AN: Hi there...remember me? LOL. No? Yeah me neither. Anyhow, I've been going over a lot of revisions to a few different things I've been working on and eventually decied that this story would end in the next three or four chapters which I'm now working on a bit more closely than usual with my stuff. I've been sick with Covid-19, recently had my dad suffer a heart attack...unfortunately he's still with us LOL, and I've had some back and forth at work that's needed my direct attention. However, I've set aside some time now to make certain that i can work on this stuff again without much interruption. Thanks for the support as always.

~The footsteps in the Darkness

SkullFox

-Chapter 28-

Coming to Terms

Gunfire erupted from all sides a a wave of red hot flames washed over a group of Cornerian soldiers, their remains left as minute screams of agony were washed away by fleeting mounds of charred ash. They had been in waiting, for the moment the family of three had left the Council chamber into the view of a massive open area perfect for an ambush, luckily Dravyn had become suspect the moment Peppy had refused to answer his final question; they'd been double crossed. How deed has this Anaya person's influence go? How many had she already brainwashed at this point? And was there a way to stop it? The four ash pile's he'd left at the top stairs were cured but he doubted that would be a universal solution that everyone could agree upon. Throwing up a massive wall of flame between them and the surrounding gunmen, a hail of gunfire petered out as rapidly moving projectiles met with a super-heated wall of plasma causing them to disintegrate, spraying the three with little more than hot ash. Suddenly the realization fell on Dravyn as he felt Angel's hand fall on his shoulder for support, though Sierra's body would take such heat without issue, the onyx furred lapin behind him was a dramatic acceptation. Increasing the forward rate at which they traveled down the stairs, Dravyn turned and with a heavy boot forced a nearby door from it's hinges before pushing Angel through the door, before showing Sierra in beside her, and finally throwing himself into the open port. Soon enough, with the help of his family, Dravyn had a mountain of shelves, tables, even the odd refrigerator unit keeping anyone from entering the building...yet, it was clearly not going to hold that long. He'd managed to buy time but, with so many soldiers there was bound to be a moment when they'd overpower him, and by the amount of firepower they were using, they clearly had no intent on taking prisoners, they were going to kill him, him and his daughter, and Angel. When ramming at the door hadn't bothered to budge it, the three could hear a group prepping a breach. Dravyn placed himself between the door and his family, whomever made it through first was going to regret whatever life they'd managed to live with the misfortune of being the first to fall in sight of such an enraged being...however, a short, muffled yelp behind him suddenly caught his attention, and Dravyn turned in time to see a small, mirror like opening in space as he could call it open behind Angel, it was a dense looking pocket roughly as tall as the Lapin herself, and in a brief moment, an orange furred, black striped arm shot through the gate and jerked her into nothingness by the back of the neck. With a knowing smile Dravyn downed his head shaking it lightly and as if walking toward the wall of the building, Dravyn stepped forward and he he instantly felt a sensation similar to swimming through a thick liquid of sorts before he once more opened his eyes to stand facing a familiar form. Israfel sat across a thick oak desk, the opulent office-like room clearly his personal reprieve at his feet, Dravyn found Sierra and Angle laying atop one another still attempting to understand the situation...

Sierra finally sat up assisting Angle into her own seated position, "Mom...where are we?"

Angel placed a hand on her head, "And what in the starry eyed name of fuck just happened?"

Israfel cleared his throat at the colorful words with open arms spread out near a set of chairs opposite himself, "Please if the three of you would join me for a late lunch I will be most happy to explain."

There was a spare moment before a rather tall, slim, well built cheetah woman stepped through a side door, she wore a suit very befitting of a secretary position, a moderately short skirt with a white button up shirt, along with a pair of modest, red heels. She placed a large paper bag on the desk in front of the tiger and took a nearby seat for herself. Angel found it strange that despite never having known or seen such an individual before, the sandwich placed in front of Dravyn was perfectly ordered; she'd known him for decades and was one of the few people that knew he had a weakness for a Fijita Cheese and steak sandwiches, even the awkward bread was ordered properly. She could not think of who this person was, but, she easily was capable of finding that he clearly knew Dravyn, possibly better than she did which was odd for someone who'd had his child. The five of them sat by and ate, and Angel was appreciative of the food and the help from their situation on Corneria, however, something did still bother her...whatever had taken place, it was clear to her that this Anaya person of Krystal's had already gotten to the General, which meant they now could not even rely on back up from the military, or the council. They continued to eat until the lovely cheetah, clearly some sort of secretary or other brought in what appeared to be simple coffee and tea, serving out a cup of whichever to everyone before the tiger took a sip of his coffee and cleared his throat...

