Her nickname is "Tanj", and she's certainly living up to it. For her, it seems, "There Ain't No Justice." As a young engineer on a tramp space freighter, this Cheetah- morph found herself the victim of a scam, sold into slavery, and trained as a sex-slave. Sold to pirates, she finds herself as a pawn in a much larger struggle. This story contains bondage, non-consensual sex, and hopefully some humor, adventure and intrigue. Adults only, please!

This is a work-in-progress, and more will be added to it Later; please stay tuned and have patience!

Tanj's Tales: Gotterdamerung, Part 1
By Kittiara
Stardate 2400.11

"Log of the Elysium science vessel 'Tachyon Questor', stardate 2799.34. Something amazing has just happened not too far off, in the Elysium system asteroid belt. We aren't really sure if it was a natural phenomenon, or an artificial one, and sadly, it happened during ship's night. Sadly, most of the scientists were asleep, most of the instruments pointed elsewhere, doing preprogrammed tasks... But initial evaluations are that something warped the fabric of space-time massively. One of the crew insists that as the event, um, ah, "blossomed" that he could have sworn he saw the event swallow something, although whether it was an asteroid, or a ship, or just a phantom, we can't be sure. The instrumentation readings are conflicting, although there's no doubt the Magnetometer went off the scale, and there was an amazing burst of Nadions..."

Felnitz watched carefully as Henson checked the I.D.'s of the furrs in the aircar. He'd seen most of their faces on the news shows, but you could never be too careful. Tanner stood to one side, his assault rifle covering the other side of the car, should someone try and get out suddenly... And Bell... Bell was a good fifty meters away, in the tower, at the controls of the dual purpose antiaircraft/antiarmor missile launcher. No, you could never be too careful. Finally Henson straightened, the retinal scanner in his left hand. Turning he waved, the complex hand signal they'd agreed upon, that indicated that all was just as it should be. Felnitz nodded, and reached down to lay his palm on the glass plate, the scanner checking his pawprint. "Cleared for Entry" he growled. The massive gates slowly retracted, and the car moved through, to stop between the first and second set of doors. Felnitz closed the first door, imprisoning the car, not keying in authorization for the second set until the first was completely closed and locked, the telltales green on his panel.

Carstairs shook his head; "he's going to scan us, I tell you..." Temborg looked across Ops Center of the Brethren's stronghold at the fox's console and shook his head; "nope; he would have done it by now if he was going to... Ten credits says he'll pass us by."

"That's some security you have here, Dr. Zarkoff!" a "Yes, Mr. President; the work we're doing, well, you understand that if any word of this ever got out, I'm afraid our own people would batter down the walls and lynch us all!" President Erog nodded, and patted the Badger on the shoulder; "I understand that, Emil, I honestly do; believe me, if the situation were not so desperate, I'd never even think of so risky a gamble as this." The Badger nodded nervously, removing his old fashioned spectacles, to polish them with an equally old-fashioned handkerchief. "Its especially difficult. After all, we have a staff composed of academics, who are loath to keep ANY kind of a secret. We have industrial scientists, who can keep secrets very well, but who are always looking for a way to siphon off some new idea to turn a profit, and then we have the military scientists, who are rabid about keeping EVERYTHING secret, even when other departments need the information! Erog nodded and patted the Badger on the back once again; "Yes, yes, I understand completely... but if what I've been reading in my daily reports is true, you're about done with the prototype device! I'd like to see it if I could..." The Badger nodded quickly, and turned, leading the way down a corridor; "This way, Mr. President... Although I do have to warn you that we're risking an awful lot, building a device on so little data, on so tenuous a theory! Why, if we're correct, this principle could revolutionize Physics! It needs MUCH more study!..."

"I tell you Larry, this station's been there FOREVER. I must have scanned it a dozen times myself. I even went "on board" once as part of an inspection team. There ain't nothing there but some dusty old miners, dirty passageways, and huge chambers of mined-out rock." The fox looked back at his pilot and stubbornly shook his head; "and tell me, Moe, how long has it been since you were on that station? How thoroughly did you search it? The way things have gone to hell back home on Elysium, the Rebels have GOT to have a base of some sort close by. And this place'd be ideal! Gotta be Rebels there, or those pirates that work with them! Lemme scan 'em just one more time. We've got some new gear; maybe we'll catch 'em with their pants down and we'll find something! Think of the Heroes we'd be if we DID find something." The weasel looked back at his copilot and shrugged; "suit yourself. Its not likely that these days the civvies are going to go complaining to anyone back home about us scanning them..."

"I'm afraid I really do have to agree with Dr. Zarkoff, Mr. President. The event in the asteroid belt was barely observed, and poorly documented. It was barely noticed at all! Scarcely the basis on which to build a doomsday weapon!" Erog nodded to the Stoat and smiled his most winning smile; "My dear Dr. Gates; it doesn't HAVE to work, although a demonstrator would be nice... It just has to be BELIEVABLE! Remember, we're grasping at straws here. At the current rate of advance, the Reds will be here in weeks, if not in days! Do you know what they're doing to the "intelligentsia"? It isn't pretty, let me tell you! If they think you're necessary, you get sent to a political training camp. If they think you're... Disposable, you get a quiet execution. And if they think you're any kind of a government supporter... well, do you remember Professor Poe? He wrote that brilliant sociological treatise in defense of our economic system? I understand he was publicly executed... I'm told they stripped him naked, tied him to a pole in the Harvata city square, and then a number of ladies in the Reds movement..." "YES, yes, please, Mr. President... I'm familiar with the incident. After all, it was broadcast every night for a week..." The President smiled; "Ah, well, we did milk their little excess for all the propaganda value we could... but never the less, I think my point is made." Gates nodded, but Zarkoff frowned; "Mr. President, I'm really not sure ANY doomsday weapon will be believable enough to stop the Reds in their tracks..." Erog just smiled; "its an ancient concept called "mutual assured destruction" or MAD for short. After all, our psychological analysis of the Reds leader... no, not Quistling, that other fellow, the one behind him... Zyloff... They say that he's only in it for the power. And if there's no one, or no thing left to have power over... well, we're confident that he'll settle for a piece of the pie, if he's convinced he can't have any... Anything to stop them from destroying the planet's infrastructure, and killing its people, anything to bring them to the negotiating table... And that's where your little demonstrator comes in." Turning, Erog looked at the collection of circuit boards, magnetic coils and liquid helium dewars. It looked more like a junkman's idea of a refrigerator, than a weapon that could destroy a planet..." Forcing a smile, he purrrred; " Is this it?"

Temborg groaned as his instruments detected the scan. There went this week's beer money. Running his eyes over his console again, the Bear frowned. "Hey Carstairs. Quit gloating and come look at this spectral scan. That recon ship just hit us with something new...

Ben pressed his earpiece deeper into his ear and then nodded to the disembodied voice; "Yeah, you're right. That might have compromised our camouflage. Better divert a ship to deal with that recon ship. Do it quietly. Make it look like an accident... No, I don't know how; this is a mining area; asteroid mining's a dangerous occupation. There's got to be SOME sort of accident we can use! Use your imagination!

Curly looked at the display and scratched his head. "I dunno, guys," the Chihuahua yipped; "I admit it doesn't match the previous scans of that rock, but I'm not sure WHAT this means. Yes, they've got a lot more mass there than they had before, but that could be ore for the processing facility. And these areas here where we didn't get any return at all... I dunno." Larry shook his head; "Could there be any naturally occurring neutronium in that rock? Moe slapped a paw at the Fox; "if there were, it would have been there on previous scans. Either something's wrong with our brand new sensor suite, or those areas are shielded somehow from being scanned. Either way, we need to head back. The Chihuahua looked up; "you want to send a signal and let 'em know what we found?" After a minute the Weasel shook his head: "No, if someone's listening and if that IS something illegal there, I don't want to tip our hand. Besides, after that fiasco with the floor polisher, the ice cream machine, and the hospital bed, I want to make sure our gear's working right before I sound off." Looking at the Fox, Moe growled; "Head for home, but... "fly casually"...

Rand looked at the comm console and scratched his head; "Hey, Ingersoll! You see this? They want US to go intercept an Elysium Recon ship! They think it got to sniffing too close to the base! The Raccoon looked up from his console and nodded; "Yeah, I saw it. I'm on it!" The Ringtail frowned; "you are? Whatcha gonna do? Aren't those ships armed?" Ingersoll just grinned; "Yeah, they are, but we're not exactly helpless ourselves, even if we are just a mining ship. I think we're going to play some billiards..."

"Attention all ships in Sector 423.779.175, this is the mining ship "Crusty's Wet Dream", registration number HQA779VB. We've, ah, had a small incident; a magnetic grapple has failed on us, and we've lost our load of ore. We got loose rocks, on multiple vectors, headed roughly, um... 253 mark 128. Be on the lookout; we'll get 'em rounded up as soon as possible."

Rand shook his head at Ingersoll; "those rocks aren't moving fast enough to damage anything! What you playing at? The Raccoon just grinned; "you'll see; now see if you can find me about a one metric ton rock. Pick it up with the tractor beam while I maneuver the ship...

Moe slapped the fox on the back of the head; "you hear that report?" The Fox looked around and growled; "Yeah, I heard it. Got'em on the scope. They'll pass close to us, but we'll be OK. Looks like they're going to loose their profit on this one, though; they'll burn up a helluva lot of fuel trying to reclaim all those "hazards to navigation!" The Weasel sneared; "and I suppose you think that mining ship is some sort of Rebel or Pirate attack craft trying to stop us from reporting our scan?" The Fox looked over his shoulder again at the Weasel, turned to look at his scope and then turned back; "Well... could be!" Moe just growled and smacked him on the back of the head again.

"now this is the tricky part" Ingersoll whispered, as he stared at the nav console. The Wet Dream had been boosting at high G for several minutes, flying a serpentine path, ostensibly using the tractor beam to recapture lost rocks. Watching the "firing solution" work itself out in the Nav computer, Rand shook his head; "you know, if you miss, they'll know we're after them." The Raccoon just grunted; "I don't miss..."

Unlike the adventure movies, the computer, once it had been correctly told what to do, sequenced the events. The mining ship went into a tight, high-G turn, and at the appropriate instant, the tractor beam snapped off, releasing a roughly egg-shaped rock on a carefully calculated trajectory. At this point, the mining vessel's velocity was an appreciable fraction of the speed of light. The rock screamed across the system's asteroid belt, and impacted squarely with a rock twice its size. The result was a hail of fragments, the majority of which were on a course that was the sum of the two vectors.

Larry YELPED and started slapping keys on his console as the collision alarms started hooting. The intercom came on, as Curly started yapping from down in Engineering, demanding to know what was going on, as Larry tried to cram the throttle past the stops. Moe watched the sensor console silently, eyes widening. The Nav console had calculated vectors on most of the rock fragments and more than one of them were bound to hit, no matter how they maneuvered. And the velocity was more than sufficient to blow through their shields... Just before the hail of rocks hit, he looked down in amazement; seeing death coming straight at them with kinetic energy far beyond what their shields could stop, he'd lost control of his bladder...

The Cheetah male was walking a little funny as he made his way towards Medical, but it wasn't his stride that was attracting attention; it was the way he was dressed. Or not dressed as the case was. While it was not uncommon to see completely nude furrs on the Brethren's station, or furrs fully dressed in everything from evening wear to combat armor, someone dressed in only a diaper WAS just a little unusual. Especially for an adult. Hinoki drew more than his share of glances and the occasional snicker...

Sticking his head through the doorway to Medical, he scanned the room. There was little distinction between a waiting area and the curtained "Triage" sections of the "receiving" area. In a more formal hospital, this might be deemed the "emergency" room, but on a pirate base, most medical situations were of the "emergency" nature... A couple of waiting furrs looked up curiously, but the Cheetah ignored them as his eyes searched for the one he was looking for... Finally spying her, he slid through the door, and moved as quickly and as quietly as he could up behind her...

"Pardon me, Mistress..." Hinoki began... Wanda, not expecting anyone behind her, jumped a foot; the tray of used medical instruments clattering. "Hinoki, don't DO that to me!" The Cheetah male looked crestfallen; "I'm SORRY, mistress, but... uh, well, um... I uh." Wanda smiled and shook her head, "Let me guess; your diaper needs to be changed, and you can't find Tanj?" Hinoki looked down and nodded sheepishly. Wanda smiled and nodded, "All right. Bay four. Leave the curtains OPEN. I'll get the key and be there in a minute...

Hinoki stood by the standard medical type bed, looking around. He was in his eighth day of "punishment" by the Lion, forced to wear diapers, and to a large extent, at least while not on duty, to be treated as an infant. It was both the most embarrassing punishment and the most delightful thing that had ever happened to him. Hearing the rattle of wheels, he looked up to see Wanda in her scrubs and Kath, in an almost translucent white parody of a nurse's outfit headed his way. On an IV stand, were three large hot water bottles, and as he saw them, his heart leapt and his stomach seemed to drop towards his feet. Kath smirked, waving a rather large stainless steel basin at him and just nodded...

