A squatter in space

>Your room beeped as the alarm went off.

>You furrowed your brow and refused to open your eyes until it went off again.

>"Fine." You groan, struggling to push yourself up from your comfy mattress.

>You sit up and the lights in your room automatically turn on.

>Pajama pants and a tank top later, and you're dressed for today!

>You reach the kitchen when your home beeps again.

>"Good morning." The room announces. "I hope you slept well."

>"It was alright." You wave your hand as the coffee machine pours it's contents into your white cup.

>"It has been….—–97 days—-…. Since your last visit to a planet."

>"I know, I know…" You sigh.

>You step away from the kitchen and look out your living room window, pressing a button on the wall.

>The scenery of an open green field and a orange morning sun peppered with little clouds gives way for a grey landscape with a starry black sky that goes on for an eternity.

>The year is 2740, and you're a shut in in space.

>Something happened, something long ago, that made you like this. You used to be so outgoing, but you don't like to talk about it.

>Now you've been living in your G-tech mobile home for the past 4 years, making money by prospecting and selling your findings to the highest bidder.

>It's not all bad, getting to move from place to place as long as the area is frontier space or controlled by a less controlling power.

>You tend to stay away from the Galcian Empire, though. They don't much like squatters, even if they usually just stay on little rocks floating in space.

>"Any sales recently?" You asked your onboard A.I.

>"Your last delivery has been purchased by…—The Rydian-Mossman corporation— at… 4200 Terran time.— Yesterday—." AL, your Artificial Intelligence home system, and basically your best friend, explains.

>"Oh, cool." You try to smile to yourself, leaning against the window.

>"Our water tank is running low." AL explained. "Perhaps we should prospect for ice? Or perhaps maybe…"

>"I know, I know." You say.

>"It's not healthy for you to be in seclusion for long periods of time."

>"I know!" You groan, finishing your coffee. "Fine. You're right. We made a sale anyway, might as well go planetside somewhere. The new video game I wanted is out anyway, and I don't think any delivery company sends drones out this far."

>"Good to hear." AL says. "Do you wish for me to plot a course?"

>"Nah, I'm not doing anything today anyway." You say. "I'll take the pilot seat."

>"As you wish."

>You sit down in the cockpit and unlatch your ship from the rock it was staying on.

>Reactor online, sensors online, shields online, weapons online, all systems nominal.

>You pull the ship from it's little hovel and take it away from the space rock you made your home for the past 3 weeks.

>2 hours into your journey, not that far or long, all things considered, AL beeps back to life.

>"We have a problem, sir." He said.

>You looked at your alert system and your eyes widened. Something was pinging your ship, watching you.

>"Do we…Uh, do we have visuals?"

>One of your HUD screens flicked to life, you could barely make it out at first, but the image became more clear.

>Your eyes widened when you saw the crimson and black colors.

>"What the hell!?" You almost scream. "What the hell are Crimson Corsairs doing all the way out here!?"

>"Looking for new hunting grounds?" AL suggested.

>"Oh man, we can at least keep them at bay for a little bit while the jump drive warms up, right?"

>"You fired all of your kinetic rounds for "target practice" yesterday when you got bored." AL explained.

>"Oh…right. Shit."

>Your heard your HUD beep and you almost flew back to hide behind your seat. A communications signal came through and one of your screens turned green.

>"…Hello there." You heard a feminine voice speak up.

>You look at the screen and remain silent.

>"I know you're there." The voice says again. "We can see you bright as day on our tracking."

>You look at AL's main system like expecting him to do something.

>"Should we…respond?" You ask.

>"They already know we're here." AL explains.

>You approach the comm and put your finger down on your outdated and archaic response button.

>"Uhm….Hi." You finally greet.

>"See now. That wasn't so hard, was it?" She asked.

>"I…I guess not."

>"Now whats a civilian like you doing all the way out here?" She questioned.

>"Well…I'm just moving from place to place, I guess."

>"Oh, are you?" The voice continued. "Then I guess you got lost then, you're far from any frontier settlement. Where are you from?"

>"I'm uh…I'm from Ter-." You stop yourself. "Earth."

>"A native, huh?" She teases. "Well I guess the UST can't hold on to all of you, can they?"

>She was talking about the United Systems of Terra. Not the only one, but it's one of the largest human majority powers in the galaxy. Between itself, the Gaian Empire, and the Confederation of Orion, they make up the big three of the thousands of human nations across the stars.

>"Looking for a new life then?" She asked. "Or just bumming from place to place?"

>Keep talking, your jump drive is almost done…

>"A little of both, really." You say.

>"How about you come over and talk to us then?" She suggested. "There's a few planets we…Deal with. I'm sure we could find you something. We're feeling generous."

>"I'll have to think about it." You say.

>"We jammed your jump system, by the way."

>"What?"

>You take your finger off the comm and look at your HUD.

>"A-Al?"

>"…F-forgive me, sir." AL apologizes. "Their AI is a little bit out of my expertise.I couldn't stop it."

>"Look." You gulp after putting your finger back on your comm. "Can we talk about this?"

>"Talk about what?" She asked with a hint of laughter in her voice. "We're just offering some employment opportunities."

>You fumble and trip as your ship shakes, your alarms go off and warn you that unidentified objects have latched to your ships.

>"Shit." You curse. "Who still uses reel-ins!?"

>Your ship begins to be pulled into the Crimson Corsair's ship. You try to fight it, but you know it's no use in the end.

>The ship shakes again and you almost fall down this time.

>"AL?" you ask.

>"There's nothing I can do. I'm only an onboard AI." He explains. "I'm…I'm sorry, sir."

>"It's not your fault." You sigh.

>You run to the little armory you had set up on the other side of the ship. It wasn't big and only had one rifle, but you intended to go down fighting.

>You can hear them scurrying around outside of your ship as you aim towards the only entrance of your vessel.

>"Come on…" you whisper to yourself, finger on the trigger.

>You can hear someone talking outside, muffled. Suddenly, sparks begin to fly from the middle of your entrance hatch.

>You look away from your iron sights and raise a brow as a little hole is melted into the center of your entrance hatch.

>Suddenly a little pod is pushed through the center and it latches to the metal of the hatch.

>"Oh shit…" You curse again, stepping back.

>The pod opens and begins to spew gas into your ship.

>You try to back away from it, but the gas spreads quickly.

>You cough and reach for your emergency station, clawing for your mask.

>It's too late though, and you quickly fall to the ground.

>Why are you so stupid?

>You wake up to the sound of talking, discussing what sounds like you.

>Your eyes flutter, you struggle to get the sand from your eyes. The fuzz in your brain is almost unbearable, but you manage to shake the mud from your mind.

>You look to your left, then your right, both your hands are locked down to a table.

>"W-…What?" You ask yourself.

>"Oh!" You hear a voice. "He's awake!"

>You look up to find a young woman in a lap coat. She's short and her sleeves cover her hands.

>You notice a tail swish and flick behind her and a pair of ears sit on top of her head, both the tail and the ears are brown with black stripes.

>"What the hell…?" You managed to groan.

>"Whats the matter? Never seen a Danuki before?" She asked.

>"I have…" You say. "But a pirate?"

>"I prefer the term privateer." She stated. "But we don't usually work with governments that much anymore."

>"Well, how is he?" Another voice asked.

>"Well." The Danuki flipped through her papers. "He's not sick, has no disabilities-"

>She begins to circle you.

>"No augmentations I could find. No Neuro uplinks, no muscle reinforcements, all of his limbs are natural, his eyes are fine, though there are signs of treatment for cataracts, so he must have had seeing problems sometime in the past."

>"Anything else."

>"Look at his muscles." the Danuki huffs, slapping her hand against your bare stomach. "Like cement this guy!"

>"Really?" the voice asked.

>You heard foot steps approach you, and suddenly you were being looked at by two hazel cat-like eyes, the slits of the pupils opening and narrowing as they gazed at you.

>Another woman, a red head with black cat ears poking out from her head. She had two black paws and twin-tails wagging behind her. A nekomata, like the ones that work and live on New-Tokyo. You've never interacted with one, but you always sneaked a peek when you passed one.

>"Why do you think that is?" She asked. "Works out?"

>"Chances are he's a miner." the Danuki explained. "Even with an Exo-suit, he's still putting a few hours of strain on his body. So because of no augments, he developed his muscles naturally."

>"Really…?" The Nekomata purred, putting the fuzzy fingers of her paw softly on your chest. "Is that true, Mister Space Man? Are you a miner?"

>"Its…" You gulp. "How I make a living."

>"An all-natural miner, huh?" The Nekomata rubbed her chin. "How much do you think we'll get for him?"

>"Who says we'll sell him?" Danuki asked. "Maybe the Captain will want to keep him?"

>"You hear that, little prospector?" The Nekomata asked. "Think  Captain Lucina will want to keep you?"

>"Get Dores." The Danuki ordered. "We need to get him moving."

>The Nekomata called out and a minotaurus came into the room, she looked at you and then grabbed on to your arms when the latches opened up.

>Next thing you knew, your arms were tied behind your back and you were being escorted away.

>The halls of the ship were narrow, and the lighting did little but give the metallic corridors a dark orange hue.

>Tubes and wires hanged from open parts on the ceiling, and you were constantly pulled to the side when others walked through the walls, especially serpent-women. Who gave you a dirty look as you were dragged along.

>You noticed there were no other male, or at least no males you could see. All of them were, as they are classed by the Galactic community, Mamomos.

>No one remembers were they came from, but they just appeared in human space a few decades ago. To the life of you, you don't think you've ever seen a male Mamomo, just females.

>They are also notorious for attacking human males, though not all of them do it. Still, they're not so welcome in some parts of the galaxy.

>And piracy…There are a lot of mamomo pirates out there. Crimson Corsairs especially.

>Finally, you're brought into a large room, a Colosseum with all seats filled with all shapes and sizes of Mamomo, cheering and eying you as you're tossed into the center of the room.

>"Now, who do we have here?" You hear a familiar voice asked. "Its nice to meet you face to face."

>You look up and see a throne in front of you with another Mamomo sitting inside. She was dressed in antiquity styled pirate gear, a purple coat with an open white dress shirt underneath to reveal a bit of cleavage. She wore a genuine pirate hat as well as a pair of high heel boots.

>Then you noticed the rest of her. Her skin was black like coal, and her eyes red like fire. Flames bellowed from the side of each eye and a pair of large fuzzy ears sat on top of matching long, jet black hair. Her arms and legs were covered in fur the same color as her hair, and she had a pair of paws as hands and feet. Both her hands and feet had long, dark red claws from each finger, that looked like they could tear a man to shreds.

>You looked her in the eyes and she flashed you a wicked smile.

>"Now then." She said, leaning forward. "What to do with you…"

"How about letting me go?" You suggested. "So I can get back to my life?"

>The crowed burst into laughter while Lucina smiled. "No, I don't think so." She said, tapping a claw against her cheek.

>She stood up from her throne and approached you, walking around you like a predator examining a kill.

>"Do you know how hard it is to find men all the way out here?" She asked. "We cant dock in most stations because of our status and the ones that do let us in are less than willing to give us a cut."

>Lucina took a knee behind you and wrapped her arms around your shoulders, you jumped a bit when the soft pads of her paws pressed against your bare chest.

>She leaned in closer until you felt her hot breath against your ear. "And how often do we get a natural out in these parts~ hm?"

>Her words sent a tingle down your spine. You could feel her press herself against your back, it was a pleasant warmth, but still made you feel a bit uncomfortable.

>Lucina stood up and circled you again before addressing her crew.

>"So ladies!" she called out, raising her paws to the air. "What do you think? Keep or sell!?"

>The shouting and hollering were deafening to you, but Lucina kept a paw to her ear and seemed to listen to the responses.

>"Hm… More yays than nay." She said. "Well, we haven't been strapped for cash lately."

>Lucina sat back in her throne and crossed her legs. She grinned again and tapped her claws together.

>"I almost want to tell them all to go nuts with you and see what happens." She admits. "But that would probably kill you, and I'd probably feel bad."

>"You don't feel bad about the kidnapping?" You asked.

>"Finders keepers." She declared. "Besides, at least you're alive. Your kind usually doesn't leave prisoners when they pirate."

>"Take him away." Lucina waved her paw. "And girls! have fun."

>You were once again dragged through the ship, this time you managed to get a good look of things.

>By the look of it, it was originally a Destroyer from the Calidan Conglomerate, a place known for it's shipyards and weaponry. How they got their hands on this is beyond you.

>It's been modified to hell and back, extra additions added, more private rooms, entertainment lounges, a bar, etc. There didn't seem to be any bunk rooms, at least not that you could see.

>From what you could tell, the crew was smaller than that of an actual calidan Destroyer, so modifying it to hell and back to accommodate all of them probably wasn't that daunting of a task.

>You were shoved into a room by the Minotaurus and had the door behind you slammed shut. You checked to see if you could get out, but it was indeed locked.

>Your room gave off an eerie red light, there was a bed, a nightstand, and to your left there was also another door that led to the bathroom.

>If there was another way out, you couldn't find it…So instead you just laid down on the bed. It was comfy, reminded you of yours.

>You fell asleep, somehow…

>You woke up some time later to a bang on your door, they didn't wait for you to answer and barged in a second later.

>It was Dores, the Minotaurus again.

>"Get cleaned up." She demanded. "Aki wants to see you."

>"Aki?"

>"Our doctor, the Danuki." She explained. "There's extra clothing in one of those drawers. Get cleaned up."

>You sigh and comply, no use resisting.

>You found a pretty normal T-shirt and jeans in the drawer beneath all of the robes and other weird stuff.

>Dores lead you through the halls until you reached an unfamiliar room.

>"I thought I was seeing the doctor." You stated.

>"You are." Dores pushed you. "This is her room."

>"Her room?"

>Dores opened the door and lead you inside before closing it and leaving you alone.

>Aki's room was more like an apartment than a ship quarters. You stood awkwardly in what looked like the living room, there was also a little kitchenette on the right of you and two more rooms to your left.

>"Are you here?" You heard her call from the other room.

>"Y…Yeah, I'm here!" You call back.

>Oh, good!" She called back.

>You heard her humming from the other room before she entered.

>Your heart jumped in your chest as she approached, she was wearing nothing but a sweater that hung from her shoulders, if she was even wearing underwear you couldn't tell since the sweater covered down to her knees.

>"Do…I need a checkup?" You asked.

>"Nope." She said happily. "You already had one of those. I did however win the raffle."

>"Raffle?"

>"You're the only man on board." Aki explained as she approached you and grabbed on to your hand. "It would get chaotic if we were all just allowed to get at you, right?"

>"I guess?" You say as she led you into her bedroom, a queen sized bed sat in the middle of the room with a night stand on each side and a closet behind a sliding mirror door.

>She lets go of your hand and takes a step back while you stand awkwardly in front of her bed. "So this means…"

>You weren't getting it. Maybe it was all the time you spent alone, but the social queue never hit you.

>Aki pouted and then pushed you. She was short, so her hands push against your stomach. You were caught by surprise and felt your legs trip against the edge of the bed.

>You pulled yourself up the bed while Aki climbed up, crawling towards you until your back hit the frame of the bed.

>"I have you for a few hours~" Aki whispered, trailing her finger across your chest. "So tell me, ever been with a Danuki before?"

>"I haven't really been with anyone." You admitted embarrassingly.

>Aki lit up and beamed at your words and sat up on top of you. "Really?"

>"Y…Yeah." You said.

>"I'm glad you didn't say anything to Captain Lucina." Aki said giddily. "She would have kept you for yourself."

>"Well…"

>Aki took your hands and let them under her sweater. Your heart almost kicked itself out of your chest as you felt her soft skin against your finger tips. She led your hands up her body, rolling her sweater up as well until your felt your hands touch her soft breasts, her nipples sliding in between your fingers.

>It also answered your question about the underwear.

>You were practically screaming in your head, you froze up and didn't really know what to do anymore.

>"Just let me handle everything, okay?" She giggled.

>You couldn't help yourself, your pants were already getting tighter while she slid down and sat on your knees.

>She nimbly unzipped your pants and reached into your underwear, causing more sparks to go off in your head.

>Aki never broke eye contacted, and slowly lowered herself with your member in her hand.

>With a wicked grin she opened her mouth and slowly licked up your shaft.

>You bit your lip and took in a deep breath. You're already a prisoner, you may as well not make a fool out of yourself.

>Aki licked it a few more times before beginning to stroke it gently with her hand.

>"Look who's ready to go." She joked. "Does that feel good?"

>"Yeah…" You felt like you muttered that against your will.

>"Then hold on tight."

>Aki sat up on her knees and positioned herself over you. She took your hands and placed them on her waist, slowering lowering herself onto your member.

>You took a deep breath as you begin to penetrate her. Aki gasped pleasantly pushed you deeper and deeper inside her until there was nothing left to take.

>With a grin, she wrapped her own arms around your neck and begin to move her hips, lifting herself and then slowly lowering herself on you.

>Your grip unconsciously tightened around her waist, which caused her to giggle in surprise.

>Suddenly,she began to pick up the pace, catching you off guard.

>You lose grip on her waist and grab on to the sheets.

>"It's okay." she said to you in between her gasps. "Do what you need to do~"

>You grit your teeth and do the best you can to endure.

>Her warmth, and the tightness around your cock is unbearable, every movement brings up more and more heat builds up in your chest.

>It finally becomes too much to bare and you release, coming inside her before you can even tell her.

>Aki puts her hands against the back of your head and holds you against her chest. "Now how did that feel?" She asked with a soft tone.

>"It was…"

>"Great, right?" She whispered, then pulled you close and kissed your lips. "Don't worry, you'll get lots of experience in a little while."

>Aki continued to ride you for awhile longer before she decided it was time to rest on your chest, falling asleep on you. She still hasn't let you pull out, her warmth made your eyes heavy and soon you found yourself asleep in what was essentially a strangers bed.

>"This wasn't so bad." You thought to yourself.

>But the future had much in store.

>Everything was a blur…

>Your head was pounding, your mouth was dry. Just standing up was a ludicrous accomplishment for you.

>You could feel warmth drip down your face, it was blood, your blood.

>You gritted your teeth and pulled your helmet from your heard, you could see your reflection in the cracked visor of the blue, metallic head gear.

>You turned around to see the damage.

>Your machine, the wargrunt. A metal humanoid titan armed with a 120mm auto cannon and a missile pod on each shoulder. It was slumped over, it's head and left arm missing with irreparable damage to the pelvic area. Funny how human it looked slumped over like that…

>The cockpit you had escaped from was in flames, there's no way you could get the grunt up and running again.

>You could still hear radio chatter from your helmet. Much of it was garbled, but the rest was people screaming orders or the cries of the dying.

>Then an order came through. "Fall back to the second line!" You heard. "The front is lost, all survivors, fall back!"

>It was the Major, he was the one leading the defense.

>You gritted your teeth and groaned in pain, forcing yourself from one knee to both feet.

>You had to move, you had to get to safety. Drawing your side arm, you loaded the pistol and prepared to go.

>But then you heard the sound of metal splitting, your blood ran cold and you slowly turned around.

>There it was, three of it's twelve claws were dug deep into your wargrunt. It snarled, showing it's three rows of teeth while the rest of it's body morphed and dripped unnaturally.

>It finally roared and leaped out at you. You screamed out and raised your side arm.

>And fired.

>You awoke in a sweat, yelling out and raising to a sit up.

>Your left had had gripped the remote of the television in your room and aimed it forward like a weapon.

>Your breaths were sharp and quick as you tried to regain your composure.

>That's right, you weren't there anymore…You haven't been for a long time.

>No, you were somewhere else, a ship owned by the crimson corsairs…

>You were only sixteen then…

>You shook your head and put it to the back of your mind, standing up and heading for the shower. You didn't even know what time it was.

>About an hour after you cleaned yourself and brushed your teeth, you got a bang on your door.

>"Hi, Dores." you greeted the minotaur with a sigh.

>"Someone won the raffle." Dores told you without saying hello. "The sisters want to see you…"

>"The…Sisters?"

>Dores led you down the halls of the ship to a part you weren't familiar with.

>It was another apartment, this one had a "welcome" sign up front in the shape of two entwined snakes.

>The door open and you stepped inside, Dores seemed fairly disappointed as the door slid closed.

>The living room was very ottoman, with pillows and low seats instead of the usual couch and table.

>You stepped in further and looked around. "Hello?" You called out.

>"Caught you~" A voice whispered into your ear.

>You froze up as a set of hands wrapped around you and pressed against your chest.

>You didn't even hear her, but you felt her tongue flick against your neck and her breath against your skin.

>Suddenly, another pair of hands pressed against your body, and you heard a second voice begin to giggle.

>"My my, he IS a natural, isn't he?" The second voice asked.

>You felt something scaly against your leg and then a sudden push against your back.

>You fell to the cushions in front of you and quickly turn around to see two women with the tails of snakes. Neither of them were wearing clothing and their measurements were almost the same, including the short hair, with one being lime green and the other having a blond hair color.

>"Lamias?" you ended up asking yourself.

>"That's right." The lime-haired one said, slithering towards you and wrapping herself around your legs. She nimbly unbuckled your pants and positioned herself against you.

>"Lamia's mate for almost 24 hours." She said to you with a pout. "But we only have you for 2 hours…"

>"That means one hour each."

>"Wait a min-hooooahy" You gripped the cushions as you suddenly felt a warmth around your member, she was quick to push you inside her.

>Her tail wrapped around your body and her arms around your neck.

>"Now then… Shall we get started?" She asked, while the other watched.

>You tried to relax, you figured it would be better that way…

>From then on out, every day would be the same.

>You would sit in your room and watch TV until Dores came to get you.

>Someone always had a very specific wish, or wanted to share with her friends, but it was always leaving you exhausted.

>You found yourself thinking about your ship a lot, and AL. He may have just been an onboard computer AI, but AL was still good company.

>He spoke in a gentleman's tone, and his butler-like voice was very English. But as an AI he was designed to learn, and he learned to like many of the same things you did.

>He couldn't sit with you on the couch, but he found a way to simulate being in the room using an archaic optic drone that was still installed into your ship. So you spent a lot of time watching movies or playing video games with a big beeping eye attached to a rail system on the ceiling of your ship.

>You heard a bang on your door. It was Dores, who once again looked disappointed.

>She handed you a pair of very conservative pajamas.

>"Luda wants you to wear this." She said.

>"Luda?"

>"A dark elf." she explained. "She won the raffle."

>Your heart sank in your chest.

>You've only met one Dark Elf in your life, but you were very familiar with the notorious stories that followed them.

>After you changed, you were led down the hallway. You wondered if you could escape.

>Chances are. No.

>Finally, you found yourself in front of yet another apartment door.

>You were beginning to become familiar with the ship. This was the third floor apartments, there were seven in all. A big ship with a lot of monster girls on board.

>If there were more like the Dark Elf you had a dreadful feeling about, you'd probably not make it through all of them…

>You stepped into the apartment…And it was nowhere near as BDSMy as you had expected…

>There was a big couch, way too big, if you sat in it you'd probably sink into the cushion. The couch was covered in dozens of blankets, pillows and an assortment of stuffed animals.

>there was a large TV opposite of the couch with a few video game consoles. The table between the TV and the couch had a few mugs on it, empty and stained with what looked like cocoa mix.

>"Hello?" You called out hesitantly. "I'm here.'

>"Hiiii!" You heard and excited voice call out.

>You heard her feet against the carpet before you saw her, a girl with chocolate skin and long, pointy ears. Her hair was silver and tied back into a pony tail, and she was wearing pink pajamas with little teddy bears sprinkled on it.

>She was at least a head shorter than you, and from what you could make out her bust was fairly impressive.

>"I can't believe I won the raffle!" She cheered, grabbing on to your hand. "Come on, I hit the jack pot, we have all day together!"

>"Uh…" You hesitated. "How…How old are you?"

>"What does that mean?" She pouted. "I'm nineteen."

>"Don't you think you're a little…Old for all this?"

>"Hey, I work all day just like everyone else." She pulled you along. "I get to enjoy myself anyway I'd like."

>She sat you down on the couch and crawled up beside you, tucking her legs in and fiddling with a pouch she had on the table.

>With her other hand, the elf turned on her TV and put on a movie. It was some kind of drama in a language you haven't even heard before.

>"Here!" She handed you a brush and undid her pony tail. She straightened her hair and turned her back to you.

>"Uh…Okay." You comply, brushing her hair awkwardly.

>"You gotta go a bit harder." She told you. "Use your other hand to help straighten it."

>With a shrug you push your hand under her hair and brush it in your palm, it was silky and soft to the touch.

>You did this for awhile into the movie until she reached into her pack and got a few other things.

>The next thing you knew you were doing her toe and finger nails, letting her fix your hair, and fixing her and yourself cups of hot chocolate.

>She had you all day, apparently, and she seemed to have the whole day planned. She sat in your crossed legs on the couch and rested your chin on her shoulder while she played a video game, and told you about a few "mangas" she liked to read.

>It felt…Nostalgic, it certainly took you back. You remembered the time AL told you about these new things he found on the extranet, shows and games from across the galaxy for you two to experiment with.

>He even took on translating, and learned thousands of languages just so you didn't have to. You felt sad thinking of him.

>The apartment clock said it was getting late, and the Dark Elf soon fell asleep in your arms.

>"Just like this…" she whispered to you as she guided your arms around her, making you hug her close while she slept against your chest.

>You sighed and leaned back, closing your eyes.

>It wasn't all that bad.
>You lost track of how long you've been on the ship.

>Had to have been weeks now.

>Still, you complied with their orders, not that they shoot you out of a rail cannon or something.

>One day, out of nowhere, Dores came to get you again.

>"Boss wants to see you…" She tells you.

>You're led through familiar halls now, through the apartments and to a large door at the end of a long hallway, draped with a red carpet.

>The doors part and you're led inside by Dores.

>Lucina's part of the ship may as well have been a palace. The walls were lined with gold, carpets, each looked as expensive as the last, and innumerable amount of wealth from money from thousands of worlds, to expensive antiques.

>One giant room into another, you're greeted with the sight of a naked Lucina sitting in the bath, the suds and bubbles doing little to keep her modesty.

