I can only hope I don't mess this up, and above all, to live to tell about it"- Erma thought for a brief moment while finishing to gear up.

At that very moment, the voice of the Net told Erma she had to go, as her aerodyne was ready for action.

-"Lieutenant, your aerodyne is ready to take-off. Please proceed to the runway when ready."-

-"Thanks for the advice. I should go right now."-

Erma boarded quickly her aerodyne, and after boarding her vehicle, she gave quickly a brief summary about the mission they are going to carry out in Derzon. She tried not to be nervous, in an attempt to show everybody she was more than qualified to lead her men in such dangerous military operation.

-"OK, everyone, listen up! Here's a brief sypnosis about our mission: We're going to reach Derzon's atmosphere and we will probably have to avoid enemy gunfire from the ground. Also, according with Central Command (CC), we also have to avoid any contact with the enemy jet fighters, as we lack the means to fight them back. Once we reach the planet, we will reach the Point X900, a secret EDF airbase set there for such situation, in a mountain range at 500 klics (kilometers in military slang) near Andis, the capital of the planet. I'll expect we can reach that point safe and sound without issues. Good luck, everyone."-

-"Good luck, sir!"- Everyone at the squadron replied to Erma as well.

Erma turned on the engines of her machine, waiting the orders from the ship to proceed to the mission, whom arrived at the time.

-"EDF 084, you're ready for take-off. Good luck and please come back at one piece, Lieutenant."-

-"Don't worry, sir. We will back alive."-

After receiving the order, Erma and the rest of the task force took off and proceeded to reach Derzon as quickly as possible.

---

Inside the ILR Air Fortress "Hifusah", Planet Derzon

-"Attention! All members of the 1st Joint Fighter Wing "Scarlet Meteors", please report to the briefing room immediately for the next deployement in the next hours. This is not a drill, repeat, this is not a drill!"-

After hearing those words from the Net, all the members of Ruby's Scarlet Meteors squadron scrambled quickly to the briefing room, as they know something big was going to happen. But Ruby, the leader, doesn't seem too excited by the news, and for him, he felt this is was just another pointless mission without any kind of thrill or challenge for him.

-"Shit, another boring mission. I don't if I should keep a straight face or I should cry..."-

-"Are you OK, Lieutenant? You look annoyed."- Iqit, Ruby's comrade on arms, says to him after seeing his face.

-"Nah, it's nothing. I'm just a little bit bored, that's all"-

After reaching the briefing room, Ruby and his men quickly sat in their chairs, but the young Lepine officer couldn't help hiding his face of boredom towards everyone. In that moment, another higher-rank ILR officer appeared in the room.

-"STAND UP!"- Every officer in the room stood up at attention as indicated by ILR protocol, -"SIT!"-

After everyone sit in their chairs, the officer started to describe the nature of their next mission.

-"Good morning, gentlemen. We have received intelligence reports about an EDF task force reaching this planet in the next hours. We don't know exactly where they are going to land, other than probably it would be near Andis, taking into account their actual position."-

-"In that case, we have to assume that our mission is intercept them and destroying before reaching Andis, right?"- Ruby interrupted the officer, while keeping his bored looks on his face. Surprisingly enough, the officer wasn't angry by that expression of defiance towards him, since he already expected that from the beginning.

-"No. Our orders is let the EDF forces to land on the planet, so we can test them in the battlefield. Besides, we have this air fortress and the R-101s, and we doubt the EDF had anything similar, that's for sure. This mission basically would kill two crabs with a single stone: We can lure the EDF on Andis while the rest of our remaining forces would clump together in the city and if we are lucky, we can inflict them a serious damage on his forces. That would teach them a lesson.

-"I see, sir. And what we should do for now?"-

-"Your mission is to fly over Andis and wait for further orders, while the rest of the forces gather in the city. That would take some hours, and you and your men will receive your orders if we see any change in the actual situation. Understood?