Kath scowled with mock ferociousness, "Oh, hold STILL!" As if Hinoki had any choice in the matter. After Wanda had used the "key" to release the tabs of his diaper, the Wolverine lass had pulled his ankles up over his head, using Hospital restraints to tie them to the rails of his bed on either side of his head. This had lifted his rump nicely from the sheets. His wrists were bound in a similar manner to the side rails of the bed, preventing him from shifting. Both Wanda and Kath had made disgusted sounds as they'd pulled the dirty diaper away from his rump, drawing stares and snickers from the waiting "patients"... As Kath used some disposable wipes to clean his fur, Wanda stood back, arms crossed, and "supervised... Finally the Wolverine lass declared him "clean" although Hinoki was sure Kath had scrubbed all the fur from his bottom. "Very well, Kath, administer a three liter enema, to make sure he's clean, and then we'll re-diaper him..." Hinoki watched, a wry grin on his face as Kath prepared the enema tube... and then the hard plastic was forcing its way into his ass, and Kath was removing the tubing clamp, allowing the fluid to flow into his bowels...

"Nurse! Come QUICK!" Suddenly a commotion at the door caused Hinoki to squirm, to try and see past his own body. Something was happening at the doorway; two furrs in maintenance overalls were holding a third, who was bent over, both paws covering one eye. Blood was trickling down between his fingers. Wanda was beside Dr. Nyborg in an instant, helping the injured furr to one of the triage areas. Then the curtain was being pulled... After a few moments, Kath bustled out, her legs moving rapidly under her too-tight skirt. She returned after a moment, pushing a cart laden with instruments. There were mumbles, quiet, desperate, hushed words as the team worked... The only distinct words Hinoki heard was "Damn it, I KNOW its not magnetic; if it was, this wouldn't be so difficult!"

Hinoki felt his stomach grumble again... he'd been lying there for a LONG time. They'd hustled the injured fur out of the triage room, off to an operating room, he'd assumed, and medical, or at least this part of it, had gotten awfully quiet... If he could have, he would have released the enema tubing on his own, "Come on, Kitten" he growled to himself; "you've taken more than this, for longer than this. You can take it!

Captain Schleeman looked at the Leopard and frowned. There just was something... "off" about him. Maybe it had to do with his bearing. The clothes he wore were well worn, slightly out of fashion civilian garb, suggesting a common tradesman... but he wore them as if they were a uniform. He sat too erect on his barstool. His fur was trimmed too neatly. And his eyes were never still, darting here and there as if searching for enemies, evaluating and reevaluating the tactical situation... Still, the money he offered was enough to make most forget their questions. In a time when some were starting to seek ways to leave Elysium, offering amounts of money beyond the normal cost of passage, this was a princely sum. And the promise of information on Elysium Defense Force patrols... Simply incredible. An almost unbelievable opportunity for someone who might want to do a little smuggling... Nodding slowly, Schleeman whispered; "Get me that schedule and you've got yourself a deal." The Leopard straightened and nodded, his eyes fixed on the Otter; "My tr... ah, associates will bring the cargo by tomorrow. I don't care what else you load on your ship, what ... "passengers" you might embark... Just make sure my cargo is untouched. Undisturbed. And follow the flight plan I give you; it'll be the safest way out of the system." Schleeman, thinking of how some folks were starting to get desperate, rare, or unusual goods coming on the market at firesale prices, thinking of what other cargo he might load, what passengers he might take on, just nodded. When he looked up, the Leopard was gone.

The Zebra fem was wearing an abbreviated flight suit; she stood just inside the door, which had opened with a crash, looking around. Somewhere along the line, the waiting furrs had either gotten what they needed, or just figured they'd better come back another time, and had wandered off. Scowling, the Zebra looked around, as if wondering where everyone was... And then her gaze found Hinoki...

Hinoki looked up at the fem as she approached. Her tight vest barely contained her breasts, and was covered with bulging pockets. It gave her a lumpy look. Her camouflage pants were frayed and skin-tight, and as she moved, he wondered if those slashes were strategically placed or just happenstance. The combination of camouflage and her natural black and white striped pattern was a glaring contradiction. She stopped, standing a foot or so from the side of his bed, to stare down at him, hands on hips. "Well look at you! Aren't YOU in an interesting situation! What happened here? Where IS everybody?"

Hinoki was having a hard time dragging his eyes away from her tits, but somehow he managed to shift his gaze to her face; "Um, they had an emergency; someone from Maintenance got hurt bad. I think they must all be in the operating room..." The Zebra nodded; "unprofessional of them to leave the place without staff like this. What if someone else got hurt?" Hinoki bit his lip, and then ventured, "Um... Are YOU hurt?" The Zebra chuckled, "Me? Nah, just need something for a recurring yeast infection." Looking back down at the bound Cheetah, the Zebra grinned; "and what brings YOU here? You look like... Say... I know you! I saw the video feed of the Boss punishing you for something or other... Aren't you the one condemned to wear a diaper for a month or so?" All Hinoki could do was nod his head mutely...

The Zebra chuckled, "I thought so... well, I tell you, Cat, I got some time to kill, and I might as well wait until the medical staff comes back... And since you're being punished..."

Baskins looked from the clipboard to the Otter and back; "I dunno, Skipper, this is going to have us pretty well overloaded. We're a good bit past the safety margins." "Oh, calm down, Chuck," Schleeman chuckled; "It should be a smooth run out, if the Leopard's route is all he promises it will be. We won't need heavy acceleration or sudden maneuvers." Baskins shook his head; "you trust him? You believe this course of his will let us evade not only the Elysium forces, but the pirates too?" Schleeman grinned and nodded; "Yeah. No one pays that kind of money to ship out a single shipping container unless they've got all the bases covered. Me, I just wonder what's in there that makes it so important? Government documents or records? Rare art objects? Secret technology? ALIEN technology? Latinum?" Baskins just shrugged; "Dunno, but knowing you, we won't be out of the system before you'll have us opening the container to get a look-see...

Hinoki watched as the zebra bent and poked through one of the cabinets by his bed. He marveled at how tight the pants went across her shapely ass as she bent over. A part of his mind wondered what she was going to do to him, but ultimately he didn't really care what. There was something so alluring about her...

The Zebra straightened, not bothering to pull down her vest where it had ridden up some; she flashed a roll of gauze bandage in front of Hinoki's eyes, and chuckled; "now be a good little spotty cat and open up; I don't want you disturbing the other patients here... With that, she shoved the whole roll sideways into Hinoki's mouth, effectively gagging him. Then, she was turning to pull the curtains, closing off his area...

Hinoki watched her as she turned back to him, both hands going to the waistband of her pants, unbuttoning the fly and pushing them down over her hips. Stepping out of them, she moved closer as her fingers started working with the buttons on her vest. The fabric was strained tight, and her task was made a little harder by the fact; as she undid each button, the fabric seemed to literally fly from her fingers as the tension was released. Hinoki watched, wide- eyed, surprised that the fabric could be that elastic. Finally she shucked out of her vest, letting it fall to the floor behind her with a thump. Grinning at him, she shifted her gaze; "now... Just how strong do you think these hospital beds are, anyway...? Climbing up on the bed, to straddle his head, she reached down between her thighs to pluck the now sodden roll of gauze from his mouth, just before lowering her sex to his muzzle.

Inhaling her aroma, Hinoki stuck his tongue out to give her a tentative lick. His bowels were still FULL, the pressure intense, but somehow it all blended into one delicious sensation when the Zebra bent to run her tongue over his sheath... and his rapidly hardening cock. As she nuzzled, snuffled, and licked, groaning with pleasure and pain, Hinoki tilted his head, to start to lick at her puckering vagina with serious intent...

Hinoki groaned into the Zebra's wetness, as he felt her tongue work over his hard throbbing cock; this one was talented; she knew just how to please a male, and she seemed to be taking great delight in showing the Cheetah every trick she knew. Hinoki for his part did his best to return the favor, licking, lapping, and nibbling at her dripping sex. He knew she should be panting, moaning, writhing by now, but somehow, she seemed to be able to put it all behind her in her single-minded pursuit of his cock... Finally Hinoki could hold back no longer, and screamed into the Zebra's muff as he came very hard!

The Zebra smiled, sucking hard on the spotty cat's throbbing cock, easily handling the volume of cum he could produce; she was, after all, used to doing this with a stallion... Still, he was pretty good, using his tongue to good effect. As she sucked him dry, pulling her head back to lick him clean, she sat up a bit, shoving her crotch into his face, "OK, Mister, you've had your fun. My turn now..."

Hinoki mewled as he licked, his tongue tip flicking back and forth over her clitty, whipping it so hard he could feel droplets of her dew landing on his chest. She was insatiable, having had at least three climaxes so far, in rapid succession. It felt like he'd been doing this forever, his tongue and jaw muscles sore... Now, he could feel her tensing again, and knew she was about to climax yet again...

The Zebra mare's sharp noises of pleasure sounded loud enough in Hinoki's ears to wake the dead. She whinnyed, squealed, nickered, snorted, groaned and whickered, extremely vocal in her passions and amazingly varied in the range of noises she made. Wondering if they were going to get in trouble for this, he continued to lick and nibble furiously... " Of course I'm all tied up; don't know how they could blame this on me" he thought to himself as the Zebra gyrated above him, grinding her pussy into his muzzle...

"Mr. Smith" looked around the tiny cabin on the packet he'd booked passage on. The place was filthy. There was actually something that looked like mold growing in one corner, and something discolored and foul smelling was dripping from the ventilation duct. He could swear he saw something crawling in the bedding... Still, on a ship like this, no one would look too closely. Oh, he wasn't afraid of the crew; he had almost nothing worth stealing on him. All his wealth was safely transferred to off-planet accounts. It was those he was leaving behind that he was afraid of. If his boss, or even some of his employees in the Ministry of Justice found out he was fleeing, they'd most certainly move to stop him. Hard questions would be asked. He might even be arrested. And if those in the resistance found out that Avery Hatchett, the "hanging judge" was on the ship, he had no doubt that they'd stop at nothing to capture him. And yet it was obvious that the Elysium government was going to loose. No matter what the propaganda organs said. Anyone with any intelligence at all could read the handwriting on the wall. It was time to get while the getting was good. Grinning to himself, he wondered what that harpy he'd been married to would do when she figured out he was gone...

Hinoki was still panting hard, his chest heaving from the exertion of such hard and prolonged licking, not to mention the aftereffects of his orgasm, as the Zebra mare "Dismounted". He could feel the fluid sloshing back and forth within his bowels as he breathed... Turning his head, he watched the Zebra mare; she'd pulled her pants back on and picked up and donned her vest. The act of buttoning it over her large breasts was more than sufficient to get Hinoki hard again... and then she'd pulled the curtain back, leaving him in full view, to walk back to the waiting area. Sitting, she picked up an old, well-worn magazine as if nothing had happened...

Baskins looked at the shipping container and scratched his head. It wasn't the first time he'd looked at it; but now that their ship was approaching the fringes of the Elysium system's gravity well, getting close to where they might jump out of the system, he had more time to consider it. It was the same size and shape as a standard shipping container, but that was where the similarity ended. Most shipping containers had corrugated sides; this one was smooth. Most had big double doors at one end; this one had a small hatch towards the middle of one side. A small recessed panel by the hatch showed indicator lights, and a string of alphanumerics over a keypad. The Skipper, Shleeman, thought it was some sort of "burglar alarm". Not that any alarm sounded out here would make a damn bit of difference. Now, how to start breaking into it? He didn't want to get a facefull of any stun gas, or get sprayed by some indelible fur dye from some anti-tampering system...

Wanda shoved the curtain back a little further as she turned the corner, and looked at Hinoki, "Sorry to have left... what happened to YOU? Hinoki looked back at the Wolverine lass, his hard cock bobbing an inch or two above his stomach, his face plastered with the Zebra's juices, and just shrugged, "Oh... you know... the usual." Behind Wanda, Kath just laughed... Wanda snorted; "Ah... Yeah. OK, lets get you taken care of and then you can explain it to us... from the start..."

The Mouse eased himself through the personnel hatch next to the big cargo door. Baskins was standing by the cargo container, deep in thought. Hefting his crowbar the Mouse chuckled and stalked forwards.

Hearing something behind him, Baskins turned; "Oh, Hey, Fred. The Skipper getting impatient?" The Mouse just nodded; "Yeah, last of those damn "People's Space Navy" ships is off the scope. That route the Leopard gave him has worked like a charm. Nothing between us and the Encina Jump point. Unless an Imperial patrol jumps in just ahead of us, we're scott-free! Baskins nodded and turned back to the container; "what do you think of drilling a hole in the lower left corner and inserting a fiber optic probe. That might tell us if its boobytrapped..." The Mouse chuckled and hefted his crowbar; "what do you think of prying open the hatch and sticking your head inside? Skipper says he's tired of waiting. Says that no one who pays that much money will boobytrap their cargo with something that'll destroy it." Baskins just shrugged and took three big steps back, and one to the side, putting a crate of rare statuary between him and the Mouse; "have at it, Fred; I'll, ah, just stand back here and watch..." The Mouse just grinned. "Coward" he chuckled good naturedly, and then fitting his crowbar to the gap in the door, he prepared to heave.

