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Standalone story 1

A Solar Federation officer is sent to Atriea to assist in some trouble regarding one of Atriea's colonies. Despite his reluctant companions, Barry intends to work with his new Atriean allies, without letting race get involved.

"To show you the power of Flex Tape,
I sawed this intergalactic treaty in half!"

I'm not sorry

---

Barry pressed lightly on the wheel, accelerating the small craft towards Atriea’s moon. He watched larger ships fly past his window as he scratched his thick beard. He was a tall and muscular man, and he wore a smart uniform with a single gold stripe running diagonally from his shoulder to his side. His slightly squinted brown eyes did not betray his constant alertness, and his face was slightly wrinkled, not from age, but from battle. His ship was a sleek, bullet shaped craft common among Atriean civilians for its looks and cost. Barry didn’t see the appeal, being a different species. He grunted and tried to re-position his legs, gripping the wheel with hands that looked like they were holding a child’s toy. He wondered if the only reason he got the ship was because the officer that happened to be on duty didn’t like Humans. They could at least have given him a military vessel. He sighed to himself and looked to his left at the ship flying adjacent to his. It was identical to his own, the top half transparent for a full range of vision. Two Atrieans sat inside, one clasping the other from behind like on a motorcycle. The one driving had a grin on his face like a hyena (in fact, he was a hyena, upon further inspection) and the one behind (a fox of some sort) was simply looking content. Before he could be accused of staring, he looked back to his destination. Unlike many of his friends, especially his fellow Solar Federation officers, Barry did not hate Atrieans. In fact, he quite liked them. It was probably due to this fact he was picked for this mission, because he was one of the only tactical officers in the Solar Federation who wouldn’t try and quick draw an Atriean the first chance he got. Though, Barry worried that an Atriean might try and quick draw him. Barry was snapped from his contemplation when a voice broke the quiet ambiance. “Civilian vessel, you are entering Atriean military space, please identify yourself.”
Barry frowned. They knew he was coming, didn’t they? “Uh… This is Lieutenant Barry West of the Solar Federation. I was ordered to assist in a mission, to, uh, further diplomatic relations.”
There was silence for a long second, then his console lit up. The ship was clearly decked out with military grade equipment, because now it was informing him that his ship was being locked onto with particle acceleration cannons, and if he would like to execute evasive maneuvers or not. A shock went through his body. “H-hey! No-”
“Unidentified vessel! Please respond or we will open fire!”
Barry began to panic. “I am responding! Hey! Is this thing on?!”
To survive a bloody war on the front lines, only to die to a malfunctioning radio. Suddenly the lock dropped, and the voice came back on the radio. “Haha! I had you there!”
Barry’s jaw dropped. “For the love of God! I thought you were going to reduce my ship to carbon 17!”
“Hey, chill out Human, it was just a joke. Ha!”
Barry grumbled. “Who’s your superior, son?”
“I’m not your son.”
“Human expression, answer the question.”
Laughter once again came over the com. “Welcome to The Moon, Human.”
The line cut, and Barry was left with the extra adrenaline working its way through his system. He muttered to himself to calm his heart. “Damn young soldiers. Didn’t serve in the war but still they’re trying to be as angry as the veterans.”
Soon he reached the military hanger, and his ship’s AI took over, placing him on the ground floor. The hatch opened, and he squeezed himself out. Although most Atrieans were as tall (if not taller) than most Humans, they had a consistently thinner build, because of their planet’s climate. A tired looking uniform clad feline stepped forward and greeted him. “Barry, I presume? They’re waiting for you in the war room.”
“Thank-”
“Just keep quiet and don’t cause any trouble. We don’t really need you for this mission.”
Barry tried not to look too offended. He followed the feline towards an elevator. “I was sent here for a reason, no matter if you want me or not. Why not use my experience?”
The feline stepped through the door and closed it behind Barry. “With all due respect Lieutenant West, you’re here so the news broadcast can tell the world what great friends our two governments are. We don’t really need you.”
“I might agree with you, If I knew what was going on in the first place.”
The feline sighed and handed him a data pad. “I hoped you might not ask that question.”
As Barry skimmed the information on the pad, the feline explained. “We’ve had a problem with one of our colonies. Unfortunately it seems they have acquired some… heavy weapons and declared themselves an independent world. Three days later they declared war on the Solar Federation.”
