A/N: Sorry for the long overdue update all. School's been a pain and I recently started a new job. Hopefully this'll give me a little more time to work on my writing. Which I have begun to do at work and mail myself the chapter updates but, we'll see how this works out. Hope you all enjoy the chapter and R&R as needed ^^ let me know those opinions they help...

Chapter 15

The shock that travled through his spine as his body slammed into the wall; the mass of his body only added to the pain. Somehow the canine charging him only managed to lock palms, Maryk's fingers lacing into those of the hyped up attacker. He'd never fully seen the effects of the newer breeds of the drug, pushing back the mountain of muscle was extremely difficult, but, planting a foot forward Maryk lurched forward while driving all of his body weight into his opponent. The force caught Lars off his guard, sending the dobermen sliding across the steel grating of the floor before rolling several times allowing the young wolf a moment as he stood by wiping a bit of blood from his face. The canine's initial rush had caught him by suprise, as rather than catching and throwing Maryk, the rushing canine suddenly changed his approach throwing a punch that Maryk could only conpare to being hit with a cinder-block. The small wound on his forehead bled only a bit, but it's constant trickle into his left eye was making it difficult to keep sight of his opponent. Regardless of all else, Maryk quickly wiped the blood from his eye before rushing at the downed doberman as fast as his legs could move him. As powerful as his legs were, the leap the black wolf made only carried him several short feet into the air, unfortunately for Lars that was more than enough to make the elbow that came down on his lower back impossibly painful. Maryk's hopes at this point were to at least bruise the young canine's spine making movement restrictive and painful. Surprisingly, Lars made an almost instant turn, shifting his weight in a strange way and causing him to roll Maryk over his back while the crook of his elbow caught the wolf behind the head causing the end of the roll to place Lars laterally across Maryk's chest with a vice-like lock on his neck. With the pit of Lars's massive arm crushing down on Maryk's neck, while the remainder wrapped around squeezing violently, Maryk could slowly feel his sight begin to blur. In most cases, such a powerful choke-hold was capable of redering an opponent unconscious in twenty seconds if applied correctly, cutting off oxygen flow as well as both temporal arteries to the brain at the same time. Prolonged submission to such a hold would lead to coma and death if not released.

In an instant of reprisal, Maryk shifted his weight; kicking off the metal floor and rolling back over Lars, using the momentum of the roll he very quickly lifted the canine, back first, onto his left shoulder, before continuing the motion into an arching of his back. The suplex was a favorite of Maryk's from old days, and the crash of his opponent smashing into the grates below them caused old memories to flood in. All the pressure of his professional career back then was what drove him to underground fighting, sadly, it was the fighting that led to his own use of Rage, and the Rage that cost him everything else. Caruso, noting the sickening way in which Lars's body impacted the ground folding over on top of himself before rolling out of Maryk's grip and finally falling flat on his back, quickly decided that the moment was at hand to make a hasty retreat. Maryk stood for a moment, hopefully to stop Caruso before a pair of solid feet sent the wolf soaring headfirst into one of the large nearby containers. The thundering sound that filled Maryk's ears caused his vision to go double. He'd made the worst mistake a wrestler could make, he underestimated the staying power of his opponent and now had a concussion to show for his troubles. The rushing doberman swung wild, his fist glancing short across Maryk's muzzle. Taking the opportunity immediately, Maryk reached out pulling Lars's arm over his shoulder as he spun to face away from the canine, before throwing all of his weight across his hips causing Lars to roll violently over Maryk's shoulder and onto his back. The two landed hard, Lars now in the same hold he'd caught Maryk in earlier. Somehow, Lars slid an arm up between his neck and Maryk's arm breaking his grip for a moment, and before Maryk had time to respond, he was belly down on the floor with the large canine straddling his back clearly pulling back on his left arm in an attempt to render it useless. Feeling the tendons strain Maryk quickly realized that a moment longer in the hold and he'd loose use of the arm...

In a bit of panic, Maryk swung his free elbow back as hard as he could, the sharp attack catching Lar's knee causing him to yell out in pain. Twice more Maryk jabbed violently at the joint until finally he felt Lars's grip fail. As quickly as he could Maryk pushed himself along the ground, causing him to slide backward out from beneath Lars before he violnently tackled the canine to the ground with his arms wrapped into Lars's placing his arms at nearly a fourty-five degree angle. The fight had lasted too long already, and though Maryk did not want to do it, he had little other options. From his seated position, he rolled forward over the back of Lars's head. The loud crunching pops of Lars's shoulders instantly dislocating could have been heard echoing through the halls for some distance.