Phelps sat up suddenly in his station chair; "SKIPPER! Something's uncloaking between us and the Jump Point!" Moving with amazing speed, the Otter materialized by the sensor operator's shoulder; looking at the scope he groaned. Pirates! I'd heard there was a group of them with cloaking technology... but I'd never really believed it!"

The Mouse's muscles tensed and then he relaxed, taking a quick half step back as a high pitched whine started somewhere inside the container. Looking at the little panel by the hatch he noticed the alphanumeric string changing periodically every few seconds. The pattern was nothing he could recognize. Looking back at Baskins he shrugged; "think the thing's got a proximity detector? Think it KNOWS I'm about to take a crowbar to it? Behind the crate, Baskins just shrugged; "Dunno, but if the Skipper wants it open..." The Mouse nodded, and with considerably more trepidation, put his crowbar back against the hatch.

Schleeman shook his head; "there's no way we can outmanuver them. Even if we were empty we couldn't outmaneuver a ship like that... And we certainly can't out-gun them." Looking at the sensor operator the Otter grinned; "And I don't particularly feel like dying today. Lets talk to them and see if they'll negotiate."

Reggie grinned at Slasher and pushed the toggle on the comm panel; "Bloody Corsair to Shleeman's Sled; Why yes, I think we can work something out; We're reasonable Blokes, after all. Here's the deal. You surrender nice and peaceful like, and we'll let you keep body and soul intact. Give us something REAL nice and we might not even sell your carcasses as slaves. Delight us and we might let you keep that rustbucket of a ship. But resist in the least and you'll be lucky if we wholesale you to the Ice Mines on Vestra!" Closing the key, Reggie grinned; "Don't you just LOVE it when they're cooperative?"

Shleeman sighed and looked around his bridge; shrugging, he reached out to kill the drive, and lower the shields. "looks like its just not our day, guys..."

The growling, hissing noise from inside the container made the Mouse take another quick step back... as he stepped back he tried to pull his crowbar from where he'd been prying, but somehow it was now stuck fast...

Baskins grunted as all the metal objects in his pockets suddenly started tugging at him, as if they were being drawn to the cargo container. Eyes wide, he turned to flee the compartment.

Slasher's uncharacteristic swearing made Reggie's head snap around. A multitude of different sensors were all reporting some very strange happenings on the Packet, and now the aft end of the packet was starting to glow with a strange yellow-green nimbus, its edges visibly creeping along the hull of the ship, enveloping it. Instinctively Reggie slapped the drive keys, putting 110% of their powerplant into an evasive maneuver. As soon as the Raider steadied on course, he dialed the sheilds up to full strength. He didn't know what that freighter was up to, but he did NOT like the looks of it. And out here, what you didn't understand could kill you...

Schleeman smiled as he saw the Raider wheel and speed off, thinking that they were saved... and then he wondered what else might have appeared to chase them away... Whatever it was, it probably wasn't good for them... And then Baskins burst onto the Bridge, eyes wild. He never had a chance to speak, before a green glow filled the corridor outside the bridge.

As things like that always are, in space, the explosion was silent. Reggie watched it on the rear scope, while Slasher tried to modulate their shields to strengthen them just a little more in the rear arc. Glancing over at the sensor console, Reggie groaned. Resignedly reaching out, he tapped a key; "Brethren control, this is the raider "Bloody Corsair." Mayday, Mayday..."

The cloud of expanding fragments from the packet was unusual; there wasn't a single fragment larger than a marble, roughly one centimeter across... but all the fragments were moving at incredible speed. The hail scythed into the Raider, collapsing their shields and shredding their aft end... And then it was past, the raider tumbling end over end. Nothing remained of the Packet.

Zarkoff nodded slowly; "I'm not sure if I'm happy that it worked or not. It's a tremendous validation of our science, and of our abilities, but I'm worried about what Erog might do with it. Dr. Gates nodded and sighed; "those poor furrs aboard the Packet... I wonder what it must have felt like? Did the time/space distortion kill them before ... before the ship exploded? Or were they merely torn apart when the field collapsed? Zarkoff shrugged; "I don't know; the Encina Jump Bouy recorded some interesting data. We'll have to go through it in detail. But in the meantime, you know what Erog is going to want..." Gates nodded; "Yeah... Another one. A bigger one... Heaven help us all!"

Tanj looked up from her monitor as her boss, the old gray fox, moved into her cubicle. She'd been monitoring the rescue efforts; Reggie's Mayday had been received, and the three closest ships, two other raiders and a mining ship, had been immediately diverted. There was a lot of consternation in Ops, with some folks holding that the Elysium Defense forces had come up with a new weapon that could take out a Raider with no trouble at all. Others found that hard to believe, but were looking for an acceptable alternative answer. Of course, many questions were being directed towards intelligence; everything from "what else might have done this" to "WHY IN THE HELL DIDN'T YOU WARN US THEY HAD SOMETHING LIKE THIS?"

Pre-empting what she thought his questions would be, Tanj sighed; "No, I don't know what that was. I have no idea what caused it. There's been no indication of Elysium doing any research on any anti-ship weapon like that, that we know of." Running down, Tanj took a look at her boss, and froze; she'd seen that look on his face before, and it had never been good. Frantically, she tried to think of any area in which she'd screwed up, anywhere she might have been in error. Finding nothing obvious, nothing beyond her ability to explain, she waited for him to speak.

"Tanj, a few weeks ago... No, wait, this is perhaps a little too sensitive. We'd better use one of the conference rooms. Come with me." Tanj blinked and looked around her; the intelligence office was one of the most secure areas of the station, everyone in here had the highest clearance; what could POSSIBLY be that sensitive. Rising, grabbing her coffee cup, she padded off after the Fox.

After the door to the conference room closed, the Fox waited almost two minutes as the automated systems did a sweep of the environment. When the telltales flashed green, he nodded and turned to Tanj; "a couple weeks ago, you filed a report saying that mid-level Elysium government officials were starting to slip out, to "flee the sinking ship" as it were." Tanj nodded, "Yes, we've noticed a certain number missing from their posts with no suggestion of execution or defection. Only a few have been seen on other planets in this sector. We believe the smart ones can read the writing on the wall, and are getting out while they can." The Fox nodded; "well, one of those that left has contacted us, through some rather Byzantine back channels. He's basically said that he has some extremely important information to pass on, for free, but he wants to talk to someone in the command structure. No field agents. I've become convinced that he may have something to say, and that we should pursue it. However, I'm too busy here to leave. The Boss wants to send you."

Tanj looked at the old Fox. With everything happening at an accelerated pace down on Elysium, she didn't feel like she could leave either... Scowling, she opened her mouth to object. "No, I don't want to hear it. I know just what you're going to say. The same things I'd say if I were in your place. Save your breath, the decision's already been made. Assemble your crew. The briefing material and the flight plan have already been downloaded into your ship's computer." Tanj sighed and nodded; "Lets hope I can get out there and back before the final curtain goes up" Tanj sighed. The Old fox just nodded, and reached out to push a button, to unseal the door. Her coffee cup still full, its contents untouched and cold, Tanj exited the conference room, and hurried back to her workstation. If she was going to go on a field trip, there was a lot she had to take care of, first...

The old Fox watched Tanj leave, his eyes drawn to the movement of her ass under her thin dress. "Get back before the final show starts? Doubt that. It's already started. But what you have to do may be every bit as important as what you might accomplish here. And at least you'll be safe... Or 'safer.'"

Mala grunted as she hefted the heavy leather bag and tried to arrange her array of weapons in such a way as to carry everything SOMEWHAT comfortably. "I think I've got it all now. Right down to the last clip..." Mark nodded a bit absentmindedly, sorting little souvenirs he'd picked up on half a dozen space stations into a wooden chest that looked curiously at odds with the rest of the cabin even while she continued. "You know, I still feel a bit funny about leaving right now." The Mouse nodded again, then shrugged lightly and turned to look up at his Hyena friend. "I know what you mean. On the other hand, there's really not much left for us to do here. The Brethren aren't going to trust us with anything important anymore, and a rather vocal minority would rather get rid of us as soon as possible anyway." Mala nodded and shifted her load with a clinking of metal. "Guess I should've busted a few more skulls while there was still time...they'd respect us more then. But noooo, I had to play 'nice'..." That drew a brief chuckle from Mark, who had picked up a trashy SF novel and was looking for a place to put it. He'd originally bought that one as a gift for Zassa, figuring that it had enough outrageous sex in it to keep her entertained for a while, but no suitable occasion had really come up... "Next time, dear. Right now, let's get going - I'm done gathering data after far too long a time in basically one place, I'm definitely ready to take a break just about ANYWHERE else, and your training can only benefit from a little change of atmosphere as well." He turned his head back again and smiled reassuringly. "Besides, we both know already we'll be back. You still have some matters to settle way back on YOUR home and I definitely want to do that tour of the interesting parts of the Empire we've been talking about. So as soon as we're ready and I've set up a new cover identity for myself, we'll be back. May easily run into our few remaining friends again, even...just as long as I don't have to play pirate again anytime soon." Mala grinned. "You just say that because nobody ever let YOU in on the action..."

Tanj scanned the ops console on her ship. The airlock was closed and locked. Internal security showed no other living beings on the ship, save for her "living dress" in her compartment. The flight deck door was closed and locked and the sensors showed no listening devices. Sitting down at the comm console, she opened the downloaded packet, working her way through all the codes and passwords necessary to keep it from erasing itself. Finally she was able to look at her mission orders. They were annoyingly simple: Travel to Gibralter station. Half way there, adopt one of their cover identities. Wait to be contacted. Debrief the former Elysium Government Official, and report back. As usual, the devil was in the details. Gibralter station was the home base for the Imperial fleet for that entire quadrant. The Imperial presence there wasn't just annoying, it was overwhelming. Her cover would have to be first rate. And of course, Accounting wanted her to try and sell a hold full of loot while she was there. Documents to support ownership would also have to be beyond compare. And there on the crew list was Wanda and Kath. Kath the former Imperial Agent. What if she was recognized? What if she decided she really didn't like her new life after all and decided to turn them in? This wasn't going to be nearly as easy as it sounded... With a sigh she shut down the comm console, and unsealed her ship. If she was going to leave at the ridiculously early departure date they'd set for her, she had some loose ends to tie up in the office... And with a grin, she thought, perhaps in the bedroom too...

Tanj frowned; the comm had been ringing in Mark's quarters for a good three minutes. Long enough for him to get out of the bathroom. Almost long enough for him to get out of the shower. But there was no response. Letting it ring, she turned to her computer, asking it once again to verify Mark's location. Again it said that he had entered his cabin at 17:12 hours with Wanda, and had not left. One of them should answer...

"Wanda, I hate to pull you away, but we've been ordered on a field trip." Behind Wanda's image on the comm console, someone was being bandaged; squinting, leaning closer to the monitor, Tanj growled; "is that Slasher?" Wanda looked over her shoulder and nodded; "Yeah, they brought them in a few minutes ago. Reggie's in the O.R. Stomach and intestinal perforations from the shrapnel. It's a wonder he was able to get into his suit, as tore up as he was." Brightening, the Wolverine growled; "But he should pull through. Slasher was luckier. Or smarter. He was behind the ship's computer housing, and that's armored; he's only got lacerations." Tanj just shook her head; "I'd love to talk to them about just what happened, but it'll have to wait. We leave at 03:28 hours in the morning." Wanda just nodded; "we'll be there!"

Zassa grinned; "ooooooh, Gibralter station! I love that place! Came through there on the way out here! Oh, Tanj, there are so many good restaurants there, and some really neat nightclubs! Girl, we are going to have FUN!" Tanj just smiled; "03:28 departure time, best be there a few hours early." Zassa just nodded and grinned; "Oh, I'll be there! Can't WAIT!"

Hinoki nodded; "Kinda sudden, isn't it?" Tanj just shrugged; "I can only assume my boss knows what he's doing. Generally he does, and if he says this is important, well, I'll just have to trust him. Hey, do me a favor? The computer says Mark and Mala are in Mark's cabin. Would you go knock on their door; no one seems to be answering the comm, and I'm beginning to wonder if they "took it off the hook". Hinoki smiled and shook his head; "I still can't see them as a couple, but whatever turns your crank. Sure, Tanj, I'll check as soon as I finish my shift. Can't wait till we're away from here and you can tell us what this is all about. You've got me curious as all git-out!" Smiling, Tanj reached out and broke the connection.