Barry raised an eyebrow. “Oh really? Atrieans angry the war ended, huh.”
“Yep. Figured the only way to continue their vendetta on Terrans was to do this. So the Solar Federation gave us you and said it was our problem. The military agrees. Oh, speaking of which…”
The feline handed him a badge. “You are now an honorary member of the Atriean military. The first Human in history. Try not to get mustard on that.”
“Mustard…?”
The feline shrugged. “It’s a Human thing, right? Never mind. We’re going to go in there, show a bit of muscle, and get home before the lo-grav ball game this weekend. At least, I hope. I don’t want to lose another pool…”
Barry handed back the data pad and shook his head. “It looks like they have some pretty fancy stuff. How’d they get it all?”
“War surplus.”
“I see.”
The elevator went silent, and Barry glanced at the feline’s face. He looked bored, his yellow eyes half closed, his breathing slow. He wore a round, flat gray cap from which his ears poked. “So… I don’t know if this I rude or anything… but what subspecies are you?”
“Lynx. Mostly.”
“I see…”
He chuckled. “You Humans were so quick to give our subspecies names based on your small mammals. I suppose if it helps you remember, so be it.”
He tapped the translator he wore. “In Atriean, my subspecies name is…”
He switched the translator off and spoke a series of syllables in quick succession, then turned the translator back on. Barry blinked in confusion. “I still marvel at how some Humans can speak Atriean.”
The elevator opened and the feline stepped out. “My name is Dehart, by the way. Lieutenant Commander Dehart, Special Forces.”
“A pleasure to meet you.”
Dehart looked slightly offended, but he shrugged and beckoned as he walked down the hall towards two double doors. “Be careful what Human expressions you use, some of them don’t translate very well.”
“Noted…”
Dehart swung the doors open, revealing a congregation of Atrieans standing around a table. “Lieutenant, let me introduce you to our task force.”
He gestured towards a tall canine woman who stood at the head of the table. “Captain Sylvia,” he swept his paw to the next person at the table, a Hyena who looked like he could be the military’s poster boy. “Fleet Commander Prax,” on went the gesture, to a mid height arctic fox with a bluish coat of fur. She looked slightly annoyed, and wore the same cap that Dehart did. “Captain Jocica, Special Forces,” at last he pointed to the final member of the group, an angry looking tiger. “And lastly, Captain Gabilon, who’s ship had the displeasure of being nearby when these… Hillbillies? Decided to test their weapons.”
Gabilon clenched his fist. “Don’t joke about this! My first officer may be crippled!”
Dehart threw up his paws. “No offense meant.”
Fleet Commander Prax smiled and sat down. “Lets get to it. Nice to meet you, Lieutenant, I’m sure you’ll be a help to us.”
His tone was slightly condescending, but Barry ignored it. Instead he looked over at Jocica. She was looking at the table, which now displayed a map of a system. With a jolt Barry realized the table was a screen, the action earning him a snicker from Jocica. Prax pointed at the planet in the center. “A probe scanned the planet a few minutes ago, and confirmed the locations of the cannons.”
Prax indicated some small symbols on a map of the planet that was laid out beside the map of the system. “There are a total of eight capital ship sized particle acceleration cannons.”
He indicated each, then pointed at a different symbol. “This is where ‘King’ is, and will likely stay. First, we’ll arrive, surround the planet and offer an ultimatum. They may be aggressive, but we don’t want to start orbital bombardment because of all the civilians down there, so we have to stay out of range.”
Prax folded his paws together and looked at Jocica. “If it looks like they won’t let up, that’s where Jocica comes in. We’ll send down two units, capture King and secure his command center. Cut off the snake’s head, to use a Human expression.”
Barry nodded. “Sounds like a decent plan… Where do I come in?”
Jocica looked at him with something approaching contempt in her eyes. “Sit an’ look pretty.”
Prax shot her a look and let out a low growl. “You, will be working alongside Jocica. You have valuable tactical expertise.”
Jocica did not look pleased with this decision. “What? Sir, I don’t need to be babysitting an ape-”
“Captain! Please, keep the schoolyard insults to yourself.” Prax barked.
She growled, but reluctantly dropped her tone to something more professional. “Sorry… Lieutenant.”
Sylvia looked slightly uncomfortable, and Gabilon just looked angry. Dehart was amused, strangely. Prax stood and shut off the table. “We’re leaving immediately, follow me.”