"As you can easily guess from that introduction my name is Israfel Onimokuna," He sighed, "i know the name is odd, that is my fate for growing up raised by a Red Panda family; more on that some other time however," He waved his hand in front of his face dismissively, "as with our good man Dee, you may call me Fel, if you wish. You are currently in my office several floors above an..." He paused rolling his eyes as he searched for the words, "...es-tablishmet, shall we say? Call "The Raised Tail" and if that name were not enough we are currently on Rittera. The only place where I have learned I am safe from governmental influence of just about any kind..." After a long pause, Fel looked to the table and pushed his right hand straight out to his side causing his hand, wrist, and forearm to seemingly vanish into a small purple doorway of some kind before returning with a small bowl which he passed to the front of his desk, "Sugar?"

Angel looked from Sierra, to Dravyn, and back to Fel, "So you too then?"

Fel his head gently toward the Cheetah, "And Shaye here, though she is a bit different in most respects than the rest of us. You see, I discovered my ability to do what I do, when I was a very young child, no more than six or seven. Shaye discovered her talent of what we call Farscoping, when she was a teenager and thought she was having visions," He took another sip of his drink, "instead we managed to find out together that Shaye is incredibly unique, seems once she has a tap on someone she can view them over just about any distance."

"There are the odd limitations of course," The cheetah's voice was much different than her appearance, it was soft and even sultry to a certain extent but, at the same time there was a sharpness that seemed to imply a mouth full of razor blades, "seems that around people of significant mental abilities, the images I can display get..." She paused, "...fuzzy, to the point where you can hardly make anything out. It's a mess around the McCloud's, even worse for their son right now...I just get a black screen filled with this odd humming. It took some time to get a lock on you three, but, after making physical contact with all of you I shouldn't have much of a further problem."

Sierra looked between the two cats, "You work as a pair," She clapped her hands together, "she looks the people up and you...teleport them? I guess."

Fel scratched his chin for a moment, "Well, if what I have heard from scientists is true, they seem to think it is more of a small, temporary tear in the dimensional fabric of spacetime. My only real limitation seems to be whether or not I can see said location, or person, or object. Such as the sugar bowl, I could reach for it through temporal space because I know this apartment like the back of my own hand. Thanks to Shaye's tap on Dee, I managed to slip the three of you here to Rittera from Corneria. We had the food and drinks ready because of the staggering effect I know the jumps to have on an organic body of flesh and blood..." He scoffed at his own lack of words, "...it is, as you have all witnessed, very disorienting to leave one space and appear in another while oriented in whatever way you were taken. I would also like to apologize further for the rough landing ladies," He sighed this time shaking his head, "as Shaye pointed out. It took more time than we had thought to place a trace of Dravyn with all the interference. Not just from Sierra, but, I believe the mind control on the military of Corneria as well."

Dravyn set down his own, now drained cup of coffee, "That's not the worst of it. I think that Peppy has been working with that other Cerinian for a while. The council was murdered in their Hosting Chamber several months ago. When I was refused the information that I requested from Peppy...they attacked..."

Fel nodded, "Indeed, so I took it upon myself to look into that very subject," He reached out to Shaye receiving a small printed bit of paper in reply which he began to read over, "Seems the last actual order relayed through the chamber was a total military takeover of the outer aerospace around Titania. Details are not only slim, they are non-existant the reason for deployment is only listed as...CLASSIFIED...all caps, no spaces, no headway, no signatures," He paused, "on top of this little tidbit. The once great Xenass Space Colony and Resort..." He paused looking to Shaye.