Tanj rolled over onto her back, panting hard, having just ridden her Master's cock to a shattering climax. Their lovemaking had been furious, and passionate... Next to her, the Lion groaned; "Tanj I SWEAR you think you'll never see me again the way you been goin' at me!" Tanj just grinned, reaching out to trail fingers through the slick, matted fur of his groin; "Its going to take at least four days at the minimum to get to... where I'm going." Shifting her gaze, Tanj ran her eyes over the telltales, little glowing lights in an unobtrusive portion of the ceiling that showed the anti-evesdropping devices to be working correctly... Still, she wouldn't trust those gizmos unless she had to..." Even with a one day turnaround time, you won't see me for nine days. Don't want someone else catching your eye..." The Lion just laughed, rolling over onto his side, to face her; "I know you don't want to go. You know I don't want you to go. But I think we both know that this is something that has to be done. And I think we both know that you're the person that has the best chance of pulling it off." Tanj sighed and nodded; "I just hope this guy's information is worth the trip. And I wish he'd found somewhere else for the meeting! Do you think he could have found a more "secure" location?" The Lion chuckled, toying with a lock of her hair; "for him? Probably not. Relax; that place is so far from here they probably won't be looking for pirates. Far enough off that they probably won't even be interested in our little exploits, out here on the fringes. And your cover is good. And you'll have plenty of cash and credit chips, to grease a few palms if you run into trouble." Tanj sighed and nodded; "Yeah, but a lot could happen in the time I'll be gone..." The Lion just chuckled and rolled again, this time moving on top of her. Looking down into her face, he smiled; "don't worry, we won't start the victory celebration without you..."

Tanj stood in the docking bay, a few yards from the open personnel lock to her ship, and looked at the manifest in disbelief. Only accounting could be so bold as to give her a cargo of loot to try and sell while she was at an Imperial military base. There was jewelry, computers (both personal, industrial, and ship), power modules, credit chips of shady origin, even weapons... It LOOKED like booty, no matter what documents they'd provided "proving" legitimate ownership... "Anything is possible for those who don't have to do it" she muttered to herself. "What was that?" Turning, Tanj blinked in surprise at Wanda and Kath. Wanda was carrying a travel bag, and Kath was laden down with one bag slung across her shoulder, and one in each paw. Tanj grinned; "it'll be good to have you two on the trip, but I still don't understand, if there's going to be fighting here, why strip the Medical department of needed personnel? I mean, I doubt we're going to see any combat on this trip... And Kath... I mean, we're going to the Imperial Quadrant Headquarters; what if she's recognized?" Wanda just shrugged, "Don't know." Might be the Boss trying to honor that ancient agreement, where I was a "hostage" against my father's good behavior. Hostages need to be protected, you know... And this system is getting just a little dangerous. And as far as Kath's concerned, perhaps he thought she might be able to help us through some of the security hurdles... inside knowledge and all that... besides, we've got a pretty good disguise for her." Kath grinned; "Actually I think he feels you need us along to keep you on the straight and narrow..." Tanj just rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right... Well, lets get going...

Lon McQ looked at the card the Cheetah had handed him; it was the only thing in the room that was out of place. The only thing that made the place look like the cleaning crew hadn't just finished with it. The only thing that drew Security's interest in the room. It was a perfectly ordinary spacer's playing card made of tough scratch- resistant plastic. Cardboard doesn't take as well to changing environments, or players with claws for that matter. The card's face was simple enough, just a black pawprint centered on white background; closer examination showed the print vaguely matched some kind of feline species. However, it was the other side of the card that was really the most complex. The border was reasonably wide, bright silver, and aligned with the central circle- and-horizontal-eight symbol of the same color, in such a way as to suggest everything was drawn with a single unbroken line. A rather realistic-looking night sky formed the background, with the stars twinkling a bit when viewed from different angles. A golden ankh overlayed the 'main' symbol, fading in and out of sight depending on the angle. Lon could not remember ever having seen such a symbol before, although it struck him as if it should be familiar. Shrugging, he placed it in an evidence envelope and attached a routing label to the Boss. Somehow, the thought of sending it to the Security Lab, or to Intelligence never occurred to him.

Tanj flipped the switch and then watched as the ring laser gyros "got up to speed." Some things you just couldn't hurry. Her glance down at the checklist was interrupted as Hinoki came through the door to the flight deck; "Tanj, we've got a problem. I think." Looking up at the male Cheetah, Tanj quirked an eyebrow upwards in a silent question. "I went by Mark's quarters, and rang the bell. Then I pounded on the door. Nothing. Thinking he might have headed back to the mining side of the operation, that the housekeeping computer had screwed up, I called over to where he'd been working in Mining Maintenance. They said he'd been recalled to the main base. So then I checked in at security; they also said he'd locked in to the main base two days ago, and not locked out. That he had to be here somewhere. By now I was getting worried that something had happened to him, so I had security override the lock on his quarters..." Hinoki gave Tanj a look somewhere between exasperation and amazement as he spread his paws wide; "Tanj, the place looked as if it had never been occupied. Faultlessly clean and orderly. Not even any dust! It looked like some leasing agent's demo. Not even any residual scents!" Tanj blinked; "no personal possessions? No clothes in the closet, or the dresser?" Hinoki shook his head; "Nope. Absolutely nothing! Well... that's not completely true. There was this single playing card on the bed... But that was the only thing out of place. It was so freaky that the security agent went to double-check the computer to make sure we had the right room. THEN it really got strange. The computer said it had no record of Mark. That his room was unassigned. They couldn't find a trace of Mala either. We checked with accounting, with Engineering, with administration; all the same. Suddenly every record that Mark had ever been here was gone!" Tanj sighed, and rose, handing the checklist to Hinoki; "continue with the pre-flight. I'm going to go get to the bottom of this..."

As she walked towards Ops, Tanj wondered if someone had taken this smear campaign so far as to kill Mark and Mala, and then make it seem as if they'd never existed. Could anyone really kill Mark without some sort of titanic struggle? Could someone as powerful as he have enemies that would go to such lengths? Putting her head down, she broke into a trot; something was VERY wrong!

Ben shook his head, and shrugged; "Of course I remember them, Tanj. I think we can both agree that they DID exist. They're on the hardcopy of your manifest, if nothing else. And believe me, if I knew where they were, they'd be on your ship. But they seem to have just... Vanished." Tanj growled; "or they met with foul play. You KNOW that the rumors circulating about him are completely unfounded! The Wolf nodded; "I admit something's up. I sent the head of security himself to do a double-check of the records... and there wasn't anything there. He did a wider search, and discovered that there was absolutely no record of Mark ever having been with the Brethren. No record of Mala either. He's pretty upset that someone could get into his computer system and delete all those files. I understand he's raising cain down there right now..." Tanj frowned; "and have they searched the station for him?" Ben sighed and nodded; "we scanned internally for life signs. Everyone is accounted for. No unidentified warm bodies. We're currently searching the station for, uh, "cold" bodies, but so far we haven't turned up a thing. It's as if they never existed at all." Tanj frowned and shook her head; "I wonder... I can't imagine someone inflamed by all the rumors having much success in killing him." Looking up at the Wolf, Tanj sighed; "we both know how much luck folks in the past have had with that. I wonder... I knew he was pretty upset at the restrictions he'd been put under, and that he felt... "Hurt" at the whispering campaign against him, but I never thought he'd leave without saying goodbye." The Wolf just shrugged. As Tanj turned and made her way out the door, without comment, the Wolf just muttered; "If that's what happened, I for one, would like to know HOW he left... this place is supposed to be "secure"..."

The Lion looked at the playing card, turning it this way and that, watching the image on the back change with the angle. "And you say this was all that was in their room?" The Security officer shrugged; "that was the room the Cheetah told us was his, but there's no record of that in the computer. In fact, there's no record of him at all. I'm beginning to wonder if he really existed." The Lion chuckled; "Oh, he existed all right. I can attest to that." Looking up, he growled; "Keep searching the station. I want to you to be absolutely positive that there aren't a couple of bodies disposed of somewhere. Because if there aren't, we have yet another security problem..." As the Security officer nodded, and turned to depart, the Lion looked again at the card. It was amazing, it almost felt warm to the touch... Finally, with a shrug he put it in a pocket, intending to study it further later. There was just so much to do these days...

"Lost Cause, you're cleared for departure. You guys have a good trip and hurry back now, y'hear?" Tanj sighed and acknowledged the message. Lifting the ship off its landing jacks, she maneuvered it slowly, carefully out of the docking bay. As soon as they were clear of the station, she engaged their cloaking device and turned, to head for the system's rim. Things in the Elysium system were becoming increasingly chaotic; where once the pirates would hover around the rim, at the edge of the gravity well where starships would have to drop out of warp to approach the system, or around the Jump Points, maneuvering constantly with the Elysium defense forces that sometimes guarded those points, they were now operating openly much further in towards the star. Of course, there was now the Red's "People's Space Navy" to contend with as well, only nominally allies. And the Elysium forces were becoming much more dangerous. No longer would they stop a suspicious ship, to search it, to ascertain whether they were smugglers, or pirates. Now, they just seemed to shoot at anything that moved. Tanj felt a lot safer with the cloaking device engaged, a technology that was still too advanced and too expensive for the run of the mill freighter, or even the run of the mill warship. But there were still a lot of freighters moving in the system. With the increased dangers, transportation prices had gone through the roof. Smugglers were bringing arms to the Rebels, Blues and Reds alike. Convoys were bringing munitions and supplies, and most recently mercenaries to the Elysium government. And "independent operators" were starting to charge exorbitant prices to refugees, the folks that wanted to simply flee the fighting before it consumed them...

As she guided her ship towards the system's rim, Tanj listened to the in-system Comm traffic. A freighter had been intercepted by a "People's Space Navy" picket and had been accused of the "crime" of supplying arms to the Elysium Government. The Freighter had claimed that they were merely fleeing a war zone, the hold was empty, and the Reds were welcome to run an inspection. They claimed they'd brought food in, and their manifest and ships log would demonstrate that. The Reds however claimed it was just a ruse to get them to lower their shields while they dispatched a boarding party... The sudden cessation of traffic suggested the warship had resolved the dispute by simply opening fire. As the Comm traffic died, Tanj sighed and wondered if the Lion wasn't pulling this maneuver just to get her somewhere safe. After all, intelligence like this SHOULD have come through her department... SHE should have been telling THEM about this opportunity... Had she missed something? Or did it really exist? Or was it something else? This guy wanted to talk to someone from the command group... Could it be a trap? Were the Imperials starting to get involved again, looking for some willing victim to just walk in their front door? With a sigh, she made a mental note to go through all her field reports again, to see if there were any hints of "Imperial Complications"...

Bilo groaned and tried to force his eyes open. He could taste dirt in his mouth... and there was some other taste there as well. Copper? Blood? Something heavy pressed down on him from above; something soft and pliant... Suddenly thinking that he'd been buried alive he panicked, and with a sudden burst of strength, heaved himself upwards. Suddenly he was free of the oppressive weight. Blinking in the darkness he looked around and with a shudder of horror, realized that the weight on top of him had been Sergeant Vimm. Looking down at the elderly, corpulent Raccoon, Bilo groaned; Vimm's throat had been cut, the wound gaping as his head lolled back. Turning, in the gloom he recognized some of the other members of his ad-hoc squad. They'd been thrown together just a week ago, pulled straight out of basic training. Vimm had been a retired veteran, retired long ago from the Elysium military, recalled due to the "Emergency." And then their position had been overrun by the Reds. Stepping gingerly over to the next nearest corpse, he looked down at a young Skunk girl; like himself, she couldn't have been more than sixteen or seventeen. It was obvious that she'd been shot in the left knee. But then someone had finished the job, cutting her throat too. Her eyes were wide open in shock, as if things like this just couldn't happen. Stumbling, not really knowing where he was going, Bilo started to move. Corpses seemed to be everywhere, and everywhere he recognized an Elysium uniform, the body's throat had been cut, no matter how they'd died. Finally, chest heaving, he found himself on the road, beyond their position. The blacktop seemed bizarrely normal. Staggering over to the ditch on one side, he fell to his knees to retch.

Tanj rubbed her burning eyes and reached for her cup of coffee, only to find the cup cold, the coffee long gone. Turning back, she tried to focus on the screen... The Lost cause had jumped, still cloaked, at the Samarai jump point. They'd decloaked on the other side of the jump, and were burning across the uninhabited system at full throttle. So far, their progress was undetected and undeterred. As the ship proceeded on the first leg of its journey, Tanj had remained on the flight deck, keeping an eye on things, as she went back through her field agent reports. So far she hadn't found a single hint of a trap. For all intents and purposes, the Imperials seem to have written off Elysium. A few Imperial warships had been posted on the more common trade routes, as if to keep the violence from spreading, but that was all they seem to be doing... Tanj grinned and shook her head; she was sure the Imperials had agents on Elysium, watching how things developed, positioning themselves to make overtures to the winners of the civil war currently going on, ready to "invite Elysium back into the fold" when things settled down... But as far as a trap on Gibraltar station went, she could see no signs pointing to that... Closing the folders, she paused, wondered if she should try and have one of her field agents take a walk through Gibraltar base before they got there... And then she rejected the idea; there simply wasn't time. SHE was the closest field agent...