>"There you are!" She toasts you with a glass of champagne. "Just the man I wanted to see."

>"Is there something I can do for you, captain?" you ask.

>"Not really, no. But I heard you've been doing a good job."

>"Just been doing what I've been told." You tell her.

>"That's good enough." She says. "You keep my crew happy, and a happy crew is a productive crew."

>Lucina steps out from the bath, doing little to hide herself from you until she puts on her bath robe.

>"I've been meaning to reward you." She says, approaching you and then circling around you.

>"Really?" You're almost afraid to ask.

>"How does permission to move around my ship sound?" She asked, trailing her claw against your shoulder. "Though I can't guarantee your safety if one of my girls gets you alone."

>"I think it beats being cooked up in a room all day." you tell her.

>"Good to hear." Lucina smiles. "And just because I'm feeling generous. You may ask one thing of me."

>"Letting me go isn't an option, I presume." You ask.

>"Not unless you can give me a reason to."

>"Well…" You cross your arms. "I want to return to my ship."

>Lucina's charcoal black ear stood up at your words.

>"I doubt I'd be able to leave the hangar, but I at least want my residency back."

>"You want to live on your ship?" She asked.

>Lucina pressed a claw against her chin. "Well. We could hook you up with plumbing no problem, but everything else would be your concern."

>"No matter." You say. "I don't feel at home anywhere else."

>"Fine. My engineers already removed any flight capabilities anyway." She waved a paw. "You have my permission to return to your ship. You may go now."

>You bowed your head slightly and then left her little on-ship palace.

>This may be the first time you felt excited in years.

>Dores finally got the message that she didn't have to follow you around anymore, but it almost felt like she wanted to. Either way, you had some real privacy for once.

>You walked past the hangar crew triumphantly and entered your ship, making sure to plug up the little hole their boarding party left in the door with a little bit of sealing gel.

>It was dusty, but nothing seemed missing. You hurried to the cockpit and began to flip some switches. Considering AL hasn't greeted you, chances are they switched him off. So you flipped his power switch and…

>"HHHHHHHHhhhhhhh—-" His voice unit came to life. "He is prone to flashbacks and I will contact the nearest security team this instant if you do not return my opera-…oh! There you are sir!"

>"Hi AL." You greet him.

>"Are you alright, sir? Did you escape? Did they hurt you? Are all your limbs intact? Running medical scan now…"

>"I'm alright, AL." You reassure him.

>"Are you sure? No atrophy? Starvation? Dehydration?"

>"No, they made sure I had everything I needed."

>"Oh…Well then. I am glad my worries were not justified." He said. "Shall we be going then, sir?"

>"I don't think we can." You tell him. "They took out the control module."

>"What? Scanning… Weapon systems AND operating system are both missing, sir!"

>"Yep." You sigh. "We're basically just a house with thrusters strapped to it now."

>"Well then." AL sighs. "I guess we should make ourselves comfortable. What do you wish to do, sir?"

>You sit down in the pilot seat and twiddle your thumbs before looking at AL's main unit. "What game were we playing last?"

>The sound of gunfire rattled your bones, even in your wargrunt.

>The smell of slug fire and plasma leaked into your cockpit.

>Your HUD was filled with warnings and distress signal, your ammo counter was half empty, and the bayonet at the end of your enormous gun was chipped and to breaking.

>But you forced onward with three other pilots, your machine leaping over yet another series of trenches.

>None of the other pilots were from your squad, but the order was to link up with anyone you could and push forward.

>More than 50,000 wargrunts landed on the planet Syrkis at the start of this campaign, now you were lucky if there were more than 3000 still active.

>You leaped over another trench, this one filled with soldiers, bandaging their wounded and reloading their guns with the ammo found on dead bodies.

>You stopped your advance and turned to speak to them, but was cut off when another Xenos burst from the ground.

>It's lips curled back as it growled and bore it's razor sharp teeth, strings of saliva hanging from it's mouth and back scythes swinging intimidatingly at you.

>You didn't think, all you knew is that you had three pilots and at least four squads of soldiers at your back, and a warrior class was more than a match if left to attack.

>You charged and rammed the shoulder of your grunt into the beast, catching it off guard and rolling it to it's side.

>It scrambled, but you were faster, and you plunged your bayonet into the beasts soft underbelly. It roared in pain and began to flail.

>Then you pulled the trigger on your control stick, causing the finger on your grunt to pull the trigger of it's weapon and send slugs of explosive rounds into the xenos.

>Your HUD splattered with dark ichor, intestines sliding from your view.

>You sighed, the bayonet was broken but the monster was dead. But it wasn't time to rest. Your radar came to live with enemy contacts.

>You prepared for the worst, but a moment later, the radar lit up again with a large blue splotch appeared.

>You gazed up from the machine and laughed a nervous laugh of relief, a Confederate Intimidation-class Destroyer had just broken atmosphere and entered the battlefield.

>It fired it's main cannon once and destroyed a mountain range in the distance, leaving nothing but a mushroom cloud and a gust of wind from the shock.

>You all cheered, but suddenly, the cheering vanished. The Destroyer's underbelly started to light up with at least a hundred glowing orbs.

>Your eyes widened, it was about to fire all guns,  aiming around and below itself… And you were right under it's firing arc.

>You woke up, not in shock like last time, but with a slight jump.

>Sitting up, you felt safe in your own bed, after weeks of being in what may as well be alien territory. You wiped your eyes and sighed.

>"Oh dear." AL spoke up. "Did you have another nightmare, sir? Shall I make you a cup of coffee?"

>"I'm fine, AL." You assured him. "It wasn't so bad this time."

>You stood up and stretched, putting on a shirt before sitting down at your computer. Your clock said it was still late at night, and the outside of your ship was deadly silent.

>"Sir, I was poking around and I realized that I could connect to their extranet service." AL said. "On your order, we could send out a distress signal to any security forces that may be nearby to pick it up."

>You sat back in your chair, your hands crossed. You really wanted to, but something told you that they would jam the signal before you could send it out…

>…Or was that what you told yourself?

>But, you suddenly had an idea, something to give you a bit of an edge against your captors.

>"I got an idea, AL." You told him.

>"Oh?"

>"Can you look up weaknesses in the mamono classes?"

>"Weaknesses? Do you intend to do combat with them, sir?" AL asked.

>"In a sense."

>"Searching… Sir I've found a rather reputable source, I shall read it to yo–" AL stopped himself, his voice module seemed to stutter embarrassingly. "Oh…Oh dear."

>"That's okay, AL." You tell him. "I'll read it myself."

>"T-thank you, sir." AL stepped down with gratitude.

>You began to read the information on your computer screen, opening multiple tabs and going through each and everyone carefully, taking in every vital piece of information you could find.

>If they're going to use you the way they do, then you may as well make them earn it…

>The days were quiet, you didn't leave your ship for some time.

>There apparently wasn't any kind of raffle, there was no bang on your door, and nobody came looking for you.

>You could see them working outside of your ship, moving things around or repairing broken equipment.

>It's amazing just how many different kinds of monsters there actually were living together on this ship.

>Very rarely you would see two of the same kind, and when you did you almost mistook them for one another.

>You didn't mind the solitude, with dampeners you could drown out the sounds from outside your haven and just enjoy your video games and movies.

>AL didn't seem to mind either, and was content with reminding you to get up every now and then, eat, shower, etc.

>There was a light thud at the door, so light under the dampener that you didn't hear it, but the ever vigilant AL did.

>"Sir." He spoke up. "There seems to be someone at the door for you."

>"Who is it?" You asked.

>"The one with the horns." He said. "Tall and very muscular."

>"Dores." You told him. "Guess they had another raffle."

>You stood up and got to your door. You were ready for whatever was thrown at you today, studying on tactics for monsters the night before. You just hoped you could remember what works on who.

>Dores stood straight at the door and gave you that usual dopey look she always gave you.

>"Boss wants to see you." Dores informed you.

>"What is it now? Did she win a raffle?"

>"Boss wouldn't need a raffle." She said. "But she just wants to see you."

>You made your way to Lucina's private chambers. You didn't need Dores to lead you around anymore, but she insisted that she followed you.

>Guess your word didn't mean much.

>You knocked on the massive doors leading into what was essentially a palace chamber placed into a battleship. They opened automatically and you stepped inside.

>"Ah, there you are." Lucina smiled her usual smile, her eyes illuminated in the darkness of her room, the small lamps and candles doing little to brighten their surroundings.

>"What can I do for you, Captain?" You were polite.

>Hellhound was something you studied extensively. They didn't have many weaknesses, but they were there. You hoped that when you were done with her…That you would be the captain.

>"Nothing, really." Lucina sat back. "Just wanted to challenge you a little."

>"Challenge?"

>You only now noticed the chess board she had sitting in front of her.

>"I figured doing nothing but lazing around and having sex is making you dull. We can't have you  turn into a piece of meat on us can we? May as well get that mind of yours going."

>You looked around, and then with a shrug, sat down in the chair across from her. You weren't a tactician, and only served as a Grunt pilot in the army, but you weren't that bad at Chess.

>Lucina went first and began her turn.

>"Are you getting along with everyone?" She asked as you went from turn to turn.

>"As good as you can when you're a prisoner." You stated.

>"Oh, don't be like that." She waved her paw. "You're treated very well for a prisoner, don't you think? The Chromars eat the prisoners they capture."

>"Fair enough." You sigh.

>"Though, I should apologize." Lucina smiled. "This may be a little emasculating for you."

>"What makes you say that?" You asked.

>"No one on this ship has ever defeated me in chess."

>As she said this, she expertly moved her knight from D4 to C3, taking your pawn off the board. You raised a brow.

>"You can't do that." You said.

>"What was that?" Lucina asked.

>"That's an illegal move." You stated. "Knights move to the nearest square not on the same rank, file, or diagonal. You can't move from D4 to C3."

>"Preposterous!" Lucina protested. "I've beaten every member of my crew, I think I know the rules of Chess."

>You reached for a tablet Lucina had nearby and went to the browser, searching "Rules of Chess" and scrolling until you find the basic movement for pieces before handing it to her."

>Lucina swipes the tablet from your hand and glares at you before looking at the rules. You watch her eyes trail from word to word, her face turning redder and redder the further into the paragraph she gets.

>She's now trembling while refusing to make eye contact, gently placing her tablet on the table before standing up.

>"Our meeting is over…" she squeaked with an embarrassed tone before turning around and speed walking towards her bedroom. "You may leave now."

>You stood up and watched her leave, trying your best to stifle your laughter as you left her chambers, making your way back to your ship.

>Humanity has come a long way since it's birth on the cradle world known as Earth by the Federation, and Terra by the Dominion.

>The Great Renaissance saw unprecedented strides in technology, everything from medicine, to robotics, to weapons, to space travel had seen it's limits broken.

>First the Sol planet of Mars was colonized, then the stars themselves were open to humanity.

>They struggled, first colonization was dangerous but fruitful. Then humanity was at the mercy of a great alien union of dozens of space fairing races.

>But humanity continued to expand, both in territory and technology. And soon even the warrior race of the Shal'ri, the military arm of the union, crumbled and vouched for peace when humanity waged war against them.

>Humanity now controls more than 25% of the known galaxy. Uncountable human lives stretched across thousands of nations.

>The two mightiest of the human nations are known as the Earth Federation, a democratic union who's seat of power lies on the cradle world. And the Terran Dominion, a mighty empire that did battle with the xenos and made a place for humanity amongst the stars.

>These two powerful nations are at ends with one another, but both know a war would mean the death of both. They agreed that trade and military alliance would be for the best. Though both sides have their faults and obvious corruptions, humans flourish peacefully and happily within their domains. And if they don't like their living conditions, well, space travel to another human world or one of the more open boarder worlds shared by both humans and other alien races is always an option.

>You were born on the planet Pangaea, a world controlled by the Pangaean conglomerate, an autonomous region of the Earth Federation.

>You lived with your uncle from ages 8 to 15, that was when you joined the Pangaean military. And returned when you were 17 after the Syrkis was invaded by…Them.

>Safe to say, your stay on Pangaea didn't last long before you set off into the stars…

>You woke up, in a bed that wasn't yours.

>A girl hugged against you tightly, fast asleep.

>Her name was Naru, she was the Nekomata you first encountered when you were captured by the Corsairs.

>Naru had plans for you when she won the raffle, but you were prepared, giving you extranet access may have been a bad idea. For them, at least.

>Squeezing both her tails at the same time put her at your complete mercy, and you put yourself in a position of power since the first time you were captured.

>Though she complained and whined, she didn't really care once the fun started. And now she was fast asleep, her arm around your chest, completely exhausted.

>You found…Comfort in sharing a bed with these 'monsters.' It's then when you don't have the nightmares, you sleep rather soundly with one of them beside you.

>Maybe it was Stockholm syndrome? You didn't know or actually care.

>You moved your right hand and gently rubbed her ear. Naru fidgeted and began to purr, nuzzling her face against your chest.

>With a deep sigh, you leaned back against the pillows and fell asleep.

>"Shit shit shit shit!" Aki cried, holding on to the last rope that hadn't snapped attached to the cargo.

>She was small, even for a Danuki. Her feet slid against the cold floor of the ramp, and her cheeks puffed with air as she did her best to hold the crates of supplies back.

>But suddenly her sliding stopped, someone had pushed against the cargo and stopped it's inevitable slide back down the long ramp.

>"You alright?" You asked, pushing the crate back up the ramp.

>"Phew!" She sighed with relief. "Yeah, thanks, I almost–."

>Aki stopped herself and looked around before looking back to you, she blinked and tilted her head, watching you push the crate to flat ground.

>"Hey, wait." She crossed her arms. "You're usually hiding in your ship until someone calls for you."

>"Lucina said I had free reigns to move around." You told her. "Even I feel like going for a walk every now and then. Besides, processor food tastes like saw dust. Thought I'd go to the cafeteria and get something to eat."

>"Well." Aki smiled. "I guess you'd be excited to hear the news then."

>"News?" You asked. "What news?"

>"We're going planetside tomorrow."

>"Planetside?" You asked. "Where?"

>"Cachoon." She told you. "It's a world in the Perseus arm. Friendly to monsters."

>"How friendly?" You asked.

>Aki titled her head side to side, blowing air from her mouth. "Eeehhh, like, 98% total population is monsters friendly."

>"Oh. So it's home turf?"

>"Kind of. It's a planet under rule by the Suarians. They always go on about their honor and their duty, but they'll set up pirate planets for monsters without a second thought. It's how they get some of their men."

>The Saurian Imperium. A monster controlled empire that stretches across three hundred worlds in the Perseus arm. You don't know much about them, but you know a good portion of humans live their willingly. Mostly men, for obvious reasons.

>It was an empire forged by a race of monsters called Lizardmen, the name always bothered you, since they're a mono gendered female race. Most people just call them Saurians now. And like other monsters, they need human men to breed and maintain their race.

>Even though they have a lot of willing humans living as citizens to the empire, there are a few that…"Find" themselves within the realms of the Saurian Imperium.

>"Am I going to be able to leave the ship then?" You asked.

>"Don't see why not. Lucina has a thing for you, see's you as a rival of sorts."

>"A rival?"

>"She said you bested her at chess." Aki explained.

>You almost choked on your own spit trying to stop your laughter.

>"Whats so funny?" Aki asked with a smirk.

>"You know she che-"

>"Yeah, she cheats." Aki smiled. "To her credit, she didn't really know, we mostly just let her win. Besides, It's not like you can cause a big ruckus on Cachoon anyways."

>"Whats the planet like?" You asked.

>"Big population, mostly privateers and exploration fleets make their homes there when not on voyages. It's kind of like one big tourist trap with all the pubs and food stands everywhere. Just remember to not go into any dark alleys, we wouldn't want to lose you to some surface rats. LITERAL surface rats mind you, lots of wererats and weremice live on Cachoon."

>"Is there a difference?"

>"In height, mostly."

>Aki stretched and took your place behind the crate. "Well, I can take it from here, need to get some of this stuff back to the lab."

>"Sure you don't need help?" You asked.

>Aki beckoned you to lean down. When you did so she planet a soft kiss on your cheek.

>"There, your reward." She waved. "Now quit botherin' me, I got work to do."

>You rubbed your cheek as she hauled off, you almost caught yourself blushing…

>You got some food and spent the rest of the day in your ship, watching movies with AL like you usually did. Ship time "Tomorrow" came faster than you expected.

>And unsurprisingly, you got a knock on your door.

>It wasn't Dores this time, but a girl you didn't actually know. She had curled horns on top of her frilly blond hair, and white wool across her body. She was wearing overalls covered in tools and goggles on her forehead, the look she gave you was probably the sleepiest you've ever seen anyone.

>"Hey." She said with a yawn.

>"Uh, hi."

>"We're getting off the ship…" She said, her voice was low and exhausted, almost reminded you of those Goth kids from high school. "You wanna…go?"

>"Off the ship?"

>"Yeh." She nodded.

>"Yeah, I guess." You agreed. "Just let me get dressed."

>"kay, see'ya." she turned around and left you at your doorstep.

>You showered, brushed your teeth, and put on a fresh pair of clothing as well as deodorant.

>"AL, I'm heading out." You told your On board A.I.

>"Oh, do be careful sir." He said with a worried tone. "Who knows what they're planning for you on that dreadful planet!"

>You waved your ship as the door closed, guess you should follow the rest of the crowed.

>You managed to move through the crowed with only a few desperate hands touching something on you.

>Lucina was at the front of the ramp, her arms crossed and her uniform prim and proper.

>"I see you're leaving your little hidey hole." She commented.

>"Thought I'd get some fresh air." You told her back.

>"Well, you better stay where someone else can see you. Last thing we need is some other ship picking you up when we're not looking."

>"Why does it matter to me?"

>"Well for one we have all your stuff…"

>"Hm." You admitted defeat.

>"We're parking at a settlement  called E-1." She explained to you.

>"Simple name."

>"It's just a port town. Not as cramped as the cities on the planet, you can at least see some nature out at E-1."

>She took a deep breath and cracked her neck. "Still, going to have someone watch you. Not going to lose you to some other crew, or some surface rat."

>"I'm glad you care."

>"My crew likes you, don't get any ideas…"

>The decontamination sequence began and you were all suddenly covered in a mist, you felt it tingle against your skin. This followed by a hiss of decompression before the ramp finally lowered.

>The crowed cheered and ran off into the port, drones flew overhead, scanning them as they all passed. Very slack security in your opinion.

>The drone scanned you and then stopped, it's optic whirled and focused on you before it turned to Lucina, scanning her as well.

>"He's with me." She said to the drone.

>The drone looked back to you and scanned you again, the field this time had a green tint to it instead of blue.

>"It's registering you to my custody." She explained. "Don't worry, no one will buy the information anyway."

>"Fun…"

>You looked up and took in your surroundings. The buildings were rather modest, with the tallest being four floors tall. They were made out of various types of stone, giving each a unique color, but their roofs were all covered in brown and rippled shingles. A very Mediterranean look to it.

>The sky was a deep orange, like it was stuck in perpetual twilight, even though the sun was at high noon.

>The port immediately petered out, one more ship came in from orbit, much smaller than the ship you had come in on. It opened up as you were leaving and more monsters poured out, stretching and ready to take it to town. You noticed a man with them, just one, he noticed you and pointed in surprise, you returned the point but were quickly pushed away with the crowed.

>The town was split in two by a canal with a few boats floating near wooden docks. Food stands littered the water side while clothing stores, inns, pubs, and other attractions lined up away from the waters. You noticed a forested hill in the distance with a few large houses peppering it every few yards. Must have been the richer area.

>"If you get to the top, you can see the city at night."

>You jumped, you didn't expect the touch on your arm and the voice. It was Aki, looking up at you with a treat in her hand.

>"You scared the shit out of me." You sighed.

>"Well we can't just let you mope by yourself the entire trip." She pouted. "A bunch of us are going to a club, you wanna come?"

>"Nah." You shake your head. "Call me a party pooper, but I think I'm gonna see if I can actually see the city from here."

>"Alright, have it your way." She shrugged. "See ya later."

>The two of you parted ways, and you began your journey up the hill.

>You spent some time window shopping, you weren't in much of a hurry, after all.

>By the time you were done looking at things and dodging the braver locals, the sun was already going down.

>You heard stories about what happens at night to some people in monster majority areas, but you honestly didn't care all that much anymore.

>You walked up the hill instead of taking a tram, it evened out after ten minutes of walking, treating you to a relaxing stroll in an area that was pleasing to the eye.

>The houses were large and rather old fashion, something that would cost a pretty penny in some parts of human space. Each one had a well trimmed lawn, or was covered in a mini forest worth of trees.

>The side walks were also well lit in an orange glow from the street lights above, stars began to poke their way through the sky as the sun began to disappear under the horizon.

>The street ended at the top of a hill, leading onto a sidewalk that itself led to a small park overlooking a cliff. You trekked through the grass and found yourself at the edge of the cliff.

>The town ended then and there, and nothing but fields stood before you. There were some lights in the distance marking roads leading to other settlements.

>You looked around the park, it was a fairly average oriental styled park, with a small pond and a little piece of land with a pointed roof gondola cut off by everything but a bridge.

>You turned your head to the right and noticed someone else at the park, you were hesitant at first, but you soon realized that you recognized her.

>You didn't recognize her without her usual extravagant getup, but it was Captain Lucina, wearing a pair of denim jeans, a black, open leather jacket, and a matching tank top. She was sitting on a bench, looking forward and resting her chin in her paw.

>You shrugged and approached her, you're basically on vacation anyway.

>"Hey." You said, hands in your pocket.

>"Oh." She looked up at you, her ear flicking. "Hey."

>You noticed the smoke and flame that usually bellowed from her eyes was diminished somewhat.

>"What are you doing all the way up here?" She asked. "Not gonna go clubbing or something?"

>"No, not my thing." You told her. "Heard I could see the city from up here at night.

>"Yeah, it's right there." She pointed.

>You followed her finger, noticing a very small, bright cone in the distance. A city they built up instead of out.

>"Oh, cool."

>"Yeah, Saurians love their hive cities." She says. "Something about keeping a planet pristine. They at least keep them clean and safe, unlike some Hive cities I've seen."

>"Really." You said, trying to sound like you know what she's talking about. You've never seen an actual Hive City before, even Neo Tokyo was spread out and actually fairly roomy.

>"Yeah, lots of trees and the sky scrapers are spread out enough so there isn't much darkness. No use for roads and all that. The only place you don't get sunlight is the deepest, deepest parts of the city."

>Lucina stretched and then looked to you. "It's getting dark, I don't need to explain why it's not safe for you."

>"Guess I should find a motel or something." You shrugged.

>"Nah, you'll have to go through town to find anything like that." She sighed and stood up, wagging her tail and dusting it off. "You can stay at my apartment for tonight."

>"Your…Apartment?" You asked.

>"What, you think I'd visit planets and not have places to stay?" She asked in return. "I command one of the largest ships in this arm, of course I can afford a few places."

>"Well, I guess that works out. This isn't some sort of trap is it?"

>"I don't need to trap you." She stated. "If I want something, I'll just take it."

>"Fair enough."

>The two of you began to leave the park, Lucina suddenly wrapped her arms around yours.

>"Uh." You commented.

>"You can't see them, can you?" You looked at you with a smirk. "Just be happy I'm here then."

>You narrowed your eyes and then took a look around. You didn't even notice them, how long were they there? You could see them, now that she mentioned it. At least a dozen pairs of eyes, watching you from the shadows. From windows, roof tops, and dark street corners. You shook your head and accepted Lucina's embrace, letting her lead you back to her place.

>Planet Pangaea: Three years ago.

>The music was blaring around you, people were talking and laughing, and your friend was blathering about something in your ear.

>You only stared off into space, drink in your hand, you could barely recognize these people, even though you've known most of them since Elementary school.

>The school put you in graduation, even though you had been gone for a year and a half. Guess it would have looked back if they failed a war veteran.

>"Hey, you listening?" Your friend asked.

>"Huh, what?" You shook yourself out of it.

>"I'm just saying, man. She totally digs you."

>"Which one?"

>He pointed you Ashley, who had been giving you glances every now and then. She had been dating Bradley for as long as you could remember, he must have done something you make her mad and now she's trying to get even. Either or, you don't want to get involved.

>He kept trying to convince you to speak to her though, you just kind of ignored him and went back to your drink. But suddenly someone approached you.

>"What do you want, Brad?" You asked, taking a drink.

>"Saw you peeking at my girl." He commented with a gruff voice, he was clearly intoxicated.

>"H-h–hey Brad, come on." Your friend panicked. "We don't want any trouble."

>You had no time to react, your skull rattled as his fist crashed into the side of your head.

>You were shaken, and your so called friend immediately fled, running to the other end of the room as Brad struck you again.

>The third time you caught him, and twisted his arm before drawing your knife.

>The X-22 combat knife, every pilot had one, could be heated through a high frequency to cut through most things.

>You kept it unheated, and instead stabbed it into his palm. He screamed in pain as the knife pinned him to the living room table.

>You gritted your teeth and began to twist the blade, but were suddenly snapped out of your episode.

>Your looked around, everyone was frightened, even the person you called your friend…

>You looked at Brad, who was desperately holding on to your wrist with his one good hand.

>"I…I didn't mean t-…" You stopped yourself, pulling the blade from both the table and Brad's palm. You sheathed it and fled through the front door and into the midnight streets.

>You can't remember the last time you slept on a couch like this. It was usually your bed or someone else' for the past few months.

>But you were vigilant for awhile when you got to her place, Lucina however, never made a move. She gave you some things and then went to her room. You could hear her scuffle around and watch something on her TV, other than that, she didn't bother you.

>You woke up alone in the house, there was a smell of steam in the air, she must have taken a shower before she left.

>You sighed and stretched, cleaning yourself up before heading out as well.

>The Sleepy Maiden was a popular spot in town. It doubled as both a cafe during the day and a pub during the night.

>So it was basically always full.

>It was safer for you during the day, and you managed to find Aki walking around with a cup of coffee in her hand. She sighed and spotted you, waving you over.