There was a scraping of chairs as the group stood to follow Prax. They stepped into the elevator, where Barry was able to get a closer look at each of his fellow officers. Prax still just looked like the model Fleet Commander, though he doubted his personality matched his appearance. Sylvia was slightly more interesting; her long muzzle told Barry she was some sort of canine, but he didn’t want to ask. Her eyes were blue, and she kept leaning towards Prax and touching his paw. Barry realized he was the only one who noticed, because of the muzzle that prevented Atrieans from seeing down unless they lowered their heads. Gabilon hadn’t calmed down since Barry met him, and his constant snarl intimidated him slightly. His fur was striped, and his body was muscular. He seemed like the type to shoot first and ask questions last. He didn’t notice anything extra about Dehart, but he did get a good look and Jocica. He could see how she was a member of the Special Forces, she definitely had the personality for it. At that moment, it appeared as though she was deep in calculation, no doubt working out routs of attack or some other thing like that. As such, her face was stuck in a static expression, her red eyes contrasting nicely with her light blue fur. She looked strong enough to judo throw him, even though weighed over two hundred ponds. With a jolt, the elevator stopped, and opened to reveal a huge, busy top floor launch pad. Prax stepped out and spoke. “We’re joining up with the rest of the fleet in two hours; they’re already en rout. Dehart, show West where his room is when we get aboard.”
“Aye, sir.”
Barry recognized most of the ships. He had fought against many of them, and destroyed more than his fair share. He looked away, accidentally meeting Jocica’s eyes. She saw the guilty look in his face, and snapped her jaw at him. He made sure to keep his distance until they reached the ship. As they arrived at the entrance, which was a ramp, and not much else, he noticed the ship they would be flying in was a Sanyo class battlecruiser. Mid sized, and built for speed, most fleets consisted mainly of them. They walked through the halls until they came to a fork. Prax stopped them. “In two hours we’ll meet up with the rest of the fleet. In five days we will arrive at the colony. I expect to meet all of you in my briefing office then. Dismissed!”
Jocica immediately opened a wall panel and slipped up a ladder, while Prax, Sylvia and Gabilon walked down the left corridor. Dehart grinned and gestured towards the right corridor. “Your cabin is this way.”
Barry followed. After a moment Dehart spoke. “I must apologize for Jocica’s behavior, she has… a troubled past.”
“There’s no need, sir. I understand her animosity. Plenty of people hate me for what I did during the war.” Barry wondered if he should have said ‘including myself’, but decided against it.
“We all did things we regret, Barry.” Dehart said, as if reading his mind.
“Yeah. It was a mistake, the whole thing. I like Atrieans, you have a very rich history.”
Dehart laughed. “And very bloody one, too. Ah, here we are.” He gesture towards a small door. “Guest quarters.”
He opened the door, and Barry peeked inside. There was a bed with a small indentation in it, and a chair with a hole in it’s back. “Pretty sparse.”
“Yeah. It is.”
Barry did not relish spending an extended period of time in the tiny cabin, so he stepped back. “Its about lunch time… is there a place I can get food?”
“Of course. That door there, then a right and a left. I must be going, I will see you later.”
Barry turned to follow the directions, but hesitated. “Dehart?”
“Yes?”
“You’re alright.”
Dehart looked slightly puzzled, but nodded and continued walking. Barry followed the directions, went up a few ramps and ended up in front of a large door marked with unreadable symbols. The second he stepped through the doors, the noise level dropped significantly as every head turned to look at him. Surprisingly, most of the Atrieans within didn’t seem to mind his being there. A couple left, however, as he approached the serving table. A cheery looking chef greeted him. She looked like some sort of raccoon, though Barry couldn’t tell for sure. “Hey there, Human. What’ll it be, hm?”
“Um… I can’t read the menu, so what do you recommend?”
The chef lit up, and swept her arm around the kitchen area. “Well! You know you’re the first person to ever ask me that? Anyway, we’ve got a huge selection of insects from all over Atriea, as well as some exotic-”
Barry held up his hand, stopping her. “W-wait… Atriean insects are poisonous to Humans. Don’t you have anything else?”
The chef looked crestfallen, but she pointed into a heating tray. “Laxarr steak I suppose.”
“Sure, I can eat that.”