Dixie groaned as she felt something snap somewhere in the frame of her ground attack ship. Wrenching the stick a little further over to the left, she tried to control her ship's tendency to roll over onto its back. As she struggled to control her craft, she thought back, trying to figure out if she'd done something wrong, or had just been very unlucky... She'd never even made it to the target. The SAMs hadn't been where Intelligence had told her they were, and she'd flown directly over a launcher. They must have fired the thing on infra-red seeking, and it had flown straight up her tailpipe before she'd been able to get a decoy off. Her radar warning system had never let out a peep. Still, she hadn't turned into a fireball in the sky; the missile must have detonated prematurely. Maybe some of her countermeasures system had worked after all. In any event, the shrapnel had still taken out her left engine, and shredded a bunch of the control lines. The "low hydraulic fluid" warning light had been red for a dozen minutes now... Still, if she was reading the terrain right, she'd be back over Blues-held territory in a few minutes. Then she could look for a place to set her crate down before it fell out of the sky...

Tanj's paw stopped, inches from the key that would close out her session, shut down her terminal. Shifting it back to the keyboard, she called up a simple search. As she feared there wasn't a single mention of Mark or Mala anywhere in her ship's computer. Frowning she wondered again at how quickly he'd vanished. And then an odd thought struck her. Entity. Could HE have had anything to do with that? If so, why?

Dixie'd just started scanning the treetops, looking for a suitable place to crash-land, when every threat warning light on her instrument panel lit up, a dozen different warning tones growling in her earphones. Twisting her head, she looked back to the left and then to the right. Two of 'em, closing fast. Elysium Defense force Air Superiority fighters. Gripping the shuddering stick with both paws, she tried to force her ship further down towards the trees... knowing all the while that it was too late; that they'd seen her.

The ship was on autopilot, Tanj dozing at the pilot's station, when the door to the flight deck slid open. Hinoki, carrying two mugs of coffee, padded in. Grinning, he set one mug down and nudged Tanj softly. "Hmmmf?" Tanj mumbled. Hinoki grinned; "Tanj, you've been up here for 26 hours. Why don't you let me take it for a bit. I promise I'll call you if anything happens." Tanj stretched and yawned. Scratching herself, she grinned; "I guess I could use a shower and something to eat. We make the Jump to Rongelap in about...um,... three hours and seventeen minutes. We transit the system and then make the jump to Kikori. We'll abandon the trade route to Pangalap at that point and use the Warp Drive to cross over to Ceram, and the Kota trade route. During that transit, we'll change identities too. We'll follow that for four jumps to Gibraltar station." Gesturing to the Nav console, Tanj yawned again; "its all in there." Hinoki bent to study a display; "Tanj, this route's going to get us in with the fuel tanks almost dry..." Tanj nodded; "Yeah. But if we were to just follow the jump points, using only the Alderson drive, it'd take a minimum of eighteen jumps, and at least eight days. NOT worth the savings in fuel, if you ask me. This way we can do it in just over four. If this IS some sort of trap, I'd rather show up unexpectedly early... And if this IS as important as they seem to think, well, then, we need to get the information for the Brethren as soon as possible." Hinoki grinned; "you just want to be there when the Elysium government falls." Tanj grinned and slurped at her coffee and nodded; "You know me; never one to miss a victory party..."

The Missile Launch tone came as no surprise. Dixie looked at her radar one last time, and with a convulsive motion, she released the stick and tripped her ejection seat. The aircraft tried to roll over hard, but her seat fired before it had rolled more than 90 degrees. Flying out above the treetops, she yelped as the 'chute deployed. Swinging wildly she felt the concussion wave as a missile destroyed her fighter. But the rumble didn't fade. Twisting her head around she gasped as one of the Elysium fighters went into a hover, not a hundred meters away. It turned slowly, as if tracking on her. "If they kill me" she thought to herself, "That'll be one less experienced pilot the Blues have..." Watching the fighter, she was amazed at how calm she was. The sudden explosion of the Elysium fighter caught her completely by surprise, and she blinked, wondering wha...?

Most space operations run 'round the clock', and the Brethren's hidden base was no exception. With so many furrs doing so many things, it was rare that any facility would be unoccupied, and the Lion was only mildly annoyed when he heard someone moving in the exercise room. He'd hoped to be alone, to work out some of his frustrations through exercise, and some Karate drills. "Even at four AM," he groused to himself, "you can't get a little privacy." Shrugging it off, he slipped through the door. The room was large and he thought he should still have room to work on his kata. What he saw, brought him to a sudden stop.

The trees seemed to reach up and grab for her, but before everything disappeared behind a green curtain she saw the other Elysium fighter wheeling and speeding off... And then something HUGE was passing directly over head. Grinning wildly she came to a sudden stop as the parachute lines fouled in the tree branches. Hanging there, spinning slowly she yipped with delight as one of the Pirate's Raider ships thundered overhead. The raiders made lousy fighters; they were HUGE targets, and they just weren't maneuverable within the atmosphere. The Elysium fighter should be able to fly rings around it. Not that it mattered. Not at all. Nope, not a bit. The Raider had weapons systems and sensors designed for combat in space, and could target anything in any direction, whereas the Elysium Air Defense fighter could only fire to its front arc. And there wasn't a chance in Hell that the Air Defense fighter had a weapon that could punch through the Raider's shields. Dixie grinned as she swung and spun; that Elysium pilot's goose was cooked; there was no WAY he'd be able to outrun that raider. They might not be very maneuverable in the atmosphere, but they had power to burn, easily able to hit planetary escape velocities... In the distance, there was a muffled *THOOM* and Dixie chuckled. As her pendulum motion slowed, the Vixen looked down and then sighed; "OK, Girl, now HOW are you going to get down outta this tree?"

Bilo was lost in thought as he stomped across the muddy field. He THOUGHT he knew which way to go, but navigating by the stars was proving to be more difficult than he'd thought. The sudden transition from knee-high grass to matted foliage brought him back to the here-and-now, and he looked left and right. SOMETHING large had moved through the scrub here, flattening everything. Finding it easier to walk along the "path" he turned a little to his left and muttering, paws in pockets, resumed his trek.

The Fox seemed to fly through the air, robes trailing like banners. The quarterstaff he held was swinging in vicious arcs as if he were delivering blows to the heads of a multitude beneath him. Landing with a quick roll, the Fox regained his feet, staff flashing out seemingly in all directions. And then suddenly he was completely still, as if waiting for the next imaginary assault. His focus seemed to be total, and if he was aware of the Lion watching him, he gave no sign.

"Rescue 41 to Angel Baker. Found her. We're too late. Circle west and meet me at the rendezvous point in twenty mikes." Tucking his radio back into the pouch sewn into the shoulder of his body armor, the Panther looked up at the dangling figure and sighed. The Vixen looked a little hefty for his tastes, but she was still nicely rounded. It looked like the Elysium patrol hadn't even tried to take her prisoner; they'd just shot up her body as she dangled from the parachute caught in the tree. Shaking his head, he turned and trotted off towards where he'd rendezvous with the VTOL, wishing he had time to recover the body for a proper burial. But there were other stops to make, other pilots to try and rescue. Maybe next time, he'd get there first...

Bilo was still grumbling when his foot caught in something and he fell forward. Struggling to his feet he realized that his paws and arms were sticky with something from where he'd slapped the ground to break his fall. Shaking his foot, he glimpsed something pale squirm as he kicked free of it; it was then that he realized that he'd tripped on a loop of intestine, and that his front was covered with someone's blood. Staring wide-eyed, he turned, seeing for the first time the battlefield he'd walked into . The Corpses were all dressed slightly differently, but they all had the red armband typical of the Reds... Turning about he was about to flee into the darkness when a voice called out "Over here, Kid." Turning, he peered through the night; nothing seemed to be moving. Nothing seemed to BE there. Still, he started moving, almost as if his feet were acting on their own, towards that friendly voice.

"That's pretty good" the Lion rumbled; "but what do you do when you don't have your staff with you?" The fox looked up, a hint of a smile forming on his face; with a flick of his wrist, he somehow collapsed the staff into a cylinder barely the length of his forearm. Tucking it into a fold of his cloak his smile widened; "I always have it with me; but should it be taken from me in combat, I have other... Resources." The Lion nodded; "I can well imagine. I'm somewhat versed in Karate and Judo, and have practiced with swords, although I have to admit, I'm hardly an expert. But I've never seen a staff like that before.' Entity produced the cylinder, as if by magic, and with a subtle motion, made it suddenly expand to just over his height; "I would be glad to show you some basic moves, if you have the time..."

The Creature seemed to be wearing a suit of liquid black that flowed and rippled as it moved, blending in with the shadows behind it. The head was almost insectoid, bulging with huge, almost hemispherical eyes. Bilo came to a halt, staring at the apparition. The creature reached up, seemingly to remove its head, and it took a moment before Bilo's brain realized that he was removing a helmet. With the helmet off, Bilo realized that he was looking at a rather large Rabbit. "Take it easy, Kid; I know the gear scares some folks right off, especially if they've never seen the like before. The helmet's got Infra-Red night vision gear; that's how I knew you weren't another of those damn Reds; I could see your uniform. So tell me, Kid, whatcha doin' out here?

Bilo wolfed down the rations without really tasting them; he hadn't realized he was so hungry. Between mouthfuls he tried to get out his story, telling them of the assault on his position, how he'd woken up under his Sergeant, apparently the only survivor. The Rabbit nodded; "Yeah, the Reds don't like to take prisoners. And now that they've started butchering the wounded and whomever they capture, the Elysium forces seem to be starting to do that too. Its getting grim." Bilo looked at the Rabbit; "you... You're not Elysium Defense Forces?" The Rabbit shook his head; "No, we're with Colonel Hamlin's unit. Mercenaries. Although I have to admit, it looks like the Business Unit blew it when they took THIS contract. Don't think there's any way we're gonna be on the winning side, and its beginning to look like we're going to have trouble just extracting out of this mess!" Bilo just blinked; "HUH. Didn't know they were hiring Mercenaries!" The Rabbit had just opened his mouth to speak when a Lion poked his head out of the hatch of one of the nearby armored vehicles. "Sergeant Major! We've got new orders! The 3348th is being overrun and they want us to seal the breach!" The Rabbit stood and pulled on his helmet; Bilo could barely hear his muffled voice as he called into the helmet's commo link; "You heard the Captain! Mount UP!" Suddenly the Rabbit's voice was coming out of a speaker on the helmet; "Head West kid, but be careful; the lines are full of holes and no one really knows where anyone is. Good luck in linking up with your forces!" Then the rabbit was climbing up the side of one of the armored vehicles. Fans started and the vehicle rose on a cushion of air, wheeled, and with a hurricane of wind, moved off, following the others. In a minute, Bilo was standing all alone in the field. Looking around, looking up at the stars, he wondered idly which way West was?

The Lion was panting hard as he leaned the staff against the wall and sank down to sit, leaning back against the wall. "Takes a lot of effort to swing that thing right" he panted. The Fox, looking as cool as if he'd just emerged from the showers, nodded; "It is never easy to have both strength and control. It helps to have a clear mind, too. I sense you're... "troubled."" The Lion chuckled; "got that right. Aside from the fact that things are going crazy down on Elysium, and our resources are stretched thinner than ever, I have to admit I'm worried about Tanj. The errand I sent her on seemed so "necessary" at the time, but now I wonder. Where she's going may not be any safer than here." The Fox nodded slowly; "and how do you handle your concerns?" The Lion shrugged; "Worry? Mainly try and burn off the tension through exercise. That and to keep going over everything that might happen, trying to make sure I've planned for every contingency." The Fox cocked his head to one side; "Perhaps you should try meditation in addition to your exercise." The Lion grinned; "such as chanting a Mantra?" The Fox shrugged; "there are those that do that, but there's a lot more to it than that. Have you ever heard of "alpha rhythms?" They are a class of brain waves that occur during meditation. With practice you can slip into an alpha brainwave state with little effort..." The Lion Hmmmmed; "tell me... Do you think this "alpha brainwave state" might let me interface better with that Brou device?" Entity sank into a crouch, to look straight at the Lion; "I do not know; tell me what this Brou device is, and perhaps we can figure out if it will help."

Muroc waited while the computer processed his retinal scan. The guards watched nervously, as they all waited for the computer's judgement. Recently there had been absolutely too many saboteurs and assassins trying to infiltrate the Elysium command structure; just last week, a suicide bomber believed to have been with the Reds Commandos had taken out Corps headquarters. And three days after that, a security computer had reported that Colonel Palmer was an imposter; the guards had promptly shot him, and it was only in the autopsy that it was determined that the computer had been sabotaged. Needless to say everyone was more than a little jumpy around Headquarters. Finally the computer flashed a green light, and everyone relaxed; "Go on in, General, General Yelah is waiting for you. The Tiger nodded and picking up his overcoat and briefcase, moved through the blast doors.