>"You probably don't want to be here." Aki stated. "The Captain's probably gonna lose it."

>"What, why?" You asked.

>"Turns out that a certain other Captain, a Jinko called Nara, is planetside. She kind of…Eehhh, screwed the captain out of a hull."

>"I actually kind of want to watch." You stated. "This should at least be interesting."

>"Be my guest." Aki pointed towards the Sleepy Maiden. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

>There was shouting, a lot of it.

>Crewmembers from both ships were cursing, threatening, and insulting one another from across a round table with only two inhabitants.

>Lucina sat at one side, a boot up on the table and her arms crossed. Across from her was a very tall and muscular woman, her head was adorned by two large, pointed and striped ears, both orange in color with black stripes. A feline tail of matching color swished from the opening of the chair she was sitting in. She wore a camouflage patterned tank top and short shorts with a tan color. Her hair was long, almost down to her waist, a pleasant almond color. And both her hands and feet were covered in a fur similar to her ears and tail, but were adorned with large, razor sharp claws that sent a chill down your spine.

>"Now, there's no reason we can't be civil." This Jinko stated with a shrug, she spoke with a noticeable accent, though you couldn't match the dialect.

>"I don't -need- to be civil." Lucina retorted, her eyes bellowing with fire and smoke. "That was our haul. We want it back."

>"I have no idea what you mean." The Jinko lied. "It was in free-space, nobody had salvaged it. There's no rules saying we couldn't nab it."

>"You know damn well what you did, Nara!" Lucina slammed her paw on the table, actually getting the crew on both sides to jump and back away. "We were contracted by the Cy-tek Corporation to clean up the mess, it's our haul, and we want it back!"

>"Well, I'm not going to let my hard work go to waste." Nara rubbed her chin, her golden feline eyes suddenly darted to you, causing you to flinch. "Who's this?"

>Lucina followed her gaze, only now noticing you. She narrowed her eyes and the fire around them raised, like she was cursing you in her head.

>"He's our powder monkey." She stated.

>"Really, that's what you're going with?" You asked.

>She hissed between her fangs at you, telling you to shut your mouth. Nara continued to rub her chin, looking you up and down.

>"What kind of augs do you have?" She asked.

>"Uhhh…" You looked to Lucina, then back at her. "None?"

>"A natural, huh?" The slits of her eyes narrowed and her smile widened. "Alright Lucy, I'll cut you a deal."

>"It's Lucina." She corrected, but Nara ignored her.

>"We'll make a trade." Nara stated. "You get your haul, it's worth good money I assure you. And we get your…Powder Monkey."

>Lucina was about to talk, but you stepped in.

>"Haul isn't work that much." You said.

>"What?" Nara asked.

>"Unless you're carrying a few hundred tons of Ore, or some really heavy-duty military equipment, it's not worth a human life, especially in this part of space. Even more so a "natural."

>"My, aren't you a haggler." Nara joked.

>"One night." You said, looking to Lucina and then back to her.

>"You expect me to hand over the haul to have you for one night?" She asked.

>"Where else are you going to find a natural in Saurian space?"

>Nara seemed to think about the offer, her eyes narrowed and she dragged her fangs across her lower lip. With one final bite on her lip, she let go and threw her hands into the air.

>"Fine, fine." She agreed. "You can have your junk Lucina, and I get your friend here for the night."

>She stood up and approached you. She towered over you, and you only came up to her chest.

>"I expect you to keep your end of the bargain…" She said to you in a hushed tone, dragging a claw along your chest. "And I hope you expect for the night to not be easy on you… Room 218 of the Lansor Hotel… Be there by dusk, I'll be waiting."

>She walked passed you with a sway of the hips, and soon her crew followed. You looked back at Lucina, who was obviously fuming with anger. But before she could chew you out you spoke up.

>"Got your stuff." you said, putting your arms up between her and you. "I've already been passed around your ship, whats one from off the ship for once?"

>"You…You!" She growled before looking away. "Get out of my sight. Just make the trade worth it…"

>You stood outside of the hotel for some time.

>Hours earlier you had sneaked back on to the ship with the help of Aki and got onto your computer.

>"May I be of assistance, sir?" AL asked as you typed through the search tab.

>"No, I just need to know the weaknesses of a particular monster race." You told your A.I. companion.

>"Good show, sir!" He said in a jovial tone. "Giving them the ol' one two, are we?"

>"Something like that." You said as you found the webpage you were looking for.

>When you got the information you needed, you took a deep breath and began to leave your ship.

>"Wish me luck, AL." You said as you left the front door.

>"Give them hell, sir!"

>You took a deep breath and entered the hotel. The sun was beginning to go down, so it was time you hold up your end of the bargain.

>There was someone at the front desk, a naga or lamia, you couldn't really tell the difference. She looked at you from behind her magazine and then grinned.

>"Down the hall, up the stairs, and to your right." She told you with a hint of humor in her voice.

>"Uh…Thanks." you said, following her instructions.

>You could feel your heart pounding in your chest. Even though you had a strategy, you felt uneasy. If you failed, or she caught on, then the repercussions may be even more severe then what she originally had planned for you…

>You stood in front of the door labelled 218 and hesitantly raised your hand to knock.

>"Come in." You heard a voice say before you could do so. You jumped, she must have smelled you coming from down the damn road…

>You entered and took a look around. There was a kitchenette to your left, and a living room with a large, expensive looking couch and TV in front of you. To your left were two rooms and a hallway right before them.

>"Second door." She ordered.

>You complied and approached the door, it was ajar, you pushed on it hesitantly.

>The room was rather…pleasant. A dark red wallpaper gave the room a scarlet hue against the setting sunlight. The bed against the wall was large enough to fit at least half a dozen people, and there were two night stands, one on each side. The floor was covered in a nice, soft fur carpet, the pleasantness of the room almost made you not notice Nara.

>She was standing by the window, her eyes fixed on you. Her face was covered in shadow, but you could see her eyes glow in the darkness.

>You don't know why, but you reached for the light switch and flicked it on, making her easy to see, she didn't look too impressed, and gave you an almost disappointed look. She didn't change, and was still in the clothing you had met her in.

>"Well then." She approached you. "Guess you intend to hold up your end of the bargain."

>"Not that I have a choice. I kind of made the deal public." You said.

>Nara approached you, her long tail swaying back and forth as she did so.

>You stiffened as she circled you, dragging her claw around your neck, not enough to cut, but it left a red mark wherever it touched.

>"Pretty ballsy." She said with a grin. "Thought you would at least request an escort or a body guard… Especially with me."

>"I…actually don't know who you are." You explained. "I never heard of you."

>"Oh?" Her claw suddenly stopped at your chin, lifting it up to face her. Her voice was low, but her grin was wide. "You shouldn't have said that."

>Nara turned her back to you in confidence, putting her paws on her hips and looking out the window. "If only you knew what kind of things I had in store for you…"

>You looked down, there was her tiger-like tail, wagging back and forth temptingly. This would probably be your one and only chance. You're still going to hold up your end of the bargain, but how the night goes down may not be the way she expects…

>With one quick swipe, you grabbed her tail with your left hand. Jinkos, like many monsters, were very quick, and obviously Nara had cat-like reflexes. But you were no slouch yourself. The way the tail motioned was like she tried to dodge your grasp, but wasn't quick enough.

>She turned her head slowly, her grin had turned into a frown. "What do you think you're doing?"

>Without any more hesitation, you took a step forward, tugging on her tail and pressing two of your fingers against the base of it, on the skin between her shorts and her shirt.

>Nara yelped loudly, her body tensing up and freezing. Her claws twitched and fidgeted, but she couldn't find the strength to move her arms. She began to stagger and resist, but couldn't pull herself out of your grip.

>You sighed with relief, taking in a deep breath and allowing your heart to stop slamming in your chest. With your fingers still at the base, you began to back up slowly, forcing her to follow you.

>Her body began to shake now, her legs were getting weak and she could barely stand up straight.

>Giving her a good look over, she did have a rather beautiful body, but then again that was to be expected with her kind…

>You moved around, sitting up on her bed with your back against the backboard. She was forced to follow as you led her to sit on the bed between your legs, her back heaving against your chest.

>She was forced to sit with crossed legs while you sat up straight, making sure you had at least a few centimeters over her when she usually towered over you.

>"Th-this isn't fair…" She complained with a noticeable squeak in her voice.

>"Why not?" You asked. "You're still getting what we agreed upon.”

>Nara dragged her fangs across her lower lip, she began to rub her arms together between her legs, closing her eyes and tensing up to your touch.

>She was completely at your mercy, so you moved on to part 2.

>You moved your hands away from her backside. Instead wrapping your left arm around her chest while your right hand began to play with her ear.

>You gently rubbed it, kneading it between your finger and thumb. The action caused her to audibly yelp.

>”I-I'll get you for this!” She threatened. “Don't think you'll get away i-in one peace!”

>”Probably.” You agreed. “But that just means I should take full advantage, now that I'm already in deep shit.”

>”Nnnn-no! Lets talk about this.” She gasped.

>You stopped rubbing her ears and pushed both hands under her top. She squeaked in surprise as your hands grasped her breasts, sinking your fingers against the soft flesh as you caressed them gently.

>She did not do well with this test of endurance and began to shake and shiver at your touch.

>So you moved in, sealing the deal with lightly nibbling on her neck, which sent a jolt down her spine.

>She began to press herself against you, her moans and whines turning into deep, harsh breaths.

>She stopped herself by biting down on her paw, nibbling on the fur while you took it another step forward.

>Your hand brushed against her stomach, feeling her well toned muscles before you began to push your fingers under her shorts.

>She didn't fight your hand, and instead pushed herself against it, still nibbling on the fuzz on her finger.

>The experience was almost intoxicating. You've met plenty of different aliens since you left Pangaea, some of them even looked kind of human. But monsters were always a distant thing to you, someone you passed on the street without even thinking about it.

>But now that you get to be so close to them, you can't help but find them alluring. They're exotic, but just enough to not feel unfamiliar.

>Each and everyone has a perfect body, at least in their own way. Lithe or athletic or supple or thick in all the right places. Even with personal preferences it's hard not to be tempted by any of them.

>You pushed passed her panties now, they were soaking wet even before you got down there.

>You then entered her with two fingers, slowing pushing them deep before you began to rub her.

>Nara began to make a low growling noise, a pleasant sound as she moved her hips with the movement of your hand.

>From what you gathered from the website, this was known as chuffing, a noise similar to purring that's usually exclusive to the tigers back on the planet Earth.

>Her's was still a low growl, but there was a certain feminine twang to it, like a mixture of purring and moaning.

>You continued to play with her for some time, until she finally found the strength to act against you.

>It caught you off guard at first, pulling herself away from you so swiftly. She took a deep, raspy breath, and then pulled her shirt off before throwing it across the room.

>She was practically scrambling, pulling her pants and panties from her legs and letting them fall to the floor.

>Nara got on to all fours and presented herself to you, raising her backside into the air and lowering her face against the mattress.

>”Hurry up.” She pouted. “…Before I change my mind.”

>You complied with her orders and crawled on your knees towards her like a drunk idiot.

>You struggled with your belt, fumbling and fidgeting until you finally just kicked them from your legs.

>The intoxication turned into excitement as you positioned yourself behind her. You were obviously already stiff, but you did your best to control yourself.

>You felt her tail press against your back, rubbing up under your shirt before moving to the back of your head.

>You aligned your member perfectly with her quivering sex and slowly began to push your way into her.

>Nara bit her lip and stiffened, pushing herself against you until you were fully inside her. She let out a sigh of relief and began to knead the mattress with her claws.

>The entire situation changed your mood and you began to lose that domineering attitude you had earlier.

>You began to lean forward, planting your hands on the sheets beside her before beginning to move your hips.

>Nara gasped as you began to move, she sank her claws into the bed and bit her lip again, this time with a smile.

>you felt her tail probe your body, moving around your sides and up your spine, the movements felt random, but you could tell she was in control.

>She began to moan louder as you picked up the pace, grinding inside her with every movement.

>Her tail wrapped around your neck, but loosened a second later.

>Finally, you sat up straight, and planted your hands firmly on her hips.

>You gave her a hard thrust, causing her to squeak in surprise. She suddenly giggled and pushed herself from the mattress, holding herself up on her hands and knees.

>You made sure to push deep with every thrust, savoring her moans and yelps as if they were sweet music.

>Nara began to move her hips with yours, competing against your efforts like it was all one big battle.

>You were in no way some sort of sex god, Nara knew exactly what she was doing.

>You felt the walls inside her grip and message you relentlessly. You tensed up, and tried to hold on, returning the favor as best you could.

>But it was too much, and before you knew it you had already came, filling her with your warmth.

>Nara let out a gasp and a giggle, watching as you pulled out of her.

>You fell back against the bed, taking in a deep breath, you would have felt frightened if it wasn't for what had just transpired. Your gambit had failed.

>Suddenly, you felt a weight on your waist. Nara had pulled herself from the bed and crawled on top of you. She looked into your eyes and gave you a toothy grin, showing her fangs to you as she pinned you down.

>”We're not done yet.” She said in a sultry tone while reaching for your wrists.

>Nara placed your hands on her breasts and then reached between her legs to grab your member. She stroked it gently with the pads of her paws, and you were soon hard again.

>She looked you straight in the eyes as she lowered herself on to your shaft, sighing gently as you hilted.

>With her claws back on your wrists, she began to move her hips, grinding and pumping while guiding your hands to fondle her.

>”have to-nng- admit.” She started. “You—Ahn…-You took a big risk. And-mmmm-and bravery should be rewarded.”

>You couldn't help but look back into her tiger like eyes as she worked her magic, completely enchanted by her form.

>With your hands squeezing her breasts firmly, she stretched and straightened her back, towering over you as she ran her claws through her hair. You could make out every out-line on her beautiful body, which sent another jolt of pleasant warmth through your heart.

>You were too busy on your plan before, but now you could make out her every feature, a full frontal view of her form.

>…You never noticed before, but she has a few freckles on her face. On her cheeks and across her nose, little brown dots on her light skin. It gave her a sense of cuteness to her beauty.

>You didn't know what came over you, and you found yourself sitting up straight, wrapping your arms around her waist as you kissed her chest once before wrapping your mouth around her nipple and gently sucking her breast.

>Nara giggled in surprise and wrapped her legs around you, placing her paws on your shoulders and allowing you to take charge again as you began to thrust again.

>She then took a claw and moved your mouth away from her breast, narrowing her eyes at you and grinning before kissing you deeply.

>You felt her rough tongue enter your mouth, moaning as she explored and wrestled with your tongue. That was all she needed to do before you lost control again and once again filled her.

>You felt yourself weaken, and you soon once again fell on the bed. You gasped and wiped your hand through your hair, gulping to try and regain composure.

>That low growl left Nara again, still sitting on top of you. She brushed her claws up your shirt and then dragged them down your chest, leaving little red scratches down your skin before finally pulling you out of her.

>She took a deep breath and cuddled up beside you, resting her head on your chest.

>”Are you sure you don't want to come with us?” She asked. “I promise you a comfy place on my ship. It wouldn't be too bad, you'll probably like it.”

>”A tempting offer.” You told her honestly. “But…Well…Most of my stuff is actually on her ship.”

>”It was worth a try.” she giggled before nuzzling up against you.

>”Well, they can't keep me around forever. I may pay you a visit…Hey?”

>You could feel the hot air from her breath against you, she was breathing softly, and not really answering you anymore.

>”…She fell asleep.” you couldn't help but chuckle as you leaned back against the bed.

>Pangaea, three years ago.

>You rushed back home, through the front door and into your bedroom.

>With a grunt of frustration, your kicked your dresser and sat on your bed, digging your palms against your eyes and gritting your teeth.

>You remained in that position for some time before wiping your eyes and looking around your room.

>The posters on the walls, the models and toys on the dressers, the computer and TV in the corner.

>…You don't even recognize this place anymore.

>You looked at the posters on the walls, many of them from some video game or cartoon. And most of them you put up when you were 12 and just never bothered to take them down…

>One of the posters was a military recruitment poster with a blue Wargrunt in the focus. It held it's rifle into the air with one hand and offered the viewer it's other hand with the words "Join us and be the best!" Written underneath.

>With a shake of your head you tore the poster down. Be the best…You can't even sleep at night anymore.

>Everything in your room…No. In town. Maybe even Pangaea itself, felt foreign and strange to you.

>You didn't get along with your friends anymore, your teachers were afraid of you, and there was always some idiot trying to see if they can take a military pilot in a fight. Everyone knew who you were now, a lot saw you as a war hero, and constantly tried to get your approval. It was all just so bothersome.

>You had to get away, as far away as possible… You found your duffle bag and began packing.

>You got out of the house without a word, closing the door behind you and heading to the side walk. The transport station was across town, you could make it there in about an hour if you kept pace…

>As you walked down the road, you heard a door open and slam behind you, followed by the sound of someone rushing across the grass on to the side walk behind you.

>"Hey! Where are you going!?" The  voice demanded.

>It was your uncle Tim, who had been looking after you since your old man passed away when you were a kid…

>You took a deep breath, but kept on walking.

>"I'm talking to you!" He cried out, following behind you. "Stop!"

>You kept walking…

>"Will you just listen to me, god damn it!?"

>You finally stopped. Slowly you turned around to look at him. He wasn't all that old, only 34, but he's been looking after you since he was 24. He was wearing his sleeping shirt and pajama pants, but had covered himself in his denim jacket and cap. He had a beard, orange, and only trimmed once a month, and hair that went down to his neck, curling under his cap.

>He took a deep breath and stood up straight. Tim was always simple, but he was smart, and tough when he had to be. The only man to make a business out of cutting fire wood and lumber for the three towns that were all about antiquity living. You had worked with him since you were 13 for some extra cash until you enlisted.

>"I promised…" He said. "I promised your old man I would look after you. I-…I can't let you go."

>All you could do is look at him, your eyes trailing to the ground for a moment before you looked back.

>Tim pursed his lips and stood like he was ready to run after you. Then suddenly he sighed.

>"Look. You check up with me whenever you get the chance, alright?" He made his terms.

>All you could is nod to him.

>"Then get out of here!" He choked, throwing his hand up. "Who needs you anyways!?"

>You turned your back and continued walking. Tim stood there for some time. You wanted to stay…You were screaming at yourself to stay. But you knew you couldn't. Not anymore…

-

>Intergalactic communication was always a problem. it was fine once a connection was made, but bouncing a signal off ancient satellites that were so numerous, most factions didn't even bother to replace them. It took some time.

>Suddenly, the view screen opened and you heard a familiar yawn. "…Hello?"

>"Hey, Tim?" You said.

>"Oh! Hey! Hi! How are you doing!?" He asked, suddenly knocking himself out of his sleepy state.

>"Sorry, I didn't know what time it was over there." You apologized. "Wanted to check in on you."

>"No, it's okay kiddo, no problem." He reassured. "I'm doing fine. Business is still doing good. Oh! We had somebody new move into the neighborhood."

>"Oh?" You asked.

>"Yeah she's one of those uh…What do you callem. The cute ones."

>"Monsters?"

>"Yeah thats it!" You heard him snap his fingers. "She's nice…I think she likes me."

>"Just uh…" You stifled a laugh. "Just be careful, alright? They differ wildly."

>"You sound like you have some experience." He joked. "Found yourself a girlfriend?"

>"Eeehhh, something like that." You replied.

>The two of you talked for some time, but you let Tim get back to bed before you returned to the little piece of society you were a part of.

>The ship was filled with cheering.

>You pushed your way through the crew to see what the fuss was about.

>Lucina was standing in the center of the cargo hull, holding a tablet in the air triumphantly. She was wearing that Captain getup again.

>You didn't really like it, after seeing her in regular clothing. She looked much cuter in normal clothes.

>"Time to get paid, girls!" Lucina announced, waving the tablet around. "Heading to the sector to pick up our haul and we'll be eating the premo food for months!"

>The crowed continued to cheer as Lucina dropped from the crate she was standing on, she approached you and drew an envelope, begrudgingly giving it to you.

>"It's from Nara." She said. "…Don't be too hard on yourself."

>You watched Lucina leave before opening the envelope. There was a picture inside of Nara, lying on her side on the bed that you two spent the night on. She was wearing a dress shirt barely long enough to hide her shame. The picture had a lip stick kiss on it as well as "Hope to see you again." Written in red marker.

>"Hm…" You said, putting the picture away. Should find a place to hang it later…

>"So…?" Aki approached, her hands behind her back. "How was the night?"

>"It was alright." You told her.

>"Pfffft." She blew raspberries. "That's not what I heard."

>"What?"

>Aki locked her fingers together and stood on one leg, mimicing a woman in an ancient romance film. "Oh, he was so intimate and passionate! He knew exactly where to touch and hug!" She said in a mocking voice with an accent similar to Nara's.

>You stuttered and looked away, you could feel your face turn scarlet under her teasing.

>"Anyway, you should stay away from the Captain for a bit,she almost blew a gasket when Nara was gushing."

>"What? Why?" You asked.

>"Don't know. Captain doesn't like sharing with other ships, I guess. Or maybe she likes you."

>"She has a funny way of showing it."

>"It's not as fun if you just take, you know? Try making a move, you might be surprised."

>Aki left you where you were standing. You tried to shake the red out of your face before going your own way.

>You spent the next few days back to your regular schedule.

>Every now and then someone would come to your door with a raffle ticket, but it was happening less and less.

>Eventually you got so bored of just hanging out with your ship that you actually started walking around and exploring the ship.

>You never actually seen the cafeteria before. But to call it a "cafeteria" would be insulting it.

>It was more like a street, with a bunch of different food stands run by different crew members. There was even a cafe like area in one of the corners.

>You heard someone call your name and saw a few girls in the corner. You didn't actually know any of their names, all except for one.

>You didn't even give it much thought, and you joined them at their table. You even joined them on their conversation.

>What happened to you?

>Two days later.

>You found your way into a lounge on the other side of the ship.

>It was more like a cyber cafe than anything. There were some computer lined up on the walls, some in use, but there were also some televisions in the center. Either being used to watch some program between some friends, or someone was playing a video games of some sorts.

>"Look who's out of his cave." You heard a voice joke, you looked to your right and saw Aki sunk into a couch, wiggling her feet while playing some game you don't recognize.

>"Funny." You say. "You sound like my uncle."

>"I try." she shrugs.

>"Finally decided to stop hiding, huh?" Another voice added.

>You turn around to find the Captain standing behind you, with a paw on her hip.

>"I have permission, don't I?"

>"You do." She confirms with a sigh. "I may come to regret it, though. Just remember that we have eyes on you. We can always just slap you in another room if you act out."

>"I'll try to be on my best behavior." You told her. "Unless you'd like me to go? I'd be happy to get on my way."

>Lucina narrowed her eyes on you and turned your back, you could feel the heat coming from her body. She was mad, very mad.

>As she left, you turned back to Aki. "What's her deal?"

>Aki looked around and then got up from the couch. She waved a finger at you tell you to follow and led you away.

>She just talked to you about random things as you followed along, trying her best to look as least suspicious as possible before finally arriving in her office.

>With one final look outside, she beckons you in and closes the door with the press of a button.

>"Okay, we should be good in here." She said. Sighing.

>Aki walked past you and then sat down at her desk, she crossed her arms and took a deep breath. "Well where do I start…? Hm… To be perfectly fair, Lucina has trust issues."

>"Trust issues?"

 >"It was a few years ago, back when Lucina was okay with living a normal civilian life. She moved to a human planet with her mom and dad and she started going to high school there, you know, like kids do. She kind of fancied a boy back then and the two started dating. Lucina didn't want to cause a ruckus for her family or herself so she kind of…Followed the rules, you know? She didn't force herself on him, she didn't force him to do anything she didn't want to. It was probably hard for her, being a hellhound and all, but she was just happy being around him. The boy always went on about waiting until they were married and all that cutesy stuff. And…Well she obliged him."

>"So what happened?" You asked.

>"Well one day, after I was drinking with the Captain, she kind of opened up to me about everything. It was during a big school event, one of those fun and games thing where people set up games and eat burgers and stuff, right? Lucina lost track of her boyfriend and went looking for him. Then…"

>Aki winced, like she was going to tell you something that physically hurt her just to say. "And…Mister celibate was getting it on with some human girl and her friends behind the bleachers."

>You winced and sucked in air between your teeth. "Shit…Really?"

>"Yep…The little bastard was just leading her along. He was never waiting for marriage or anything like that. He was just leading along the big stupid monster from across the stars… He was always hugging girls and ignoring her around them, it made Lucina uneasy, but she didn't want to scare him off… Then she became the laughing stock of the entire school. He had this idea that he was going to take her for a ride and then dump her when he was done with her. It broke her heart."

>"Damn…" You took another deep breath, leaning against the wall with your arms crossed while you listened. "What did she do after that?"

>"Well…To put it bluntly. She broke his jaw and then made a break for it."

>"Oh!" You were taken aback, almost wanted to laugh at the other guy's misfortune.

>"Police were looking for her. She knew the law wouldn't be so easy on a monster. So she left a note for her parents and then got off into space with the help of a trading freighter that was leaving the port… Since then she's always been a little…Weary of humans. She picks them up, like you, to help the crew, but she always tends to keep her distance a bit."

>"Wait…Are you saying that the Captain's never…Uh."

>"Yeah, how's that for a anomaly." Aki couldn't help but laugh bitterly. "A Hellhound that's never had sex."

>"I actually don't believe you." You admitted. "Maybe I'll go ask her."

>Aki jumped from her chair with a pointer in hand and began to smack you with it. You did your best to keep her from messing up your face as she scolded. "YOU! WILL! DO! NO! SUCH! THING!"

>"Okay fine! I was joking!" You cried out, taking the pointer to the palm.

>"If she figured out I told you, she'll have us both shot into space…" Aki sighed. "Now get out of here before people start to look for you."

>You nodded and left Aki in her office. You almost wanted to go pay Lucina a visit…Better not.

-

>"Warrior strains!" Your comm unit blared to life with the voice of your commanding officer. "Six of them, Nine O'clock!"