-"Yes, sir!"-

-"OK, Unless someone else has something to say, this briefing is dismissed. You can return to your rooms now."-

-"Well, at least this is something different than previous sorties, so let's wait and see what happens next, maybe this is going to be interesting..."- Ruby smiles, since he knew this mission would be somewhat different than previous one he already had since he and his men reached Derzon.

-"OK, guys, time for some action!"- Ruby yells to his men to encourage them

-"YEAH!"-

In that instant, all of them left the room towards the hangars within the Hifusah. Everyone, including Ruby, were really hyped-up, since they're now going to do something different for a change, rather than following the previous patterns of bombing bases and ground targets in the planet.

Once Ruby's men were geared up and their fighters were in their final adjustments, they boarded their R-101s, while doing some pre-takeoff tune-up with the help of the Net.

-"Good morning, Lt. Ruby. As you ordered before your next mission, I am doing some pre-takeoff checks."-

-"Thank you, Net. It's everything in order?"-

-"Yes. All systems are in check. Also, the ordnance for the mission is now installed in all the fighters of the squadron as required by CC."-

The Net showed Ruby the installed ordnance of his R-101 on the HUD (Head-up Display), so the young Lepine pilot could check it.

-"OK, let's see. No issues with the ordnance so far, I guess."- Ruby said. -"Do you guys all have your systems in order?"-

-"Everything is OK, sir.- Iqit said.

-"The same goes for me as well."- Another pilot of Ruby's squadron confirmed his payload.

All the remaining members of the squadron confirmed their respective payloads and ordnances from their fighters. Once the fighter jets were ready, Ruby just waited in the runway for his take-off orders.

-"Scarlet 1, you are cleared for take-off. Good luck!"-

The front door of the Hifusah's dock opened, so the fighters could take-off and, after receiving the order, the whole Scarlet Meteors squadron, which was composed of six members, took off from the air fortress bound to Andis.

---

Derzon's atmosphere. 0900 hours.

-"EDF 084 here. No signs of either ground or airborne enemies nearby, over."-

-"EDF 085 here. I don't see any enemy either as well. We were expecting some kind of welcoming committee here, but I don't see anything, even in the sky."-

-"Understood, EDF 084 and 085. According to intelligence, the enemy invading force is gathering in Andis right now, and that's including their air fortress and its fighters as well."- The Central Command (CC) replied via the Net towards the pilots, who already reached the atmosphere of the planet without any opposition so far.

-"CC, that doesn't have much sense."- Erma said, somewhat worried about how the enemy movement lack any kind of logical strategy. Normally, when invading a whole planet, an invading army would bring the greatest quantity of military hardware and personnel available, and it would try to take over all the important cities of the planet. In this case, the invaders, other than bringing a full-fledged air fortress with fighters to Derzon, destroying some ConFed buildings, neutralizing the civilian and military forces located in-planet and bombing EDF bases near the capital city, the whole invading army only had enough forces to invade the planet, but not for keep the invasion for a sustained amount of time.

-"We already know that, EDF 084. We don't see the logic behind this invasion either. Just proceed with the mission as indicated, and be careful with whatever nasty surprise you could find along the way."-

-"Yes, sir!"-

After a few hours of flying over the skies of Derzon, Erma and the rest of her squadron managed to reach Point X900, a secret EDF base located behind a snowy mountain range at 200 km near Andis. Even she, as a member of the army, didn't know the existance of such a base, as she was expecting reaching Andis instead to face the enemy invaders instead, but the EDF higher-ups decided to sent her forces, along with the rest of the task force there, probably to lead all the units sent to Derzon with the intent to free the planet from their Lepine invaders.

Point X900 is a medium-sized base featuring a control tower, a similar sized runway and many barracks surrounding the base. Since the place was located in a colder area of the planet, the place was mostly snowed and there was a strong snow storm there, making the fact of landing there, even if the aerodynes have VTOL capability, a somewhat difficult job even for a seasoned pilot.

Even that kind of problems like a snow storm wouldn't stop Erma to reach her goal, no matter what.

