The coldness of space enveloped the tiny ship as it coasted
through the void of the solar system with the trinary star located at its center.
Behind it in fast pursuit were three other vessels, intent on destroying it.
The pilot pointed the triangular ship towards a blue green planet in the
distance, cork screwing through space as lasers lit up the vacuum where his craft
had been moments before. The pursuers changed course, attempting to keep up,
but their bulky, elongated hulls were just not fast enough.
General Canes, formerly General John Zabin, cursed as a
shot finally found its mark, shaking him in his chair and setting off alarms
indicating an impending hull breach in the engine compartment. His normally
short black hair, now shoulder length, jumped in front of his eyes. He cleared his
hair, and averted his dark eyes down to the console under his hands. He cursed
again; his pursuers had damaged the navigation controls as well. He quickly
switched over to manual and set course for the planet in front of him. Smoke filled the cockpit as the environmental
controls shorted out.
“Smiley, prepare for crash landing, we’re going in and
we’re going in hard!” he yelled to the compartment behind the cockpit. A large
cat with huge ten inch sabres pointing downwards from its mouth pushed itself
between the wall and a strap.
“All set Canes,” he
replied mentally through their immortal bond.
Canes pulled back on the yoke as they entered the
atmosphere of the planet, the nose of the craft changing from black to cherry
red from the heat of the gases as the ship dove into the atmosphere. Canes was
doing the best he could to control it, but his angle of descent was still a bit
too steep, and he saw some of the heat shielding fly off of the tip of one of
the wings. Canes gritted his teeth and
adjusted the descent angle; the ship coming a bit more under control.
Canes and his sabre-toothed cat had come to this star
system based on intel that had shown a large number of enemy vessels belonging
to the Pruchocks, in orbit about the planet and both had jumped to be the ones to
do the reconnaissance as he felt that maybe a softer approach would work better
this time. The problem was that Canes
just hadn’t expected to be attacked upon immediately entering the system; this
meant something big was happening here for the number of Pruchocks
present.
The vessel shook under him again as more heat shielding
flew away from the damaged wing. Canes adjusted his course ever so slightly,
the shaking subsiding once again. He looked over at his scanner and spotted a
formation of fighters trying to intercept him from the planetary surface. This is just getting better and better,
Canes thought as he applied the rudders and drove his craft harder, heading
towards a large forest. Off in the distance he could see a temple, but matters
at hand left him little time to wonder about it right at this minute.
With the skill of a fine pilot, Canes finally levelled out
over the jungle, cruising just above the tree tops. The ship shuddered again,
sparks bursting forth from the flight console, setting fire to his clothing.
The vessel dipped down and brushed the upper branches of the canopy.
“Damn it!” Canes yelled as he patted out the flames lapping
away at his chest and groin, the ship’s engines whining in protest over the
damage caused by his pursuers. Losing
power, his craft dropped down, brushing the tree tops again, but no matter how
much fight Canes put into it, the vessel had given all it had to give. It
finally dove sharply into the ground, ploughing into the trees, uprooting them
in a cloud of dirt and foliage.
Canes stared through the shattered view port, blood
trickling down into his eyes where some glass from the broken canopy had blown
inwards upon crashing. “You OK back there Smiley?” asked Canes.
I am OK, just a bit shaken up. We best get out of here
before they come around.
“I agree,” replied Canes, unfastening his safety harness
and getting out of the pilot’s chair. He turned around and went to the back of
the ship, Smiley joining him at his side as he rooted through the survival gear
for what he would need. Packing food, water and general survival items, Canes
and Smiley exited the ship and turned to look back at it.
“Well this thing isn’t flying again,” replied Canes calmly,
taking in the fact that they had landed at the edge of a pond that was hidden
by the forest from the air. “We better hide this thing; give them less of our
technology.” Canes stared at the vessel and it slowly rose a little bit from
the ground. Before long it was floating through the air and presently was
hovering over the middle of the pond. Sweat was now beading up on his head as
he let it go and it fell with a huge splash and sank below the surface of the
water; ripples across the surface the only sign the shuttle had been dumped in
there.
“C’mon, let’s go they’re coming. Take point and I’ll
follow. I can actually feel them, they’re pretty hot and bothered that we’re
here. Must be something big going on
around here.”
You got it Canes,
replied Smiley, taking up point and slipping into the forest without a sound.
Preacher looked up at Vruta, his dark penetrating eyes
taking in her form. He stood just under her chin, around six feet in height,
his dark hair grown out so that it fell over his shoulders and down his back.
Vruta was a Pruchock, known as Huntercats to a few select
humans. They were normally the enemy of humans, but Preacher and Vruta had a history,
one that was leading him down a path that veered away from the other Guardians,
and his human loyalties. He reached up and scratched Vruta behind her tan colored
ears and then placed his hand on the side of her face, staring into her green, feline
eyes as she towered over him. Her entire form was covered in a light tan fur,
her prehensile tail sticking out behind her, curling up at the affection
Preacher was showing. She lowered her paw-like hands down and hugged Preacher,
returning his affection, shifting from foot to foot in her digitigrade stance,
the two lovers reunited after months
apart.
“I’m happy you sent me a communiqué Vruta, but what is it
all about? I didn’t understand what you were asking of me,” inquired Preacher,
still in Vruta’s arms. “And what is this place all about?”
I will answer the first question, then show you the second,
replied Vruta in her heavily accented
Standard as Preacher was still not a master of the Pruchock language. Vruta
motioned to Preacher and they started walking out of the room and down a
hallway. As you are aware, Turtron escaped the vile clutches of Canes around
the time you found me, but he had help. Much like you came after me when I was
in a mating rut, Canes’ treatment of Turtron forced him into a rut as well. And
it would’ve been lethal to him if not for a human woman.
Preacher sighed. “Go
on, I can tell there is more, and your aura has changed a lot since our last
meeting. Why is that?”
You have so many questions, follow me and we will talk. A
young Lieutenant, named Larissa, aided Turtron and helped him get over his rut
by mating with him, much as we did. What neither of us realized at the time was
the consequences to myself and Turtron.
“You mean us mating and having forbidden love? Is that
what’s happening here? I risked myself to come here and talk to you about that,
when it was understood what we had?
Vruta, I am risking my life even coming here.”
No, there is more my dear Preacher. When you saved me, you
passed your abilities on to me, like you I am now immortal and have your
powers. And as I told you, I was pregnant by you, no doubt allowed by the
nanites flowing through both of our bodies.
Preacher stopped in mid pace, putting his hand on Vruta’s
arm. “I never thought that would happen. If any of my friends find out and
trace it back to me...”
That’ll not happen. Our children are safe in my pouch now,
twins to be exact. Not a normal thing, but then my pregnancy is anything but
normal. Follow quickly, we’re almost at
our destination. Turtron also came back infected as an immortal, a victim of
Canes’ blood, blood Canes used to heal Turtron when he was wounded during his
torture session. But one reasont I called you here for was for this. Vruta pointed into a room that they had arrived at. In
many ways, prophecy is being fulfilled by our peoples together, prophecies that
have many of our kind worried. Look inside, the upper elite know of what is
going on here.
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