She grabbed a slice of slimy looking meat with some tongs and dropped it onto a plate with a wet slap. She poured a sauce over it and added something that looked like a cross between Brussels sprouts and peas. Barry hesitantly took the plate. “Thanks…”
“Try not to look too disappointed, dear.”
Barry sniffed it, and found that it smelled nice. “Sorry… it smells tasty.”
The lady smiled. “Oh, g’wan with you. You’re holding up the line.”
He carried his plate away from the serving area, and noticed Jocica sitting in the corner table. If he was going to be working closely with her, he might as well try and get off on the right foot. He walked over and stood next to the table. “Is this seat taken?”
She looked up at him, her anger from earlier less apparent. “No.”
Barry set down his plate and sat next to the fox, who seemed to be eating soup. She sipped some from a spoon as he spoke. “Look, we’re going to work together, we need to get on the same level…”
She did not respond. He cleared his throat. “I know you don’t like Humans-”
“That’s an understatement.”
Barry looked into his food and sighed. “The war is over, Jocica. It ended ten years ago. Don’t you think it’s time to…”
He trailed off, unable to find the right words. Instead he scooped up a collection of the green pea things and ate them. To his surprise, they tasted like a fruit. He tried again. “There’s no more fighting, at least not between our governments. There shouldn’t be any fighting between us either.”
She snarled. “So what? You want us to be friends? You want me to like you? It’s not a choice, I’ve never liked a single Human I’ve met.”
She dropped her tone to a menacing low growl. “In fact, I’ve shot most Humans I’ve met.”
Barry did not let up, like he knew she wanted him to. “Have you tried talking to them instead?”
She opened her mouth, but didn’t have a response. She looked back at her soup. “I don’t have anything to talk to you about.”
“I do. Your eyes.”
“W-what?”
She looked at him quizzically. “They’re red. Humans don’t have red eyes.”
“So?”
“Don’t you find that interesting?”
“Not really.”
“look at my eyes.”
She looked into his brown eyes; the flecks of color were strange to her, as Atriean eyes kept a more solid colour as opposed to the Human eye. “They’re brown… Atrieans don’t have brown eyes…”
Barry smiled. He had a mild interest in exobiology, and knew a great deal about it. Jocica was slightly sobered. She had never noticed the flecks Humans had in their eyes. She never thought about it, or taken the time to look before. “Huh.”
“Yeah. Believe it or not, it’s an even bigger coincidence that we share some eye colours.”
Jocica had never seen someone so enthusiastic about eyes before. “Get to the point, Barry. What’s this all about?”
“You haven’t threatened my life since we started talking about something else besides the war.”
She frowned at him. “Congratulations.”
Barry cut a slice of his steak and chewed on it. “I think we’ll get along just fine.”
Jocica snorted and finished her soup. “Sure, whatever.”
She stood and walked away. Barry watched her leave, then returned to eating his steak. “Hmm… tastes like chicken.”

Barry and Jocica stared at each other over the table, Jocica growling angrily, and Barry doing the same. “What the hell kind of world do you live in where terrorists don’t have IEDs?!”
“These aren’t terrorists, Human! They’re too proud to scrounge around and create ineffective weapons! Remember they declared themselves a sovereign world, and they call their leader King!”
“Even if I had delusions of grandeur, I would get whatever I could get my hands on. We need a bomb squad!”
“They’d just get in the way!”
Gabilon chuckled and stepped forward before punches could be thrown. “Hey, hey. We’re on the same side here, OK?”
Barry sighed and sat down at the table. “Alright… let’s agree to disagree, and let Gabilon decide.”
Jocica made a frustrated sound and turned around so she didn’t have to look at Barry. “What does that even mean?! … Fine. What do you think?”
Gabilon shrugged. “I’m not a tactical officer, I don’t know.”
Jocica and Barry both turned on him and spoke in unison. “Oh, big help.”
Gabilon looked shocked for a minute, then started laughing. Barry joined in next, and soon all three were laughing hysterically. Once Barry stopped, He sighed. “Hehe… Look, it’s probably late, and we’ll be arriving in two days. Let’s settle this some other time.”
Jocica stretched her arms and yawned. “You’re right.”
She looked at a strangely shaped clock that was built into the wall. It displayed Atriean numbers which Barry couldn’t even begin to comprehend. “Oh, shit. We missed dinner.”
Barry picked up his over coat from where he had discarded it, and put it back on. “I’ll join you.”