-"Point X900, requesting permission to land, over."-

-"EDF 084, you have permission to land."-

-"What is the weather report there?"-

-"EDF 084, We have a strong snow storm here, with some dangerous winds. Be careful out there."-

-"Understood."-

After dealing with the winds and the snow, Erma and the rest of her squadron managed to land successfully on the air base. The young Feline officer sighed with relief after knowing she managed to land under very adverse conditions in a place she never been before.

-"Welcome to Derzon, EDF 084. It's nice to see somewhat managed to land over here on such weather."-

-"Thank you for the compliment, X900. What happened with the rest of the task force?"-

-"The ground task force will be in their way to Andis at this moment, while the air-based one would wait orders here. Until then, you should wait here until further advice."-

-"Understood, thank you."-

Erma descended from her vehicle and she noticed how beautiful the Derzonii scenery can be, with many mountains and rocky valleys surrounding the base in a very astonishing view, even if she and her men are in a state of war right now. The only thing she could do in that moment is sigh in awe and sadness.

-"This place is so...beautiful."-

-"Oh, I see you are absolutely astonished by the scenery, right?"-

Erma heard the voice of a man who was coming close to her in that precisely moment. She noticed he was a Canine (Jackal), of very dark, short fur, slim complexion, and slanted brown eyes, dressed with a very thick uniform designed to cover him from the extreme weather and speaking with a polite tone towards her.

-"Good morning and welcome to our planet."-

-"Hello, Eh..."-

-"Oh! I forgot to tell my name, ma'am. I'm Lt. Elro Kozniak, and I'm a member of the Derzon Home Guard. It's a very pleasure to meet you. Miss..

-"Lieutenant Erma Felna, sir."-

-"Oh, I see. By the way, may I speak with your superior officer of your squadron? I need to talk with him right now about some important things..."-

Erma quickly figured out that man didn't thought she was the superior officer he wanted to talk to, something that quickly annoyed her, but she tried to take that mysoginistic implication as politely as possible.

-"I am the person you are searching for, sir."-

After hearing such words, Col. Kozniak was notably shocked of see a woman being a leader of a military force inside the EDF. He also tried to reply her in a diplomatic tone, albeit without trying to hide his face of disgust due to the fact a woman is in a position of leadership, something unusual inside the EDF.

-"Oh, I'm deeply sorry for this... regrettable confusion , Lieutenant!"- The colonel half-hearted apologized her. "I wasn't simply advised beforehand about your presence and I just assumed..."-

-"All right, all right, I already got your point". Erma said in an annoyed tone in her voice. -"I just want to know which place my men and myself can rest before this snow freeze us first."-

Col. Kozniak felt incredibly aggravated, since it was the first time a woman was speaking to him in an authoritative tone, something unheard-of in any women working in the EDF. But he did not have any choice on the matter, so he was forced to hear her first as a fellow EDF member.

-"There's a barracks at the end of the runway, so you can rest there for a while."-

-"OK, thanks for the advice , colonel!"-

-"You are welcome, lieutenant."-

Erma and her men went straight to the barracks in a quickly fashion, while Col. Kozniak was visibly furious and he clenched his fist so hard that it even began to bleed.

-"Stupid insolent bitch."-

---

-"Where am I? And why I am in the same place?"-

We see Erma again in the same place she was before in her last dream: The same military base in the middle of a jungle and near to a volcano, with the same strange, weird-looking planes, and above everything else, the same strange-looking people she saw in her last dream, as like that dream of hers was a follow-up from her last dream she had the last night.

-"Hello? Can somebody tell where am..."-

Erma noticed something strange, and at the same time, extremely disturbing about the people she was talking to: No one was paying attention to her words, like she didn't exist for them. At the same same time, she could not understand a single word of what those mysterious people, none of them had fur or feathers in their skins, were saying.

And before Erma could figure out something else, she heard a loud sound, and then, some flying vehicles, very probably enemy planes, started to bombing the airbase.

-"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?!"-

She suddenly heard the very identifiable sound of an air-raid alarm, causing the pilots from the base to quickly scramble to their planes, while the enemy vehicles were pounding mercilessly with tons of explosives, bombs and bullets that airbase. Erma was watching such as bloody scene, while being unable to do anything about it.