Laying there on his back now, Maryk did his best to breath the fire out of his lungs; it had been a long time since he'd gone through such a trial. Not only was Lars strong, he was flexible, and even self-aware when under the full effects of the Rage he'd taken earlier. At the effects of the drug wore off, the air itself almost felt much more calm as Lars's breathing went from incredibly labored to almost normal...

"I-I'm sorry..." He half whispered, "...I've wanted that fight for years...and now look at me."

Maryk chcukled a bit, "Caruso ain't going anywhere," He said activating his communicator again, "...you there kid?"

The cougar's voice came in scattered by clear, "Yeah, soon as you didn't come back on I made the call. They said to tell you that Teams six and nine are already in the station's docking bay waiting for you. Are you alright?"

Maryk only lifted his head long enough to look himself over, "I'm not dying...so looks like I owe you that favor. I'll call you back when I get out of here..." He sighed, "...and Tanya. Thanks a lot."

"Anytime handsome." She chuckled back before the line went dead.

Now looking back to Lars Maryk smiled, "If it's any consolation kid," He chuckled, "that brought back a lot of painful memories."

"Oddly that doesn't really help..." Lars replied, "...prison is prison."

Maryk shook his head, "You ain't going nowhere. Trust me, I've been where you are. It's a hard hole to crawl out of; but, I don't think you're a bad person...just a little misguided."

As Maryk finally stood he rolled Lars onto his back before sliding something into the canine's pocket, "I was in your position once," He sighed, "I'm not too big to admit that I let a lot of things get to my head. So I'm gonna tell you the same thing a really wise old man told me seconds before breaking my arm and my jaw. Get your head outta your ass and act like a man...cuz real men don't need false strength to carry their weight..."

As Maryk headed out into a massive hanger, he found what remained of Caruso's guards, savagely beaten as well as an angry mob chasing down one of the last survivors. He chuckled as he felt his communicator, "Hey Tanya," He sighed, "I owe you one. Right now thought, I'd appreciate you getting a grip on that signal for me and tell me where the owner of that communicator is."

"Two steps ahead of you handsome," The cheeky cougar called back, "in flight now, headed for Titania, or at least the med station in orbit there."

On the planet Aetheria, Skye's landing crew still waited to meet with what was certain to e the first human a Lylatian had seen in ages; however, at the same time far from their location; Art and his guide still wandered through the woods. Long ago Art had began scanning the local flora and fauna, showing absolute interest in everything that he managed to come across. This served to only further Inary's interest in the young toad; Ignys had always told her how selfish and terrible outsiders were but, Artimus seemed to find magnificence in everything he saw. True his interest was basically scientific but, he still found beauty in so much; it all made her wonder how much more Ignys was wrong about. After a bit longer of a walk, she finally found a place to sit beneath a very large, fruitbearing tree who's eaves reached out far beyond the scope of trees on Corneria. Art looked up over the massive tree, however, his eyes fell short as Inary pulled back the hood of her robes. The ruby red scales of her hand were much more previlant in her face; her large, bright blue eyes struck out with incredible contrast, matching perfectly with the rather long locks of hair tied into a tail that lay over her shoulder, while a pair of brilliant black horns curved along the top of her skull before the tips curved up slightly vanishing into her hair. As she sat aginast the tree, the lovely reptile picked up a small stone before using her thumb to flick it toward the treetops, this caused two large round, purple fruits to fall into her hands one of which she held out to Art whom took the object, and scanned it with his little device. Interesting readings caused him to place the scanner back in his pocket before taking a small bite. It was both bitter and sweet at the same time; like an apple filled with grapes...
"What do you call this?" He asked.

Inary swallowed her own bite, "It does not have a specific name," She chuckled, "we simply eat them. Sometimes we cook them, other times we use them to flavor meat."
"These are full of vitamins and minerals that I'm not used to seeing in my scans," Art assured her, "and in massive doses. A proper diet of these could help with life in Lylat in many ways."

Once Inary finished her friut, gently placing the ineddible bits to the side she sighed, "May I ask you something Art?"