The cheetah sighed as she brought up a monitor showing a satellite eye view of Papetoon, "As of 0635hrs, Cornerian time...as you can see here," She said, there was a clear and obvious splotch on the planet's surface that should not have been there, "collided with Papetoon, it's impact has caused a massive tidal surge which has so far as we know claimed lives in the hundreds of thousands. According to news reports the colony was originally headed for the prime mainland but, several short hours before impact the colonies dead thrusters came to life and pushed it out to sea."

Sierra spit out the tea she'd been drinking as she shot out of her seat sending her cup into the air, which was, in a display of incredible agility, snatched from the air by Shaye's free hand while she still had her own cup at her lips, "Maryk is on that colony!"

Fel shook his head, "No dear girl," He said gesturing for her to sit, "in fact some very odd things have happened in the past few hours. Several cameras captured images of the individual responsible for redirecting the colony's flight," He said this time Shaye pressed a button causing an image of an engine room of some sort to appear. An incredibly muscular black wolf pounded at the engine controls while shaking his head before looking to his wrist, clearly talking to someone that was not there, "judging by the way he was speaking to nobody, I would guess he has a personal A.I with him," After a bit of time the image changed and suddenly he was running through the streets before finally coming to a docking area where the video began to grow static before cutting out rapidly clearly showing him in some sort of horrifying confrontation before finally he seemed to throw the individual out into space, before climbing into a small drop podwhich began to rock before falling through the same dock screen as his opponent, "seems his A.I reprogrammed an Old War style Hellpod and he managed to escape using it."

Sierra shot back up again, "A HELLPOD!?" She shouted, "there's a reason those were decommissioned!" She shoved the chair out from behind her, "you have to send me to Papetoon, he has to be alive!"

Fel nodded in agreement, "You are correct about one thing," He sighed heavily, "even with the Vinna Collletta there, the rescue effort needs more help, and having Shaye and Sierra could only help. So I will continue to work out what will be done here with Dravyn and Angel," He said looking to the younger in the room, "the two of you will go and help with the rescue effort, after of course making certain that Mister Steel is still in one piece. Get your gear together and give me the word when you are ready. I can hold a gate big enough to get a few fighters through but, you know my limits Shaye."

The cheetah seemed a bit stricken, "Wait...me?!" She asked placing a hand on her chest.

"Yes," Fel responded, "you are the most capable individual in our little organization at the moment. Also, gather what information you can while you're there. Once you've found Mister Steele, alive, dead, injured or not, take him to the locations that you'll have marked off. Now you two run along...time is quite literally of the essence."

Sierra and Shaye headed out into the halls, and it became apparent to Sierra that they were in a very odd building; unlike what she'd believed before, they were some ways off the ground, several floors possibly above twenty or so judging by the quick look of buildings she spied through the few windows she moved by. She wondered what kind of building this was, it was clearly not big enough or tall enough to be a skyscraper. She wasn't sure how they planned on getting them to Papeoon fast enough to save anyone, much the less Maryk but, if they could get her there she didn't care.