"Ah, Rafe, its good to see you again; how go things in the Buena Vista sector?" "Chaos, Bill. The Reds don't know how to coordinate their attacks, thank God. In some areas they've broken through the lines, simply shattered them; in other places their attacks were so poor and uncoordinated that our counterattacks have pushed them back kilometers. The result is a front that looks like a piece of Suisse Cheese." The Jackal sighed; "Rafe, I hate to say it, but it looks to me like only a matter of time before the whole thing folds..." The Tiger nodded; "I thought the Mercenary units were stemming the tide..." Yelah nodded; "Oh, they are... here. But we can't afford all we need." Straightening the Jackal gestured at the planetary map; "Howard DeBurr's forces just surrendered in the Falapha pocket. The last of our forces on the southern continent are gone. And when the Blues transfer their forces there to up here..." The Tiger sighed and nodded; "yeah. Even the Mercs won't be enough. So what do we do?" The Jackal shrugged, turning back to look at the sector operational map. "I hear there are some plans afoot, for the most senior governmental officials to flee at the last minute. Purely rumor, I'm sure, but still..." The Tiger nodded; "and neither you, nor I are high enough up to be included in their number, are we?" The Jackal just laughed. "So," the Tiger continued, "The options are a glorious death in combat, or spending the rest of our lives in a Reds Re- education camp?" The Jackal winced. "Tell me, Rafe, how old is your little girl now?" The Tiger scowled; "she just turned six..." The Jackal nodded; "Exactly. And I've got a two year old granddaughter. I'd hate to see them in some re-education camp. And Lord KNOWS what would happen to them if we were dead..." The Tiger straightened, staring down at the Jackal; "Sir, certainly you can't be suggesting that we... defect to the Reds! I'd rather see my whole family dead! The Jackal leaned back against the operations display; "no, Rafe, not at all. I too have developed quite a loathing for their ... "dialectic." But there ARE some redeeming qualities to the Blues..." The Tiger shook his head; "That bunch of ... "Idealists?" The Jackal shrugged; "of the three options; death, re-education, or ... "dishonor," which would you prefer? For you, AND your family." The tiger just winced.

They stood on the engineering deck of the Intimidator, the Brethren's flagship. The alien device looked like a half- melted freeform sculpture, except for the heavy, superconducting power conduits connecting it directly to the ship's main reactor. Parks watched, yawning at the early hour, as the Lion ran a paw over the glassy-smooth black surface of the device. "And you say all you've been able to get it to do is to produce Nadions?" the Lion rumbled. Parks nodded and shrugged; "yes, that seems to be all we've been able to do, unless its producing effects we don't have instruments to detect." The Lion turned and looked at the Ocelot; "what instructions did Mark leave?" The Ocelot bit his lip; "well... Like everything else related to that Mouse, the original instructions seem to have vanished along with him. However, I've made some notes from some of the experimental runs we've done, and they include most of his instructions. I think." The Lion nodded, shot a look at Entity, and growled; "Lets see 'em. I've put off looking into this thing for too long.

Bilo awoke slowly. For a moment he didn't remember where he was, and then the sunlight streaming through the shattered roof reminded him. He'd found a burned out building at the edge of a small, deserted town, and had crawled into it to find a place to rest. To sleep. Now it was morning. In the sunlight, the previous night seemed like a horrible nightmare. Sitting up, he cocked one ear towards a shattered wall; sure enough, he heard voices. Grinning he twisted and crawled through the wreckage to see who they might be, a sudden pang of paranoia making him move quietly until he knew who they were.

The Intimidator's main reactor hummmed, and the power conduits crackled. The Lion sat cross-legged before the "control panel" of the Brou device, a blizzard of printouts around him. He'd been following the cryptic instructions, and with Entity's coaching, had at least partially entered an alpha brainwave state. Striving to maintain that, he pictured the effect he wanted to achieve...

Peering through a crack in the wall, Bilo smiled; Elysium uniforms. They seemed to be setting up some sort of check point. He must have staggered through the lines and into the rear area, for they didn't seem to be digging in as if they were at the front. There were two six-wheeled utility vehicles and a hovertruck, each sporting a laser on a pintle mount. He was just about to worm his way back through the wreckage, to go out and greet them, when there was a shout. The heads of all the troops he could see turned to look in one direction, and from that direction there came an answering shout. Shifting through the wreckage, Bilo tried to find a hole in the wall that would let him see who was coming. Something made him move as quietly as he could.

The group coming in was a rag-tag assortment of furrs in Elysium uniforms. They were obviously survivors like himself, from different units that had been overrun. But when they'd gotten to within a dozen meters of the check point, a nattily dressed officer commanded them to halt. In a sharp voice, the Fennec Fox questioned them as to who they were, and what they were doing. One by one, the furrs told of units overrun, or bombed out of existence. They told harrowing tales of sneaking through the countryside, evading the Reds, searching for their own lines. As Bilo listened, he realized that he'd really had it comparatively easy. Then the Fox demanded to see written orders from their unit commanders ordering them to retreat. For a moment there was stunned silence, and then the survivors all started to loudly object, saying there was no time for written orders, or their officers had all been slain... The Fox, picking up a bullhorn shouted back that without orders they were deserters and were to be treated as such! Turning, he waved at his troops.

Bilo gasped as laser light flicked out, and he ducked away from his peephole, crouching down in the wreckage. Curling into a ball he covered his ears, trying to drown out the screams.

Entity watched with increasing concern. Whatever this device was, it was well beyond anything his people knew. How did IT fit into the overall scheme of things. As he watched the Lion's mane slowly puff out, static electricity surrounding him like a numbus, he wondered if he'd made a mistake telling the Lion about alpha brainwaves.

It was well after dark before the Elysium troops loaded up into their vehicles and moved off. Bilo slowly emerged from his hiding place, covered in soot. For a long time, he stood, looking at the corpses left in the middle of the dusty street. Turning, he headed out into the woods, moving away from the town, and as he walked he slowly shed what remained of his Elysium defense forces uniform. As he walked, he wondered if he could find his way home, or if there was even a home left to go to...

Parks watched in open-mouthed amazement. His rumbling stomach forgotten, his aching legs, tired from standing in the Engineering bay for hours, forgotten. Something was happening! The Machine actually seemed to be DOING something... But what?

Keaney sat up suddenly in his station chair and blinked. Leaning forward he punched up a new display, stared at it for a moment and then half rose from his seat; "LIEUTENANT! Something funny's happening off the port bow!

Tanj settled into her chair in the wardroom, a hot cup of coffee between her paws. She felt like she was living on coffee these days, with much too much to do, the caffeine the only thing keeping her going. Glancing up, she noticed Kath working her way through a plate of lasagna. Wanda's plate looked as if it had been licked clean and the Cheetah had no idea what she'd been eating... Lasagna? Where did that come from, she wondered? Vowing to herself to find out if there was any left, she smiled at the Wolverine lass over the rim of her coffee cup...

Sara McClintock blinked and almost spilled her coffee down the front of her new outfit. Hurriedly putting the cup down she turned to stare at the sensor display. Something was producing an amazing flux of Nadions out there. And they all seemed to be coming from one spot not too far from the ship!

Lieutenant Calvado looked over Keaney's shoulder and shook his head; "that's a very interesting gravitational flux out there... I've never seen anything like it!" Keaney shuddered; "Sir, do you think it could be some sort of new weapon? If that thing were to move through the ship, it might..." "No, calm down, Son," Calvado purrred; "its nowhere near strong enough to damage us." Keaney nodded; "Yeah, Ell Tee, but its building..."

Hinoki slid through the door, dropped the hard copy next to Tanj and said, "Here's the stuff you wanted. Everything the Brethren have in their central database about the "Starsurma." Tanj just nodded and turned to look at the top sheet. "How come this sudden interest in the Starsurma?" the Cheetah male rumbled as he opened the door to the refrigerator, poking his head inside... Tanj just shrugged as she scanned a document; "That name keeps surfacing, but there doesn't seem to be much in the databases about them." Kath looked up; "Entity's people? I've come across some stuff about them in the course of my work with the Empire. They're considered quite a "problem" by the Empire." Tanj nodded; "it says here that as a race they are above-average psi's, generally from four to six on the scale on an individual basis, but rather more formidable as a group." Kath wiped her mouth with a napkin and nodded; "There was a vicious little war out there for a while when the empire decided to get rid of the threat by trying to disperse them in an attempt to dilute their bloodlines. The Empire feels that if they can't have all the psi talents under their control, they don't want them to be under anyone else's control... Nowadays, things have reached something of a deadlock, with the Starsurma holding only two or three of their original systems anymore, but defending them so fiercely that the assigned imperial forces haven't made any further progress in decades... It's a far cry from the whole sector they once held..." Tanj raised an eyebrow, "Were they... Are they an honorable people? Can we trust him?" Kath pondered for a moment and then shrugged; "Well... The Starsurma have a reputation for being "inscrutable" that goes back rather further than the war. Quite frankly, I've no idea." Wanda looked at Kath and shrugged; "I don't know, my impression is that Entity is what he says. It can't really hurt to keep him around, and might prove rather useful in the end." Hinoki pulled a covered dish out of the 'fridge and nodded; "It's the people who sent him that I wonder about." Tanj looked at the Wolverine; "He mentioned a coming battle..." Wanda shrugged a little helplessly and nodded; "Things ARE coming to a head on Elysium. Even your average fur-on-the-street can see that just by reading between the lines on the daily news a little." Kath nodded; "And I trust the Reds even less since their change in leadership, and sudden reversal of fortunes. If we don't watch out, things just MAY blow up in our faces when we least expect it, and there goes the glorious revolution." Tanj nodded and rose. She paused at the refrigerator door, her gaze traveling among the leftover dishes, searching for something to quiet her rumbling stomach; was all the Lasagna really gone? With a sigh she settled for the Sesame Chicken, shoving the container into the microwave... There may not have been much in the database about the Starsurma, but something told her she needed to know everything there was...

Sara found herself ignoring her coffee; usually the first cup of the day was the most important thing for her, but now it sat forgotten on the console. The Nadion source had started sprouting Tachyons as well, a most unusual flux of subatomic particles...

Seagraves stared at the power distribution panel and shook his head. SOMETHING was pulling amazing levels of power from the main reactor. So far, it wasn't critical; the ship was at rest, concealed in the shadow of an asteroid being "mined" near the base; they didn't need anywhere near full output... but something was pulling power as if the main batteries were being charged! Flipping through the displays he started searching for whatever was pulling that much power!

Hammersmith looked at the SitRep flimsy and groaned. The third of the 25th was being overrun by elements of the Blues "Republic" Division. Turning, the Rabbit strode across the Operations Center, from one side of the camouflage netting to the other, moving through the mottled spots of sunshine on the grassy ground. Centering his gaze on the furr he was looking for, he approached a grizzled old Wolf. "Sergeant Major!" The Wolf turned and regarded his Brigade commander quietly. Thirty years with the Elysium Defense forces had given him an exterior calm that seldom cracked. "The third of the 25th is being overrun. I want you to gather all the rear echelon personnel, get them over there, and plug the leak. Take the cooks and the clerks, and go save our butts!" The Command Sergeant Major nodded, threw an informal salute to his General, and turned to go see what he could find. He knew, with all the air raids that they'd been suffering, that he wouldn't find enough...

Calvado grimaced; "OK, Keaney, now I can agree with you. Now that thing out there's powerful enough to be dangerous." Turning, he waved to get the attention of the Officer of the Deck...

The sudden blaring of the General Quarters alarm broke the Lion's concentration. Blinking, he looked around and then stood up, wondering if they'd been discovered, wondering if the base was under attack. Motioning for Entity to follow, he headed for the nearest lift, and the Bridge.

Sara wimpered as the beautiful display of particles suddenly vanished, winking out as if someone had turned off a light. Making sure her console had logged the event, she picked up her cup of coffee only to find it cold. Frowning she turned, hearing the General Quarters alarm for the first time.

Dominy knelt in the mud, her head down, her chest heaving. Somehow her position had been encircled, and before she knew it, the Reds were behind her fire team, and the rest of the platoon, cutting them off from retreat. Someone had screwed up bad. The Lieutenant had wanted to keep fighting, but a sniper had solved that problem for them. The First Sergeant had found a piece of cloth that was still somewhat white, and waving it on the end of a pole, had surrendered the unit. Now they were all in a muddy, sodden group, roughly herded into a group by the victors. Her ears swiveling, she listened as a small group of Reds started making their way through the prisoners.

Parks worked through the shutdown sequence, a sheaf of notes in one paw, as he took the Brou device down to standby power. Somehow, the Boss had wrung more out of it than he'd been able to in the last half dozen attempts. He'd hoped that all the recorders had been running; he badly wanted to go over the sensor readouts, just as soon as his schedule permitted, to see just what had happened.

The Lion looked at the Bridge crew, and shook his head; "a Gravity Weapon? Um. Ah... No, we were just running an impromptu test of the Brou device. Sorry, should have warned you about it. Secure from General Quarters, and extend my apologies to all hands..."