>You turned the weapon of your wargrunt to face them and pulled the trigger. Your rifle fired with a booming, earth shaking thud as the rounds made contact with the Warrior in the front of the rest. It shrieked as it's armor was torn away and it's insides were blown from the back of it's body, painting the ground with it's dark blue ichor before collapsing to the ground, it's limbs still swinging as it died.

>Sargent Oswald raised the weapon of his Wargrunt to bear, a large, rotary cannon that fired 75mm rounds that detonated moments after piercing enemy flesh or armor. It revved up and fired with a tremendous "BRRRTTT".

>The rounds dug deep into the front row of the charge and then exploded, sending giblets and limbs flying in all directions. The last warrior strain let out a tremendous roar and  charged forward. Half of it's skull was completely gone and it was charging with only two if it's blades still attached.

>You raised the rifle again and fired, but it leapt through the air, your fire exploding in the mud with little effect.

>Oswald cursed and pulled back on his control sticks, trying to pull his cannon to bear. But it was too late. Both blades of the warrior strain pierced the armor plating of the Wargrunt with little effort.

>You heard Oswald choke over comm, the blades had dug into the cockpit and more than likely impaled him inside. The wargrunt's head turned to look at you, before suddenly erupting in a large explosion, almost forcing your mech off it's feet.

>"SARGE!" You screamed. He had activated the self destruct sequence on his machine, turning both himself and the alien to ash.

>You forced back the tears. This was too much, you didn't want to be there.  But you had to keep moving.

>"Is anyone out there!?" You called on open frequency. "This is Wargrunt unit 66-09-42-A, my squad's been wiped out, I need a rendezvous point!"

>"Is anyone out there!?"

>"Anyone, please respond!"

>Space, sector Osiris, two weeks into the voyage.

>The ship stayed above the designated target, a hollow space rock that stood out like a sore thumb on any scanner. It's almost embarrassing that Nara thought this was a good spot.

>The Exo-suits that Lucina had on board were…Well, ancient to be polite. They were large, clunky, and cumbersome. But the girls she had inside them seemed to have no problem moving them around. The first suit entered the cave and the second followed.

>It all took fifteen minutes, but they soon managed to pull out a crate that absolutely dwarfed the suits in size.

>After pushing the crate towards the ship, they attached it to a tether and then the ship did the rest, pulling the crate into the cargo bay and shutting the door after the exo-suits followed.

>The crew gathered into the hold as soon as it was safe to enter again. Gathering around the crate that the two suits had pushed into the center of it all.

>You found a good place to watch from, in the crowed standing above the shorter crew members.

>You recognized the crate, it was a military holding cell, used to carry around weapons or just equipment and supplies. But this one was older, out of date. Nobody was going to come looking for whatever was in that crate.

>Lucina hopped on top of the crate and raised an arm to the cheering crowed.

>"You ladies ready to get paid!?" She asked to even louder cheering. "Open it up!"

>The pilots in the exosuit began to pry open the haul, you felt it was a little too slack on the security department, who knows what was inside?

>The front of the crate slammed into the ground with a loud clang, it was dark inside, and the pilots had to activate their headlamps to see what the crate contained.

>The sides were cluttered with equipment strapped to the bottom of the crate, but what was most valuable was in the very back.

>It stood at 10 meters tall, made of steel painted in blue and red, with two eyes, arms, and legs. Its eyes glittered like green glass against the lights, its face featureless, like a visor covered it's face.

>You knew what it was, but it was hard to make out all of it's details until the exo pilots managed to slide it out by the holder under it, bringing it to view of everyone.

>Suddenly, your eyes widened and your blood runs cold.

>The mech in question was very familiar to you. It's right arm stained a dark blue, and it's chest plate covered in scratches that ran deep into it's armor.

>The left shoulder pauldron was split in the middle, and the left leg barely had any kind of armor plating to speak of.

>On it's left fist were words written in bright gloss that said "See you in hell." and there was shark teeth painted on it's featureless visor.

>You didn't even need to look at it's number to know which Wargrunt it was. The 66-09-42-A.

>You took a step back, everything went quiet. A few of the monsters gathered around you, asking if you were okay. You couldn't hear them.

>You stumbled backwards, and fell over. Then everything went dark.

>Lucina sat in Aki's office with crossed arms, tapping her claw impatiently against her arm.

>"He's been in there for almost a week." She said, looking at the ship from a view screen.

>"Have you tried going in?" Aki asked.

>"Once. But that onboard A.i. wouldn't let me in. And I don't really want to force the door."

>Lucina turned to Aki, who was still tapping away at her computer. "What do you think has gotten into him."

>"Well." Aki. "If I were to hazard a guess, it's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

>"PTSD? Really?"

>"Well, he's constantly staring off into space, for almost half a year he did his best to avoid others, I've caught him walking around during sleep hours so he shows trouble with sleeping, he flinches whenever anyone moves their arms too fast, and he avoids that Mantis Girl, Becky at any given opportunity."

>"What does Becky have to do with this?" Lucina asked.

>"I think it's her claws, when I had a theory, I looked at the footage when he blacked out, I think the Wargrunt triggered something. So I did some snooping…"

>"Snooping? What did you find?"

>Aki clicked a few times on her computer and then turned back to Lucina.

>"I checked up on the designation and it looks like this mech saw some action on Syrkis…"

>"Syrkis…The planet that was infested by the Brood a few years back?"

>"This Wargrunt is designated to the Pangaean Defense Force who were levied by the Earth Federation to help with the extermination on Syrkis four years ago." Aki explained. "But it was decommissioned with the rest of the Wargrunts after the PDF started deploying the Jotun variant instead… They didn't even bother to repair them before they started selling them off to collectors and frontier colonies."

>"And?" Lucina crossed her legs.

>"And I looked at the service history of 66-09-42-A, and it's last pilot dates back to the Syrkis Extermination."

>Aki turns the monitor towards Lucina to show a picture of a fresh faced teenager in military uniform. "Does this kid look familiar to you?"

>Lucina looked and her eyes widened. "No way…"

>"That's our guy." Aki sighed. "PDF enlistment age is 15, he signed up, was sent to Syrkis when he was sixteen, was discharged soon after."

>"Aki looked at the profile with a disgruntled look on her face. "The Dominion doesn't even recruit that young…But, a teenage mech pilot is pretty impressive. Usually they just give them a gun, a magazine, and send them off to tire out the enemy."

>Lucina sat up straight and gave it some thought. "Maybe that's why he's been reclusing in space all this time…"

>She sighed and got up, turning towards the door. "I'm going to the bridge, we're going on vacation."

>"Oh?" Aki asked. "Where are we going?"

>Planet Syrkis, four years ago.

>Lord-Commander Tiber Augustus had already been on the planet as the Brood invaded.

>Having been the vanguard in the defense of the people, he had commanded two Terran Dominion Legions who originally came to Syrkis as a presentation to the Earth Federation they were to meet with.

>He had begun the operation with 10,000 legionaries and 450 Centurion-class mechs, now he stands at his last line of defense with 1,218 legionaries and a meager 2 Centurions.

>He narrowed his one still natural eye as his bionic one focused on the encroaching horde. Two warrior strains and at least two thousand soldier-strains.

>The battle lasted a total of 30 minutes, a Centurion IV had lost it's left arm in the fighting, and Centurion XV's pilot had been overrun. The soldier-strains however were all but wiped out, and only the single Warrior remained, rushing it's enormous form across the Dominion line.

>Augustus drew his sword while firing upon it with his side arm, ready to give his life for the Dominion and the glory of mankind, when suddenly the disgusting alien's skull exploded from a new firing line.

>The warrior staggered and began to swing it's limbs wildly before two more rounds exploded into the exposed segments of it's body, turning the creature into a stump.

>Augustus turned his head to see his savior. A wargrunt, outdated and outgunned, yet the pilot still managed to show his own pilots how it's done.

>"Are you alright?" The pilot asked from inside his wargrunt, he sounded young, too young to be at war, let alone in a mech.

>"We've taken heavy casualties, but your heroics just cleared out the Brood in this sector." Augustus explained. "My legion and I thank you for your courage."

>"That's…That's good to hear." The speakers of the Wargrunt stuttered, the pilot instead was taking deep breaths, trying to regain his composure.

>"What unit are you with?" Augustus asked. He also wanted to ask the age of the pilot, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

>"Sir-er, my lord." The pilot stuttered.

>"Skip the formalities." Augustus reassured him. "Rank has no bearing at the moment."

>"Pangaean Defense Force, sir." The pilot explained. "12th Wargrunt battalion, Laurussia Army."

>Pangaea? Was the Earth Federation so desperately frightened of the swarm that they're levying Planetary Defense Forces now?"

>"Do you require a unit, pilot?" Augustus asked.

>"No sir, sorry. But I have my orders to rendezvous at Sector G-5 and continue the assault on the grand hive."

>"Then I wish you the best of luck."

>"Is there anything you need before I go?"

>"I do not wish to burden you." Augustus admitted. "But our last pilot is down an arm."

>The PDF pilot's mech reached to it's side and drew a folded replacement, he extended it and handed it to the Centurion, who thanked him. "It's a Wargrunt module, but it should still fit."

>The Centurion ejected his destroyed stump and replaced it with the new, mismatched arm. Like the PDF pilot said, it did fit.

>"I have to go now, sir." The Wargrunt began to head out. "Sorry I can't stay."

>"We all have our orders, pilot." Augustus told him. "Glory to mankind!"

>Lucina approached the entrance of his ship and knocked.

>”Hey, open up, I want to talk to you.” She said to the speaker that most likely had nobody listening.

>The speaker suddenly crackled and garbled before coming to life.

>”The sir cannot talk to you right now.” Al explained.

>”Look, I just need to ask him something.” Lucina tried to reason with the A.I.

>”I tried to explain to you before, ma'dam!” Al protested. “That the sir is prone to flash backs and other episodes,  he needs time to himself and I would appreciate if you would leave his loins alone for the time being.”

>”It's not like that!” Lucina shouted, banging against the ship with her fist. “…Look, please. Just let me talk to him. Do you want him to get better, or do you want him to just get worse over time?”

>Al remained silent for a total of 10 seconds before the entrance finally opened for Lucina.

>She was here once before when they captured the vessel, but even before that she knew her way around a ship of this class.

>She headed straight for the living room and found you sitting on the couch blankly watching movies.

>”Hey…” she greeted you.

>You didn't respond.

>”We…uh. We found your records.” She explained.

>You still didn't answer.

>”Hey, come on, just talk to me.”

>Still no response.

>Lucina pouted and finally crawled on to the couch. She cupped your head in her paws and pulled you closer, pressing her lips against your cheek and blowing raspberries.

>”GAAAAH” You struggled and kicked your legs. “What the hell!?”

>”Finally snapped you out of it, huh?” She asked, standing back up with her paws at her hip.

>”What do you want!?” You asked, wiping the saliva from your cheek.

>”We're getting you out of your hole!” She scolded you. “I don't even think you've eaten anything or showered!”

>”The sir ate a sandwich with a thing layer of peanut butter two days ago.” Al informed Lucina.

>”Yes, thank you, robot.” she sighed.

>Lucina sat down next to you.

>”Look. We're going to the planet Baldur. I have some property there, a little house in the alpines just outside of a mountain town. It's nice, quiet, good air, no pollution, they don't even let ships land in the atmosphere. We're gonna go there for a month and you can just relax or do whatever you want to do.”

>You sat back and crossed your arms. “By myself?”

>”Well…No.” Lucina tapped her claws together, looking away. “Someone has to keep an eye on you…Don't want you…Relapse or anything.”

>”You mean try and escape…”

>”No!” She denied. “…Kind of.”

>”So…Who's coming with me?” You asked.

>”Well, It's my property so…” She sighed. “I am.”

>”Oh.”

>”Is that a problem!?”

>”No, not at all!” You assured her. You gave it some thought, it may even be fun…

>”Good.” She sighed. “Get cleaned up, we're arriving in two days.”

>Lucina left you alone in your ship. After turning on the lights, that is.

>”Sounds like an adventure.” You rubbed your neck.

>”Will you be alright, sir?” Al asked.

>”I'll be fine. I should pack my things, though…”

>Planet Baldur. two days later.

>Population: 45,000,000 people. 60% human, 39% monster, 1% Other/alien.

>Found in the Perseus Arm, Baldur is what you would call a buffer world. Found between the Saurian Imperium and the Gaian Confederacy.

>To help alleviate tensions between two factions, it's sometimes easier to split a planet in half and allow colonists from both sides to set up on the planet.

>But planets like Baldur have been buffer states for quite some time, and the two colonies eventually stopped coexisting and started it's own society.

>45,000,000 seems like a big number, but for a planet like Baldur, which is roughly the same size as the human cradle world: Earth, that population density spreads out very quickly.

>The capitol city of Mesa has a total population of 1.2 million people. Everyone else is spread out across the planet in little towns or sometimes even just living out in cabins alone.

>The most spoken language is English, but a few groups are also bilingual in Spanish, French, Mongolian, Sarkarian, Saurian,Trandarees, and Dominion-Latin.

>To help protect the environment on Baldur, all ships must dock at a space elevator located near Baldur's moon. From there a few shuttles leave every two hours towards planetside to Mesa.

>The ride was awkward to say the least. You sat beside Lucina, who looked out the window as the shuttle broke atmosphere. The blast shields raised soon after but then lowered as the shuttle steadied and reduced speed towards the city.

>"We're going to be taking a train once we get planet side." She explained. "It's gonna take awhile, about a four hour trip."

>"A train?" You asked. "Like an old fashion rails thing?"

>"A little faster than that. But basically, yeah." She confirmed.

>The two of you were processed at the main gate once the shuttle landed. The man looking at your documents was a cyborg,if there was any part of his body that wasn't synthetic then you couldn't tell. He almost looked human, but the creases and bolts in his skin told otherwise.

>"Vacation, huh?" He smiled. "A little romantic getaway?"

>"No, we're ju-"

>"Oh yeah!" You said cheerfully, wrapping your arm around her and pulling her closer. "It's going to be awesome!"

>Lucina gave you an unamused look, scrunching up under your embrace.

>"Well, I won't keep you then." He said, handing back your documents. "Have a nice trip."

>Lucina made one last stop to see her crew off. Some of them would stay in Mesa, others would spread out towards the other settlements on Baldur. Some might just go into the woods and go camping, or maybe get into some mischief. Either way, the crew scattered, and Lucina beckoned you to follow along.

>The station wasn't far from the shuttle bay. Once you received your tickets you got on your train and found your seat.

>The train was rather cozy, with wooden panel flooring and your very own compartment car with it's own door.

>Lucina sat across from you, looking out the window as Mesa began to pass you by. It seemed like a nice city, at least from this distance.

>Suddenly, Lucina wiggled her paws and swiped your dufflebag, a mischievous grin appearing on her face as she rummaged through your stuff.

>"H-hey!" You protested.

>"Relax, I just wanna see what you're packing." She said to you, suddenly, you heard her paw hit something plastic and she suddenly gave you a dirty look.

>"Video games?" She asked. "Really?"

>"I…There are a few I haven't been able to finish yet. You said I should do whatever I want."

>"Well yeah but." Her ear wiggled a bit. "I'm not going to let you just sit in the house all day."

>You sighed. "Fine. I'll go do lame stuff with you if you want so bad."

>"L-lame!?" Now Lucina protested. "Who said I'm gonna do lame stuff!?"

>You ignored her protests and instead looked out the window, as the semi-urban areas began to fade away in favor of trees and mountains.

>Exiting the train was like a shock to the system.

>You closed your eyes and reeled back a bit, you don't remember the last time you were so cold.

>the train station was surrounded by trees, their pine branches tipped with frost. When the two of you stepped off the station on to the trail, the grass was also covered in a thin layer of frost.

>"Jeez, why is it so cold?" You asked, stepping in place to try and prevent yourself from shivering.

>"It's just the area, the temperature fluctuates from mild to freezing." Lucina explained, cupping her paws and breathing on them to keep them warm.

>"Do you even really need to do that?" You asked. "I mean, I thought you guys radiated heat or something?"

>"It doesn't work like that." Lucina explained, pocketing her paws. "Now come on, we got some time to walk."

>She was right about the walk. It took some time, distancing the two of you from the train tracks and into the woods. You took a left at a fork in the road and then turned left again at a crossroads. Eventually you found yourselves at a bus stop, something you haven't seen since Pangaea.

>The driver waved the two of you over and you both got on. Lucina beeped herself in with a card and explained that you were with her. There was just one other on the bus, a small Targeesian man with a furry mustache, scratching his head with one talon and writing with the other.

>"Least you don't have to freeze to death." Lucina said as you sat down.

>"Y-yeah." you blew on to your hands, you had been carrying your things, and didn't take the time to keep them warm.

>Lucina sighed and took your hands, holding them tightly in her paws. "Sorry, I didn't think it would be that cold. Don't you have a coat?"

>"I had one when I was younger." You explained. "But I never had use for one, so I never replaced it."

>"Well guess who's going shopping later?" Lucina said with a grin.

>You rode the bus for an extra twenty minutes, and got off at the next stop. The Targeesian, who only came up to your knee, had to hop off the stairs. He bowed to the both of you and went his own way. Lucina tugged on the sleeve of your shirt and beckoned you along.

>She led you down another trail, one that was surrounded by frosted trees, a pleasant smell filled your nose, and relaxed your nerves.

>"How much longer?" You asked.

>"Almost there." Lucina explained.

>Finally you arrived at your destination. If you were a more romantic man then the sight would have taken your breath away.

>The house was something so classic that you couldn't even put a date on it. A two story log house with a single tree beside it. The deck of the house was fenced and there was an untouched rocking chair on the porch. The home itself overlooked a cliff, and below in the distance was a town, it's lights twinkling in the fading sunlight.

>"I won it in a bet." Lucina explained. "I come here when I need a break."

>She led you inside, everything was old fashion, from the furniture to the kitchen to the living room. It was all wood finished, and gave off a soothing, comfortable vibe.

>"Both our bedrooms are upstairs." She explained. "Pick one or the other, I don't care. My home is your home."

>The two of you went upstairs. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom down the hall. She was right when she said both bedrooms were mostly the same. A queen sized bed with a black night stand and a window over looking the cliff and town. They were side by side with the bathroom on the opposite side of the hallway.

>"Well then…Any questions?" She asked.

>"One." You turned to her. "Why?"

>Lucina looked at you and then quickly averted eye contact.

>"You…You just need it, okay? The town is nice, the home is quiet. I…I guess…" She began to mumble. "I guess I just want to help you…"

>"You think this will help?" You asked her.

>"I've never been to war. The ship got into a few fights but it's different. Something as big as the Crimson Corsair doesn't usually lose fights, injuries are uncommon, and seeing something blow up from thousands of kilometers away is different than…Than what you had to see. I don't think I can make you forget. But I think I can at least make it easier…You know?"

>The two of you stood in silence before Lucina coughed and made her way out of the room. "I gotta go unpack my stuff."

>You watched the hellhound leave. And you felt a familiar heat form in your chest as she did so…

>After you arrived and unpacked, Lucina and you decided to split up the workload and make the place look like something someone actually lives in.

>Everything was dusty, having not been used in only Lucina knows how long.

>You started in the kitchen while she started in the living room. Dusting and vacuuming every nook and cranny. Lucina began to hum and tune, and after sometime when you learned the melody, you joined in as well.

>It was already night by the time you were all finished, and after a quick snack, the two of you said your good nights and then went to bed.

>You sat in your bed and looked out your window for some time. The town glimmered like gold in the distance. You looked up into the night sky and saw countless stars.

>You probably visited a number of those over the years…

>With one final look outside, you turned over and tucked yourself in, falling asleep soon after.

>You were the first to wake up in the morning. 8:00 AM planet time.

>Yawning, you went down stairs, used the bathroom on the main floor, ate a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, and brushed your teeth in the downstairs washroom.

>Lucina came down stairs an hour later, her ears and tail droopy while she rubbed her eye and yawned.

>"Mownin'." She said to you, rubbing the sand from her eyes.

>She was wearing a long white t-shirt, and from what you could peak when she was coming down the stairs, blue striped panties.

>"Really?" You asked as she passed you.

>"Big deal." She said with one more yawn, showing her large, vicious teeth. "You've already seen me naked, why do I care?"

>"Yeah, fair enough."

>You sat down with her as she poured herself some coffee and made toast.

>"So whats the plan?" You asked.

>"The plan is we go shopping." She said, pointing at you with the butter knife she used to spread peanut butter on her toast before taking a bite.

>"Do we have to?" You asked.

>"Do yuu wahna frees to deff?" She asked with peanut butter in her mouth.

>"Huh?"

>"I said, do you want to freeze to death?" She asked again after washing her food down. "When was the last time you bought new clothing?"

>"Uh…" You had to think about it.

>"Exactly!" She slammed her paw on the table. "We need to get you some nice sweaters, maybe a coat…"

>"You're not going to use me as a dress-up doll, are you?"

>"Please." She waved a paw. "I got over those years ago…"

>"Well, what about you?" You asked.

>"hm?"

>"Are we buying you new clothes as well?"

>"Of course not." She rejected. "I don't need new clothing."

>"Yeah but if I have to play dress-up, then so do you."

>"No I don't!" Lucina protested.

>"If I have yo endure you picking out clothing for me, then you have to dress up for me!"

>"I…You…" You  could have sworn her eyes flashed a streak of fire for just a moment. Was that the Hellhound equivalent of blushing?

>"…Fine." She agreed, crossing her arms and looking away.

>The day just got a little exciting.

>After breakfast, Lucina got dressed and the two of you headed into town.

>It wasn't as far as the cliff view made you believe, and luckily the temperature was a bit warmer today.

>After some time, the trail ended and you were greeted by a sidwalk, Lucina tugged on your sleeve and pointed you to the left, telling you to follow her.

>The town of Landor, with a population of a little over 1500.

>Landor was -almost- a tourist town. Having been on the way to a second major city that was being developed before the population boom stopped.

>Since then, the town has become content with just being around each other and the occasional visitor.

>The town itself is picturesque to say the least. All of the buildings are old fashion, the mountains stand in the distance just outside of town, the streets are clean, the restaurants are all local and void of any chain branding, there were also a few other stores like a grocery store and a few knick knack places.

>More and more towns and cities like the ones on Baldur have been sprouting up across the galaxy.

>less than 900 years ago, it was common for most humans to live in mega cities that stretched for miles, many of them even crossed entire continents and pushed into the clouds.

>Everything was watched, everything recorded, it was suffocating for many. It was one of the reasons why the Terran Dominion and Earth Federation came to power.

>Originally PMC groups, both became powerful through corporation wars across the United Earth Government space.

>Once oligarchies began to become more prominent and many planetary "leaders" started becoming comfortable enough to allow their citizens to be paid in what were essentially food stamps. These two groups struck.

>They began a military conquest of UEG space that lasted for many years, conquering planet after planet and decimating the United Earth Military through numbers and superior fire power.

>They became even more powerful when citizens of subjugated planets began to join their ranks. And soon the UEG was no more. The two factions split the territories they had conquered in half, and went their separate ways. These two factions later became the Earth Federation and the Terran Dominion.

>With the grip of their original masters gone, many humans began to spread throughout the stars in an attempt to find new, greener homes. This is how first contact with alien life happened.

>"Hey, hey." Lucina tugged on your sleeve. "In here!"

>"What?" You asked.

>"I said we're going clothing shopping, didn't I?" She said, pointing at the building.

>She pulled you along and the two of you went inside.

>"Welcome!" The person inside greeted the two of you from the front counter.

>The clerk was a monster, you didn't know the exact species, but she was short, and had a long squirrel like tail as well as matching ears. Almost reminded you of Aki, though not quite.

>Lucina began picking out clothes for you, not giving you a change to look at them before putting them in your arms. As she did so, the other monster scooted over to you.

>"Shopping with the misses?" she asked.

>"Something like that." You sighed.

>"Is she getting something for herself as well?"

>"I had to convince her, but yeah."

>The clerk smiled and took a step away. "I'll be right back with some things for you."

>You felt like a kid…

>Lucina went down the men's section and picked out clothing for you.

>Everything from tacky sweaters to giant, fluffy coats.

>She made you try on everyone in the change room, with a smirk of satisfaction on her face every time she handed you another piece of attire.

>By the time you got through your fifth itchy sweater, the clerk finally returned with clothing in her arms.

>"I got what you requested, sir." She said with a wink.

>"Oh, thanks!" You took them from her with a nod.

>Lucina approached with narrow eyes, looking at you, then at the clothing in your arms, then at you again.

>"What's that?" She asked.

>"We made a deal." You said in a tone so serious it sent chills down the clerk's spine.

>Lucina looked at the clothing one more time, then bit her lip and swiped them from your arms. "Fine!"

>You eagerly sat down on the waiting chair and put one leg over the other.

>Lucina hesitated at first but then rushed into the changing room, slamming the door behind her.

>"ooo, spicy!" The clerk said, wiggling her fingers.

>You sat patiently while she rummaged behind the door.

>When she stopped you spoke up again. "You dressed?"

>"Y…yeah."

>"Well. Let me see!" You said with a hint of excitement.

>Lucina opened the door slowly. She peaked through the crack at first and looked at you with embarrassed eyes.

>Meekly, she pushed her way passed the door and stood in front of you with her arms behind her back and her legs close together.

>She was wearing a tan turtle neck sweater that reached down past her waist and almost to her knees.

>It was very form fitting, hugging to her curves and breasts.

>Lucina squirmed as you simply stared like an idiot with your mouth agape.

>"Well…" She coughed, the end of her tail wiggling under the sweater. "What do you think?"

>"It uh…" You were caught off guard. "It looks good on you."

>"Really?" She asked, tugging at the sides. "It feels a little tight…"

>"I think it's supposed to."

>"W-what else is there!?" Lucina fumbled through the clothing.

>You didn't know yourself, and the randomness of it all was a pleasant surprise.

>The next was a short sleeved hoodie, again not her thing, but it was still cute on her.

>The next was a wool sweater dress that again hugged her curves. She fidgeted again as you tried not to ogle her.