Papetoon

2hrs ago

The world thundered in his head, he found it nearly impossible to drag himself to his feet, and the taste of sand and salt in his mouth caused him to spit and gag as he managed to roll onto his side. His left arm was lifeless, broken or dislocated he wasn't sure, aside however, from that and all the pain he was at least aware that he was clearly alive. Taking assessment of his situation, the onyx furred wolf found himself broken and happy he'd not drown, how it was he'd washed ashore from the pod, he didn't know, he couldn't have swam as he knew his left shoulder was dislocated, his left eye was swollen shut, he right leg was bleeding and broken, his ribs were still a mess from his run in with...well whatever he'd fought on Xenass. The shock of what had taken place suddenly caused him to look about, far beyond the horizon he could see the massive plume of smoke rising miles above the surface of the planet. Nearby places still were wreathed in fires caused from the falling debris in all directions, some of which were actually put out by the ensuing tidal wave.. Dragging himself along the beach he found that not only was his leg broken, it made it impossible for him to walk, or at least it would have been for most men, compared to the pain he'd lived through most of his life however, dragging a mangled limb behind him. The town was not far, a port town of some kind, far into the streets however, there was nothing, no people walking or driving, no sounds of children playing, not even those sounds of panic from a falling colony...complete evacuation, it only made sense. Most houses were damaged from the waters that washed into the city from the wave after Xenass's fall. He knew what it was he was looking for, but, it was difficult to find such a thing in all the wreckage. First he needed medical supplies, he was certain there was glass or shrapnel spread throughout his body, he could feel it grinding against his body's insides with every motion he made. He found home after home abandoned, each of them empty of most all supplies, rummaged through and taken for everything before the families living there quickly abandoned everything they knew. It felt like forever before he finally came across a home that offered hope, a two story home who's upper floors, thanks to the elevation where it had been built, was untouched by the water. It was a pleasant looking place, considering the country bumpkin styling of most Papetoonian homes; white, newer modern fabricated walls and artsy styling insides, including a bed and chair handing from the ceiling by a long set of cables.. Shaking his head, Maryk half chuckled through the pain, before he'd proposed, his girlfriend from the past had his old apartment looking fairly similar., he shook his head only to realize just how much his neck hurt. Upstairs he found what he was looking for, a large white case filled to the brim with supplies ranging from scissors to sutures.

Sitting on the nearby bed, Maryk stripped down inspecting his body for injury, finding various cuts and bruises here and there, some of the cuts, several along his arms and chest required stitches, which made him happy to see the med kit. As he'd figured his right leg bore a cut but, on closer inspection the white protruding from it had meant his landing outside had been anything but successful...then again, he'd managed to walk away and he was almost certain the leg had been broken by whatever odd force he'd been fighting on the station. Gripping the shin on both side of the injury the wolf let out a loud roar of pain as he twisted the bone back into it's rightful place. The simple act of doing this brought a coat of sweat from the shock to his fur, his breathing was now more ragged than ever and after a few more moments a pair of broken chair legs and a makeshift bandage from torn sheets, soon the newly splinted leg could support at least some of his weight again, though the clothing had trouble fitting he also managed to find a shirt and khakis shorts that at least fit well enough, the shirt was tight in the chest and neck but, then again he was used to personally tailored clothing. With his wounds patched up and new clothing procured, the next step was to find out not only where he was but why the town seemed abandoned; he'd not done much on Papetoon before but he'd been there enough to know that people of the area were country folk, and though they were not quite as stoic as most, they were proud and stubborn, and would never have abandoned their homes without good reason...the only answer he could think of that correlated with the flood waters, would be the touchdown of Xenass. Looking to the device on his wrist, he finally did the one thing he knew he didn't want to...

"Shadow..." He sighed, "...tap me into whatever news feed you can in the area."

A small green holo-screen flashed to life above the device with a collie spouting exposition, he'd cut in in the middle of her sentence, "...eth toll is placed somewhere in the tens of thousands with more reports coming in by the minute. Mass tsunami warnings have been wide spread since the colony broke into orbit just shy of eight hours ago. Rescue operations are heavily underway and thanks to a local group calling themselves an Advanced Planetary Research Team, who stumbled upon the incident when headed into dock in order to refuel, many lives have been saved. If you are currently watching this program and in any low lying areas, we urge you to find higher ground or some place dry. If your area has already been flooded and you are in urgent need of assistance, this team is posted at Conner Coastline near Ustead Landing. Rescue teams are currently spread thin and as of now there are no signs from the local military, however, we have received word that allies from several Stygian planets as well as Macbeth, Fichina, and Aquos have been dispatched to assist with the clean up and rescue effort but, the real question remains...where is the General in all of this and why hasn't he answered any calls for help?"

A small pang of relief washed over Maryk as he lay back allowing the feed to die off, "So it worked..." He sighed, "...we put it down in the ocean. Thank god it didn't hit land," He sighed, "Shadow. Can you get me a location? Where are we?"

