FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Among the Stars

Chapter Two

By Roofles

“Remember what we’re here for,” Isaac was already begging his crewmembers to behave themselves after they docked at the Station. “No detours, no side stops. Just grab what we need, from the list,” he reminded them. Juke just picked at his ear with a pinky, while Typhon stared at Isaac with a bored glazed over expression telling the Terran that he wasn’t listening. “Just… just don’t get in trouble.”

Isaac sighed, already giving it up as he put the written report away. The document visibly closed from his mechanical left eye, and he blinked several times to get the fuzzy after image of it away as the crew stretched their legs on the docking platform.

The universe was a big place. An extremely, vast, open space mostly consisting of nothing. Absolute nothingness. One might see space debris on the rare occasion. The chances of that were already astronomically small. What we couldn’t see were nothing more than microscopic partials floating about.

What we know as space is only seen and consider as such as there are things in it. Planets. Stars. Galaxies and nebulae. Without these things there is nothing. It isn’t empty as it had nothing to begin with.

“Space has no meaning without distinct objects…” A truly empty universe is not a universe at all. It is nothing.

“Emptiness,” Isaac clutched his chest at the thought of it. Nothingness. Oblivion. The lack of anything, be it air or even microscopic particles.

Absolute nothing…

Isaac could almost see it. A deep endless void of nothingness. It didn’t expand. It didn’t hunger or breathe. The thing that awaited all that lives, must end. It was nothing itself taken form. And when nothing takes form then…

“We got it, captain.” Juke’s harsh tone cut through the doom and gloom that had settled over Isaac’s shoulders like a weight. A universal force in itself. “No shooting. Unless they shoot first.” The ‘Yote laughed after, a high-pitch tone from his usual gravely voice.

Isaac rolled his eyes at that and looked over to see Juke looking at him. A silent acknowledgement for something shared between the two. Something Isaac wasn’t able to figure out what about as the ex-marshal turned away from them and looked further into the station they’d docked at for supplies.

“Right,” Isaac nervously laughed, clearing his throat so Typhon wouldn’t notice his sudden discomfort.

The episodes were getting worse. Isaac planned to check in at a med dock here to get checked out. He hoped it was just something physical, instead of mental. Unsure what he’d do if that was the case.

It wasn’t often they’d get a chance to resupply out here, in the middle of nowhere.

Traveling from one location to another could take several galactic years without the proper space jump equipment. Restocking and refueling were a luxury that most couldn’t afford. While the crew were lucky to be using The Stellar Drift, a ship so advanced it had it’s own jump capabilities, there were things they couldn’t overlook.

“Such as food,” Isaac snagged the front of Juke’s uniform before the ‘Yote could peace off and head to the bar he’d been eying ever since they landed at the Station. “We need food.” He reminded him as Juke rolled his eyes.

“They sell food, probably.” Juke offered weakly. “Most these junker stations do.”

R1-624 Station B6, docking bay C46 was one of many stations built and positioned around the galaxy. Each were owned and subsidized by the Galactic Union, even if they hired third parties to run them. They served as a means to service ships as they flew and jumped across the universe, one galaxy at a time.

Repairs, fuel, restocking supplies and even a place to hire new crew members if yours happened to die on a job.

The unsavory crowd around them made Isaac glad they hadn’t gotten seriously injured or a member of the crew killed yet on one of the many random jobs, sometimes unofficially, they’d taken to pay the bills.

“Maybe we’ll look for medical staff somewhere else…” Isaac grimaced, wishing they had someone on board. Sphinx was mostly filling in the role of medical officer on the ship. He hated to put so much work on the AI. While not fully trusting him to begin with.

As helpful as Sphinx turned out to be, he was still an unknown AI.

“I’m sure there are plenty of lovely folk around these parts,” Juke laughed as he undid the latch on the holster for his revolver when a rather sketchy rat creature tried to slink closer to their ship. With a single look, Juke sent the scavenging rodent fleeing back underneath the dock that they’d crawled out of.

“Yes. Just the loveliest,” Isaac cursed, wishing The Stellar Drift wasn’t as sleek and flashy as it was. The silver craft stood out in sharp contrast to the junker ships around it. Most looked incapable of space travel.

“If it ain’t to your taste, we can find one of dem fancy stations. I’m sure the Galactic Union would greet us wanted criminals with open arms,” Juke snorted, with a shake of his head.

“I, uh, rather not run into any other Terrans. No offense.” Typhon added in, twiddling his fingers. He hadn’t gotten over the last group they’d run into.

The Terran Armed Armada were a coalition between different Terran nations formed together and were the backbone of the Terran’s strength. The Terran Fleet were always at odds with them, seeing peace as the option to coexistence instead of violence. There was a reason why the two major Terran factions didn’t get along. They had no home, The Armed Armada. They flew in massive war fleets throughout the galaxy, attacking any alien that threatened the Terran’s people “rights.” These raids would supply them with the materials and fuel they’d need to continue to roam space without a clear destination in mind.