And for some reason, nothing of was happening at that time seemed to cause any harm to her.

That doesn't mean she could not feel fear and terror of whatever event lapsing in those moments, including watching the mutilated corpses of many of those mysterious men laying lifeless in the runway, while the enemy airplanes continued attacking the airbase without pause.

Then, suddenly, Erma noticed something unusual on the enemy planes: The enemy air force's logo weren't neither from the ILR, nor from the EDF or any armed force she could known. She noticed the livery of the enemy fighters was a red circle and she even managed to see the faces of the pilots of those planes. Many of those pilots were younger men with a white bandanna in their heads, and sporting the same red circle on them. For some bizarre reason, she could also heard their voices as well, but she could not understand them as well, other than their voices sounded extremely angry.

Even if Erma could not understand what those enemy pilots were saying, for some reason those enemy pilots weren't so different, from what she could remember in that moment, to the soldiers and the members of the Independent Lepine Republic's armed forces: They had the same determination and drive to carry on their mission, no matter how much collateral damage could inflict to their enemies and cause as much terror and fear on their enemies with their actions.

She also noticed something unusual in that battle as well, as Erma noticed something that looked like a very big seaship with cannons everywhere in the pier near the airbase. Evem if Erma lived in a planet and in a city near the sea, the biggest seaships she saw in her life were small fishing ships and never she had ever saw an armored and armed one, and this one she just saw not only was bigger than anything she knew in her life, it also had countless ammounts of cannons in its deck.

...And that ship was being sunk by enemy fire.

-"Oh, Khai, please STOP THIS!"-

Erma was overwhelmed and frightened not only by the sheer scale of the destruction and butchery she had watched, but also by the type of war machines that both enemy forces were using, many of them were completely unknown for her.

And before she could do anything else, she saw an enemy aircraft approaching to where she was standing at the moment, and Erma watched in horror as the plane threw a bomb to her...

-"NO, PLEASE, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"-

---

Erma suddenly woke up out of bed screaming in terror after witnessing such a nightmare that she just had. In that instant, she went straight to the hygiene unit from her bunk and she started to puke in disgust, trying to assimilate in her mind the significance of such a horrible dream. She also washed her face furiously, in a maddening attempt to return to normality. But for the young Feline officer, what she saw in her dreams definitely was not a normal dream or even a normal nightmare.

-"Lieutenant, are you all right?"-

That voice she just heard was from Drumbo, the officer she had just met in the spaceship a few hours ago, and it's very likely he just heard whatever kind of stuff she said in her dreams aloud.

-"YES, I'M FINE! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!"-

-"ARE YOU SURE? I HEARD YOU SCREAM A FEW MINUTES AGO…"-

It was in that moment Erma noticed those dreams of hers were something completely unusual, even comparing them with other dreams and nightmares she had in the past. The only thing she could do in that moment is trying to take a deep breath, while attempting to analyze somewhat what she just dreamt a few minutes ago.

But the only thing she got while doing that was a severe headache and she started to puke again until her stomach started to ache...

-"Khai! What did I just dreaming last night?"- Erma said while cleaning all the remains of puke from her muzzle.

After cleaning her mouth and muzzle from all the vomit she had, Erma went straight to the showers to finish to clean her body. She made an attempt to try to forget what she just dreamed the night before, but that strange nightmare didn't stop to turning in her head.

-"I can't understand the meaning of all those bizarre things I saw in my dreams. Did I dream all that stuff due of my actual mental state regarding the mission?"-

But before she could continue to dwell into the dream she had, Erma heard a very loud, electronic voice, coming from the speakers of her hygiene unit. It was the voice of The Net, who wanted to talk with her.

-"Erma, some members of the EDF, along with Col. Elro Kozniak wants to speak with you."-

-"Some members, you say? Which ones?"-

-"I don't know. They only identified themselves as members of the EDF, but nothing else about them was stated in the IDs they used for entering into the base. I have to suppose they could be members of the EDF's Intelligence Division."