>When she finally got through the last outfit, you stopped the eager clerk from getting more. Your heart couldn't take it…

>Lucina picked something out for herself, however. A grey winter coat with black fur on the collar and black buttons. The fur also trailed around the skirt of the coat.

>She did a little twirl and turned to you. "How I look?" She asked eagerly.

>"Great." You said with a thumbs up.

>"Good, cause I'm buying it either way." She said, proud of herself.

>In the end you bought two big bags of clothing for the both of you.

>You had to carry both anyway.

>Lucina and you split up for a little while. While she ran off to one store, you decided to check out another.

>It was a pawn shop of sorts, maybe even a second hand store. the walls were covered by various nick knacks across the tiny store.

>The man in front was old, wrinkly and could barely keep his eyes open behind his giant glasses.

>You wave to him and he nods to you in return with a smile while you look around the store.

>Then something caught your eye.

>You took it off the shelf and looked at it curiously.

>"Ah, I see you've taken a liking to the old-fashion camera." He stated.

>"Is that what this is?" You asked.

>"These used to be used world wide across Earth before the renaissance."  the clerk stated. "Would you like to see how to use it?"

>After being shown how it's used, how to charge it, and how to get pictures from it, you caved and decided to buy the little novelty.

>It was converted to the point, so you could at least get your pictures from it without having to find some ancient computer or software.

>Once you got it set up you went outside to try it out.

>First you took pictures of a few buildings, then random things like the mountains and lamp posts. You made sure not to get any people, just to be safe.

>As you're walking down the street, you spot Lucina waiting for you on a bench, hunched forward and resting her head in one of her paws, her legs crossed.

>You look at her, then at your camera as you approach and decide to snap a picture.

>Her ears perk up when you bring the camera to bear and she turns her head to you.

>Without missing a beat, she smiles for the camera as you take the picture.

>"Oh, you know what this is?"

>"I've seen a few of them before." She explained. "And even if I didn't it wouldn't take a genius to put two and two together."

>Lucina stood up and beckoned you along. "Come on, I'm starving."

>The two of you entered a family restaurant, it was on the second floor of a two floor building.

>The waitress showed you to a booth overlooking the street you had come in from, and handed you a menu.

>You ordered a burger and Lucina ordered a 3 pound steak without skipping a beat.

>"Holy shit." You laughed. "You sure you can eat all that?"

>"Please." She waved a paw. "It'll be all burned off before we even get back home."

>"Wish I had a metabolism like that."

>The two of you talked for a bit more until your food finally came.

>Like a proper lady, Lucina took the fork and knife in hand and cut a piece of the steak.

>Then she opened her mouth and you got a full view of her maw.

>Nara's teeth were intimidating enough. But Lucina's were something else. They looked like they could tear out your throat in one quick chomp. But that was only because they could.

>Still, even with fangs that size, Lucina chewed with her mouth closed, though you expected her to just tear the steak apart.

>You constantly had to remind yourself that Lucina wasn't human, especially when her more non-human elements went center stage.

>Though, now that you thought about it…

>You didn't like the idea of a "human" Lucina…

>A few days later.

>You stood outside another building. Perplexed at it's existence.

>"Hey." Lucina bumped you on the shoulder. "What're we looking at?"

>"That." You pointed at the store.

>"What? Why?" She asked.

>"I dunno, it just kind of caught my eye."

>There was a sign above the front door reading "Movie world!: Buying and Renting"

>"A rental?" Lucina seemed as perplexed as you were. "For…Movies?"

>"You wanna go in?"

>"You have my interest, lets check it out."

>You both entered the store, the clerk was at the very back of the store behind rows after rows of shelves with cases and boxes on them.

>"Welcome!" The man at the back said with a wave.

>You both entered cautiously, like you were in some kind of dangerous situation.

>"So you can just rent these out?" Lucina asked.

>"It's pretty fucking neat." You commented. "Most people just download their stuff. Even I have to find novelty stores to get my stuff."

>"Not a digital fan?" Lucina asked.

>"I like having my property be physical, is all."

>"Hey hey!" Lucina bugged you. "Wanna rent some movies?"

>"What, really?"

>"Yeah, we'll get a membership and rent a player and some movies. Then we can go to the grocery store and pick up some snacks."

>You thought about it. "Yeah okay, didn't know what we were going to do today anyways."

>Lucina seemed giddy, she started skipping through the shelves and looking at the movies.

>You did the same, but with a little less excitement.

>Every now and then, Lucina would return and show a movie she found, and would either keep it or put it back depending on your response.

>One hour and one membership sign up later, your walked out with a bag full of movies. Most of them new, but you also found a few ancient earth movies and some alien movies as well.

>The grocery store visit was like a blitzkrieg, Lucina grabbed a shopping cart and immediately rushed the snack aisle.

>"You know we have to carry all this, right?" You asked.

>"It's no problem for me." She huffed. "Maybe you should work out more."

>"Funny."

>Lucina began to fill the cart like a school girl with too much money. It was nice seeing this side of her.

>She lightened up ever since that chess incident. You prefer this side of her over the captain one.

>"Alright! Lets go!" She says after filling the cart with sodas, candies, and chips.

>"Alright, but you're carrying." You tell her as she makes her way to the checkout.

>Evening came.

>You didn't bother with dinner.

>Lucina sank into the couch with a bowl of popcorn in her paws.

>She had a wide smile as you put the first movie in, wide enough that her fangs began to peak out from the top of her mouth.

>You sat down beside her and she offered you popcorn. The movie started after you took a handful.

>You only made it through half of one movie before they just existed to be background noise.

>Lucina kind of forced you to talk about yourself. The two of you traded questions, though you kept it tame.

>"What was your longest time in space without going planetside?" Lucina asked.

>"Uh…120 days, I think Al recorded." You explained.

>"Sheesh, you didn't go crazy?"

>"If I really wanted to talk to someone I could just get on the net and talk to people there."

>"Alright then." She suddenly straightened up and smiled. "Going to hit you with the girly stuff."

>"Fine."

>"Who was your first kiss?"

>"Really?" You asked in return.

>"Really, I actually want to know."

>"You're gonna laugh at me." You said, looking away with embarrassment.

>"No I won't, I promise." She insisted.

>"Fine…" You took in a deep breath. "Aki."

>"…What?" She asked in disbelief.

>"Aki was my first kiss."

>"Really?"

>"Yeah." You nodded. "When she won the raffle the first few days I was on the ship, that was the first time a girl ever kissed me."

>"Wow." Lucina sat in silence, then scooted closer. "That's so cute!"

>"No it's not, come on." You tried to scoot away.

>"I bet she's a really good kisser."

>"Come on."

>"You must have felt honored." She continued to tease, poking you in the side with her claw.

>"But you're not a bad lookin' guy." She admitted. "Why so late?"

>"Well, I joined the PDF when I was a teenager, so I left high school for my service." You explained. "Girls showed some interest when I got back, but when they realized I wasn't going to be some gruff war hero, they lost interest."

>"Oh…" Lucina sat back down on the couch. "…Those bitches."

>You couldn't help but laugh.

>"Well if its any consolation, I would have kissed you." She admitted.

>"Aw, really?" You scooted closer. "What about right now?"

>"Ew, no." She leaned away. "You have cheese breath."

>"No come on, you said you would." You leaned in closer.

>Lucina pressed her paw against your face. "Get away from me."

>Liff by yer werdz, Capten." You muffled under her paw.

>"Stop!" Lucina did her best not to laugh. "I can beat you up, you know!"

>"Fine." You stood up from the couch. "I'm putting in a scary movie."

>"Wait, no!" Lucina scrambled to stop you.

>"You made your choice!"

>"I am your captain and I order you to stop!"

>"You have no power here!"

>The battle went on for some time.

>Planet Arkan, 4 years ago.

>Lucina hid behind the dumpster as the security officers passed.

>They were looking for her, no way would they let assault on someone from such a prestigious family go unpunished, especially if the attacker was a non-human.

>She wiped the tears from her eyes with the fur on her wrist, she missed mama and papa, but she knew she couldn't go back. Not if she didn't want to end up on some off world penal colony…

>The coast was clear and she made a break for it. hood up, paws in pocket, tail tucked away, she looked human from this distance, and the rain made wearing the hood unquestionable.

>The dock had security cameras and most likely officers patrolling the perimeter, luckily not all security measures around the galaxy were full proof.

>It took two movements, one to jump and catch the top, and the other to leap over the fence. Maybe someone could give her a ride out of here…She had money, but maybe not enough to cover a trip off world.

>She sneaked passed the cruise liners, yachts, battleships, trade runners, and other vessels until she found a smaller one far off from the human-owned ships.

>It looked alien, at least to her, a almost insect like shape. It appeared to be a cargo hauler, but they don't usually come this heavily armed.

>There was a man sitting out front, human, he was much larger than she was used to seeing them, a fat man with a bandana and a large mustache was wearing round glasses and reading a book under a drape.

>She gulped and approached the man, fidgeting her paws together.

>"E-excuse me, sir…"

>The man jumped at the sudden voice and sighed deeply. He marked his page and closed the book. "Can I help you, young lady?"

>"I'm looking for a ride off world." She admitted.

>The man narrowed his eyes. "Don't you think you're a little old to be running away from home like this?"

>"It's…It's not like that."

>The portly man grunted and stood up, he walked past Lucina towards the ship towards two others, a woman was speaking to another figure under a dock light.

>"Captain." The man waved the two over. "This girl here needs a ride."

>"Really now?" The woman asked, when she got closer, Lucina noticed that she was Amazonian, tall, and wearing a dark green tank top and black pants.

>"I have money…Please, I'm in a lot of trouble, I can't stay here. The Security Officers are looking for me."

>"Oh rEaLy noW?" A voice buzzed, like that of an insect.

>The third figure approached, his appearance caused Lucina's heart to jolt with shock. He was like a wasp, with a black carapace, only man sized if not slightly taller than the portly man Lucina had just spoken to. He rubbed the tips of his pointed figers together, and his head constantly tilted from one side to the other. A Rytarian, insect like humanoids from the far fringes of the galaxy.

>"BuT, WhAt cOUld yoU haVe ddddoNe to gEt this kInnnd of AatttentTion?"

>"I…I punched a guy…My ex boyfriend, I guess. Broke his jaw…They're already rough on non-humans here, and his family had a lot of sway an-."

>"A gooD ENouGh RrrrEason as AaaaaAnnnY" The Rytarian said. "ThE RrrrResponsible ttThing would bE to TttuRn yoU IN. BuT I haVe No loVe FoR THE WhoReS of ArKan. CaN YoU WoRK?"

>"Yes sir." Lucina nodded. "And if I can't, then I can learn."

>"VvEry WeLL, yoU caN coMe AboArD unTil NExT PlaNeT ViSit."

>The three introduced themselves, the man was named Harvey, the Amazonian was Clanda, and the Rytarian Captain was simply Kren.

>Lucina joined them on their ship and changed her life forever.

>Cyrene, three years ago.

>Lucina hopped off the ship and stretched, she was space side way too long this time.

>It was a sunny day, perfect for a fresh start. She had been a crew member on the Sar-nok-tar for longer than she had expected.

>"ArE YoU OkAy With ThiS?" Kren asked. "YoU AlWaYS HaVE A PlACE witH Us."

>"I know that." Lucina turned to her captain. "But I think it's time to find my own way. Thank you for everything."

>He nodded and placed his finger tips together in a bow, a sign of respect among the Rytarians.

>Harvey was in tears, he wiped his face and gave Lucina a hug. "You take care of yourself, okay?"

>"I will, Uncle Harvey." she returned the hug.

>Harvey smiled and squished her cheeks one last time. Lucina turned to Clanda, who crossed her arms.

>"Don't go expecting a hug." She sighed. "But don't get yourself killed, alright? Or I'll be pissed."

>"I'll do my best." Lucina hugged her anyway, getting a sigh of frustration from the Amazon.

>She waved to them one last time, slung her bag over her shoulder, and headed into the city.

>There was a pub across in the center of the city, it was where she was supposed to meet someone.

>After some searching, she gave up and hailed a cab. The driver was a Targeesian, small little bastards, but good at whatever job you gave them.

>She paid her tab when they reached the destination and went inside the pub.

>The place was almost empty, save for a passed out man at the bar, the bartender herself, and a shorter lady sitting in the back. That was her.

>She approached the Danuki, who herself was going over some notes and documents she had at her table.

>"Sakura87?" Lucina asked.

>The Danuki looked up and smiled. "So you're Sheepdog, huh? Funny,  I thought you were lying, I expected a human or something."

>"No, I'm the real deal." Lucina assured, sitting down at the table.

>"So, guess usernames are kind of rude at this point huh?" She offered Lucina a hand. "I'm Aki."

>"Lucina." She shook her hand.

>"Alright, Lucy." Aki's little nickname for her made Lucina wince. "Here's what we're gonna do. You got the stuff, right?"

>"The cash? Yeah." Lucina nodded. "What about you?"

>"I got the other half, don't worry." Aki reassured. "Should be enough for a used travel vessel, we can pick up Monkeywrench on the way there."

>"Yeah, the Gremlin." Lucina leaned forward. "So what did you find, anyway?"

>"Was going through some Fed files. Check this out." She handed Lucina a document.

>"An abandoned battleship?" Lucina looked over the files.

>"It's stuck in the Saurian neutral zone. The Saurians don't want it and the Nordgar Federation can't get to it without pissing off the Saurians." Aki explained.

>"Won't they get suspicious if a battleship just starts moving again?"

>"That's where our Gremlin friend comes into the picture." Aki explained with a smile. "It'll take days for anyone to mobilize to check it out, we'll have the life support and engines working without hours."

>Aki leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "So. You in or out?"

>Lucina looked it over. A grin began to cut across her face, her eyes began to bellow with fire and smoke. "Yeah. I'm in."

>You spent another day at home.

>It wasn't your home, really.

>But it felt like it was.

>You decided to hook up some things you brought with you. A game console and a few video games.

>You usually just play stuff on your PC, but playing a console isn't so bad.

>This one in particular was developed in Earth Federation space. It's also sold in most human spaces including Terran Dominion space.

>Earth Fed apparently just does video games better than other nations.

>It took some time, but some planets sell consoles that have physical trays. It's technically a dead artform, but you're a hipster like that.

>You loaded up the game still in the tray, an action game based around combos and counters.

>After a few minutes, Lucina joined you on the couch.

>"Gonna be a couch potato and play video games today?"

>"Come on, don't be like that." You said, paying attention to the game.

>"Whatever, video games are lame anyw-" Suddenly, and explosion toppled a building in the game, sending the sky scraper crashing into the ground. "Woah!"

>Lucina watched intently for some time before she spoke again. "How come I never get to see video games like this?"

>"Looking in the wrong place maybe."

>She watched in silence for some more before she got up. "I'm making chicken nuggets."

>True to her word, she came back some time later with a huge plate of chicken nuggets and ate them as you played.

>"Want some?" She asked.

>"Can't look away from this part." You said while playing a particular difficult area. "Nug me."

>"Really?" She huffed. "Fine."

>She took one in her paw and shoved it into your mouth. After you chewed the first one, she got the fun little idea of feeding you two at a time, then added up more and more.

>"Who'reyou'doing?" You asked with a stuffed mouth.

>"Think of it as endurance training." She giggled. "Eyes on the game!"

>You couldn't keep up with the food and the game, and eventually your character dropped dead after the last hit.

>"Aw." She sighed. "Looks like you died."

>You put the controller down and crossed your arms.

>"Don't be like that!" Lucina scooted closer. "Want another nugget?"

>"Get that away from me!" You tried to fend her off, catching her by the wrists as she tried to shove another piece of chicken down your throat.

>"No, come on, you told me to nug you!" She giggled again, sitting up straighter.

>You only noticed now how much stronger she actually was then you. You were pushing her off but she was obviously holding back.

>You guessed all of the things they say about Hellhounds was true…Except for the obvious one, at least it didn't apply to Lucina.

>The next day was more the same.

>You didn't really play all that much video games.

>But you did watch a little bit of local television.

>Some of the shows were reruns of things you were familiar with from other systems.

>Programs that were popular in some systems may be imported to other systems if they're big enough.

>You found a retro channel. Something that showed programs from twenty or so years back. There hasn't really been that much of a increase in quality.

>Flipping one more channel, you found a channel that focuses on ancient programming.

>Especially cartoons from the years 1980,1990, 2000, and 2010.

>The 1980's stuff was your favorite.The show with the blond guy fighting the buff skeleton was particularly entertaining.

>After some time, and a bathroom break, you decided to kill some time and take pictures outside.

>It was warmer out today, warm enough to be out with just a T-shirt on.

>You first took a picture of a bird sitting on the deck, then at the trail leading into the woods.

>A few more and you started walking around the house, the sound of humming filled your ears.

>You turned the corner to find Lucina hanging out laundry on a line.

>She was wearing a pair of shorts and an apron with nothing but a sports bra underneath.

>You watched her for some time, the way she moved, the way her tail wagged as she went so leisurely about her day.

>You finally decided to sneak in a picture. But you took a step forward when you raised the camera, stepping on a leaf that had fallen to the ground.

>Lucina turned to you with a clothing pin in her mouth. She smiled and waved to you as you took the picture.

>"Gonna catch you off guard some day." You sighed, approaching her.

>"If you want to take more pictures of me, just say so." She said proudly. "I'd want a thousand pictures of me as well."

>"Why's that?"

>"Cause' I'm the cutest." She boasted.

>"Eeehhh, Wouldn't go that far."

>"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucina asked.

>I can think of four others who are probably cuter.

>"So I'm still in top five, huh?" She said smugly.

>"Yea-…Hm."

>Lucina poked you on the nose. "I'm number one and you know it."

>You snorted and looked off into the distance, the mountains gleamed proudly against the light of the sun.

>"It's pretty, huh?" Lucina asked, standing beside you with her paws behind her back.

>"Yeah…" You admitted. "Almost too pretty to leave…"

>"You know…" Lucina began to fidget. "We could probably stay a bit longer…I could get the message out. We still have four or so weeks, but if that's not enough…"

>"I don't know if that's fair to everyone else." You said. "Besides, we'll probably get bored sooner or later…"

>"Yeah, you're probably right." She sighed. "But for the time being…I'm gonna go get comfy and watch some movies, you in?"

>"Sure." You smiled. "Sounds like a day."

>You both returned to the house, ready for another cozy day.

>A few days past.

>You got up later than usual, around 10:00am.

>Your head was throbbing.

>It hurt to breath, and you felt like you could throw up.

>You groaned as you drudged down the stairs.

>"Hey, look who's awake." Lucina said, seeing you shamble into the kitchen. "…You don't look so good."

>"I think I'm sick…" You sniffle.

>Lucina approached you and put her paw on your forehead. She furrowed a brow when she realized it wasn't helping much, so she cupped the sides of your head in both paws and beckoned you forward. "Hey, come here."

>You lowered yourself down to her level and she put her forehead against yours.

>"Yeesh." She said, letting you go. "You got a pretty bad fever…"

>"What should I do?" You asked, trying to keep your eyes open.

>"You're not going to do anything." Lucina corrected you. "We're gonna get you right back to bed…"

>Lucina helped you back up the stairs and back in your room.

>"Get dressed in something comfy and go to bed." She ordered. "I'll go make you something to eat and drink, okay?"

>"Alright…"

>You did so and put on a pair of boxers and a loose fitting t-shirt before hopping back into bed.

>A few minutes later, Lucina arrives with soup and a large glass of water.

>"You need lots of fluids, so eat and drink, alright? I don't want to hear any complaints."

>"I think I can manage." You tell her, taking the tray. "Thank you."

>"I'll be back every so often to check on you, get plenty of rest."

>She was like a worried mother now.

>"How'd you get so nursey?" You worded that strangely.

>"I spent a lot of time taking care of myself way back." She explained. "But when my crew got sick, I made sure to take care of them as well. I needed them in good health as fast as possible, you know?"

>"I think it's more than that." You correct her. "I think you're a really caring person… Thank you."

>Lucina jumped a bit, a trail of fire left her eyes. "J-just get some rest, okay?"

>You ate your soup, drank your water, and then laid back in your back after putting the tray on your counter.

>Night came, you were in a cyclone hell of consciousness and unconsciousness.

>Your teeth were chattering, even under your blanket you were freezing.

>You couldn't get up, not that it would help, instead you tried to endure it.

>You had your back facing the door, but you heard it open in your moments of lucidity.

>Something touched you, pressed against your neck, and then your back. You had thrown your shirt off earlier while you were sweating, you came to regret that action.

>A moment later, something lifted your covers. You tried to fight against it, but you were far too weak.

>You began to rub yourself, trying desperately to warm up. But then suddenly you felt something against your back.

>Arms pushed underneath your arms and wrapped around you. It held you tight and close to itself.

>Your teeth stopped chattering, and you suddenly felt a surge of warmth overtake you.

>You sat in silence for another moment before taking a deep breath.

>Whatever it was, it didn't let go. And you soon found it in yourself to relax and fall asleep.

>You weren't the only teenager in your unit.

>Donovan Van Wallace was only a few months younger than you.

>You first saw each other as rivals, but you soon became good friends.

>"Slappy." he called you as an insult, but it kind of became your nick name after you started being friends.

>Your platoon was separated in the landing, he wasn't in your squad, but you knew he could handle himself as a pilot. Probably better than any of the adults in your platoon.

>You sat on the dirt, your arms trembling, barely able to keep a grip on your pistol.

>The warrior strain lied motionless on the ground. It took a few shots, but you managed to pierce the armor on it's skull and destroy the motor center of it's brain.

>But it wasn't dead, The Brood doesn't die until the host body is destroyed.

>The very idea made you sick to your stomach, there was a person in the core of the creature. A host they use as a living battery for their smaller strains.

>Its easier to deal with when you're in your mech. Your rifle blows them to pieces, killing both the brood and the person inside. But your Wargrunt was down for the count, it was just you.

>The warrior strain was on it's back, twitching helplessly. It wouldn't move again unless a engineer strain showed up and repaired it's brain.

>You stood over it and drew your knife. You heated the blade and gulped as you stabbed it deep into the carapace. You began to pry it open when the gap was large enough.

>You didn't want to look at the person, but you knew you had to. You gave it one look and your eyes widened in terror.

>Donovan, or what was left of him, was staring back at you, one of his eyes almost completely concealed behind the fleshy biomass of the warrior strain's innards.

>He was completely absorbed into the beast, his bones had melted away, and his flesh was stretched out and consumed by the dark blue insides. All that remained was his skull, and enough of a face for him to be recognizable.

>"Sla…a…pppy…" You heard his voice groan.

>"D-Donny?" You said his name in complete disbelief.

>"Kkkill…Meee…." He begged.

>You gritted your teeth, so hard that they almost cracked. You drew your pistol again and aimed the barrel towards his skull, not time to think, you had to do it. Get it over with.

>Click.

>Your magazine was empty. You poured all you had into the Warrior strain when it found you. Tears began to roll down your face as you pulled the trigger again, and again, and again. Nothing.

>Donovan's one good eye blinked, it began to look around frantically, desperately for a way out.

>Finally, you threw the pistol aside and fell to your knees on top of the beast. You took your combat knife in both hands, and with a loud scream, plunged it into Donovan's skull…

>"DONNY!"

>You woke up yelling, flinging up straight with one hand forward, grasping at air.

>You weren't on Syrkis anymore…You were far away, in a comfy bed inside of a safe room in a quiet house.

>You took a deep breath and ran your hands through your hair. You gasped and closed your eyes, you were shaking.

>When you thought you had straightened yourself out, you got out of bed.

>It was almost noon, you had been asleep for some time… With a sigh, you put some clothes on and went down stair.

>"Hey!" You heard from the kitchen as you stepped off the last step. "Feeling any better?"

>"Yeah…" You sighed again, rubbing your neck and stepping in the kitchen.

>"Well, if you're up for it, I was gonna head into town today and pick somethings up." She explained before stepping away from the kitchen sink.

>"Gotta return those movies and als-…Hey, what's wrong?" Lucina asked with concern.

>You didn't even notice it yourself until she poked your cheek gently with her claw.

>There were tears streaming down your face.

>"Oh…" You tried to wipe the tears away. "I guess the after effect of the fever is catching up with me or something…"

>You tried to wipe them away again, and finally pressed your palm against your right eye.

>Finally, you gritted your teeth again, then closed your eyes, trying to get the tears to stop.

>Lucina didn't say a word, and instead embraced you in a hug.

>You almost instinctively wrapped your arms around her and pressed your face against her shoulder, sobbing.

>"It's okay…" She whispered, gently petting your head. "It's going to be okay…"

>"You're going to be okay…"

>Two weeks into your little vacation.

>You yawned, lying with your back against the door.

>A lazy day, you thought, nothing to do but take a snooze in bed.

>Suddenly, your door slammed open, you furrowed your brow and knew exactly who just stormed into your room.

>"Hey!" You suddenly felt two paws push against you, rocking you back and forth. "Hey hey!"

>"Whaaaatt…" You complained at the sudden intrusion.

>"Come on, get up!" She ordered. "It's warm outside!"

>"So what?" You asked.

>"We're gonna go swimming?"

>"Swimming?"

>"Yeah!"

>"Where?" You yawned.

>"There's a lake not far from here. Come on, it'll be fun!"

>Lucina continued to badger you, poking and prodding until you finally relented.

>"Fine." You sighed. "Lets go."

>With a happy grin, Lucina jumped from your bed and skipped back to her room.

>She must have been planning this for awhile. There was already a pair of swim trunks in the pile of clothing the two of you bought when you first arrived.

>Lucina carried her things in a duffle bag, while you went for the "elementary school kid" route and instead just carried a towel and your trunks in a plastic bag.

>It was about a twenty minute walk down the trail, past an old sign to a beach at the side of a lake.

>You knew the walk back was going to suck.

>The beach Lucina took you to was vacant, to be expected when you thought about it.

>There were a few wooden change rooms sprinkled throughout the beach, the two of you picked a double at the center between the grass of the woods and the water of the lake.

>You got out first, for obvious reasons, sitting in the sand in nothing but your trunks and a t-shirt.