Once finished with his friut Art scraped the seeds together before putting them into a small glass tube and placing that tube into his pocket looked back to the dragoness, "We've been asking each other questions all day,, I would say by now that we've just about covered everything."

Inary shook her head causing her hair to flip to her back, "I am afraid not," She sighed, "you see it is more a request than a question. I...wish to go with your team when you leave Aetheria. The chances of seeing what lies outside of this space..." She paused looking to the sky, "...it is far too enticing and this may be the only chance I have to living it out. A Drogann life is a very long, very often lonely existance...I do not want to go on existing for thousands of years without seeing these places for myself."

Art chuckled at the thought, "I don't think that it was even necessary for you to ask. Skye is new at this but, she is very understanding...on top of that, you could always stow away in my fighter. Having a like mind around the ship for a change would be nice."

Inary sighed heavily, "I was hesitant to ask," She chuckled, "Ignys constantly tells me stories of what would happen should I leave..."
"He is your father is he not?" Art asked causing her face to freeze in disbelief, "you shouldn't seem so suprised. He acts like a concerned father, overprotective of his "budding princess" as it were. It's no different out there, let me assure you. Seems like your people are no different than the rest of us."

Art reached out to Inary, pulling her to her feet with astonishing ease while the act caused her to massage the sting from her hand, "I apologize for that," The toad sighed watching his hand as he made a fist several times, "someone of my stature is usually not equated with brute physical force. I tend to underestimate it at times."

After a moment the dragoness sighed causing her smile to fade, "Perhaps it is time you headed back to join the others I will be along behind you shortly."
"Are you sure?" Art asked, "I would gladly walk with you."

Inary shook her head, "No it is fine, I would much rather I took care of this matter on my own."

Curious about the matter she mentioned yet, hesitant to interfere, Artimus simply wandered off toward the camp she'd pointed out to him before. It was not a particularly long walk but, it was generally just more time for him to make some more scans on his way to meet with Skye again. As his shorter form faded from sight; Inary turned her attention toward the opened end of the woods where the sound of water was very lively. It took her only a short walk before the ruby scaled drogann found herself standing on the shores of a glistening lake. She could only sigh heavily as she felt a stray wind blew at her robes causing her to close her eyes for only a moment before looking to the figure now standing to her left...
"Father..." She sighed, "...I was expecting you to stay with the outsiders."

Gently shaking his hooded head and looking to the water Ignys huffed, "I've been expecting this for some time. I was told before that you would soon leave us, I would only like you to know the truth. Once you leave you will not be welcome to come back."

"You know that I have always wanted this," Inary replied, "if never seeing Aetheria again is the price of forward progress for our people. I'll gladly take it."

Ignys shook his head, "You are just like Mahkar. He was just as foolhardy, look where his trust took him."

Inary took hold of the robe about her neck whipping it free while letting it simply flutter into the wind. The first time her bare scales had felt the open air in what she considered to be ages, "I am tired of hiding from this life..." She huffed angrily at him, "...do not show anger, do not rely on love, do not strive for compassion...show no ties to worldly binds," She said pounding a fist into the center of her chest, "this body is covered in armor, but, I bleed just like they do and so do you. We are not better than them just because we have some fleeting bit of power that they do not, we do not have a responsibility to safeguard this universe either. If nothing else I've learned that much through the memories of our ancestors."

Without another word she turned her back to him before simply walking away; though there was a part of her that did not want to leave, there was a much greater part that told her it was the proper thing to do. She had always felt and even sensed through their ancestral knowledge that such a thing needed to happen. She knew it couldn't just be her that felt these things, if it was from the ancestral knowledge, then everyone had to feel it; even her father, regardless of whether or not he choose to ignore it, it was there. It was something that called her away from her home, and it was far too strong a calling to ignore...