Gabilon slumped on the long bench that sat near the door, laying his hat over his eyes. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”
Jocica flipped the hat as she exited the room. “We wont.”
Soon they where sitting back in the dining area, Jocica with a basket of what looked like deep fried insect wings, and Barry with his Laxarr steak once again. Barry was halfway through sating his hunger when he was interrupted. “Slow down, Human, you’ll choke.”
“Hey, call me Barry… Mm.”
She shrugged. “Sorry, Barry.”
He put down his fork and looked at her. “So, what do you think now?”
“Come again?”
“About Humans. Do you still hate them?”
She looked down into her food and picked up a wing. “It’s not that simple, I didn’t… It wasn’t like that, I mean…”
She tossed down the wing in frustration. “Just… drop it.”
Barry nodded and took another bite. “Ok.”
Jocica picked around with her food some more, then pointed another wing at Barry. “I know what you’re thinking! But… I never said I hate Humans.”
Barry raised an eyebrow. “Just too used to fighting them, huh?”
She ran a paw down her face and tried to search for the proper words. “I guess… Look, I tried to forgive and forget…”
She flushed red and sighed, burying her head in her paws. Barry could tell there was something serious on her mind. “What’s the matter?”
“I… I… I’m afraid of you, o-ok?!”
Barry leaned back, and tried not to take too much pleasure from the statement. “Huh.”
She shook her head. “Not like that… It’s hard to explain. I keep thinking you’re going to… I know it sounds silly…”
“There’s nothing silly from where I’m sitting.”
She stayed quiet for a long time before speaking again. “It’s not you, or Humans for that matter… Its what you can do.”
“Now that is kinda silly.”
She slapped his arm. “Shut it.”
“Ow! OK, I deserved that…”
She smiled weakly, then straightened her posture. “I’m sorry, don’t take it personally… To be honest I think you’re a nice person.”
That statement, for some reason, gave Barry a warm feeling. “Oh… Thanks.”
His gaze fell to the table, where Jocica’s paw was resting, near his hand. He placed his hand upon it, feeling her tense up immediately. Her paw was strangely cold to the touch, slightly bony but very soft. Jocica was mostly just confused at this action. “You know, Jocica, I enjoy working with you.”
“Yes…?”
She narrowed her eyes, completely unable to read the alien’s face before her. It made her think back to her old command, for some reason. “I’m getting on in age, and I’ve been single most of my life…”
Jocica was only half listening. The other half of her was hearing the sirens. The sirens that warned of the incoming missile. The siren that wailed, even over the flames that already choked the breath from her lungs. “I like you quite a bit, I think we get along well…”
Her first officer evaporated before her eyes from the nuclear flash that tore across her vision. She ripped her paw from under Barry’s hand and stood. “I-I-I… Don’t think that’s a good idea...”
She almost tripped over her chair as she quickly made her exit. At first, Barry was just shocked. After a moment he slammed his head on the table. “You idiot!”

The next day, Barry stepped through the door to Prax’s private office, to find him sitting with his nose in a vintage bound book. He looked up when the door opened. “What…? Oh, I must have lost track of time…”
Barry stood to attention. “You wanted to see me, sir?”
“Yes…”
Prax put the book down and stood, jarringly switching his demeanor to anger. “What the hell are you trying to prove?!”
Barry was taken aback. “Wha- What are you talking about?”
“You’re contradicting Jocica’s orders, and costing us valuable time!”
He leaned forward. “Stop trying so damned hard!”
Barry shrugged. “I thought we needed a bomb squad, she didn’t. That’s all.”
Prax shook his head. “That’s not the point. It’s not your job to be useful. It’s not your job to hinder us either.”
“Prax… Fleet Commander, I apologize if my trying to help had the opposite effect, but we need a bomb squad.”
Prax narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure that’s all?”
“Yes. I am a member of the Atriean military, right? Just doing my job.”
Prax grinned and rounded the table, patting Barry on the back. “We need more people like you in the military, Barry. Too many pushovers these days.”
“Um… thanks, I guess.”
Prax chuckled and sat back at his desk. “I agree. I’m sending in two bomb specialists with you. Peter and Stillman. Maybe you’ve heard of them?”
“No, but I’m sure they’re good. Thank you, sir.”
Prax chuckled again. “No need to thank me, Lieutenant. Now, I believe you have one last planning meeting with Jocica today. Show her this.”