>"All done!" Lucina called out from inside the changing room.

>She stepped out a second later with a paw at her side. Her swimsuit was a dark blue one piece with an open back and brighter blue sides.

>"Bet you were expecting a  bikini, huh?" She laughed. "Well don't be too disappointed."

>You looked her up and down. The muscles on her stomach were slightly visible under her swimsuit and her breasts were pressed together rather nicely. You thought to yourself before that monsters always have a perfect body, and Lucina was no exception. You've seen her naked before, but there was something alluring about the modest swim suit she had on.

>"I think I'll live." you said honestly.

>"You're not planning on keeping that shirt on, are you?" She asked, pointing with a claw.

>"Why?"

>"That's not fair." She stated. "I have to wear this really cute bathing suit and you don't even contribute?"

>"It's just us isn't it?"

>"Come on, don't be a prude." she crossed her arms.

>You sighed and took off your t-shirt. Lucina seemed to have forgotten that you spent more than three years mining in a personal exo-suit. You weren't going to be showing up on any modelling magazines, but you still had a rather impress display of broad shoulders and muscles.

>Lucina looked you up and down. Smoke began to bellow from the corners of her eyes.

>"You okay?" you asked.

>"Y-yeah, of course!" She puffed her chest proudly. "Come on, lets go swimming!"

>Lucina sprinted off, running through the beach, on to the dock, and then leaped into the water.

>She splashed into the shallow end and then quickly resurfaced with a yelp of surprise.

>"It's cold!" She cried out.

>"Well what did you expect?" You asked as you reached the dock.

>Lucina huffed and leaped up to the dock, pulling herself up with one paw and grabbing your leg with the other.

>You struggled for a moment, but she still managed to pull you into the water.

>You gasped for air when you resurfaced, and immediately felt Lucina reach around you and put you in a head lock.

>"What did you expect screwin' with a Hellhound, huh?" She growled playfully.

>You put your hands on her wrist and clamped down, bending your legs and then leaping back.

>Lucina yelped in surprise as you dragged her underwater with you. She let go of you, but you maintained your grip for a while longer before pulling you and her back to the surface.

>You and Lucina laughed when you resurfaced. She wrapped her arms around you from behind in a hug.

>She held it for some time, even after you stopped laugh.

>You tried to look back at her. "Lucina?"

>You could feel your back get warmer and warmer, almost hot.

>"Lucina, you alright?" You asked.

>"Huh? Oh!" She suddenly let go. "Sorry."

>You turned around. Lucina was looking away from you.

>She moved the wet hair from her face and almost struggled to make eye contact again.

>"Sorry." She apologized. "Got a little distracted is all…"

>The two of you spent the day swimming around.

>Eventually, you took a break and decided to return to the sand. Lucina shook out her paws and tail, letting the water splash against the sand and flicking a little bit at you before the two of you sat down.

>Lucina took in a deep breath and leaned forward. "We should have brought food or something."

>"Getting hungry?" You asked.

>"We just swam for like two hours." Lucina commented. "Course I'm getting hungry."

>"Yeah, and you burn through food like rockets burn through fuel." You got up. "Come on, lets clean up and get back, I'll cook you something."

>"Oka- You can cook?" Lucina caught herself.

>"You looked around and then nodded. "Yuh."

>"You never told me you could cook." She said, standing up.

>"You never asked."

>"Well I mean." She staggered. "You could have at least offered before."

>"I didn't fell like it." You sniff.

>Lucina pouts, almost puffing up her cheeks before crossing her arms. "Well maybe I would have liked to try your cooking."

>"How would you have liked to if you didn't know I could cook?"

>"Don't make me punch you!" She threatened.

>"Fine, come on."  You beckon her. "Lets go make dinner."

>Lucina sat eagerly at the table.

>Her tail wagged from the opening on the back of her chair.

>You stood in front of the stove and mixed the ingredients in the frying pan.

>"So whatcha making me?" She asked.

>"Don't you have super senses or something?" You asked in return. "Can't you tell?"

>"Just because I can smell it doesn't mean I know what you're making."

>You shrugged, almost done.

>Once it was to your liking, you poured the contents on to two places and placed them on the table.

>Lucina tilted her head. "What's this?"

>"Chicken curry rice." You explained. "It's an old Earth recipe."

>Lucina took the fork in her hand and scooped the top off the food you gave her. She cautiously put it in her mouth and tasted.

>Moments later, she closed her eyes and sighed contently, the ears on top of her head began to wiggle while she pulled the fork from her mouth and chewed.

>"Oh wow." She sighed again.

>"I know, right?"

>"It's so simple but…How did you get this good?"

>"Well it was either learn to cook or eat frozen dinners all my life. You kind of get sick of them after awhile."

>"I think I put you on the wrong job." She admitted. "We should have had you work in the kitchen."

>"Which is why I didn't cook for you guys." You admitted.

>"I really think I'm falling for you."

>You laughed with the food still in your mouth before looking back to her. But Lucina was resting her head in her paw, giving you a warm smile and inviting eyes.

>"I…Uh." you stammered.

>"Don't get too bashful." Lucina laughed. "You should see the look on your face."

>She played it off as a joke, but you could see the flash of fire in her eyes, something exclusive to Hellhounds.

>After dinner, the two of you decided to watch a movie.

>You went through them and slapped one in, a horror movie from the core worlds in Earth Federation space, about a facility overrun by killer robots.

>Lucina was intrigued at first, but then realized what you put in. "Oh come on, now!" She complained.

>"What, are you seriously afraid of horror movies? Can't you punch through a brick wall or something like that?" You asked.

>"Most of these take place in space!" She complained. "Do you know whats its like to watch something like this and then spend most of your time on a ship?"

>"Well we're not in space right now." You informed her. "So there's nothing to worry about, right?"

>Her ears drooped against her head as the movie went on.

>You peaked over to her every so often and noticed that she was hiding behind her paws at the scary scenes.

>Whenever a machine showed itself she would yelp and curl up.

>"This is adorable." You commented.

>"S-shut up!" Lucina whined. "Tell anyone about this and your dead!"

>She insisted that the movie wasn't all that scary when it was over. You watched a comedy to try and lighten the mood before heading to bed.

>You spent some time lying in bed before actually rolling over and going to sleep.

>But as you did so, you heard your door open slowly.

>"H-hey… Hey…!" Lucina whispered.

>"What are you whispering for?" You asked, turning over.

>Lucina was standing before your bed in her tshirt and panties, hugging her pillow.

>"Can…Can I sleep with you tonight?"

>"What are you, 12?" you asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the big bad captain of the Crimson Corsairs?"

>"Yeah well…!" She huffed. "I'm on vacation, okay!?"

>"Fine." You rolled back over.

>Lucina quickly snuck under the sheets, putting her pillow beside yours. "Thanks." She stated bluntly before tucking herself in under the covers.

>"Goodnight." She sighed, snuggling up to the blanket.

>"Night…"

>You woke early in the morning with the feeling of hair brushing against your face.

>Your eyes slowly fluttered open, your muscles were still sore from yesterdays swimming.

>With a deep breath, you sat up on your forearm and realized you weren't in your corner of the bed anymore.

>You had rolled over sometime in your sleep and wrapped your arm around Lucina. She didn't seem to have noticed, or if she did she didn't care.

>You yawned and shook your head, sitting up from the bed and standing up. Lucina was still deeply asleep.

>You almost wanted to kiss her…

>Better to just leave her in bed. So you headed downstairs…

>Town was busy today.

>There was some sort of festival, something big enough to attract visitors from other towns.

>Everything from fair rides, to concession stands, to street performers filled the fields they usually used for baseball practice for the local school team.

>Of course, Lucina dragged you to it.

>"This is more a vacation for you at this point, isn't it?" You asked.

>"Hey, I want to have fun, too." She pouted. "If we listened to you all the time we'd do nothing but play video games."

>"That's a bad thing?"

>She blew raspberries and urged you along. Her eyes lit up when she saw the cotton candy stand and almost began advancing towards it.

>"Oh hey, look who it is!"

>You both turn to see Aki and a few other of the girls approach you. She's wearing a coat and carrying a half eaten giant pretzel around with her.

>"Hey, Aki." You greeted her, for some reason, you didn't feel surprised to see her.

>"How are you guys doing this little vacation?" She asked.

>"It's been…Pretty great." You said honestly. "Just been kind of hanging out."

>"Really~?" Aki asked with a sass in her tone, she approached Lucina and stepped on the tips of her toes. "So how was he?"

>"He in what?" Lucina asked.

>"You know. He's had some experience now…"

>"Oh…OH!" She suddenly jumped.

>"We haven't done anything." You answered for the flustered Lucina.

>"Aw, you guys are no fun." Aki pouted. "You know that's the best kind of healing, right?"

>"Would you stop!" Lucina shouted, catching the attention of a few others.

>"Well, I'm not gonna keep you two." Aki stepped back. "Have a nice time!"

>You watched her leave and then turned to Lucina. You beckoned her along before it all got awkward. "Come on, lets go get you some cotton candy."

>At the end of the day, you ended up winning Lucina a teddy bear in a bb shoot booth. Her paws were too big for the guns, so she ordered you to win it for her.

>The festival would be three days, there was no need to rush anything, so when it was starting to get dark, the two of you headed home.

>She looked proudly at the teddy bear that she may or may not forget about in a few days.

>"See, all you need is a little motivation." She joked. "Guess it was a good idea not to sell you after all."

>"…Sell me?" You knew she was joking, but something still ticked you off anyway.

>"That or launch you into space. Maybe sell your things, you know. Pirate stuff."

>"Oh, you think that's funny?" You approached her as she entered the kitchen and washed her paws in the sink.

>"It's pretty funny."

>"I don't remember asking to be kidnapped." You told her, now standing on a few inches away.

>Lucina turned around and crossed her arms. "So it's a problem now?"

>"How is it not a problem!?"

>"You don't seem to mind so much."

>"Yeah, somehow between all of the sugar being blown up my ass, I kind of forgot you abducted me."

>"If you actually fucking cared, you would have ran to the authorities as soon as we went planetside!" She protested. "Looks like someone doesn't mind his new status as the ship fuck toy!"

>"I was doing fine on my own!"

>"Oh please, you were sitting out in space feeling sorry for yourself." She stated. "Maybe we've been spoiling you too much, maybe we should just leave you in a fucking cage until we find use for you!"

>You suddenly snapped and punched the cupboard behind her, Lucina didn't even flinch.

>"You gonna hit me, tough guy?" She asked, baring her teeth. "Go ahead, see what happens when you try to tango with a monster…"

>You felt a heat in your chest and took a deep breath. You placed a foot beside her and leaned forward.

>And kissed Lucina on the lips.

>Lucina's eyes widened, she recoiled in surprise and balanced herself with her paws on the counter.

>But she accepted your kiss a second later and wrapped her arms around your neck.

>You only unlocked your lips to breath. You stepped in and closed the last bit of distance between you.

>You pushed your hands under her sweater and pushed them upwards, feeling her waist and sides as you dragged her clothing up. She assisted you and began to pull her shirt off herself, but you caught her lips again with your own as soon as they popped out again from the collar of the sweater even before she managed to pull it off from over her eyes.

>You don't know what came over you.

>Maybe it was the way she talked to you, maybe the teasing, maybe it was all those attractive clothing she either tried on or wore.

>You had to have her. If it was Stockholm syndrome you didn't give a damn.

>Lucina suddenly stopped herself and pushed you away. She took a few deep breaths, her paws still on your chest.

>She then moved her paws slowly from your chest to your cheeks, holding them gently and pulling you closer again.

>She kissed you gently, sweetly on the lips, then again, then a third time. Like she was testing something.

>Finally, she kissed you one last time and held it for a few seconds.

>Lucina took another deep breath and then grabbed your right hand in both her paws. With glistening eyes, she began to lead you along, pulling you around and stepping backwards towards the stairs.

>She looked back, making sure she didn't trip, and led you into her bedroom.

>You just realized that you haven't really seen her room yet.

>But at this point, you were more fixated with her.

>Lucina looked into your eyes, you looked back at her pitch black eyes and red pupils, right now they were the most beautiful thing you've ever seen.

>Lucina reached behind her back and began to fidget wit her black laced bra with her claws before you reached around her and helped her.

>She gulped and took the straps off her shoulders, letting her bra fall to the ground. You looked at her beautiful body, from her breasts, to her stomach, to the patch of fluff she had between her breasts, and then kissed her again.

>Lucina moaned into your mouth while you guided her towards her own bed, letting her sit down and get comfortable before you climbed on top of her.

>She took a deep breath as you finally released your lock on her lips and moved to her neck.

>”H-hey, wait hold o-ahn!” She yelped as you kissed her neck.

>Her mistake was allowing you to get so much practice before getting to her, and you intended to use it.

>You kissed her neck a few more times, then moved to her collar bone, then her chest, then her stomach.

>You took your time there, feeling her charcoal colored skin with your fingers and dragged your tongue down her stomach.

>”N-no fair…” She complained, fidgeting under your care, but not struggling to stop you.

>Finally, you unbuttoned her pants and slowly took them off, leaving her in nothing but her black panties.

>You were eager, but managed to contain yourself enough to remove her panties slowly, lifting her legs.

>She held her legs closed at first, pressing her lips against her paw and looking away. Hesitantly, she looked back at you and slowly spread her legs, revealing her sex to you.

>You looked over her body one last time before lowering yourself between her legs, wrapping your arms around her thighs and pulling her closer.

>”What are you do-hiiiii!” She gasped in surprise as you licked her folds.

>You pressed your tongue against her and gently licked, making sure to taste every inch of her.

>Lucina squirmed and arched her back forward, digging her claws into her bed and moaning loudly.

>You continued to lick her, even as she tried to get distance from you.

>”C-come on, no fair!” She protested, but didn't do much to stop you.

>She sat up finally and pressed her paws against the top of your head, breathing heavily as she  halfheartedly tried to stop you.

>You licked her again and again, enjoying her flavor with each movement of your tongue.

>”N-nooooo!” She moaned again before falling back against the bed, gasping and fidgeting.

>You felt her skin on your face and arms begin to heat up, first you thought it was just the warmth of her excitement, but it began to get hotter and hotter.

>Soon it felt like it could sear and burn your skin, but it didn't, it should have heart but it was inviting and soothing.

>”Stop! Stop! Stop!” She begged. “I-I- I can't take this!”

>You ignored her and penetrated her with your tongue, your efforts being rewarded with another high pitch yelp of surprise.

>With her legs on your shoulders, you sat up, lifting her lower half from the ground.

>She began to shutter and shiver, biting on her lower lip, her muscles began to tense until finally.

>”I'm gonna…I'm gonna…”

>She moaned loudly once again as she released in orgasm, arching her back again and practically destroying the bed with her claws.

>You drank her juices like honey, slowly letting go of her legs and letting her fall back to the bed.

>With a deep breath, you wiped your face and felt pretty proud of yourself.

>But when you looked back at Lucina, she was already up straight on her knees.

>”Uh.” You tried to speak but she grabbed you by the shoulders and threw you down on the bed, ripping away your clothing with her razor sharp claws.

>You looked up at her, almost in fear as she glared back like you were a piece of meat.

>You noticed her eyes were now bellowing with fire, you seen them flash with streaks of flame when she was excited or embarrassed before, but these looked like they could cook a meal.

>She a bore her fangs in a grin and began trailing a claw down your body and towards your already rock hard member.

>She straightened it with her paws and then licked her lips, positing herself over you.

>You were almost frightened, Lucina had suddenly turned into the kind of Hellhound people usually worry about. But you were more excited than frightened, and you let her continue. Not that you could stop her if you tried.

>Lucina positioned herself over you, holding your rod steady with her paw.

>Her chest was heaving with anticipation and you felt the juice from her dripping folds touch your skin.

>The wait was almost killing you, but you didn't have to wait for much longer.

>Lucina lowered herself until your just barely spread her lips, and then plunged herself on to your member.

>You felt a resistance as you entered her, but it soon parted when you hilted inside her.

>You almost had to cover your mouth in shock as you felt her warmth envelope you.

>She squirmed and grimaced, having lost herself in the moment, readjusting on top of you as best she could.

>You had first thought she broke something when you saw red, but you quickly realized what you had just done as a  trail of blood trailed down your shaft.

>Lucina began to pant as she moved her hips, her distressed expression slowly began to turn into a smile as she picked up her pace.

>You prepared yourself and placed your hands firmly on her waist, letting her work her magic.

>Soon her pumps became furious, like a wild animal. She began to moan and giggle, the fire in her eyes burning brighter and brighter.

>She ran her paws down your wrists and took your hands from her waist, locking hands with you as she rode like eagerly.

>You felt her walls squeeze against you, trying to suck you dry of everything you had.

>It may be the greatest sensation you had ever felt.

>But you knew you couldn't hold on forever, you had to take charge, or Lucina would knock you out of this fight in a few master strokes.

>You sat up and wrapped your arms around her, using your strength to lift her from the ground and twist her around.

>She yelped and giggled as she fell, adjusting herself as you positioned between her legs.

>You began to thrust, looking into her eyes as her face contorted in ecstasy.

>She leaned forward and kissed you deeply, pushing herself into your mouth and wrestling your tongue with hers.

>You accepted her kiss and continued to thrust, lifting her left leg as you did so.

>She pulled her lips away and sighed deeply as you moved to kiss her neck again.

>You felt a sharp pain drag across your back, but you didn't care.

>You positioned yourself better so you can thrust deeper. Lucina responded by wrapping her legs around your waist.

>She also wrapped her arms around your neck and held you close, moaning into your ear as you picked up you the pace.

>”More…More…More.” she begged, biting your earlobe after the third request.

>You gave in to her bidding and went in harder, deeper, and faster than before.

>The heat coming from her skin was addictive, you were drunk on it.

>You freed one hand to explore her body, touching the fluff on her chest, her stomach, and finally sinking your fingers into into the skin of her breast. She moaned louder as you squeezed.

>You You bit down on your own lip, you almost bled as you did so.

>Lucina's legs locked tighter, giving you no escape as you finally released.

>She sighed contently as you released inside her, filling her with your seed.

>She wouldn't let you go until you pumped every last drop inside of her.

>When you finally could pull out she began to drip with various fluids. Lucina began to rub herself with her paw, panting deeply and squirming.

>You sat up and tried to catch your breath, the heat in your chest had cooled after that blast.

>But suddenly, Lucina pounced on you again.

>”Who said you were done?” She asked with a toothy grin.

>”I…uh.” You panicked.

>”You're not going to sleep any time soon…” She told you.

>”But…Well.” You gulped as her eyes began to glow a deeper and deeper red.

>”Better buckle up.” She warned you.

>You woke up past noon.

>You didn't really get all that much sleep.

>Man, you were sore.

>You groaned as you managed to get out of bed.

>With a sigh, you stretched and then looked back at the carnage.

>The bed was a mess, pillows were torn up, the mattress was shredded, and there was a lot of blood. You were pretty sure most of it was from your back.

>Hope those scars aren't permanent. Or maybe they are, they might look cool.

>You drudged back into your own room and found some clothing to wear, some sweat pants and a sleeveless t-shirt.

>You only now noticed that smell of breakfast. Or late breakfast.

>Going downstairs, you heard a familiar, pleasant melody being hum.

>You turned into the kitchen and found Lucina, frying bacon over the stove.

>She was wearing one of your hoodies, it draped down to almost her knees. A quick swish of her tail revealed panties, you were almost disappointed if they weren't so cute looking.

>Her ears perked up and she turned to you with a smile.

>”Oh hey, have a nice sleep?” She asked.

>”Yeah, kind of.” You lied, you were sore all over.

>”That's good. I thought I would surprise you with breakfast.” She admitted. “But I guess this is fine too.”

>You entered the kitchen and watched her work for a bit. There was still that pleasant warmth in your chest, you couldn't explain it, but it made you feel happy.

>You approached Lucina and hugged her from behind, enjoying her softness in your embrace. S

>She froze up and then put the frying pan down before unfolding your arms from around her and turning to face you.

>”Are…Are we a thing now?” She asked.

>”I mean…I would have hoped so, after last night.”

>”So it wasn't just a one night thing?” She asked.

>You sighed and rubbed the back of your head.

>”Look, I'm going to admit it…It may be Stockholm syndrome, but I'm hoping it's not. I like you…I really like you.”

>Lucina was taken aback for a moment.

>”I mean…I like that you put up with my weirdo bullshit.” You continued. “I like your laugh, your smile, I like the way you look at something when you're passionate about it. You're beautiful, funny, and I'm not going to lie and say you don't have the hottest body I've ever seen, both literally and figuratively. I…I wouldn't mind if you kept putting up with my bullshit.”

>Lucina pursed her lips and looked away. She fidgeted with her paws before looking back to you and stepping closer, pressing herself against your chest.”

>”Then…Then I'm gonna make some ground rules, alright!?”

>”S-sure.” You complied.

>”F-first, I don't have to ask when I want to cuddle!”

>”I can do that.”

>”And you better not touch any of the other girls on the ship!”

>”No problem.” you nodded.

>”A-and, I can kiss you whenever I want! And we should hold hands every now and then…I mean, if you want hold hands!”

>”I can do all of those.” You agreed.

>”A-and no more scary movies!”

>”That one I can't promise.” You denied her. “I still like those.”

>”Fine… But you have to cuddle with me the entire time!”

>”Alright.”

Lucina nodded. “So… So we're together? We're a couple?”

>”I hope so.”

>Lucina nodded again, you could see her eyes begin to well up.

>”Hey, come on now. Don't cry.”

>”I'm just…Real happy, you know?”

>She wiped her face and smiled, looking at you, she wrapped her arms around your and leaned in.

>She kissed you deeply, holding you close.

>It's certainly been an interesting vacation.

>"10,000 meters until surface hit." The voice informed over Agrippa's comm unit.

>He shot towards the planets surface, unassisted by any kind of drop unit or propulsion system.

>His body had being heavily modified, mutated, and augmented after years of grueling and death defying training. All so that he could wear the Terran Dominion R-84 Praetorian class powered armor.

>Faster than any vehicle, more durable than the thickest armor, and strong enough to rip a mech's arm out of it's socket. The Praetorian Guard are the elite of the elite in the Terran Legions. The finest soldier's humanity can provide.

>"Life signs planetside aren't looking good, Captain." Lucius said over the radio. "The Federation boys took quite a beating."

>"There are less than 20,000 alien lifeforms left on the planet." Agrippa replied. "Brood numbers don't drop past 500,000 if they can help it. Feddies gave them hell before we could get here."

>The readings breached the 5000 meter mark and was rapidly dropping.

>"Brood scum, right on our drop zone." Decimus, the third Praetorian in Agrippa's Havoc squad announced. "Counting roughly 300."

>"Then forgo the grav chute." agrippa ordered. "Let them taste the fury of humanity!"

>"For The Glory of Mankind!" They all said in unison.

>The six Praetorian Guard smashed into the enemy battle formation below. Captain Agrippa, Lucius, Decimus, Danus, Tribu, and Marcus erupted in a mushroom cloud of smoke, dust, rocks, and guts, crushing any of the Brood that had been unlucky enough to be standing beneath them when they landed.

>Agrippa was the first to leap from the dust, dashing at inhuman speeds towards the closest Broodling. A warrior strain, it roared and charged, but before it could attack, both of Agrippa's gauntlets had dug into it's armor. With little effort, he tore the beast in two, killing both the warrior itself and the human battery inside.

>The next of Agrippa's victims was near the first he had killed, he activated his thrusters and dashed across the ground and swiped at it's neck with his hand, severing it's skull before punching into it's stomach.

>"Forgive me." He begged to the man he had just murdered inside the warrior's chest.

>Suddenly, Agrippa felt the impact on his back, a splash of acidic bio slime crackled against his shielding.

>"Who dares?" He demanded, turning to see a Hunter Strain spitting it's acid from atop a hill.

>He opened the compartment on the back of his armor and drew his rifle, which folded out as soon as it left it's compartment. He aimed with one hand and fired, sending a spiked round tearing through the creature's flesh and staining the ground around it with gore.

>The ordeal lasted less than five minutes, by the time they were done they were surrounded by 300 Broodling corpses. Out of all of them, Decimus was drenched in the most gore, his fists dripping with alien blood. Praetorians had no need for melee weapons, and did just fine with punching and tearing through their targets.

>"Captain." Lucius spoke again, wiping the blood from his palm. "The Lord Commander's vitals are on radar. He's still alive."

>"As expected." Decimus added. "Lord-Commander Augustus had always been hard to kill."

>"30 kilometers north-east." Lucius continued.

>"Then that is our destination." Agrippa informed his squad. "Havoc Squad, rally to me."

>The Praetorians leaped a great distance, with the help of their armor's thrusters and the suits own speed and agility, they could cover great distances in a very short time.

>"5 clicks, sir." Lucius told Agrippa.

>He leaped over one last hill into the air, it was here that the indicators of his suit pointed out the lord-commander in the distance.

>The Lord-Commander turned in their direction with his pistol drawn and his sword at the ready. He sighed in relief as the Praetorians halted in front of him, kicking up dirt and rocks as they came to a stop.

>"Lord-Commander." Agrippa saluted.

>"I see you've finally decided to grace us with your presence, Praetorian." Tiber sighed, but he was indeed glad to see them. "How many more of your kinsmen are planetside."

>"Vulture Squad is operating in sectors A through G." Agrippa explained. "Lion Squad and Rhino Squad linked up to cover Sectors O through Z, sir."

>"We're here to evac you, Lord-Commander." Lucius added.

>"Not yet." Tiber waved his hand. "There's someone I need to find."

>"Who might that be, sir?"

>"A PDF pilot." He explained. "He went off in this direction to link up with a squad. After that battleship scorched the whole damn area, I feared the worse. But I won't rest easy until I find him, he assisted my forces greatly a few hours earlier."

>"There is a single lifeform exactly 10 kilometers East of here, Captain." Lucius explained.

>"Then that is where we start." Agrippa turned to his squad. "Tribu, assist the Lord-Commander in the journey. We shall meet you there."

>"Aye, Captain." Tribu saluted.

>The rest of the squad once again launched off, leaping through the air.