-"Damn! Just what I need it, dealing with some kind of secret ops!"-

Erma quickly finished her shower, and after getting dressed in the most quickest fashion she could in such important situation, she went straight to the aisle. She was not thrilled, for put it in kind words, being summoned for something that looked like a request for carrying out some kind of secret op in Derzon.

-"Where are these people you were talking about?"- Erma hastily asked to the Net.

-"In the briefing room, waiting for you right now."-

After reaching the briefing room, Erma noticed something incredible unusual there: There's only five, of the original ten that came with her to Point X900, members of her squadron, including Drumbo and other four pilots of whom she knew very little about them. She quickly felt somewhat between annoyed at best and angry at worst because she felt she did not understand what was happening at that moment, especially when the remaining five members of her squadron were missing and nowhere to be found in her sight. And in that moment, she demanded an explanation...

-"OK, everyone. Can someone tell me what's going on here and what happened with the rest of the squadron?"-

-"To be completely honest, we don't know either."- Drumbo replied.

And before anyone could answer Erma's questions regarding the remaining missing members, Col. Elro Kozniak appeared in the briefing room, along with three other men along him. One was a tall Feline (Cat), a middle-sized Vulpine (Fox) and an Avian (Crow). With the sole exception of the Avian , who was not wearing nothing more than a cap, none of those three mysterious persons were wearing any EDF uniforms and they looked more like businessmen rather than soldiers or military officers, for that matter.

-"Good morning, gentlemen. I hope you had a good sleep here."- Kozniak said while the rest of the members of Erma's squadron were watching them with cautious eyes.

-"I hope there's a good reason for summoning us here in first place."- Erma said with an annoyed expression in her face.

Col. Kozniak quickly tried to answer that question to Erma the best he could, without losing his sight on her.

-"Yes. There's a reason for that."- Kozniak looks at the giant computer screen that was in the briefing room. -"Net, please turn on the screen"-

-"Yes, sir"-

A wireframe CAD model appeared on the screen, showing a design very similar to the aerodynes they normally knew. But not only Erma, but the rest of her squadron quickly noticed something incredibly unusual on that flying vehicle...

That flying vehicle was not an aerodyne at all.

-"Is that a... fighter jet?"- Erma quickly questioned both Kozniak and the mysterious men who were with him.

-"Yes. All of you will be the very first witnesses of the first EDF fighter jet ever build: the Advanced Tactical Fighter X, codename ATF-X"- The Vulpine man said with a very prideful tone in his voice. "-It was built in top secret by the EDF Design Bureau after receiving earlier warnings regarding the ILR building their own fighter jet technology, and after some intelligence work, we managed to get the basics ideas regarding the secret of the fighter jet technology. Unfortunately for us, we couldn't get any specific information on their custom models, like their R-101 models, but that wouldn't be necessary, as we think our own model will be enough to counter them"-

Everybody in the briefing room were incredibly puzzled by the words of that man, since there is no reason why the members of EDF Design Bureau and the intelligence services would want to reveal such delicate information to run-of-the-mill pilots like them. Erma, of all people, was the person who ended more puzzled by that revelation.

-"Excuse me, sir, but, why are you telling us all this information in such delicate moment and in the middle of a military operation?" Erma asked in a inquisitive tone to those men. -"Would be better idea told us this in home, rather than revealing classified info in a hostile zone?"

There's a brief moment of silence in the room, followed by a sound answer from the Avian.

-"Well, we already expected that someone could ask us that question."-

-"What do you mean with that, sir?"- Drumbo asked.

-"If you want to know the full details, just follow us, please ."-

Kozniak and the three mysterious men left the room in a very quickly fashion, and the members of Erma's squadron didn't had no choice but to follow them to wherever they wanted to go. Everyone in that moment felt incredibly annoyed by the attitude of those men, since they felt they were going to be used for some kind of test, very likely of the nefarious kind.

-"What kind of stuff those idiots want to do with us?"- One of the soldiers said with a worried voice and sporting a very troublesome look in his face.