This also meant the armed, power suit wearing, squad they bump into during their previous mission, saw Typhon as a threat for running off with Isaac. Who was also labeled a traitor for not killing the Saberwolf on the spot.

“I know that,” Isaac cursed Juke’s logic. There was no point going to one of the well-known, reputable and safer space ports when they had bounties on their head. “Just, wish it was a tad bit… cleaner.”

Juke snorted at that as he kicked a can off the loading dock and watched it bounced down the grimy metal grated steps to the slick, oil-stained entranceway below them.

Station B6 was a floating hunk of metal in the middle of nowhere. Pieces of metal had been welded together, outfitted for life to travel safely from one platform to the next. Each of these sheets of metal were located around a massive crystal-like structure that, for Isaac, looked like a two Fabergé eggs connected together by a metal rod. The egg-like structures glowed with a brilliant light, spinning slowly, and reflecting the patterns of their design over these glass walled platforms they were standing within.

The images and patterns of these light eggs created vibrant swirling patterns and dim shapes that slowly moved over the platform and the countless stalls that had been set up within them. These “open-air” market was a common place for such Stations. The glass walls created large, sectioned box rooms that the denizens of space could walk around in. Stalls had been set up right outside the docking bay and the crew walked straight into the market, something Isaac had been trying to avoid.

“You got your list.” Isaac reminded Juke for the fifth time since they landed. “We need more than just booze to survive!”

“Maybe you do,” Juke smarmily replied, offering a rare smile and a wink for the Terran. The ‘Yote looked as tired as Isaac felt. He was sure Juke was having the same insomnia spells as Isaac was. “You just go do your business with your little secret contact, while you leave the actual work to me. I’ll get the necessities.”

“Booze is not a necessity!” Isaac felt like the mother of the crew, always complaining, and getting on the lot of them for trying to kill them all.

“Not for you,” Juke offered a half shrug before walking off. Taking a side exit, the ‘Yote made his way through the crowd. The spurs on his boots spun with every step he took, making a soft metallic clicking sound as the ex-marshal left. “Later,” he gave a final wave before disappearing.

Isaac would’ve never been able to hear him if it weren’t for Sphinx’s assistance. As a crew, Isaac had made sure that they all were in contact with each other. Not wanting any more surprises, if he could help it. Taking every precaution, he could come up that the others would agree to.

“Sphinx. Please. Make sure he at least buys water for the ship,” Isaac sighed, shaking his head. Isaac had dressed up before landing. The Terran Flight uniform was long gone, and he’d replaced it with a scavengers uniform they’d come across.

It was red with dull gray bolts, for some reason, welded onto one shoulder. It was padded and armored in the front. It came with a pair of decent thruster boots and welders gloves that matched their engineers. Scrappers, or space scavengers, were a common lot in space. They’d go out to any debris cluster that was reported in. These spots were usually found after a dogfight had broken out or they’d been raided by space pirates. These scrappers would go and salvage whatever they could from the leftover spacecrafts and sell them to the highest bidder.

Sometimes even being hired to track down or locate certain objects from a crashed ship, leading Isaac to believe that these random attacks weren’t always so random.

These jobs weren’t lucrative and could be extremely dangerous. As a no-name Terran, Isaac fit the image perfectly. No one would look twice at a Terran in the outfit. Isaac even had the heavy cap, googles included, on his head as he adjusted the lingual collar around his neck.

Without the device, he wouldn’t be able to communicate with any of the alien races. Even Typhon and the others on his crew.

While Isaac outfit was perfectly serviceable for the image he was putting on. That wasn’t the case with Typhon.

The issue was, Typhon wanted to “roleplay” as well. If Isaac got to dress up, so would he! Seeing Isaac suit up, the Saberwolf had rummaged through their shared closet and throughout the ship until he pulled out a rather impressive looking captain’s uniform. It was blue, Typhon’s favorite color, frilly, and over the top just like the Saberwolf himself was.

Isaac just wished it didn’t come with a feather cap.

“Ar, me be a pirate!” The Saberwolf had posed, wagging happily, with nothing more than the feather cap, frilly dress coat and an eyepatch on in the ship that morning before they landed.

“Typhon,” Isaac snorted, trying to hide his smile behind a hand. “That isn’t where you usually put an eyepatch,” he added, glancing down between the otherwise naked Saberwolf’s legs. “Doesn’t hide much, does it?”

“Aye, it be my one-eyed bone. Nothing can fully get it covered,” Typhon just lifted up a leg, Captain Morgan style. His sack drooping between his legs as his heavy tail wagged.

The two had laughed about it, Typhon chasing him around the cabin practically buck naked before they ended up stumbling into the others. They had a bad habit of forgetting they weren’t the only ones on the ship. Blushing fiercely, Isaac had retreated to the room as Typhon gave the others a exaggerated bow, even taking off the feather cap.

“I must go blunder me some booty,” Typhon told the others and it took Samson holding Juke back to prevent to ‘Yote from shooting the Saberwolf.