Sitting by with the others, Skye sighed heavily they were spending far too long simply sitting and eating and drinking. Their tracker was supposed to be there some long time before but then again, Tethys had already mentioned what kind of person they were expecting. It still felt like ages after Ignys had left them before the flitter of nearby birds caused the entire group to look toward the northern woods, where a rather large, though not very tall form appeared from the trees. He was taller than Skye thought not by the vast difference in other Argons she'd met. His scaly skin was of a aquamarine hue, very different from the darker green colors you'd find on the males of his species. His broad chest saw to it that his brown leather vest had no prayer of ever being synched shut, which matched into his dark jeans, supported around his thinner waist with a black strap adorned with a rather large metal belt buckle. The black bushmen's hat atop his head was missing a small triangular chip from it's brim just over his left eye, and his large black boots lay tied off around his pant legs. As he approached the crocodile tipped his hat back allowing it to fall so that the strings about his chin held it to his thick neck...
"Oi!" He half shouted in his people common accent, "nevah figured ah'd be find'n a bunch 'o Uncle Fox's lot out here."

Skye shook her head, "Uncle?"

It took him a moment before he stood over her looking down with awkwardly soft brown eyes, "Wolf's lil' Sheila?" He smiled a bit, "look jess like yer mah. Me ol' man tracked yers for several years; Pops says he weren't a bad fella...nevah got ta meet 'im mahself. Shame, wha' happen...Sorry."

The crocodile found a place to sit on a nearby log before using a massive knife he pulled from behind his back to pilfer a large fruit from a nearby basket, "Mick...you are late." Tethys huffed with a tired voice.

"That Sheila's a tough track eh," He sighed before reaching into a bag he'd been carrying and tossed a large hunk of metal between them, "this 'ere bot attacked meh when I was search'n on Nox. Come ta find out, lil' missy has..." He chuckled taking a bite of the fruit, "...plans...ta say the least."

Skye nudged the severed head before looking from Dax back to Mick, "It's just like the thing that attacked on Macbeth. Just a little less of him here..."

Dax knelt down over the head jabbing a finger at it, "Man Argon's are scary," He chuckled, "took three Vipers, one Me, and a her to stop it."

"Lot more where that come from mate," Mick huffed, "ye'll know all too soon. Sooner we leave sooner ah can git back home."

Tethys managed to sit up a bit, though with labored breath, "Are you certain? It has been difficult for even the Drogann to see very far ahead."

Mick sighed while rubbing his scalp while putting way his large knife, "Aye," He nodded, "also caught wind o' someth'n nasty go'n down on Fichina. Tore a hole in the side o' a hanger like it weren't nothin' but metal side'n. Locals kept saying someth'n bout a lil' blue fella an' some wack'o in a cloak n' hood. Same go'n on at Star Wolf's old shack; some big black wolf fella left a trail o' bodies ...spread 'em round like bread crumbs. Funny thing is, bloke didn't kill noone jess put 'em in traction. Put the pieces togethah...don't look too good..." He sighed spitting to the side, "...an it smells like war."

Skye shook her head, "War?" She asked looking to the old Drogann sitting across the way, "Tethys what was the last thing you saw? You said you saw events that hadn't passed yet right?"

Tethys sighed heavily, "The visions were very..." He paused, "...difficult to take in. It was like watching a great fire spread from one end of the galaxy to the other. Everything burning; planets, stars, even space itself. There...there will be no escape."

"That's...that's not possible though," Skye refuted, "war ends, it sucks but it's still something with a beginning and an end."

Tethys grasped his side as he chuckled, "I did not say...there was no hope."

One of the other Drogann helped him to lay back, "What the Elder means is that looking forward is dangerous," She replied, "over ages we've learned to interpret but there is no real certainty. What he's seen is simply the most likely of events to transpire, as nothing in the future is truly set until it comes to pass. There are powers out there far greater than any of us...we have seen them. Singular beings capable of ending entire civilizations on a whim...our ancestors were one of them, but they chose to protect younger life, and were eventually destroyed because of it. The Pyraxians are one of those beings."

Dax laughed, "That doesn't even make any sense."

"Maybe it does," Skye interrupted, "the Aparoids shared a hive mind, these things might not be much different. If this is the case though, how long do we have? Is Titania the start of if all?"

Tethys shook his head weakly, "No...and yes," He replied, "yes it is the start. No, the real fight is not to follow. From there it is difficult to tell; the patterns become skewed and we loose sight. Recently our sight becomes blurred so easily, it feels as though we're loosing the gift altogether. First it was our wings, then our other powers, now we seem to be becoming less than ever. Soon my people will be no different than any other. At any rate soon we won't be capable of seeing forward at all. Perhaps it is rightly so..."