-"Quiet! You don't want them to court-martial you for disagree with them, right?"- Erma said in an attempt to keep the morale within her squadron.

-"Yeah, I know that, but I can't stop thinking about this."-

---

A few minutes later, Erma and the rest of the members of her squadron were sent to a hangar within the base, which it was covered by the snow of the recent blizzard that ravaged the site just a few days ago. Everyone were still puzzled about their role in the plans of the members of the Intelligence Division, and in that moment, Erma noticed something unusual inside the hangar. She saw an unusual military vehicle she has never seen before, and it was the same like the one she saw in the briefing room as a CAD model...

-"Don't tell that thing here is...?"-

-"Yes, Lieutenant. You guessed right: It's the ATF-X".

-"WHAT?"- Everyone else, excluding Erma, were shocked after seeing such a machine before their eyes.

The ATF-X is a experimental fighter jet built by the EDF Design Bureau as a way to counter the ILR's R-101 Delta fighter. Its design, shape-wise, is very similar to the German Messerschmitt Me 262, albeit somewhat bigger, being able to use missiles, and with updated technology compared with its World War II equivalent, not to mention having delta-shaped wings. But even with that, the ATF-X was a great technological jump regarding flying combat vehicles, compared with the regular aerodynes. Everyone inside the hangar, even Erma, were deeply surprised of seeing it with their own eyes.

-"It's... it's... beautiful."- Erma said in awe, without losing her sight on the ATF-X.

-"It really is."- Answered one of the members of the Intelligence Division.

-"But, why are you showing us this?"- One of the members of Erma's squadron asked. -"We have to suppose this is a top secret project, right?"-

"Well, it is a top secret project, but we need to collect enough combat data to make it fit for mass-production, and we didn't had time to iron the details via simulation, so we thought the best way to test the ATF-X is testing the prototypes in real combat.

-"Real combat, you say, sir?"- Erma replied with a worried voice.

-"Yes, and we thought this whole incident could be the best way to test this new fighter jet, and you guys will be the right candidates for use them. Consider this a good way to serve the army by making history being the first people in using these advanced war machines that could change the way of this battle.

Erma was somewhat angry by hearing such words from that man, as she could not allow her men and herself to be used as living crash dummies for an untested prototype who never was tested in combat, no matter how "flashy" this new technology could be.

-"With due respect, sir, I find your idea as incredibly dangerous, for putting it into kinder words."- Erma replied in a very angrier way. -"How can we be sure the ATF-X will work in first place?"-

-"You should not worry about that, Lieutenant."- One of the members of the Intelligence Division replied to her. -"Flying this thing is not so different from flying a normal aerodyne. The main difference between the ATF-X and a aerodyne is the fact the ATF-X goes faster."-

-"I think we all already know that."- Erma answered.

-"Well, yes, but the main difference between the ILR's R-101's models and our own take is the fact the ATF-X can adapt itself to its pilot on real-time, by letting both the pilot and the Net to do the necessary adjustments on the fly depending of the current situation. We doubt the ILR had a similar technology like that"- The Feline member said in a very enthusiastic tone of voice.

Erma cannot help but groan after hearing such a thing, as she is not willing to risk herself and her men in such an untested idea. She already had lots of things to worry about in Derzon and embarking into an unproved idea is paramount to suicide. But she knew very will she and her men doesn't have a choice either.

-"I have to assume we have no choice, do we?"-

-"Well, since you guys are the only certified pilots in the base right now and the fact we knew about your credentials, especially from your incident in Danet years ago, Lieutenant Felna, I have to say that you are the right people to pilot these things."-

Erma sighed in a noisy, resigned tone for a few seconds.

-"OK, you win."

-"Sir, are you sure this is all right on accepting this?"- Drumbo complained loudly. -"These are untested prototypes, and if something goes wrong..."-

-"I know that, Drumbo, but we don't have a choice right now. Besides, It doesn't hurt trying something new at times".