Prax handed him the official orders to add Stillman and Peter to the team. Barry nodded and turned to leave. “Oh, Barry…”
“Yes?”
Prax poured himself an amber liquid from a glass flask on his desk. “It’s a sin.”
“What’s a sin… Sir?”
Prax drank from the glass and puffed steam from his mouth. “Goodbye, Barry.”
“Right…”
He stepped out of the room, feeling a certain degree of malaise. He went to his cabin and sat in the chair for an hour, looking over the two bomb specialists’ files, while also thinking about Jocica. He had clearly hurt her in some way. He only wished he had kept his mouth shut. He may have jeopardized their friendship with his foolish notions. ‘A Human and and Atriean.’ He thought to himself. ‘What was I thinking?! Those kinds of things only happen on TV.’
He sighed and put down the data pad, which he had read a dozen times without really seeing any of the words. “I suppose it’s time to face the music…”
He grabbed the orders and walked out the door, putting on his best ‘officer’ face. He arrived at the briefing room, immediately noticing something was wrong. The entire team was there, even though the meeting was only supposed to be him, Jocica and Gabilon. Sylvia saw the confusion in his face and explained. “The situation has changed, Lieutenant. We’ve picked up ships in orbit, mostly small sub-light vessels with minimal armament.”
Dehart pointed at the map being displayed on the table. “It looks like they’re preparing to defend the planet. There may be no avoiding a fight.”
Barry tossed the orders onto the table and looked at the map. Swarms of ships surrounded the planet. “What do we do?”
Jocica, acting as though nothing had happened, pointed at several points around the planet. “We’re going to re-deploy the fleet like this, and sneak the ground troops in at one of the poles.”
“Are we in radio communications range yet?”
“Yes, and we’ve sent the ultimatum.”
Barry nodded. “No response yet, I assume.”
Sylvia nodded grimly. “This may turn into something very bad. Stay on your toes.”
Prax stood. “You all better get some sleep, we’re arriving in the early morning.”
The task force began exiting the room. Barry stopped Jocica before she could slip out the door. “Jocica, about yesterday-”
“We’ll be arriving in the morning. Get some sleep, Lieutenant.”
She brushed by him and out the door without a sideways glance. Prax shot him a look as he passed, and Barry was left alone in the room. He looked at the map on the table. He shook his head, and exited the room, heading for his cabin.

The atmosphere on the bridge was tense. The fleet was in position around the colony, but there was not so much as a peep from any of the ships, or the ground. Barry sat at the tactical station, monitoring the activity (or lack there of) going on on and around the planet below. Prax sat on the Captain’s chair, Sylvia beside him. He had his eyes glued to the screen that was attached to his chair. He pressed a button on the console beside him. “Jocica, how much longer?”
“Five minutes, sir, then we’ll be ready.” Her voice sounded tinny coming from the small intercom speaker.
Prax nervously tapped his claws on the arm of his chair. “What do you think, Sylvia?”
“I don’t think they’re going to answer us, sir. They might be waiting for us to make the first move.”
Prax sighed and turned his chair to the left, calling to the communications officer. “Send out one last request for surrender. Make sure to add ‘this is your final warning’.”
“Aye, sir.”
The message went out, and was received, yet there was still no answer. After five minutes, Jocica called. “Prax, our team is ready to fly, just give me the word.”
Prax looked at Sylvia once again. “We’ve given them fair warning. It’s been two hours, and-”
Barry saw it first. The ships surrounding the planet began to move, and charge weapons. “Sir! Those ships are attacking! ETA to weapons range: two minutes!”
Prax barked to the coms officer. “Send out a message to all ships, hold your fire! Those model ships would crumple under our firepower. Tell them to stay alert, and keep shields on maximum!”
After a second the officer barked back. “All ships report holding fire, shields maximum.”
Barry had an idea. “Sir, if we reduce our weapons power by ninety percent, we could disable their ships without destroying them.”
“I was just thinking that myself, lieutenant. Make it so!”
The com officer relayed the information, as the small ships opened fire. Five made a run on Prax’s ship, firing short bursts of energy into the shields, then pulling back and returning to their orbit. The ship rocked slightly, not even enough to spill a cup of liquid. Prax narrowed his eyes. “What are they doing? They know it’s suicide to attack us like this.”