There was a brief moment of pause, "Established link with orbital positioning satellite. We appear to be some six hundred nautical miles south by south east of the Iberian Peninsula, and Island area locally known as Jalleier's Key. There are a troubling number of distress calls on the main land continent North by Northwest...approximate distance...four thousands six hundred thirty seven miles. Procurement of vehicular transport is heavily recommended."

Maryk tied off his makeshift bandage as he shook his head, "Yeah, no shit," He replied, "but I'm gonna have to find that transport first. Somebody must have left something still useful around here."

Making his way back outside Maryk did his best to recall the last time his unit had been called to the planet, it had been a wonderful little place to visit, sort of like being in the country no matter where you went, people were calm and pleasant, and the seasons were never too harsh. Marcus had informed him back then that his father owned a good lot of land where he'd intended to retire. It did seem like a wonderful place to perhaps raise a family, or even maybe just to settle down with someone to share it all with, now however, the skies almost looked like they were on fire and far to the north he could see the massive column of smoke rising from what he could only imagine was a downed space station, the angry looking pitch black cloud rolling over the area looked extra distressing as arches of visible lightning coursed through it. Looking about the area as he continued his way through the small town, or at least if it had been a city most of it was washed away in the tidal surge fallowing the landing of Xenass. Even though he ran across the odd body, luckily there were very few corpses he could make out as he traveled, he thanked whatever forces there were out there that he didn't see any dead children. Massive chunks of debris from the station's entry of orbit jutted out of structures that had been demolished like unspent artillery ballistics; he sighed, shaking his head as he saw a classic car with a jet of steel having crushed it almost entirely in two, the massive pipe was nearly as round as he was and more than three stories tall, and it had lanced right through the vehicle like a spear thrown by some celestial deity with a mean streak. He thought he'd seen disasters before but, this was excessive on an incredibly horrifying level, and yet the thing that still stuck to his mind was that thing that attacked him on Xenass. It was frightening how much it had looked like him, even more so with how much damage it had taken. Thinking about what it had felt like to stare into those blank eyes however caused a very real shiver to run through his body, it was almost as though it had hated him, hated him in such a way that he could physically feel it down to the very core of who he was. What was it, and as he placed a hand on the side of his head shaking it a bit, what was this strange buzzing in his skull? The black wolf froze as something caught his attention from the corner of his eye, where...where had so many people suddenly come from? His once enthusiastic steps slowly decreased until he was amazed to see the marque, he knew it...Macbeth, the Sable Theater. All around him people cheered and applauded his appearance, they didn't seem to care that he was bleeding, shirtless, and wrapped in makeshift bandages; taking a moment to examine himself, maybe he wasn't. The three piece suit was slick, tailor-made, and fit like a glove. He took a moment to examine the platinum band around his right ring finger. He only possessed a rare moment to take it all in before a surprisingly powerful grip tugged on his left arm and a lighthearted giggling voice echoed around him. He'd recently heard that voice, he'd recognize the sound of that laugh anywhere actually; the cougar stared up at him with Emerald eyes. Her dress was this long, sequent gown of shimmering blue material that recalled the ocean at sunrise, her shoulder length hair was cropped, bobbed, and pinned back with a clip that housed a large flower who's pedals featured a dark purple near the center transitioning to a pale white at their very edges. The delicate hands wrapped around his massive bicep brought his attention to her right hand, where a matching band to his own stood out in relief against her golden brown fur, three large stones set into the platinum in the shape of a triangle, two bright red rubies with a single blue diamond. If she'd been attractive before, she was absolutely breathtaking now. The radiant feline brushed her cheek against his arm...

He stammered for a moment, "T-t-tanya?"

She pushed away batting playfully at his arm, "Well yeah, dummy. Unless you have some other wife I'm unaware of," Her look changed from playful to somewhat concerned, "you okay? You haven't been yourself lately. If you're not feeling well we can go back. I know you're a showman and everything but, you really need to think about yourself more often."

It was wonderful, everything made sense and it was just the way it should have been. Maryk gritted his teeth however in a burst of sudden clarity shoving the fake away from him. She very realistically squealed as her expensive heels caught a rut in the carpet they'd been walking on and fell, "NO!" He shouted, "I don't know what the fuck this is but you..." He drove an accusatory finger in the feline's direction, "are not Tanya. You're not fake either though are you?"