Hammersmith shouted into the radio handset; "what do you MEAN you don't have any tubes left? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED? ... Oh. Well, gather your survivors and get them to... 238 188. You just became infantry. Dig in and HOLD that crossroad! Broadsword 6 out." Looking up at the clear, windless sky through the camouflage netting, the Rabbit cursed; "Damn air strikes! Not a single artillery piece left..." The vehemence of his cursing trailed off as his eyes focused on a dot in the sky, just above the trees... It seemed to be growing larger...

Keaney watched the Lion and the Fox leave the bridge of the Overlord, and then nudged Calvado; "Hey, maybe that gizmo the Boss got from them Aliens is useful after all. Maybe we can use it to rip apart enemy ships!" Calvado frowned at the retreating Lion's back; "Yeah... Maybe. If he can control it. Personally, I'd rather stick with the Lasers and particle beams..."

... A new contact cataloged have I. Different the minds here are. Primitive, it is. Adjustments need to make I do...

Parks watched the blinking lights and symbols on the surface of the Brou Machine, and idly wondered what it might be thinking...

Dominy's body jerked convulsively as the pistol shot rang out just three kneeling figures down the line from her. With a soft squelch, the First Sergeant's body fell over backwards into the mud. With an amazing lack of emotion, the team of three Reds shifted to their right one step and started questioning Corporal LeFerve...

As they walked towards the shuttle that would return them to the base, Entity looked up at the Lion; "you know, there are other ways to handle stress besides exercise and meditation. I've always found that sex works well." The Lion's laugh echoed down the corridor.

Hammersmith was diving for the slight shelter given by the command post track, when the missile streaked overhead. For a moment he thought they were saved, as there was no immediate explosion, and then he realized that clouds of vapor were spewing from its sides...

"No, actually, I think its got great promise!" Hinoki shoveled another spoonful of the casserole into his mouth and smiled at Wanda; "Just think of all those poor souls in isolated places. Solitary duty at an ice mining station, or an ore processing station. Some prospector in a singleship. Some maintenance tech in an automated factory. Or even some busy executive that just doesn't have the time to develop a relationship with someone of the opposite sex..." Tanj set her cup of coffee, and her plate down, and looked blankly from face to face; "What's the topic of discussion?" Zassa chuckled; "Oh, Hinoki's telling us about a project he and some of his friends are working on; a computer simulation program, complete with tactile sensation suite and holographic projection. Of course, knowing our Cheetah, its main purpose is sex." Hinoki chuckled; "its ONLY purpose is sex, including all the kinks!" Tanj chuckled and shook her head; "and do you really think it can replace a warm, willing body?" Hinoki shrugged; "I dunno, this thing's coming up awwwwwfully good! You see, I've integrated a large number of miniature and subminiature tractor and pressor modules..." Wanda snorted; "Oh, PULEEZE! Spare us the technogeek talk!" Kath chuckled; "Yeah, next thing you'll have Tanj going. That's all we need is another of her engineering diatribes..." Tanj stuck her tongue out at Kath, but with a smile on her face. She remembered the last major engineering controversy; she and Mark had argued back and forth, every waking moment, for three days... Mark... Where WAS he now? Shaking that off, Tanj looked at Hinoki; "so when do we get to see this technological marvel?" Hinoki looked a little sheepish; "well, to tell you the truth, I've got the beta version on the ship... I've been using quiet time to work with the "solo" routines... But I admit, I could certainly use someone else's neurological inputs. Especially from as highly "tuned" and responsive a female as yourself... You want to be a guinea pig?" Tanj chuckled and sipped her coffee; "I dunno; I feel like I've been through half the universe already; don't know if I want the other half thinking of me only in that regard too..." Hinoki just chuckled; "think of it as immortality, of sorts. Think of the reputation you'd develop! But if you're too chicken; if you think I might do things to you that would take you beyond your limits..." Tanj snorted, and thumped her mug down, coffee sloshing dangerously near to spilling; "Chicken? HAH! You think I can't handle it? Tell you what, you let me have "editorial review" to make sure it doesn't slam me in some way, and I'm game." After a moment she grinned wryly; "AND, if I help you develop it, I get a piece of the action too!" Hinoki's eyes went wide, and then a strange look came over his face; grinning wickedly, he nodded energetically; "oh, of course. OF COURSE!"

Dominy jumped less at the second pistol shot, and held herself rigidly still as LeFerve's body hit the mud. Mind numb, she wondered WHY the Reds were doing this... and then they were in front of her. "What is your rank?" was the question. Blinking, Dominy mumbled; "Private first class... Sir." One of the Reds nodded, and then after a glance to the one in the middle, growled; "and what is the highest level of education you have received?" Eyes going a little wider, Dominy muttered; "Um... I dropped out of high school in my Junior year..." This time two of the Reds nodded in seeming approval. After a moment's consideration, the one in the middle said; "Send her off to the labor battalion." Then strong hands were pulling her up, shoving her towards the road. Behind her, she heard them ask Kemmer; "what education have you received?" As she squelched through the mud, she heard his voice faintly, proudly; "I was in the Master's program at the Middleboro University. Law." The sound of the pistol speaking again barely made her twitch.

Tanj sat on the Bridge, watching the instruments. She'd waded through the day's intelligence updates, sent to the ship by subspace tight beam... and now her mind wandered. Thinking back to Hinoki's reaction, she decided he'd agreed just a little too eagerly. WHAT was he up to?

Fuel-air explosives are tricky to use; the atmospheric conditions have to be just right. But when they are used successfully, they are second in power only to thermonuclear weapons. The day was calm, with low humidity, and the weapon detonated perfectly. Everything in the little valley was smashed flat, and then burned to a cinder. In a fraction of a second, the Brigade headquarters had ceased to exist.

The Command Sergeant Major turned, at the head of his column of cooks, bakers, accountants and clerks, and frowned at the mushroom cloud rising from the valley they'd just left. Shaking his head, he gestured forward with his assault rifle; "Come on, we still got our orders..."

Raquel ran for all she was worth, her nightdress flapping around her pistoning legs. Suddenly a shadow, fractionally darker than the night around it, converged from her left. Trying not to cry out, to draw the others, she twisted, trying hard to evade it, but it collided with her HARD, knocking her to the ground. Roughly she was turned over, her shoulders and hips pressed HARD to the ground. The face of a Coyote leered down at her; "well, lookey what we got here!" In a moment other figures crowded around, grinning. All wore semblances of military uniforms, all wore the red armband of a Reds Militia. Looking wild-eyed from face to face, Raquel stared fearfully at her captors. After a moment, a rather rough looking Panther shoved his way between two of the furrs, to stare down at her. Without a word he made a gesture, and the Coyote grabbed the neckline of her nightie, ripping it down the front, leaving her body bare to their gaze. The Panther nodded; "Very Nice." Then turning to the Field Mouse to his left he growled; "she came from that big house down the road?" The Mouse nodded; "Yeah, the one with the wrought iron fence, and the stables out back." The Panther nodded; "obviously one of our Capitalist Oppressors..." Raquel eeped and shook her head hard; "No! NO! I'm the gardener's daughter! Not Ser Clem's!" The Panther just grinned and shrugged, his fangs shining whitely in the thin moonlight; "Then you're a lackey of our oppressors!" Looking at the Coyote, the Tiger grinned; "do what you will with her, but when you're done, take what's left to that "Comfort Battalion" the commisars are "recruiting" for, over in Ostende." As the furrs crowded closer, Raquel screamed.

Tanj looked up as the door to the flight deck slid open and Zassa, completely nude, as was her shipboard habit, sashayed in, a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of cocoa in the other. Setting the cup of coffee down by the Cheetah fem, Zassa grinned; "Think you've been up here long enough. I'll mind the store. Hinoki's looking for you. He said it was "time to put up or shut up", and if you had the guts you should meet him down in the Cargo Bay." Tanj sipped her coffee and then grinned; "if I've got the guts... Who the heck does he think he's talking to? I took everything the Academy had to hand out, and more. I'm tough enough to take ANYTHING he dishes out!" Zassa grinned and folded herself into the copilot's station chair; "you Go, Girl! Just shout if you need help, I'll try and keep an eye on you through the security cameras." Tanj nodded and rose, and coffee mug in hand, swaggered from the flight deck.

Prestridge looked at the battalion's commissar and shook his head; "Comrade Hagemeyer, these prisoners have already been vetted by your bureau. Their officers, their intelligencia have all been ..." Making a face, the Bear managed to squeeze out; "... Neutralized." With a sigh, he went on, spreading his paws wide; "what we have left are the peasants, the workers, the downtrodden impressed into the military of a desperate, despotic government! Why should we kill THEM? The Squirrel's tail twitched, and he stared back for a second; "My dear Captain Prestridge; the simple fact is that we do not have the resources to guard them. The labor battalions and re-education camps are overflowing. We dare not remove loyal troops from the front to guard the prisoners." The Bear shook his head in wonder; "so we're just going to KILL them? That's... Inhumane! That can't possibly be what the Revolution stands for!" After a moment, the Bear drew himself up to his full height; staring down at the squirrel, he growled; "and I won't do it. I am a soldier. A freedom fighter. NOT a murderer!

Hendley heard the shot; dropping the battered tin cup he'd just filled with coffee, he drew his sidearm and pushed his way into the tent. The political officers just stared at him with stony expressions. One of them was in the process of holstering his side-arm... Looking down at the body of his commanding officer and friend he looked up at the Commissar; "what happened here?" The Squirrel calmly regarded the Otter; "Captain Prestridge proved to be a traitor to the cause. You are now in charge. I have orders for your unit, Lieutenant Hendley. And should you fail to carry them out, I can assure you the same fate as this Traitor here." To emphasize his point he kicked the Bear's body.

Putting her coffee mug in the dishwasher, Tanj paused. She had this feeling that Hinoki was going to "ambush" her... Chuckling, telling herself once again that she could take anything he could dish out, she pulled down the zipper to her jumpsuit. Wadding it up, she tossed it through the open door to her cabin, as she strode, as nude as Zassa, towards the Cargo Bay.

Kath, followed by Wanda, the latter looking behind her, off down the corridor at the back of a retreating Cheetah fem, slipped through the door to the flight deck. "Got the camera set up?" Zassa nodded; "Oh yeah; all dialed in. Three angles. Holotape running." Wanda chuckled and rubbed her hands together; "this is gonna be veeeeery interesting..."

Tanj stopped just outside the bulkhead doors to the Cargo Bay. For a moment she ran her mind over all the things Hinoki had come up with over the years... Like the speculum, and the ice chips and the tobasco sauce... That hadn't been too pleasant, but in its own way, it had been kinda erotic. Bracing herself, she slapped the access button, and as the doors parted, she looked curiously into the Cargo bay.

The Cargo bay was, as usual, well lit. The cargo looked to have been undisturbed, the containers locked down to the floor in a pattern decreed by the ship's computer, to get the center of gravity as close to perfect as possible. In the open area between the access doors and the first of the cargo containers, a trusswork had been set up, almost filling the empty space. Four vertical beams close to the walls supported a square of beams about four meters off the deck, while another square rested on the floor. The beams looked to be heavier than needed to support the gadgets and gizmos lining them. There were lights, holographic projectors, and holographic cameras, as well as other things that she could only guess at. Hinoki had mentioned micropressors and microtractors, and if that's what those modules were, there were enough of them... Thick bundles of cables led off to one corner of the framework, and thence off into the maze of cargo containers. Looking around, not seeing Hinoki, Tanj stepped forward, stepping over the first of the beams, and into the square.

The sensations were tenuous as first. As she walked calmly towards the far corner, intending to follow the cable to wherever Hinoki might be, phantom fingers caressed her body, as if measuring every contour and curve. Gradually, they centered on her legs and arms. The sensations seemed to slither down her limbs, to concentrate at her ankles and wrists. For a moment the sensations seemed to follow the motions of arms and legs as she walked. Gradually resistance increased, making her feel as if she'd walked into a pool of water, and then as if the water had turned to honey, until she found herself forced to a halt. In surprise, she opened her mouth, to yell, but as she did so, it seemed as something large, and soft, and invisible filled her mouth, almost as if a giant tasteless marshmallow had been shoved between her teeth. The yell was a muffled yelp... Suddenly it seemed as if the constrictions at wrists and ankles had subdivided, bands of pressure moving up to just above her knees and elbows, while the remaining pressures remained at wrists and ankles. Then the forces subdivided again, moving along her body until she felt pressure above her breasts and around her waist. Looking down, she could actually see her fur flattened, her waist pressed in, as if by a tight belt. As the band of force just above her breasts subdivided, she yelped into the nothingness filling her mouth as it compressed her breasts as it moved down over them, finally settling just below them, tightening there also. While it wasn't too hard to breath, it was similar to wearing a very stiff corset...

Suddenly her whole body jerked, and held by the bands of force, she was wrenched upwards, her head moving forward, arms and legs being pulled firmly apart. In an instant, she was hanging, suspended, face down, about one and a half meters off the floor. Whatever had her in its grip didn't stop there, for a moment later she felt pressures against her crotch. Invisible fingers were spreading her nether lips, probing her sex, and then something was pushing its way into her pussy and her ass, with the same soft resiliency to match the phantom presence in her mouth. Twisting her head around, she waited, seemingly floating in mid-air, obscenely spread and filled.