The weapons officer turned to face Prax. “Modifications complete, sir.”
Barry recognized their movements. “Sir, they’re trying to lure us into range of those cannons.”
“You’re right, Lieutenant.”
He pressed the intercom button again. “Jocica, you’re up. Disable the cannons.”
Barry stood. “Sir, I’d like to join that mission. They need a-”
“Go ahead.”
Barry was surprised, but he nodded and ran for the bridge exit, hurrying to catch the assault shuttle before it departed. Prax toggled the intercom again. “Jocica, hold up. You’ve got company coming your way.”
“Acknowledged.”
He turned the intercom off. “Rex, see if you can’t disable some of those idiots down there.”

Barry dashed across the shuttle bay towards the large shuttle, which was humming, it’s engines raring to go. Jocica looked out as he arrived and grabbed the short ladder. “B-Barry?! What are you doing here?”
“I’m coming too.”
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
She frowned, and straightened the cap on her head. “Get in, and get a gun.”
She closed the hatch and sat on one of the benches. The shuttle was long for it’s size, with two long benches that ran along either wall, where fifty seven soldiers were packed. Barry strapped himself into one of the extra seats as the shuttle rocked back and forth. He looked at Dehart, who was decked out in combat gear, yelling over the noise of clattering equipment. “Doesn’t this thing have stabilizers?!”
He grinned. “Not if we want to dodge the cannon fire!”
Barry almost threw up, and Jocica couldn’t help but laugh. Barry looked over at the pilot, who was gripping the wheel and handling at least five different levers and gizmos at the same time. He looked like he was concentrating very hard. Barry turned to Jocica. “Is he good?!”
“The best!”
One of the soldiers who was sitting next to the pilot yelled down the rows. “We’re too low for their cannons now! Prepare for landing, one minute!”
Jocica grabbed a pawhold that ran along the ceiling and stood. “Alright, listen up, kids! We’re landing five kilometers away from the target, so keep an eye out! We don’t know what weapons to expect, so don’t rely on your armor! Standard skirmish line through the jungle when we land; don’t lose sight of your Lieutenant!”
The was a collective grunt of acknowledgment, then a paw shot up. “What do we do?!”
Barry looked over at two terrified looking black panthers, who he recognized as Peter and Stillman. Jocica walked over and grinned at them. “You’re with me, out front. Scan for explosives, and disable them.”
They nodded in unison. Seconds later the shuttle bumped twice, and a siren sounded. Jocica opened the hatch and jumped out, rifle poised. “Everyone out!”
There was a coordinated rush from the shuttle as soldiers poured onto the ground, fanning out. Barry grabbed a rifle from a rack and held it. It was small in his hands, but it looked powerful. He jumped out alongside Peter and Stillman as shouts echoed around the area. “Clear!”
“All clear!”
Jocica called out. “Form up, let’s go!”
She glanced at a compass and headed into the woods. They had landed in a clearing of a very thick jungle. Barry looked at the pair of bomb disposal experts and ran towards where the rest of the soldiers were heading. “Come on you two.”
Soon they caught up with Jocica, who was trekking in front of the coulomb. “Hey! Wait up!”
“There you are! Stillman, you’re on point.”
Stillman gulped and adjusted his helmet. He took out a scanner and ran ahead a ways. Peter sighed and ran after him. Jocica and Barry walked side by side, not speaking. Barry opened his mouth to say something, but Jocica beat him to it. “I have to apologize.”
“What…? I should be the one apologizing.”
She shook her head, a wistful look on her face. “I… acted like a jerk and… was a little racist, but…”
She growled at herself. “It had nothing to do with you.”
She bit her lip, and Barry raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know why, but I’m getting the impression you want to tell me something else.”
“Well… I want to explain myself…”
He nodded. “Alright.”
She gestured vaguely with her paws, trying to find words. “…During the war… I fought a lot of battles. I killed… a lot of people.”
Barry nodded. “We all did.”
“That’s not it though… We were hit with a nuke, a-and most of my bridge crew was vaporized before my eyes. I… It wasn’t pleasant.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t even the fault of the person who fired the nuke. It effected me though. It gave me a view on Humans that I though held true for all of you. I thought you were all capable of… mass murder.”