Tanya's hurt expression quickly turned into an rather terrible upward grin, "Poor thing..." She didn't stand but, almost floated to her feet, as if gravity had suddenly become her unbridled bitch. The once sultry, melodic voice he had always recalled her having seemed to slowly mutate, degrading into something similar but, rutty and disjointed, like listening to something underwater but with perfect clarity, "...so much pain, and yet just as much anger. You are an interesting specimen," She rolled her neck, "so very many interesting minds in this place; but, this..." The strange thing said brushing it's hands over voluptuous breasts that bounded away from the tension as the hands moved down her form, "...can be very real."

Maryk shook his head, "I don't know who or what the fuck you are..." He pointed out, "...but, nobody offering something like that ever has your best interests at heart; you're also clearly sentient but not sapient. My pain is caused from my own mistakes and I'll deal with them in my own time. So you can just fuck off, or whatever it is you do."

The voice had finally stopped changing, it was still somehow muffled but, it had lost most of it's inflection leaving no longer any signs of it being either male or female but, it still wore Tanya's skin, "Incorruptible?" She hissed with a strange chuckle, "your kind is always the funnest to play with. So, why not rush off to your friends?" The sudden shift of his scenery was as if someone had peeled away a backdrop to reveal the town he'd once been standing in, with no doppelganger anywhere near him, the voice echoed into the distance of his mind.

"-yk!" Another voice called out causing him to look to his wrist mounted computer, "Maryk! If you're out here let me know! Cuz if you died during all this crap I swear I'll kill you again!"

Maryk blinked as his eyes and mind continued to fight against what he had seen and what he was seeing now, "Sierra?"

"Holy shit..." The voice sighed heavily over the line, "...where are you we'll pick you up before heading to meet with the Colletta," There was a long pause causing her to falter, "...uh. Maryk...you okay big guy?"

Maryk shook his head to nobody in particular, "Y-yeah, just sort of messed up when I fell out of the sky. I'll send you my coordinates, I guess my locator got fucked on entry. Hell Pod was not my best idea," After sending his coordinates and taking a seat on a nearby half destroyed car the large wolf sighed heavily, "I need a vacation..." He paused thinking about his time on Xenass, "...well a real vacation."

Maryk shook his head, rubbing a harsh knot of pain from his right thought, very quickly becoming aware that the bone might be fractured; he could only look up into the rain that suddenly began to fall while sighing heavily again, if his world could get any more fucked up at this point...he imagined it wouldn't take long for him to learn about it. If the escalating scale was anything to go by he had no faith this was going to end anytime soon.

A few hundred miles north

Skye shook her head as she fell back into her chair reading over another progress report from the rescue effort, all sorts of information had come in all at once. Gryph had mentioned that he'd found another twenty or so survivors to the east, one of her teams had come up with a mess of new bodies, and no matter how hard she tried she simply couldn't stop thinking about either Marcus or Dax. Marcus had deserved so much better than she'd given him, for all that he'd given to her and the even greater load he'd offered her...she'd turned him away and done just as he had predicted; sure it hadn't been word for word but, she shunned him, called him a liar, and turned him away just because she didn't want to believe that the first guy she'd given her trust to completely...was a traitor, though for some reason she still had her doubts. She didn't want to let anyone know that these thoughts were the reasons she was hiding herself away in the tent rather than going over information and guiding troops, rather, each group of her crewmen were left in care of one of her closer trusted friends and besides everything else, the constant news flooding in from aroudn the system was driving her nuts. First some unknown ship shows up in atmosphere near Titania, then Xenass takes a nosedive into Papetoon's oceans, now she's got news that the entire Cornerian fleet has come to rest around Titanian Aerospace. She simply couldn't understand why the entirety of Lylat was falling into disarray and what seemed like pure insanity, uncertain how to deal with all of it at once, she tossed her paperwork to the table in front of her before reclining her seat until she was nearly looking fully behind her, this caused Mick to seem to be standing on his head as he stood in the doorway of the tent...