"If it's the case," Skye sighed, "we really should be going as soon as Art gets back."

Their gazes all turned toward the familiar form of Ignys as he walked by, "Do not bother I have sent him back toward your ships. You should meet them there."

Skye thought for a moment, "They?"

"Yes..." Tethys replied, "...seems your friend has an unusual influence on certain minds. Inary seems to be one of those minds. She may be very helpful in your further investigation but, I do feel the need to inform you that you may wish to take caution on Titania. As I have said before, our abilities of forsight have been waning as of late, therefore I would love to warn you of the dangers awaiting you , I simply cannot."

Skye didn't fully understand what was going on, there were so many different things happening at once, and now there was the thought that war was coming back to the Lylat system. Something had to be done regardless however, she now had the means by which to track the ones she was after and now new what needed to be done. Skye felt that she was not ready for such leadership, yet, the way she saw it the quicker she managed to track down and take care of the individuals manipulating everything. She hoped that everything was simply being blown out of proportions, after all Tethys had mentioned that the Drogaan powers of foresight were failing, how could hebe certain in that light that they weren't weaker than he was giving credit for. It bothered her when she thought about the situation something inside her caused her heart to race. Even as they headed back toward the Colletta it stirred inside her. She'd never been afraid of anything before; even a psychotic cadet with a steel baton, or being outnumbered in a fight, so then...why did the thought of a fight like this cause her to question herself so heavily? Sadly the more she thought about it the more it seemed to effect her. Upon boarding their ship, the crew almost immediately noticed the disappearance of their captain, who'd found her solace in the large tree located in the ship's atrium. It made her feel like a failure, it made her wonder how her father would have felt about it. She was embarrassed to even think about it, even her being in hiding was because she was ashamed to show her face to the one's she called her friends; she'd been so excited to see her first mission, even if she hadn't wanted to be a leader. Now she felt as though the entirety of the Lylat system could possibly ride on her success. How could anyone deal with that kind of stress?How did Fox deal with that kind of stress? She wasn't surprised to see the only person that knew where she might be at that time; after all Dax was the one that had shown her that place to begin with. It was as the wolf sat beside her that he sighed...

"It's not easy is it?" He asked, "feeling like everything is your fault and there's nothing you can do about it?"

Skye shook her head, "It's strange..." She huffed almost angrily, "...I never wanted to be a captain. I just wanted to be..."

"Free?" Dax asked causing her to glance sidelong at him, "is that what you call this? Everyone you know stuffed on a ship in the middle of nothing. Can't let anyone know who you are or what you do? Seems more like we choose to be locked up in here really. Then again, I refuse to believe that someone like you got into this because you thought I'd be fun."

Skye lightly shook her head while pulling her knees into her chest, "I wanted to help people. I wanted to be the person that others came to with their problems. That's why I wanted to be a mercenary; but, I'm not cut for this leader thing."

Dax chuckled as he gently patted the canine's shoulder, "If it's any compensation; I think you're a great leader. You know this stuff like the back of your hand, you just need to work on accepting it. This is no offense, but; you might be one of the best fighters I've ever met...but, you need to work on your level of confidence. You're so resolute but, once something doesn't go according to plan it all falls apart," He sighed dropping an arm over her shoulders, "look, you've only been on this ship for a few months. I know you were expecting things to be a little more fast pace but, so far I haven't seen you make a bad call. You're a good Captain, you're just still a little green. On top of that, others will come around to warming up to you. You tend to grown on people."

Skye sighed heavily, not sure why but laying her head against his arm, "Thanks Dax," she chuckled looking to him, "I mean that whole like was bullshit but thanks regardless."

Dax sighed a bit himself, "Yeah,don't mention it."

Despite convincing herself that his words were just a means by which to make her feel better, his words did make her feel somewhat better about the situation. It was still some distance before they'd reach Titania, and she wondered what was waiting there for them, but, now, for the first time in a while...at least she felt like it didn't matter. It was clear to her now that the team was capable enough to handle something so serious, and when the time came for her to stand forward, she only hoped she wouldn't make a fool of herself; but with a smile and another glance at him...if anything did go wrong she could always blame Dax...

A/N: Well, well, looks like our little captain might have a few internal flaws she needs to work out. Hopefully new friends will help her with it and she can be a functional captain with a bit more confidence. Stay ready for the next chapter...