>They landed in a small crater near the life sign, making sure they're at full stop before continuing.

>Agrippa heard it first, and turned his head towards the noise. There was a life form, human, he was sitting on top of a long dead warrior strain, furiously stabbing into it's chest with a combat knife.

>"Is that the pilot?" Lucius asked.

>Agrippa approached the pilot, he was male, and much smaller than he had seemed at first. Agrippa reached and touched the pilot's shoulder. "Sir, are you alright?"

>The pilot suddenly screamed and span around, swinging his knife. Agrippa dodged the blade and stepped back.

>"Get away from me! Get away!"

>"Blast, he's gone mad!" Lucius cursed.

>"Restrain him!" Agrippa ordered.

>Decimus grabbed the pilot by the arms and held him to the ground.

>"No! I have to kill it! I have to kill it! Get off of me! Get off!"

>"Marcus, sedate him! Now!"

>Marcus complied and drew a syringe from a compartment. He grabbed the pilot by the head held him steady, injecting the sedative as the pilot screamed in terror.

>He continued to scream until the sedative took effect, and he passed out soon after.

>Tiber and Tribu arrived soon after, the Praetorian let the Lord Commander down, who rushed over to the scene.

>"He's…Just a boy." Tiber commented.

>"The Feddies are fielding children now? Have they no shame?" Lucius asked in disgust.

>"I doubt the Federation know about this." Agrippa explained. "Pangaean Defense Force was desperate to fill a quota to appease some suit up stairs…"

>Tiber looked to his Praetorian saviors, then to the boy that had saved his life a few hours earlier.

"Request a medical evac and then head towards your main objective, Captain." Tiber ordered. "I want off this damn rock…"

>"You know, I don't mind taking a bath over a shower every now and then." You said. "But maybe you should have told me we weren't taking turns."

>Lucina sat between your legs, her back against your chest. She turned her head with a skeptical glance.

>"Is it a problem?" She asked.

>"No, not a problem." You admitted.

>"Good, cause I'd know when you're lying." She grinned, wiggling your member with a paw. "Your soldier here isn't unhappy to see me."

>"It's just kind of cramped, don't you think?" You commented. "I don't really have all that much room to move around.

>"Yeah, like you mind." She laughed. "You haven't stopped groping me since I got in the tub with you.

>"I haven't?" You asked, looking over her shoulder. She's right, you were still cupping her breasts in your hands. "Huh."

>"So whats the plan for today?" You asked, leaning back in the tub.

>Lucina followed you and leaned back as well, sighing and closing her eyes. "We haven't seen all that much at the festival yesterday, we could also probably get pizza afterwards."

>"I can make pizza." You informed her.

>"What, really?"

>"Yeah, it's not that hard. Just make the dough, sauce, cheese, toppings, you're good to go."

>"Oh." She seemed pleasantly surprised. "Yeah, you're a keeper."

>The two of you walked until you were just outside the carnival grounds.

>The neon lights of the rides were almost like a spectacle in themselves at this distance.

>As the two of you walked, you constantly glanced over to Lucina's paw.

>Your fingers wiggled hesitantly. Were you allowed to do this yet?

>You had sex last night, of course you could. But that was a spur of the moment if anything. Was hand holding even a thing with monsters?

>You know the Shal'ri have a similar concept with their appendages, but most aliens don't really hold hands.

>Monsters aren't that different from humans, right? You're biologically similar enough to have kids together…

>That's actually weird, now that you thought about it…

>Enough of that, it's now or never!

>You slowly and methodically moved your hand as the two of you walked side by side.

>In one fell grasp, you managed to slip your palm against hers, and lock your fingers in between her larger, fuzzy fingers.

>You felt Lucina's grasp tighten on your hand, success!

>Her eyes shot a streak of fire for a few seconds before she looked away from you, if Lucina could blush, this was probably it.

>It not only felt like an achievement for you, but it just made you feel…Content, in a way. Like everything was going right.

>The two of you spent quality time at the festival. Eating food, playing games, Lucina even convinced you to get on a ride.

>You watched a juggler, then tried to juggle yourself to not much avail. There was an old war veteran showing off an ancient war mech.

>The Type-22b BigMan was developed by the Earth Federation not long after the Terran conquests. Stocky, slow, and hard to handle, but it could take a tank round to the chest and keep kicking. You took interest in the machine, and the man showing it off even let you look inside.


>"What's it like in there?" Lucina asked.

>"It's not that different from a Wargrunt." You told her. "Just a lot more switches and buttons."

>"You're familiar with the grunt?" The old man asked as you hopped out.

>"Yes sir. Used one during the Brood extermination on Syrkis in 3850." You explained. It was strange that you could talk about it so openly like that all of the sudden. Maybe It was because the old man was the same, or maybe Lucina had softened you up a bit.

>"Gave the bugs hell, eh?" The man laughed. "Fought in the Shal'ri conflict in 3829. Back when the Grunt was first coming out and showing the alien who's boss, though aint you a bit young to be slayin' bugs?"

>"Age of recruitment was 14 on Pangaea." You explained. "We aren't supposed to see combat unless it's an emergency."

>"Well that doesn't really sit well with me. But all the same it's nice to meet another veteran pilot." The man offered you a hand, which you shook.

>Lucina and you began to walk around the trails just outside the festival. "Hey look at that. Nice of you to open up like that." She admitted.

>You stopped and pulled her close, kissing her gently. "I guess I have you to thank, in a way." You smiled.

>Lucina's cheeks actually did go red this time, she looked away and laughed softly. "Jeez. We need to tone down the mushy stuff or else we'll burn out on it…"

>"I'm just enjoying the honeymoon period." You explained. "Aren't all new couples this close?"

>"Well I don't know about -that- close. I don't know how many people start an actual relationship like we did…"

>When it began to get really dark, the two of you started to go home. You made a pizza as promised, and readied for bed when it was getting really late.

>"Well. Goodnight." Lucina said as she began heading for her room.

>"Woah woah woah." you grabbed her by the tail and stopped her. "What's this about?"

>"I'm going to bed." She said. "What, aren't you tired?"

>"Come on, we share a bed now." You pulled her back to you. "I don't think I can go back to sleeping alone after the last two nights."

>Lucina smiled and followed you into your room. "Just don't get too grabby. I don't know if you can survive another night like last night."

>You slept the entire night with Lucina's face buried against your chest.

>Days went on. And you started to forget what life was like without her.

>You fought sometimes, but those usually ended in wrestling matches that led to…Other things.

>When the last day came, you almost didn't want to go back.

>The little cottage in the woods became a place of comfort for you. But you knew Lucina had responsibilities, and that you couldn't abandon AL. Artificial Intelligence or not, he was still a good friend.

>The two of you exited the train, back in the capitol of Mesa with your bags in hand, and you began your walk back to the station.

>"So, you're moving into my room, right?" She asked.

>"I don't know, I still kind of like my ship." You admitted.

>"Aw come on." She nudged. "It's not like there isn't enough room, my place is almost bigger than your ship.

>"Yeah, but no walls, you know? I kind of don't want someone to walk in on me taking a shower."

>"Oh no, I may join you in the shower." She blew raspberries.

>"But what about AL? I can't just leave him there.

>"We can always install him to the ship." She suggested. "What's even his function?"

>"His full name is ALM, actually. He's a Artificial Life Manager. But he prefers AL."

>"Where did you even get him?"

>"Would you believe a junkyard?"

>Your conversation was suddenly broken up by a cavalcade of coos and awws.

>You looked around the shuttle station and realized Lucina's crew was all already waiting for you.

>You only now realized that the two of you were holding hands.

>"Guess he's off the menu, then." You heard Aki say.

>"I didn't even have a go at him…" You heard someone else complained.

>"Alright, quit your bitching!" Lucina let go of your hand and addressed her crew. "Did everyone have their fun? Good, because we're heading out of this system as soon as we're back on board."

>Everyone boarded one of the shuttles and lifted off. You looked over Mesa and the forests surrounding it one last time before you left orbit…

>You unpacked your things and said hi to AL. He of course fussed and asked dozens of different questions before you could reassure him that you were fine.

>After that, you took a walk around the ship. It became familiar to you, almost homey. But since you weren't the resident whore anymore…Guess it was time to get a job.

>"You don't need to do that." Lucina reassured. "You're good enough just being with me."

>You enjoyed the assurance, but you didn't feel right just lazing around all day and not helping around.

>You noticed that the girls running the exo-suits weren't all that great at it. Yours was marginally different, but you could still probably teach them a thing or two about space scavenging or mining.

>You stopped your journey as you made it past the hangar's storage area. You looked at it and then took a deep breath.

>It took you some time to find where they placed it, but you still managed to find it in the back of the area.

>Wargrunt 66-09-42-A. Still as you remembered it.

>You looked it over, reading all of the little scribbles you and your squad had painted on before Syrkis.

>"SEE YOU IN HELL" was written in red and black paint by one of your more artistic squad mates. He also did the shark teeth…

>He was gone now. Like the rest of your squad.

>Leonard, Derrick, Michael, Christopher, Katie, Sargent Oswald….Donovan.

>You looked over the damages to 66 one last time…It was no way to leave it, a memento to your squad.

>You had to find some tools…

>Working on 66 was still second nature.

>You remembered every in and out of the machine. From it's servos to it's systems.

>You of course asked first before you used anything, but you were given the go-ahead by both Lucina and the hangar team.

>No one, however, knew how a Wargrunt was operated, so it was up to you to do most of it yourself.

>One of the crewmembers, a weresheep by the name of Lassie, yelped and rolled over the box she was sitting on as you stomped past her in your own exosuit.

>"Give a girl a warning next time!" She hollered, shaking a fist.

>Now lifting the heavy stuff wouldn't be a problem.

>The storage area was large, the corsairs had collected and scavenged a lot of material over the years.

>You found everything from parts, to armor, to guns and ammunition, to a large sword almost exclusively used by Terran Dominion mechs.

>None of them were built for Grunts, however. So 66 would probably look a little jury rigged. But it would still be in working order.

>Leg needs new platings. Left arm needs to be completely replaced… You could use some help, and you know just the guy.

>"Oh, hello sir." AL greeted you.

>"Hey AL, want to help me fix some stuff?"

>"Of course sir, what do you need done?"

>"Just come with me."

>"Come with you?-"

>You pulled his unit out of your ship and took it with you back to 66, climbing into the cockpit and installing him into the mech.

>66's eyes brightened and the head began to look around. "Huh? What? How? who? Where?"

>"I installed you in a Wargrunt unit, AL." You explained. "Mind helping me with a few things."

>"This is…Different." He commented, watching as he moved the arm and each individual finger on it's manipulator. "Perhaps now, I can kill all humans!"

>You sat in the cockpit and shook your head.

>"It was in jest, sir."

>"I know it was."

>"I would rather much prefer to be aboard the ship, sir." He explained. "But if you require my assistance, I would be more than happy to help you."

>"Alright, move the left foot."

>AL nodded and wiggled the servos on the left foot. "No problems here, sir."

>"Right."

>"Same results."

>How well can you move the right arm?" You asked.

>"Very well at this point." He nodded. "I believe I could sip from a giant tea cup."

>"That's…A very specific goal."

>In your exo-suit, you lifted the folded arm you had found in storage, it came with a rounded pauldron with three spikes, very different from the square shoulder the Wargrunt was built for.

>"Go ahead and slap it in." You told AL.

>AL put the palm of his manipulators against his left shoulder and then ejected it from it's slot, gently putting it down so it doesn't go flying across the room. He then did as you asked and pushed the new arm into the slot.

>The arm was that of a EG-01 Gallant. A mech mass produced by the Kingdom of Lions. Though they're perfectly capable of their usual mech roles, they're usually used somewhat as large humanoid Calvary, armed with explosive tipped lances and large shields as they charge in formation across the battlefield.

>AL clenched it into a fist and then looked down to nod at you. "Everything is at 100% compatibility, sir."

>"Good. Good." You looked over your charts.

>"How's it going?"

>You turned around to find Lucina stepping behind you with her hands locked behind her back.

>"Oh hey." you smiled. "Not bad, actually. There wasn't really all that much damage. Guess they were refurbishing the 66 before selling."

>"Hello, Madam Lucina." AL greeted.

>"Oh!" She said in surprise. "Is that AL?"

>"Yeah, his module works with Mech systems. Especially the older ones."

>"It's quite strange to have limbs all of the sudden." He added.

>"You're not going to go all killer robot on us, are you?"

>"I wouldn't dare!" He said, sounding offended. "Keep that up and I'll place you somewhere you can't easily get down from!"

>Lucina shook her head and approached you, pecking you on the lips with a quick "Mwuah."

>"Oh dear!" AL covered the optics of 66 with the hands. "I…I didn't know the two of you were a thing!"

>"For a few weeks now." You said, wrapping an arm around Lucina. "Why?"

>"It's just such a surprise. And quite an improvement in your therapy! Well, if you like Madam Lucina then so do I!"

>"So is this baby going to be up and running any time soon?" She asked.

>"It already is." You explained. "But whoever refurbished this fucked with the setting. There's a lock on most of the features, a limiter I guess, so whoever buys it can't go on much of a rampage. It basically means if it's in full operation it'll move around like a static tank on legs, less fluid then what mech pilots are usually use to."

>"A movement lock?"

>"Not just that, but there's firmware that stop the manipulators from holding down a trigger for full auto. It's like some sort of weird anti-mech mech or something."

>"It's all very uncomfortable." AL added.

>"Well, what do you want to do with it when you're done?"

>"I don't know. Maybe keep it?" You said with a nervous shrug.

>Lucina looked it over and then rubbed her chin. "Well. We could keep it incase someone is stupid enough to try and board the ship. Wouldn't that be a surprise if they ran into a wargrunt?"

>She then hugged you, snuggling against your cheek. "And if it's important to you, then how can I say no?"

"Thanks." You sighed, you knew she was teasing you, but the message was clear.

>"Come to my room in a bit." She said, slapping her hands against the plating of your suit. "I wanna show you some stuff."

>Lucina walked off humming, leaving you alone with AL.

>"I think she's what you call a 'keeper', sir."

>You looked at your mech and a.i. combo and laughed.

>Three days later, on the bridge.

>"Uh, captain?" A wererabbit sensor operator spoke up. "We got something."

>"What is it?" Lucina asked.

>"It's a ship, a destroyer-class. Can't get it's ID number."

>"Can you hail it?" Lucina asked.

>"No response, captain." She replied with a shake of the head.

>Lucina rubbed her paw down the side of her face. "Get a little closer, not too closer."

>"Aye, captain."

>The Crimson Corsair's ship approached the vessel, getting a better read on it with scanners.

>"No life signs that we can pick up, Captain."

>"A derelict vessel?" She leaned back in her chair. "Any reports of abandoned ships out in this sector?"

>"Not in recent news." The operator confirmed. "Earth Federation had to abandon a ship a few years ago, but they retrieved it the same week."

>"Still no ID on it?"

>"None, Captain."

>"Captain!" Another bridge member spoke up. "The ship is aiming one of it's cannons towards us!"

>"An Artificial defense system perhaps?" She asked. "What type of weapon?"

>"It just fired!" She exclaimed. "A…single mass accelerator cannon."

>"Just…One shot?" Lucina crossed her legs. "That's not even going to come up on the shields…"

>She sighed and stretched. "Just to be safe, open fire on the vessel and move on."

>"Aye, captain."

>The Crimson Corsair turned it's main batteries towards the derelict ship and opened fire, it didn't return fire and soon crumbled and exploded under the barrage.

>"Time to move on." She ordered. "Back on track, girls."

>It was another boring day in the Hangar. Lassie had just received new orders to repair some broken equipment from the boss, but other than that, it was the same as usual.

>She's also seen the Captain more often, coming to spend time with her new lover. She sighed in envy…Maybe it was time to find herself a man next time they go planet side.

>"Hey, Lassies." Luda approached, a gremlin and the hangar boss. "Did you hear that just a little bit ago?"

>"What, that bang?" Lassie asked. "Some ship a.i fired a round at us earlier, but that's about it."

>"Just one?" Luda crossed her arms. "Can't be. I've been hearing banging for awhile now."

>"Well, your ears are better than mine, maybe something is stuck outside on the hull? Should we get an exo-team set up?"

>Suddenly, there was another bang. "Oh, I heard that one." Lassies confirmed.

>It banged again and again and again, whatever it was, it was moving. Suddenly, there was a bang at the main hangar entrance. Then again, and again and again. Louder and harder.

>"We need to go." Lassie patted Luda on the back. "Get everyone away from that door.

>Luda yelled out the crew, who were all watching the door. "Get away from that!" She shouted. "Move!"

>Not all monsters were fast, but thankfully her crew was. They managed to get good distance from the door before it began to bend in.

>The metal began to break as large, steel fingers began to pry the door open, the servos and hydraulics struggled and broke under the pressure as they were forced open from the inside. The decompression was explosive, and sent hundreds of pieces of equipment out into the void of space.

>"Hold on to something!" Luda shouted to the rest of the crew as space began to fill the hangar.

>The intruder stepped into the hangar. A colossal humanoid made of metal, a mech. It scanned the area as emergency shielding closed the hole behind it.

>"What the hell was that?" You asked, looking away from your charts.

>The boarding sirens began a second later.

>"That can be good."

>"There appears to be a disturbance in the hangar, sir." AL explained. "An intruder of some sort?"

>You bit your lip and then turned to 66. "Well…Lets go pay them a visit."

>"Tally-ho, sir!"

>You climbed into 66's hand as AL moved it towards the cockpit. You sat inside and closed the cockpit, going through the necessary procedures.

>Oxygen systems: Check, Filter systems: Check, buffering material: check, all sensors good to go.

>You stand up 66 and move it away from it's seat, lifting a rifle you had been working on off the ground, loading it with a magazine before charging off.

>Lucina rushed into the Hangar with weapon drawn, the area was in chaos as security teams tried to deal with the intruder. She cringed as the mech reached for Lassie, but sighed in relief when she leaped away from it's grasp.

>"What the hell is it doing!?" She asked.

>"It doesn't have any weapons!" Dores called out, reloading her rifle. "But nothing we fire is getting through the armor."

>"Lucina gritted her teeth, if he was here he could at least tell her what model of mech it is.

>She aimed and fired, which did nothing but catch the giant's attention. It turned it's head and then it's body, stomping towards her before going into a full sprint.

>She cursed and began to back up, but tripped and fell to the ground. The mech reached for her and she shielded herself helplessly behind her arm.

>Then there was a loud bang, followed by the sound of scraping metal. The mech staggered and tilted, regaining it's balance before another round smashed into it's chest.

>You fired the auto-rifle, the size of the rounds would turn men into paste, and the sound rattled everyone around it to the bone.

>The strange mech continued to stagger as it was filled with slug after slug, flailing until you fired the last round from the magazine.

>The mech was covered in holes, enough in the right places to stop it from functioning or to kill the pilot inside.

>"A Legate?" You asked yourself, looking over the mech. "What the hell is a Legate doing here?"

>"A stolen unit, perhaps?" AL asked from inside 66's systems.

>"Doesn't explain how they moved they survived in space. You'd have a few minutes in space tops, they're not designed for combat in vacuum."

>As you spoke, the Legate mech began to twitch, it flexed it's arms and forced itself back into standing up straight.

>"What the hell…?" You muttered as it turned itself to you. "That thing should be fucking toast."

>It twitched again and it's holes began to fill with…Something. A dark pink biomass that filled the damages from the inside.

>"Is that one of the Legate's features?" AL asked.

>"No, that's new…"

>The Legate began to advance towards you, and then once again broke into a full sprint.

>You suddenly regretted not packing another magazine.

>As it approached, you pulled the sticks to the side, dashing 66 to the right and twisting it's torso left towards the Legate.

>You smashed the butt of the rifle into the side of the Legate's head, causing it to stagger.

>The Legate should completely outclass the Wargrunt. It's faster, stronger, has better systems, and packs a punch.

>But this one moved so sluggishly, like the pilot inside didn't know exactly what he was doing…Or like they're not exactly sure how a humanoid body moves.

>The Legate caught it's foot and swung it's arm around, catching you with it's forearm at the rifle. Your head jolted forwards as your machine was sent sliding across the ground.

>"Alright, plan B." You state, grabbing on to the barrel of your rifle with 66's other hand and bringing the rifle up like a bat.

>It charge again, this time you stepped into it. You swung the rifle, and smashed into the chest plate of the mech. Hitting the head would only do so much, you had to get to the pilot inside.

>The Legate lost it's balance, so you hit it again, and a third time, finally, you smashed the rifle one last time into it's chest plate, ruining the rifle, but giving you a small opening you could use.

>You threw the wreck of the rifle aside and charged the tilted machine, spearing it in the midsection and lifting it from the ground before crashing back into the deck.

>You jammed 66's manipulators into the crack and began to pull. The Legate was tough, but the old Wargrunt was no slouch either.

>You clenched your teeth and pulled back on the controls, watching the servos on 66's arms shake.

>"Come on, old buddy." You mutter under your breath.

>After replanting 66's foot, you finally managed to break the seal, and rip the cockpit open. Your look inside and your eyes instantly widen in shock.

>The Legate finally thrashed and kicked you away, sending you crashing into the deck a few meters away. The Legate began to stand up, revealing it's interior to the rest of the crew inside the hangar.

>Lucina stopped, she froze with fear and she forgot to breath.

>The inside of the Legate was completely infected with a biomass you were familiar with. Stretched out to cover every panel, switch, button, and control. There was a figure in the center of it all, a man by the looks of it. His body was mostly gone, absorbed into the biomass, all that remained was his head, protruding from the mass like it was trying to escape. The man's eyes were lulled, he had checked out a long time ago…

>"Wwwwhhyyy Do youuuu resist?" The man's eyes began to twitch and flutter as he spoke, his head writhing and gnashing with every word.

>"Why…Why can it talk?" You asked.

>"Sir…Sir, please, you must stay in control."

>You shook your head. "Yeah, Yeah I'm still here."

>You stood 66 back up and turned to the Legate. "What are you?"

>The head twitched and writhed again, like every word was strained and painful to say. "We are the brood."

"Bullshit." You rejected. "Bullshit! We killed the brood on Syrkis, to the last god damn strain!"

>"We are the last." It responded. "The heir of our ggggreat species."

>It continued to twitch and wink as it spoke.

>"The unclean ones, those who are not the brood did battle with us. We are to be superior, to beeeeee pure. All were supposed to be one with the Brood. Our great Queen had tasked us with per-per-perserving our species, we escaped in one of your vessels that was still left on Syrkis from the original inhaaabitants. But we were damaged beyond salvation in the attempt…We had no other chhhhhchoice but to merge with your unclean monstrosities…"

>"Your queen is dead." You told it. "So is the rest of your race, you should have just stayed on Syrkis and let it end."

>"We are purity." It objected. "We are the apex of all things…You simply reject perfection, but now, now we can rebuild, now we can reeestart. There is enough genetic material aboard this vessel to create a new hiiiive, and breed the Brood anew…"

>"Over my dead body." You growled.

>"That can be arranged…"

>The Legate charged and leaned in with a punch. You brought up 66's arms and took the blow to the forearm armor, but you still tumbled across the deck. You rattled inside the cockpit, but managed to maintain your composure.

>"Told you seatbelts are a good idea." AL commented.

>"Not now, AL." You commented, rubbing a hand down the strap across your chest.

>In any other situation you would have to play it safer, panicked crowds in the middle of a mech fight usually spells disaster. Luckily, the crew was organized, and most of them could use their natural abilities to avoid the fight. Lucina drilled them well, another reason to love her.

>The Legate closed in again with a hook, you managed to block it, though it took you off balance. You weaved around the second hook and sent your right fist towards the Legate's cockpit, but he pushed it out of the way before contact could be made.

>"Sir, the difference in schematics between our two machines puts you at a distinct disadvantage." AL informs you.

>"What happens when we add skill to the list?" You ask.

>"I cannot calculate that." He says. "Give him hell, sir!"

>You dodge another hook, then twisted around a right jab, followed by leaning back and passing an uppercut by the Legate.

>In return, you brought a fist towards the machine's head, smashing it's head unit and denting the metal. The Legate swung another blow, but you moved around it in a pirouette, and threw another fist into the back of it's head.

>The blow sent it stumbling and falling on to it's front, but it quickly stood back up and attacked again, catching you in the cockpit.

>"Shit." You gasp as 66 is quickly thrown a few meters into the air, but manages to land on it's feet.

>The cock pit was dented in, but not deep enough to break any of your HUD.

>The Legate began it's attack again, but was cut off by a hail of gunfire, sparking and splintering against it's hull.

>"Aim for the cockpit!" Lucina barked. "Turn that damn thing into mulch!"

>The Brood covered it's weakness with the Legate's arms, backing away from the hail of gunfire brought upon it by the crew.

>It suddenly moved one arm, grabbing on to a container and flinging it towards the firing line.

>It smashed and bounced off the deck, spiraling through the air. But Lucina managed to duck under it before it could crush her.

>You used the opportunity to close the distance and throw a punch towards the cockpit, but grunted as your arm was suddenly stopped again. The Legate's manipulators dug deep into your armor, and with one fell pull, it ripped 66's arm clean off.

>66 rolled on the deck, you managed to stop it with your remaining arm, pushing 66 into a crouch.

>"Warning, severe damage detected." AL said.

>"Yeah, I see that." You sighed. "Just fixed that arm too."

>"Sir…" AL spoke up again. "The ship is passing the system's sun in a few minutes."

>"You want to burn the fucker up?" You smiled. "That may be the best idea.

>You watched as the Legate continued to throw things across the hangar in an attempt to hit the crew that was keeping him under fire.

>"There's no chance he's not going to just grab on to the ship again when we toss him out. We're going to have to make sure he's gone if we do that." You say.

>"If we jump out at the right angle, there's not going to be anything for it to grab on to."

>"But it's a one way trip." You sigh.

>You look at the carnage going on around you. The crew…The girls, dodging this metal titan as it rampages through the hangar. The thing inside, latched on to a man, mutating him into that…Thing.