"Want the good or the bad?" He asked gruffly while folding his arms across his chest.

Skye sighed heavily, "I can't handle any more bad news."

"Fair 'nuff..." Mick replied as he continued to stand there, "...we got help on it's way, they'll be 'ere inna few hours. Looks like ya managed ta get a fire lit under some asses back 'ome. People form'n a whole crew for about six ships...big ones."

Skye sighed heavily as she leaned back to a fully seated position, "Well that is good news."

Mick choked back a cough, "On the other 'and..." He added, "...got wind from Mister and Misses Dark...looks like whatever's effecting everyone out 'ere, got to the council. General ordered 'em killed. Smells like someone done scrubbed 'is brain."

"Brainwashing...that's all I need on top of this clusterfuck sundae,"

Mick chuckled a bit, "Ah, think ya may need to take it easy for a bit mate. In fact, ah might have a help'n hand for ya."

The familiar reptile that entered the tent sheepishly clutched a small computer to her ample chest while looking about the command tent, "Sewry?" Skye gawked at the one that had helped save her life back on Papetoon, "what are you doing here?"

The girl lowered her head, "The...the Enforcers started arresting anyone that tried to get through orbint on most planets. Something about Civil War," She said, "when I heard about it I called Mick, he told me to come here. Said I might be useful. If it helps I'm already tapped into the orbiting satellites so I can track everyone on the ground in the area."

Skye inwardly kicked herself for not thinking of that sooner, "Of course the fucking satellite," Fed up, she finally stood and walked toward the door patting Mick on the shoulder, "I've been in here for over thirty hours, I need a shower. Mick get her on the line with the teams and see if she can't direct traffic, " She patted Sewry's shoulder on her way out, "good to see you again Sue."

Sewry and Mick exchanged a glance before Mick simply shook his head, the poor girl simply sounded exhausted and defeated. In Mick's opinion it wasn't fair for everything to toss her so hard into the deep end. Skye could feel everything collapsing in around her, how was she supposed to deal with an entire system that seemed to be openly against her? Was there even a hope of fixing all of this? If so she certainly couldn't do it alone, even her crew was no real match for the Cerinians that were currently looking to screw with the natural order. Running her hands through her hair, she scrambled her hair feeling the long tresses spill down over her shoulders as the band she'd used to hold the ponytail snapped; as she headed onto the Colletta, Skye took a moment to look at her reflection in a nearby Arwing's polished window. Her hair was far longer than she recalled it and she even smiled a bit as an unfamiliar face looked back at her, what was so different from when she'd started? She sighed as she shook her head and wandered off into the now, mostly, abandoned ship. The loud echo of her footsteps gave her no kind of company as she headed to the one place that could possibly make her feel anything at the moment. Soon enough she stood with her head held back while a stream of steaming water fell over her, she ran her hands through her fur and over her body, inch by inch scrubbing away whatever filth she felt there. Taking a moment to inspect the large, closed in shower, Skye began to think of the times that had fallen behind her now. She scoffed at the fact that her first thought was of her and Dax sharing the shower...more than a few times. She took a seat on the shelf-like seat set into the wall of the shower and again began to wash herself as her thoughts continued to wander. She had been told plenty of times by many people that she was more than a little attractive, her looks had gotten her into trouble...well her attitude had gotten her into the trouble, her looks had only caused the situation. It made her wonder, would everything have been different had she given into Marcus's advances? After all it wasn't that she didn't like him, in fact the reason she began avoiding him in the first place was that she felt she liked him too much...so what was so different between Marcus and Dax? The question bothered her far more than it should have, and it lasted far and long after she had finished her shower and stood over a small panel in the floor. The air dryers were meant to keep fur from turning into shag from the use of a towel, but, she'd never really cared. She gasped as a burst of warm air shot up from beneath her feet causing all of her fur and hair to rush in a skyward direction causing her to giggle girlishly before suddenly catching herself. It was a sound she wasn't quite used to making, yet it was a sound that Dax seemed to be capable of squeezing out of her with little more than a word or a touch. At first she'd almost hated him, she found him to be smug, critical, self-assured, cocky and yet, he was so easy to level with and talk to. Shaking herself off, she took a bit of time to notice that the dryer had made her fur feel much softer than usual, and in fact it was faster, and she admitted to herself...it even tickled a bit.