Wanda purrrred, and pulled Kath into her lap; "now that was interesting... Wonder how our Brave Captain liked that?" Kath giggled, squirming a little; "Dunno, but it looked fun to ME!" Wanda smiled; "be good, and maybe we'll let you have your turn in Hinoki's little creation." Zassa looked up from the monitor and chuckled; "Me first!"

Hinoki resembled some technomonster as he stepped from between the freight containers. He had some sort of electronic goggles strapped over his eyes, various other sensors taped to his body or held in place by a rather unusual harness. He walked carefully, trailing a bundle of wires. The remote in his hands took two hands to hold, two to control, its wires also feeding into the harness covering his body. Grinning at the trapped Cheetah fem, he flipped a switch on the control box, and then let it hang from its straps connected to his harness. Bending down, he picked up another bundle of leather and wires and sensors and stepped closer to Tanj.

"The sensors in the framework are good; I'm sure they caught your initial surprise, the sensation of being suddenly captured by the tractor and pressor beams, but they're just not as good as the direct contact sensors. I'll get you all wired up, plugged in, and calibrated, and then we'll run through some of what our little invention can do. Your feelings, your sensations, and to an extent, even your thoughts will be captured, and become part of the system, part of the program. I know, you may not understand all that now, but later, when you've had a chance to experience it from MY point of view, I'm sure you'll understand... AND approve. Oh, and by the way, everything that happens to you, well, I'll receive the complimentary sensations; it'll be as if I was doing it all to you..."

Tanj groaned and tried to buck her hips as Hinoki inserted thin little sensors into her pussy and ass; his fingers there felt good, and she was only a little surprised to find herself quite wet. As the engineer in her wondered how he managed to work his fingers into a volume supposedly already filled by a creation of pressor and tractor beams, another part of Tanj's mind decided that she actually kinda liked being grabbed like this...

Tanj's head came up as the holographic projectors flickered to life. Hinoki seemed to vanish, along with the cargo bay, to be replaced with a jungle scene. Below her, lay a broadsword, still in its sheath, and a traveler's pack. There were also a few scraps of leather that might have been clothing. Suddenly Tanj found that she couldn't move her head, and crossing her eyes, she tried to focus on the thick green tendril that now seemed to be the source of the presence in her mouth, she felt something move in her pussy, and ass. Groaning as the tentacle monster turned her, pulling her upright, she squirmed, trying to fight it. "I'm not sure what the script calls for here" she thought to herself, "but this seems the natural thing to do..." however, the pressor and tractor beams were much stronger than she was, and while she was able to move her limbs a little, there was no way to escape... .and after a while, as tentacles found her breasts, pulled on her tail, and manipulated her body, her motions turned from escape to those of someone writhing in ecstasy.

Kath's eyes darted over to Zassa; the vixen was slouched down in her station chair, her left paw caressing her right breast, her right hand stroking between her legs, oblivious to whomever might be watching. Chuckling to herself, the Mink reached out to stroke her Mistress, wondering if the Wolverine was as excited by the spectacle as she was...

Hinoki groaned as the devices on the harness he wore, transmitted the sensations to him; he WAS the tentacle monster. His cock seemed to be in her mouth, in her ass, in her pussy all at the same time, his hands all over her body, tugging at her nipples, stroking her rump... this was one of his better programs, and he was proud of his creation...

Tanj's pussy clenched down hard on the tentacle within her pussy as her third climax ripped through her... as the waves of pleasure receded, she found that the motions of the tentacle monster had slowed, and then stopped. Opening her eyes she found herself held horizontal once again, spreadeagled, apparently the default position. The visions were gone, the cargo bay once again in her sight. And there, leaning against one of the cargo containers was Hinoki. It seemed the Cheetah male had made a mess of himself...

Hinoki grinned at Tanj; "Dear, you have no idea how fantastic that was. I really wish I could let you down from there, to get you to clean me up, but I'm sure you'll be needed on the flight deck eventually, and there is just SO much to do. There are... "emotional responses" that we need to get to a range of different situations. So you just relax, and I'll start the next sequence...

As Hinoki pushed a button on his display, the cargo bay once again dissolved in the flicker of the holographic projectors. Tanj swooped and suddenly found herself on her feet, upright, in the midst of what appeared to be ruins. Dorthic columns lay shattered, amidst large blocks of limestone, all jumbled about, and overgrown with vines and weeds, as if long abandoned. Looking down at herself, she found she was clad in a thin white shift, descending from her left shoulder, belted at the waist, the dress barely long enough to cover her crotch. "Reminds me of the themes, scenes and shows" class" she grumbled to herself, suddenly realizing that the presence was gone from her mouth. The sound of something moving made her turn, ears twitching...

From the rubble, a huge Minotaur came into view. He was naked, wild looking, and he sniffed the air with a predatory growl... Tanj stifled a small cry and moved back and to the side a little, seeking the shelter of one of the blocks of limestone. Her motion caught his eye, however, and he turned to lower his head and charge at her. Tanj yelped and turned to flee.

The rubble was like a maze, and Tanj turned the corners, sprinting hard. There are few creatures faster than a frightened Cheetah, and Tanj had kept herself in good shape; therefore the increasing sound of hoofbeats and the Minotaur's snorts coming from behind her shook her deeply... and then she remembered. She HAD to be running in mid-air, held by the tractor and pressor beams. If she concentrated, she could feel the chafing of the sensory harness... She was still trapped in Hinoki's little toy. OF COURSE the Minotaur was going to catch her. OF COURSE she was going to be ravished! For a moment she thought about just letting it happen, but then she wondered why she should go easy on Hinoki. After all, he HAD to be wearing that tactile sensation feedback suit too... Grinning, she turned a corner, looking for something...

It might have been a piece of a flagpole once; the wooden shaft was almost overgrown with weeds. Tanj skidded to a stop and dived back, the Minotaur actually vaulting over her in surprise. As the Monster turned, snorting wildly, Tanj hefted the pole up in quarterstaff position. The Minotaur's charge was expected, and Tanj swung the pole's end down, and then up...

Hinoki HOWLED as the micropressors and microtractors on the tactile sensation harness tried to crush his testicles... THAT was something he hadn't expected, hadn't programmed for! Reluctantly, he admitted to himself that Tanj had indeed found a bug in his program, one that could have resulted in a lot of grief had it gone to market like that... grunting, knowing the gizmos didn't have the power to seriously hurt him, he straightened and growled. He wouldn't let her do that to him again, and for that, she'd pay, and pay dearly!

Tanj saw the monster stagger and stop, and for a moment had the insane impulse to step in, swinging the pole, and finish him... but she remembered it was all just a "game", and instead pulled her flimsy dress off over her head. When the Minotaur charged again, she tossed the fabric at him, the dress catching on his horns, falling in his eyes. As he howled in outrage, Tanj used the pole to bark him in the shins, and then bring it around behind his knees, dropping him into the dust. Chuckling, Tanj was convinced that the next time this scenario was run, every single piece of "wood" on the ground would be too rotten to be used for this purpose...

Zassa was sitting on the edge of her seat, staring at the monitor; she couldn't believe Tanj was playing that rough! "She's really gotta be pissed at him for tricking her into this, like that!" Wanda smiled and stroked Kath gently; "Yeah, but you have to remember, she's still caught in his little toy; want to bet he gets his revenge?"

The Minotaur seemed to recover quickly, scrambling to his feet; suddenly he seemed more wary, more calculating... Tanj backed warily, her pole held like a quarterstaff; however the chunk of limestone that suddenly materialized behind her caused her to stumble, and the Minotaur was on her in an instant, driving her to the rough, rubble-strewn ground.

Wanda watched the monitor, shaking her head. Hinoki was a good four meters from Tanj when he pounced; his body slammed into the floor, and yet Tanj had been jerked backwards and down just as if the Cheetahs had slammed together. It was weird, watching it this way; with the holoprojection field off-angle, the monitor was full of ghosts; she could see blurry representations of what the scene was supposed to look like, but she could make out Tanj and Hinoki too...

Tanj yelped as the Minotaur cuffed her, her head snapping around from a phantom blow that was scarcely felt. Then he was rolling her over, to bind her hands with the remnants of her own dress. Then the world turned upside-down as he threw her over his shoulder, turned, and with a bone- jarring stride, trotted off through the rubble.

Zassa stretched in her station chair; "so why's he doing this again? I mean, its neat, but how does it relate to the final product?" Kath grinned; "I think he's looking for unexpected reactions, and the "victim's" sensations. I don't think this thing's just for dominant males; what if you want to play the damsel in distress?" Wanda purrred; "or just sit back and enjoy the experiences and emotions of the damsel in distress? Does he have a way of not only forcing someone in Tanj's place to go through the physical sensations, but also to feel her emotions?" Kath just shrugged; "Could be an interesting experience, if he can. Can you imagine what it would be like to experience his sensations as a male?"" Wanda smiled; "Interesting concept..."

Tanj hit the floor with a thud. For a moment she lay there, stunned, not that it had been a painful impact, but with the realization that while it had FELT like a hard impact, it had been more like she'd been dropped on a bed than on the cave's rock floor. Then the Minotaur was back, with armfulls of coarse hemp rope...

The wooden beam had somehow been sunk into the rock floor of the cave. The Minotaur had laid her down in front of it, and had then tied her calves to the upright. Tied them tightly. He'd then lashed a cross-beam to the upright, and untying her bound arms, had pulled her arms apart, and behind her, tying one wrist to either end of the cross- beam. Tanj found herself leaning forward at about a 45 degree angle, her weight on her knees, her arms pulled behind her. The monster had then tied a leather thong to her hair, and pulling her head back hard, had tied the other end of that to the cross-beam. She found herself helplessly looking up at the monster. The Minotaur grunted down at her, and taking his member in one dirty hand, started rubbing its head against her mouth...

Tanj gagged as the Minotaur thrust his shaft into her mouth, pressing its head against the back of her throat. The taste and the scents weren't there, but most of the other tactile sensations were... and if they weren't perfect, then they were very close... Grunting, she worked her tongue over the creature's shaft, wondering if Hinoki could feel that...

Hinoki groaned, as Tanj started to move her tongue; she knew JUST how to do that to him... and he wondered if she knew how much that drove him mad... Chuckling to himself, he figured by the time he was done with her, she WOULD know... Forcing his mind back to the business at hand, for in a way, it WAS business, he placed his hands at the back of her head and started bucking his hips, thrusting his cock in and out of her tantalizing mouth.

Tanj gasped and gagged as the Monster handled her so roughly, driving his battering-ram of a cock into her mouth, against the back of her throat, until ultimately he forced it down her throat. The program didn't seem to have any safeties in that regard, as several times she felt her lungs burning, her vision growing dim, as the Minotaur's cock prevented her from breathing. Finally, however, with a great roar, the beast came, his cock discharging what felt like gallons of cum into her mouth, down her throat... And yet, she didn't feel her stomach bloat, as she expected... Finally he released her, stepping back, to wipe his softening cock on her face...

Hinoki panted and staggered across the "cave" to find a seat. Lord, that fem could drain him! That was twice, now, that he'd cum, in short order. He was good for a few more, before he'd have to stop... But there were ways to recharge the batteries in the meantime...

Zassa grinned as the Minotaur finally collapsed; she didn't know what Tanj thought of it all at this point, but from her point of view it was great theater... The vixen's head turned as Kath slithered off Wanda's lap, the Wolverine lass rising and stretching. "Where ya going? He's not done with her yet" the Vixen asked. Wanda chuckled; "gotta use the potty... Kath, why don't you make us all some popcorn. I figure we got a few minutes intermission..." Kath just chuckled, nodded and turned to sashay through the flight deck door, closely followed by her Mistress.

Tanj watched the Minotaur shift. She'd caught her breath, and stretched against her bonds a little, amused that she was apparently wearing out Hinoki... The Minotaur seemed to reach down, to pick up something, and then suddenly the illusion wavered, losing solidity. For a moment, she saw Hinoki, faintly, the Male cheetah still covered in the tactile sensation feedback/neurological sensor harness... and then things were taking form again. Now he was a gray wolf, covered in some sort of brown robe, a hood pulled over his head. The cave had metamorphosed into a classical dungeon, with torches in brackets on the walls, flickering light illuminating the stone walls... As the scene changed, so did her position, her body being pulled from the floor, her legs shifting to a standing position... In a moment she found herself in a "Posture Brace"... the A-frame of wrought iron had a steel collar at the top, locked around her neck; the legs of the A descended to end in iron cuffs around her ankles. A bar between the legs of the A kept her feet well spread. Cuffs midway along the length of the legs of the A held her wrists... and the whole thing was short enough that she was forced into a bent-over posture, as if she were bowing to the Wolf. These things had been used in ancient times to force prisoners into a contrite position, in the presence of their betters... The whole scene had an "inquisition" flavor to it...

Shifting her feet, Tanj found she wasn't tied down, but could actually move a little. Not like she co