They came to a stop at a steep hill overlooking more trees. Stillman and Peter were a few meters to the left, and a couple more soldiers were waiting at the edge. Jocica sighed and looked Barry in the eye. “I feel like a fool now. You proved my assumptions wrong, Barry, and… Well I actually really l-”
She did not finish her sentence as a shot rang out, and blood was splattered all over Barry’s uniform. Jocica lost her balance, and before anyone could react, she began tumbling down the incline. Dehart, who stood with Peter and Stillman, was the first to do anything. “Everybody down!”
More shots rang out, pulses of energy and bolts of plasma began to fly up the incline from the valley below. Barry did not follow orders, but instead dove after Jocica, trying to control his scrambling fall with his hands. “Barry! Get back up here. Now!”
Shots and shouts flew past him as he reached the bottom, where Jocica lay, groaning. He grabbed her and pulled her form to a rock, where he checked her over. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out, and she was bleeding from a quarter shaped hole in her shoulder. It looked like a bolt of plasma had gone right through the bone. Barry cursed and rummaged inside her backpack until he found some bandages. he pressed them to the wound and bound it, muttering to her. “You’ll be fine, it didn’t hit anything vital. Can you stand?”
She managed to speak. “Go… Get out…”
“Hell no, I am not leaving you here. Come on.”
She had taken a blow to the head, and her leg appeared to be broken. He pulled out a syringe of morphine from Jocica’s pack and injected it into her, then hoisted her body over his shoulder. “Here we go!”
Dehart saw what a foolish thing Barry was doing, but was powerless to stop it. “Goddammit! He’s going to get himself killed! Alright, boys and girls! COVERING FIRE!”
The soldiers all popped from cover and began firing blindly at the trees, stopping most of the rebels from being able to get a shot off. Bolts whizzed past Barry was he climbed with inhuman strength up the slippery incline, as Jocica bled on him through her bandage. Stillman and Peter both grabbed his arm as he reached the top, pulling him up. He quickly lay Jocica down and called out to the unit’s medic. “HEY! MEDIC!”
The wolf was already running towards them, with two other soldiers following behind with a stretcher they were in the process of unfolding. “Give me a hand, Human!”
The medic checked her over and cursed. “We need to get her back to the ship, come on!”
Dehart looked down the cliff with binoculars. “Hold your fire! They’re surrendering! Get down there quickly!”
Rebels began to come out of the woods, their weapons gone. Most of them looked somewhat emaciated. The medic counted to three and they lifted Jocica onto the stretcher. Barry pushed one of the soldiers aside. “You have a mission to complete. This rifle doesn’t fit me anyway.”
He grabbed one side and the medic grabbed the other. They ran through the jungle as fast as they dared, arriving at the landing site as another shuttle set down. Barry shouted into the first shuttle. “Pilot! Get us back to the ship, now!”
He did not hesitate, taking off even before the hatch was closed. The medic prepared to transfuse blood into Jocica, and Barry sat beside her, feeling useless. “You’ll get through, Jocica…”
She opened her eyes to look at him, smiling on account of the morphine. She reached out with her paw and let it fall on Barry’s hand. He closed it as she lost consciousnesses.

The process of waking up was painful for Jocica, but at least it happened. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized she was alone in a room. She groaned and reached for the computer console to her left, quickly searching for the mission outcome. She smiled. ‘Mission successful.’
There was a knock at the door, and Dehart stepped through. “Ah, sir, I see you are awake.”
“Yeah…”
Dehart chuckled. “Before you ask, three days.”
“Holy shit… I sleep heavy.”
“Yep. So, what do you remember?”
Jocica coughed. “N-not much… I passed out on the shuttle I think.”
Dehart nodded. “Broken leg, fractured rib, plasma wound to the shoulder, mild concussion.”
Jocica chuckled. “I’ve had worse. So what happened, besides a successful mission.”
“Well, most of the rebel colonists surrendered, and ‘King’ was killed. Damn fool tried to fight us all himself.”
Jocica cleared her throat again and looked away from Dehart. “Where… Where is Barry?”
“He’s back with the Solar Federation. He got a medal and the press is eating him up.”
Dehart pressed a piece of paper into her paw. “He left this for you.”
Dehart walked out the door with a wave as Jocica opened the note and read it. She was blushing hard when she tossed the note aside and threw her arm over her face. “Saves my life then runs off… Don’t think you can run for long, Barry. No one had escaped my grasp yet!”
The room was silent for a few seconds, then Jocica laughed.