-"But, sir!..."- The rest of the squadron protested, in an attempt to make her change her mind.

Erma could't help feeling herself bad at that moment, since she, to prove herself, was willing to risk her own men in an extremely dangerous mission, in which many of them could die, but she was determined to carry out the mission, no matter what. She knew that the decision she will make in that critical moment could haunt her later...

-"I know THAT!"- Erma sadly yelled to her men, still herself in pain for the decision she is going to make, and she slammed her fist against the wall at rage. - "I know this is going to be a very dangerous mission, and maybe many of us will not going to return home..."-

All the people inside the hangar, both the men of Erma's squadron and the members of the Intelligence Division put their eyes on her after hearing such passionate words coming from a young lady like Erma.

-"But I promise you guys that I will bring everyone of you back home safe and sound! Am I making myself clear?"-

Everyone agreed with Erma quickly, the kind of words the members of the EDF Intelligence Division wanted to hear in that moment.

-"Very well."- One of the members of the division said in a satisfied voice, as he is glad to see everyone make out their minds. "If you people have nothing more to say, then let's get back to business."-

-"There's a detail we have forgot to explain right now."- The Avian member further explains. -"We have five available prototypes right now, so we need five volunteers to fly them. We already had a flight plan, and also a mission for you, people, and we need all of you to follow our orders exactly as issued. If there's nothing more to say, then follow me..."-

---

An hour later, we see Erma and four other members of her squadron in the ATF-X prototypes ready to take-off from Point X900. Erma surprisingly enough has managed to figure out the controls of the jet, albeit she still had some doubts about it.

-"I hate to say it, but the controls are very similar to those of an aerodyne, albeit somewhat less complex."-

-"That's the point."- One of the members of the Intelligence Division said on the radio via the Net, while being in the base. -"The computer does most of the complex duties of flying while the pilot should only worry about flying the vehicle. It has the advantage of make the flying easier for the pilot, and it doesn't require a heavy re-training period to figure out the controls."-

-"OK, we need to review our orders once again, please".

Col. Kozniak's voice was heard on the radio, since he is the one in charge of the base, and then, he starts to explain Erma's orders:

-"Your orders will be fly over Andis's airspace and when possible, shoot down any hostile ILR unit in the sky. Once the mission is done, return to base ASAP. Make sure you are not going to be shot down by the enemy, Lieutenant."

-"Understood."

-"OK, everyone of you are cleared for take-off. Good luck out there."- Kozkiak waves goodbye to her in a rather cold way.

-"OK, we will return for sure."-

We hear the voice of the control tower's controller on Erma's jet, giving her the final orders for take-off.

-"EDF 084, you are cleared for take-off."-

-"What's the weather conditions out there?"-

-"We have somewhat cloudy weather out there, albeit there's clear weather in Andis's airspace."-

-"That's what I wanted to hear, thank you."-

Meanwhile, all the ATF-Xs were in the runway, ready to take-off anytime. Erma knew this could be one of her most dangerous missions she partaked in her career, but there's no turning back for her now, since she needs to show what she could do, no matter what, especially now that she dumped Tavas.

-"EDF 084, TAKE-OFF!"-

Erma's jet speeds up as quickly as possible and she and the rest of the squadron's ATF-Xs left the base in a very quick fashion successfuly, and heading to their target: The capital city of Andis. Meanwhile, both Kozniak and the members of the EDF Intelligence Division are happy to see the prototypes are working as good as intented.

-"Well, we hope Lt. Felna and her men can return safe and sound home. Also, it's nice to see anything is working well as expected. So may luck can bless her in this mission, I guess."

-"I would not be so sure, if you guys ask me."- Kozniak said, with a very visible grin in his muzzle. -"I will not be so surprised if that bitch screws up, and dies out there. Surely no one will miss her."-

-"Look at the bright side, Colonel."- One of the members, the Feline, said in a snarky voice. -"If everything fails, at least it wouldn't be a complete disaster anyways, as could get very valuable data from this experience. Using a young lady like her has its advantages, that's for sure."-

END OF ACT II