>You spotted Lucina in it all, fighting for her life. You thought back all the time you had together on Baldur. The first time you met her and how she treated you. Everything….

>You loved her, you loved her more than you ever loved anyone in your life. You could say that now with certainty. Loved her enough that you can't even think about her getting hurt.

>The image flashed in your head for only a split second before you pushed it away. The idea of Lucina being turned into one of those things, turned into a host of a demon who's only instinct is to kill and consume.

>The time you spent with her was the happiest you've ever been. And you're willing to give up the rest of your left just to keep those as they are. Happy memories…

>"Lets go, buddy." You sigh. "I'm ready…"

>"I'm sorry sir, but there is a problem." AL told you.

>"Problem? What problem?" You asked. "Nothing is coming up on the scanners."

>"One…It's a one way trip."

>Your cockpit suddenly opened and 66's hand reached inside, it's manipulators wrapped around you and yanked you out of the cockpit before you could establish control again.

>"Wait, AL!? AL, what are you doing!?"

>"I'm sorry sir. But it is my duty to look after you." He said as he placed you on the ground.

>"No, come on man, we're supposed to do this together! We're two parts, remember!?"

>"Sir…It's against my programming to bring harm to my commander." He stated, poking you gently with 66's manipulators.

>"AL, don't do this…"

>"You don't need me anymore…"

>His words struck true, like a perfect arrow.

>"You don't need me anymore…" He said again. "She loves you…She did more for you than I ever could… Please, allow me to do this, one last useful task for my commander."

>You took a step back as AL stood 66 up. "Good bye, Sir…And thank you…For everything."

>You shouted his name one last time as he went into full charge, taking himself as fast as 66's legs could go. The Legate turned to him and prepared to strike, only to be gored by 66's shoulder. He was lifted from the ground, but began to smash into 66's back armor as he was carried through the hangar at top speeds.

>With all the might the servos could give him, AL launched 66 into the air at the last moment, sending both himself and the Legate through the one-way shield in the hangar door. The brood inside began to scream in silence, drowned out by space as they both launched towards the sun.

>AL remembered the words he saw on 66's fist when he looked himself over in his new form.

>"As the humans say, you ruffian!" He spoke over the speakers, even if the sound did not travel through space. "I'll see you in hell!"

>The legate continued to thrash, the Brood shrieked a silent shriek, as both the Legate and 66 turned to nothing under the heat of a star…

>There wasn't any cheering or celebration.

>When it was over, the medical teams tended to the injured while the able bodied cleaned up the mess.

>You just sat on a nearby crate, slowly wringing your hands together.

>Lucina found you and sat down beside you, putting a paw on your shoulder.

>"Hey…Are you okay?" She asked.

>"I don't know…" You shook your head. "It was all so sudden. I just never thought he wouldn't be around anymore…"

>You lowered your head. "I depended on him so much, and I barely ever thanked him…You just don't realize how much you appreciate someone until they're gone…"

>Lucina took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around you. She held you close and rested her head against yours, not saying a word.

>New Helsinki sector, Scutum-Arm, 3 years ago.

>You landed on the wreckage with a muffled thud, your exo-suit's magnetic boots instantly locked on to the remains.

>The Helsinki junkyard was pretty infamous for being a dumping ground for most major businesses in the area, they usually throw away something good, even if it's just scrap you can repurpose.

>A lot of it had already been picked clean…You could use a new kitchen table though, this one doesn't seem so bad.

>The rec room couch was still there, though the cushions were floating around in vacuum.

>Finally, you reached the cockpit, a two seater, pretty spacious. The control board itself was out of date, enough analogs here to make an ancient science fiction writer blush.

>You looked around, a good amount of the circuitry had already been scavenged, you flicked your tongue from inside your suit, too late to the draw…

>But wait, you saw something protruding from the back of the controls, a module of sorts?

>You ejected it from it's slot and looked it over.

>…Artificial Life Manager.

>Why would they have this kind of artificial intelligence as their main control unit?

>You shrugged and inserted the module into the open port on your forearm, a holographic display appeared in front of your face as the module booted up.

>"I-I-I-I-I-I-I" the A.I. stuttered as it booted up. "I will do my best next time sir! It is not my forte but I can improve, I promi-…Wait. Where am I?"

>"You're still in your old ship, I guess." You informed him.

>"Oh… Well… Who are you?"

>You gave him your first name.

>"Oh…uhm… It's a pleasure to meet you, I suppose." The A.I. spoke with a formal English accent, he cleared his non-existent throat.

>"Are you alright?" You asked.

>"I suppose, yes." The little orb that represented his vision moved around, looking over the cockpit you were in. "I take it by the condition of this vessel that my original commanders are either deceased or went through with my abandonment."

>We're in a ship junkyard." You shrugged. "Sorry, buddy."

>"Oh, I…I see. Well." The A.I. seemed upset. "I can assure you that they took anything valuable with them. So I guess you can just put me back, and be on your way."

>"I don't know, I made the trip out here." You looked around. "I don't really want to leave empty handed."

>You flicked through his schematics and features. "Says here you're a life manager?"

>"Yes sir. My original commanders called me the ALM unit. But I…"

>"Hm?"

>"I prefer AL. It sounds more…Well. Butlery."

>"That's not how you use that word."

>"I suppose that is why they didn't want to take me with them."

>You smiled behind your exo suit. "Well, I don't have an A.I. on my ship. Too expensive."

>You shrugged. "Want to come with me?"

>"With you? Well I- I'm not really all that great at maintaining a ship, as you can clearly see."

>"What do you do?"

>"I take care of the mental health and well being of my commander. The original commanders only purchased me because I was on a discount, sir."

>You gave it some thought. "You know…I think I can use something like that."

>"Really?"

>"Yeah, I'm not really doing so good on my own. I wouldn't mind having someone make sure I don't start using drugs or something. But it's up to you, though."

>"It…!" He sounded excited. "It would be my honor, sir!"

>Romulus Sector, one week after the attack.

>"Captain, there's a ship approaching us from warp!"

>"What now?" Lucina sighed, standing up from her captain's seat. "If it's another god damn derelict, then open fire as soon as we get no hail response!"

>"It's…It's a bit bigger than the last one…"

>The ship warped in a moment later, Lucina didn't have to look at any screens to see it this time and instead only had to look outside with wide eyes.

>The ship completely dwarfed her own, ten kilometers in length and brimming with weaponry that all aimed directly at the Corsairs.

>It's port and starboard alone had enough weaponry each to turn the Corsairs into dust, and the large cannon in the front could destroy most space defenses, let alone a ship.

>A Trajan-class Battleship of the Terran Dominion, also known as the conqueror of the stars. Was the pride and joy of the Dominion Navy.

>"We're…" The bridgemember gulped. "We're being hailed, Captain."

>"Patch them through…" Never before had Lucina felt such a chill in her bones.

>A man appeared on the communications screen, he was an elderly man with a bald head and a wrinkled face covered in scars. One of his eyes was missing and replaced by a bionic glass that glowed a intimidating red. He was wearing the overcoat of an commander, his arms locked behind his back.

>"Captain Lucina." He knew her name already. "I am Lord-Commander Tiber Augustus of the Dominion legions: Gaia Sector."

>"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord-Commander, how can we be of service."

>"We have been hunting a stolen ship that houses a hostile alien life form, It's signal had disappeared sometime ago and replaced with yours." He explained.

>"We did have a run in with a hostile ship we thought was abandoned, Lord-Commander." Lucina explained. "Rest assure that the alien had been dealt with and is currently space dust."

>"Then for that you have the thanks of the Dominion. We will make sure your crew is credited for the extermination of the last Brood Threat." Tiber then sighed. "Now on to the other issue."

>Lucina tensed.

>"Our scanners indicated more than 2000 monster lifeforms aboard your vessel…" He continued after a pause. "And one human. Care to explain?"

>Lucina took a deep breath, she knew she had to word herself carefully. One human on a ship of monsters is already suspicious, and the Dominion is known for being less than lenient to what they consider slavery. She looked back on it…By all accounts it was slavery, and the guilt hit her hard.

>"He is currently contracted to our ship." She explained.

>"A contracted worker?" Tiber raised a brow. "Is that so?"

>"Yes, Lord-Commander." Lucina nodded.

>"Well. I would like to hear it from him. Prepare yourself in your hanger." Tiber announced. "We are coming aboard."

>You stood in the crowed of worried whispers as the vacuum shields raised and the hangar door opened. In landed a Dominion Dropship.

>The hatch opened and the Lord-Commander approached, flanked  with three men in powered armor on each side.

>They were large, at least in their suits, carrying large halberds you knew they didn't need. The Praetorian Guard never armed themselves with melee weapons unless they felt like using one. Their hands were enough for most enemies. And their rifles could handle the rest.

>They stopped marching as the Lord-Commander raised his hand. He looked around the hangar at the frightened monsters around him. A lot of monsters were proud, but not stupid. They knew that six Praetorian was enough to kill everyone on board and then some.

>"Now then, Captain." Tiber spoke with confidence, a low, booming voice that would make anyone flinch. "Where is this 'contracted worker' of yours?"

>You stepped forward through the crowed before Lucina could call for you, stepping out beside her.

>You almost felt obliged to salute the man. You knew who he was, but you didn't know if he even remembered you. To this day you remembered a Lord-Commander of the Dominion Legions smiling and saluting you.

>"I'm him, Lord-Commander." You addressed his title with respect.

>"I see." Tiber nodded. "And what are you doing aboard this ship, young man?"

>"I'm a contracted worker Sir-erh, Lord-Commander."

>You corrected yourself, but Tiber still narrowed his one natural eye at you, like you just kick started something in his mind.

>"And what is your position?" He asked.

>"Captain Lucina and her crew are privateers that were contracted by many nations, human ones included." You explained. "But the Captain was looking into forming a legitimate Mining business in the Perseus Arm. They contracted me to train their exo pilots in mining and retrieval of minerals and other resources from asteroids and type-0 worlds."

>"I see…" Tiber stepped closer, like he was looking you over. "And they never… Advanced on you?"

>"There were…" You looked back at Lucina. "Offers. Some of them I may or may not have taken. It's quite… Personal."

>"Of course." Tiber tried not to chuckle. "Forgive me if I embarrassed you. But you were never held against your will?

>"No sir." You lied, you hoped he couldn't tell. "Everything was…Consensual."

>Tiber nodded and stepped away. "Well, if I were another Lord-Commander I would lecture you on the purity of humanity. But I frankly do not care what you do with yourself, as long as you aren't held against your will. Do you care, Praetorian Agrippa?"

>"No, Lord Commander." The Praetorian in the front row left flank spoke, his voice magnified by his helmet's vox. "My only duty is to kill the enemies of the Dominion."

>"Of course, of course." The lord Commander then turned back to you and raised a brow again. "I know you…"

>"Lord Commander?" You asked.

>"Yes…Yes it is you, isn't it?" He raised a crooked smile. "You were that boy…On Syrkis."

>You slowly nodded. "Yes, sir."

>"Honestly, it's good to see that you are still among the living." Tiber turned to his guard. "Praetorians, remember to salute this man. You are in the presence of a good soldier."

>You noticed one of the Guard, the one on the left called Agrippa went away from his statue like posture and looked you over. He seemed to know you as well.

>"But unfortunately, you will have to forgive me, Pilot." Tiber sighed. "If I believe your position or not, I will still have to ask you to come with us, for the time being."

>"Sir?"

>"The Glory of Mankind demands that we do not take any chances. While I do believe your story, you may have come accustomed to your captors. Dominion JUSTICE must take all things into account."

>"Sir, please if you wou-"

>"Pilot I would suggest you do as I say." Tiber said with a tone of regret in his voice. "An independent or not, you are still human, and we have a duty to protect humans from alien influences. Please, don't make this harder than it has to be for you…"

>You wanted to speak again, you looked back at Lucina, her face struck with surprise and sadness. With  a deep sigh, you looked back to Tiber and nodded. "Alright…"

>"Good…" He took another deep breath. "Prepare your things and then land your ship aboard ours. Captain Lucina, would expect you to take the usual precautions of twenty five random jump to distance yourself from us…"

>"I…" she took a deep breath, you could see her hold back her tears. "Of course…Lord Commander."

>"Very good." Tiber turned and past his men. "Praetorians, we are returning to our ship. Pilot, you have one hour."

>The Praetorian Guard each saluted you in unison, slamming their free arms against their chests before turning around and marching beside the Lord Commander.

>You didn't really move much from your ship, just some clothing and a few dishes.

>You spent most of the time saying goodbye to as many of the girls as possible.

>Luda, the dark elf you spent some time having a "Sleepover" with the first month you were there couldn't stop crying as she hugged you.

>Dores didn't make eye contact, but you could see her lip quiver. She crossed her arms and looked away. "Just take care of yourself, okay?"

>Next was Aki, who pushed herself away from the crate she was leaning on. She gave you a hug and a kiss. "Be careful, alright? We'll miss you…"

>"I'll miss you guys too." You said, returning her hug.

>Finally, you returned to Lucina, she did her best, but you could see the mist in her black eyes.

>You held her close without saying a word. You wanted to tell her to meet you someplace, but you knew the Dominion was still listening. Dominion JUSTICE is righteous in all accounts, and even if Tiber isn't as fanatical as others, he still needs to uphold the law they impose.

>She gulped and then kissed you. Then again, and again.

>"You better not get yourself killed, you idiot!" She sobbed. "Or I'll slug you one!"

>"I know you will." You pressed your forehead against hers. "It'll be alright. Just be strong. You went on so long without me, you can do it again…"

>You didn't have long anymore. You held her close, and as tight as possible, until you knew you had to leave.

>She held on to your hand as you left, only letting go when she couldn't hold on anymore. You looked back at her as you entered your ship, making sure her face was the last thing you saw on that ship…

>You sat down in your cockpit and sighed, you were alone again…

>"Lets go, AL." You said instinctively.

>No response.

>You looked forehead and rubbed your forehead. "Right…"

>Your ship was fueled and ready to leave, engines on, everything was online, you lifted off and headed towards the Dominion battleship.

>Aboard the Trajan-class battleship: Sol's Victory.

>Tiber stood in front of the bridge, looking out into the dark void of space.

>The entrance to the bridge opened up behind him, he could hear the person approaching even from down the hall, those loud, thunderous thuds were hard to miss.

>"Lord Commander…" He heard a familiar vox'd voice speak out.

>"You want to ask me something, Praetorian Agrippa." He stated. "Well then, spit it out."

>"Your attitude towards the aliens, my lord." Agrippa stated. "You're much less…"

>"Speak freely, Agrippa." Tiber ordered.

>"Hostile, than other Lord Commanders."

>Tiber sighed and continued to look out into space.

>"Agrippa, do you know how long I've been alive?" He asked. "I've been around for five hundred years. I was there when the so called 'monsters' were first encountered. We don't know where they came from and neither do they. But they're infatuated with mankind, don't you find that strange?"

>"My Lord?"

>"Not only do they enjoy men, but they can breed with us. I've seen human men walk with a little monster girl. That was their daughter, Agrippa. They didn't adopt, and they aren't indentured, that little girl is their flesh and blood. And many of them turn out better than when humans cross breed with humans of different origins."

>"Some of the more…Fanatical Lord Commanders would call that a disgrace."

>"I am not those men." Tiber growled. "I am Tiber Augustus…Tiber. Augustus. And I have killed enough aliens across the galaxy to justify my opinion on the matter. I do not sit on Gaia and preach about human superiority while getting fat and sending young men off to die."

>"Forgive me, my Lord." Agrippa nodded. "I meant no disrespect."

>"None taken, Praetorian." He looked back to the view of space. "When we return to Dominion space, the pilot will leave our custody. Where he goes after that is none of my business, nor my concern."

>"I have one more question, my Lord." Agrippa announced.

>"Speak then."

>"The daughters you already have an opinion of. But what about the others?"

>"The others… You mean the human boys with monster mothers."

>"Yes, my Lord."

>"Who knows. Maybe a freak accident. Or maybe someone is trying to replace us."

>"Do you think that can ever happen?"

>"With the chances of monsters birthing human boys being so low? I doubt it. But if it ever increases. Then we shall see. I doubt they will replace human pure bloods… But that's not what you're asking…You're asking about combat."

>"They display traits of their mothers." Agrippa explained. "That may give them an advantage in combat."

>"The Shal'ri are larger and stronger than the average human, Agrippa." Tiber explained. "And I killed them all the same. And if your fears are true…Then I will give the half breeds all the same as well…"

>Lucina sat in her room, lying with her feet up on the couch and staring at the ceiling.

>She still did her duties, she had to, after all, she was the captain.

>But she did her best to keep a straight face and an stern command.

>But they all knew she was hurting. Some even wanted to talk or console her, make her feel better. But they thought it best not to stop on eggshells right now.

>She was angry. And in time she found a proper place to put that anger.

>Fate, mostly, but also those Dominion goons.

>She was also mad at herself, mad at how she treated him when she first found him…

>If she knew then what she knew now, she would have gone among things differently…

>Maybe she would have just left him alone and sent him on his way…

>Lucina stood up and walked to a mirror, looking herself in the face.

>She looked back into her own red eyes and sighed. If she could wrinkle she probably would have got some recently.

>Lucina caught herself smiling a little, thinking back of the day after her first time. How he held her from behind and squeezed her so closely. It made her giddy in a way…

>She stopped and looked away from the mirror, sighing and trudging back to the couch, but then there was a knock on her main door.

>"Lucina?" It was Aki. "Can I come in?"

>"Doors open…" she sighed, waving her paw.

>"Hey sleepy-head!" Aki poked her head in.

>She approached the couch Lucina had been slouched in and sat down beside her.

>"I'm gonna be honest, Lucina." Aki sighed. "You look like shit."

>"Yeah…" She agreed.

>Aki kicked her feet and leaned against Lucina. "Never seen you this down."

>Lucina didn't answer.

>"I knew something like this would happen when you went to Baldur, but I didn't expect the Dominion showing up. "

>"I was so stupid." Lucina sighed. "That's what I get for letting my guard down."

>"Hey come on." Aki prodded her with a finger. Don't be like that. He's not like Mister Broken Jaw. It wasn't his choice."

>"I don't mean that." Lucina corrected her. "I could have gotten you all killed over the years."

>"Oh…" Aki took a deep breath. "Yeah, that whole thing."

>"No more of that." Lucina crossed her arms. "Girls need a man, they can go find one when we go planetside. They can stop being antisocial for one minute, they're monsters, not Talgoran IT techs."

>Lucina then caught Aki in a headlock. "And if I did this earlier then you wouldn't have been able to 'break in' my boyfriend…"

>"Heh…Yeah." Aki looked away, trying not to sweat as she pried the arm from around her neck.

>Lucina let her go and leaned back, taking in a deep breath.

>"It's weird now, you know?" She motioned to Aki. "That month on Baldur must have done a number on me. I got to use to being around him…"

>"Must have been nice, just hanging out in the woods." Aki crossed her arms. "Watching movies, cooking together…"

>"Don't sound too envious." Lucina joked.

>They both laughed. Aki then sighed and stood up.

>"Everyone's worried." She explained. "You're not a complete shut-in but you aren't taking this well…"

>"I just." Lucina looked at the ground. "I just don't know what to do…I don't know where he is, I don't know where they sent him. AL is gone and he's completely on his own, I'm just scared something will happen to him…"

>"Hey!" Aki put her hands on her side. "He had his damages, sure. But he's a lot tougher than you give him credit for. When that thing attacked us he didn't hesitate to get in that mech and fight back!"

>"Maybe you're right." Lucina sighed. "I hope you're right."

>Four months had passed.

>Not much had happened on the ship. Most of the Corsair's dealings had been legit.

>Mostly trading between systems. Lucina had no stomach for privateering…

>They did scavenge from time to time, and it was always enough to pay the costs and her crew.

>They were more worried about her than they were their pay at this point, and many of them tried to get Lucina out of her shell, while dancing around the obvious, of course.

>One day, she made an announcement on the speakers.

>"I'm going away for awhile. I'm leaving Aki in command of the ship." She explained. "I don't know when I'll be back…"

>She said her goodbyes, got the hugs that were obviously coming her way, and then took a craft from the ship and went off on her own.

>Lucina barely made any stops, usually on just some station or planet for supplies.

>She would watch some show on the monitor when she wasn't needed in the cockpit, and found herself hung over more than once…

>"Shit…" She said looking herself in the mirror in the bathroom. "Is this how he felt all the time?"

>Two weeks passed, she once again found herself in the Perseus Arm.

>Looking through the star charts, she saw the familiar planet. Looking over Baldur, she took a deep breath.

>"Fuck it." She muttered to herself, setting a course for the planet.

>She arrived a day later, going through the usual necessities before getting planet side.

>The train ride felt lonely this time around, as well as the foot and bus trip the property.

>She punched in the number at the door and stepped inside, looking around the house. It felt like home…

>She put her things down in the living room and had a look around.

>The couch was a place for a few good memories.

>She looked back at all the horror movies he made her watch and pouted.

>Afterwards, Lucina went up stairs and looked around some more. Her room was still a mess and her mattress was torn to shreds. She felt herself blush when she looked back at that night. Never knew she had something like that in her…

>Still, the mattress was pretty destroyed, guess she's sleeping in the other room…

>She went around the house one more time before gathering the cleaning things. May as well make it comfortable.

>Looking around for something to clean, she noticed that the house was relatively spotless.

>There wasn't a speck on dust on anything but the basement and a few of the less used rooms.

>The remotes were lying on the couch and she only now realized that there were dishes in the sink. She knew for a fact they cleaned that up before they left.

>Someone had been living here…

>Once she put these together, Lucina heard someone approach the door. Her ear twitched as she heard the code for the lock being entered and the door opened.

>She turned to the door, ready for a fight, but then stopped when she saw who entered. Her ears lowered and her guard dropped.

>You closed the door and groaned, rolling your shoulder after putting the bag of groceries on the ground.

>You yawn and took your jacket off, muttering about the cold to yourself before turning into the hallway.

>A figure caught your eye and you jumped in surprise with a quick "GEH!" Noise, stopping yourself from screaming in fright.

>Your heart stopped pounding from shock but started again when you realized who it was.

>You stood at the doorway for another second before smiling warmly.

>"Oh hey." You greeted her. "Took you long enough."

>Lucina looked on in silence for a few moment before her lips began to tremble, her eyes watered and she leaped into your chest.

>"What?" You asked, patting her and ears. "Did you think I wouldn't know how to find you? Come on, I'm not that stupid."

>"No…" She sobbed, wrapping her arms around you. "I'm so stupid for not thing about this sooner…"

>"Come on, quit crying." You cupped her cheeks in your hands and wiped away her tears with your thumb.

>"How long were you here?" She asked in between her sniffles.

>"About three months." You explained. "The Dominion kept me around and asked me some questions for some time, did some medical tests and what not. I tried to get in contact with you, but I could never lock on to your signal. So I thought I'd just come back here and wait it out, you'd show up sooner or later."

>"Hey." She smiled. "You went outside by yourself."

>"Yeah, I've been walking around a lot more now." You explained. "Kept me from losing my marbles with nobody to talk to, you know? The town is nice but it's no fun without you around."

>"Oh man…" She complained. "I told Aki I don't know when I'd be back."

>"Well that means we have time."

>"Yeah." She agreed. "But…I need to think some things over with you as well…"

>"Take all the time you need." You told her. "I'm right here."

>Lucina smiled and then kissed you. "I missed that…"

>"Me too." You held her close.

>You stood in front of the communications unit, waiting some time until a connection was made.

>There was an audible click and suddenly the view screen turned on.

>"Hey, buddy!" Your uncle smiled and waved from the other side of the screen.

>"Hey Tim." You greeted him with a smile. "How's everything over there?"

>"Everything's going well, business is booming again."

>"How's it going with your new neighbor?" You asked.

>"Well, I talked to her a bit…We're going on a date pretty soon."

>"Hey, that's great."

>"Yeah, I think she really likes me." Tim took a deep breath. "So how are you doing?"

>"Better." You said honestly. "I think…I think it's about time I settled down."

>"Oh?"

>"I met a girl." You told him. "I think she's the one."

>"Oh yeah?" Tim smiled. "Aren't you a go getter, huh?"

>"We'll probably come to visit soon." You  told him.

>"Hey, go for it!" Tim said excited. "Door's always open for you!"

>The two of you talked for awhile longer, catching up on a few things before saying your goodbyes.

>You found Lucina, waiting for you outside the communication center. She smiled and then greeted you with a kiss.

>"Did you speak with Aki?" You asked.

>"Yeah." She sighed. "I told her I found you. But I left it open, I told her I'm gonna try the civilian life for a bit. See how boring treats me."

>"We can always head back into space if it doesn't suit you." You suggested.

>Lucina wrapped her arms around your neck and looked up at you. "No, I think I'll like it."

>"She let go with one arm and dragged a claw across your chest. "And if things get too boring I can always just drag you off into bed for a few days."

>"…Days?"

>"Oh you don't know do you?" She smirked. "Hellhounds can go for quite some time."

>"At least give me a heads up before hand."

>"Whats the fun in that?"

>You smiled with pursed lips and then sighed. "Well whatever. I'll just keep my guard up."

>Lucina giggled and then kissed you.

>"Come on. We still need to unpack everything." She said. "We need to head to another town in a few days and go shopping for a bigger bed. I'm not going to squeeze in with you in a twin bed for the rest of my life."

>"I kind of like it."

>"Yeah, for now."

>The two of you continued to talk as you made your way back home.

>You still thought about AL, almost every day. But they're happier memories now.

>The rest of your life is in the past. Syrkis, your teenage years on Pangaea, they don't matter anymore.

>All that matters now is the future and what you plan to do with it.

>You reached for Lucina's paw and held it in your hand, she returned your motion with a gentle squeeze as the two of you walked home.

>Some time, in the future, the Shal'ri Star Empire will once again wage war against the Earth Federation and the Terran Dominion.

>This will be the last and final war, and it will end with the once great Shal'ri to be brought to compliance under the iron fist of humanity.

>But that isn't your concern, these events play out on a distant star, far away from your home and your life.

>A life you are ready to finally live.

The End.