After a moment of searching about her room, Skye looked over what she'd managed to pull from her things to wear; it wasn't too cold and she didn't feel like wearing anything too heavy, for a top she choose something of a sports top, it only really would cover to the mid point of her rib cage and had no sleeves, and went well enough with the somewhat baggy sweatpants she'd found, again not wanting to dress too heavy. A tall standing dresser near the bed opened into a full length mirror into which she stared now, she'd expected to be thinking on the same level she had before but a crooked smile tugged at her lips as she could see in the reflection the memory of a moment in which Dax had stood behind her, his hands helping themselves. She could hear everything like it was happening all over gain...

"You keep staring at that mirror," Dax chuckled, "wish you could look through my eyes instead maybe you'd see the truth for once."

Reflection Skye sighed, "I guess you mean I lie to myself or something?"

Dax placed a kiss along the side of her neck as he held her chin in his hand placing his cheek against hers, the both of them looking into the mirror now, "I just wish you could see half of what I do. Of what anyone does, because you would hate this mirror if you did...it'll never do you any justice. You're amazing Skye," His hand moved from her chin down to her cheek, "much more amazing than I think you'll ever be willing to accept."

Reflection Skye sighed again, a bit heavier this time, "And you accept it all? Whatever it is you see?"

Dax's hands moved to her soft, round breasts pressing his fingers deep into them, while drawing his muzzle close to her ear, "I accept every part of you outside..." His hands moved as one of them snaked up between her breasts resting over her heart, "and in, and you can trust that I always will. I just hope someday you can accept me the same way,"His hands flew back to her breasts, "for now though this'll do."

Skye laughed as the vision faded, and a small glint from the end table by her bed caught her eye. Retrieving the small trinket from where she'd left it so long ago, Skye looked over the small diadem. Why Krystal had given it to her she wasn't sure, but, for the very first time she slipped it around her head and under her hair leaving only two golden arms reaching to a small red jewel between her eyebrows. Other than her normal choker she couldn't recall the last time she allowed herself to wear any sort of jewelry. She turned back toward the mirror to admire the pretty thing, the sight of it on her forehead caused her once crooked smile to spread into a rather wide smile. She wasn't sure why but, she simply couldn't help herself, even after finally being completely dressed. For some reason, the reflection she saw simply didn't seem so...oppressive. Maybe Dax was right, the smile faded as she looked to the mirror and wondered. He seemed so heartbroken when he left her on top of Krazoa Palace. She clenched her fist in anger.

"I swear if that bastard did this because he thinks he's protecting me I'll fucking kill him." Her heart simply refused to let to the idea that he was not the person she thought he was.

Feeling a bit renewed, Skye, for the first time refused to tie back her hair and anyone that didn't like it could kiss her ass for all she cared; in fact Dax had once requested that she let her hair go, claiming that she looked all the better with long hair. Somewhere along the lines of her epiphany, or whatever sort of thoughts had festered inside her it became clear...once she was able, she was going after Dax...and dragging him back by his tail if she had to. It was about time she stopped feeling sorry for herself and made the people doing this feel sorry. She made her way out of her quarters with an impressively confident stride at least until she found herself in the narrow hall leading to the docking bay. Her stride slowed, somewhat, and finally stopped outright as her head tilted to one side as if to understand what it was she was looking at. It was...her? But not her? The strange version of her almost looked as though it was made of color and shadow, with ebbing cracks of what looked like glowing embers streaking through it's shoulders and down along it's sides, even webbing up from it's groin. The deep set eyes, instead of pale green looked like bleeding pools of burning embers. As she studied the odd double, it's fake lips parted into a sadistic smile as it swung it's arms wide baring slightly longer than usual claws, with a smile of her own, Skye reached behind her and produced the tonfa she'd been given before. She had no idea who or what this thing was but it was about to learn the hard way that she wasn't in any particular mood to be fucked with.