Another good thing about docking at the Station was the chance for them to get some much-needed alone time. One reason why Juke had left the others with hardly a word. Samson having done the same, heading in the opposite direction after locking the ship.

Isaac didn’t like how the Ursa Major had created a makeshift fob for their spacecraft. It just didn’t seem… safe. Just another reason why they all needed, ironically, space from each other. Objects might attract but they also repel.

Something even Isaac was feeling these days.

Most people worried about getting cabin fever being trapped in space. What other Spacers called “space madness,” a common psychological breakdown of the psyche when trapped inside a tin can floating through space for countless years without interactions. The constant knowledge that if a crack formed in the hull, the entire ship could implode. Just the fear of space itself. The vast emptiness of it. Like an ocean without water, only dark depths you couldn’t see the bottom of. It was one reason why most crews consisted of several members and most fleets had a central base for the ships to dock in to mentally recharge. A hub that the other ships could dock at and rest.

The mental taxation of space was far heavier than the physical.

Some would even get tired of others and threaten to kill them. In the Terran Fleet there were shifts and rotations to help with this. Isaac or another crew member would be replaced by someone else after returning from a scouting mission to change up the crew after a thorough evaluation was done. Rotating them out and letting them recharge before being sent out again.

His crew had no such comfort.

Isaac didn’t have much of an issue with his fellow crewmembers, always being a more adaptable sort. That was just him. With his crew? Isaac worried they’d end up killing each other without a break like this. Being trapped on such a small craft, in such a tight area, forced to deal with and interact with each other on a daily basis was pushing all of their limits equally.

Other than Sphinx, who just seemed to enjoy their suffering.

“I promise nothing, Cap E Ton.” The hologram saluted Isaac before skipping off, in midair, after Juke. The neon blue lion was invisible to the naked eye, only being a projection Isaac could see thanks to his mechanical left eye.

No one else was aware of the AI drifting through the air around them without extremely advance scanners.

It might’ve been because of that, that Sphinx and Isaac had gotten so close with each other these past several galactic years together. Sphinx, half the time, was invisible to everyone else. Only Isaac could see the AI interacting with the ship as he went about his daily routine. Checking everything and operating the ship as the others tried not to kill each other. Isaac would project him from his eye for the others to see, allowing them to interact with Sphinx.

It was eerier seeing the AI working when no one else could. The constant floating presence around them changing shape and reappearing elsewhere was a bit unnerving. Then Sphinx would see Isaac watching him and go about tormenting him for the rest of the day.

One thing Isaac thought to be interesting was the simple fact that Sphinx never appeared as multiple entities despite being able to do so. The fear of him duplicating had been a very real threat. Sphinx seemed to be honoring his promise and Isaac had let the AI do as he please ever sense.

At times, it was hard to think of him as a computer… even if Isaac knew that to be the case. A program that had been created. Not real. Fake. False. A lie. Empty like space itself. A vast growing void that would swallow everything and leave nothing behind.

Emptiness.

Isaac held the side of his head as he felt the trickle run down from his left eye. It hurt, like a brain freeze. Growing colder by the second.

Would Sphinx be left behind? When the stars in the night sky burn out? When everything stopped? Would an AI program last that long? If he wasn’t able to die, would time mean anything to him…?

Could he be lonely? Was that real? Or was it another thing programed into the AI? AI. Reality. What made Isaac more real than Sphinx? Was being born different than being created. Was there a difference if, in the end, they all would return to nothing?

“They left,” Typhon pointed out as he strutted forward, walking with an air of undeserved confidence. The Saberwolf missed the existential crisis Isaac had, seconds before been suffering from.

Was it his voice? Or the Saberwolf’s very presence that snapped Isaac from the reverie? It had almost felt… hopeful. Knowing that nothing mattered. That life and everything was meaningless? That Isaac didn’t have a purpose, a point in existing beyond just existing…

Then there was Typhon.

The Saberwolf strutting around peacocking for everyone to see. Barely anyone paid them attention and no matter what antics Typhon did or what faces he made, no one gave him a second look. Other than Isaac. The outfit made the man, so they say, and Typhon was playing up the role of pirate captain in his fancy get up that he’d scrounged up from the ship.

Typhon had the sharp blue waistcoat on. It was frilly and over the top with straps and epaulette over the shoulders. Several different ornamental pieces dangled off the front and side. It could’ve been a real officers uniform but, on Typhon, it looked more like a Halloween costume. With his pantaloons, ripped knee high black boots Typhon had forced his oversized feet into, and what Isaac could only say was a cutlass at his side, the eyepatch wearing Saberwolf dipped the feathered cap to Isaac.

“It’s just the two of us. We’ll blend in like ninjas.” Typhon winked. “No one will be able to find us! In and out.”

“Wrong genre,” Isaac covered his mouth with a hand as he stifled a laugh at the Saberwolf. Typhon always made things… easier to bear. “You’re supposed to be a pirate.”

“A space pirate!” Typhon corrected and Isaac did laugh at that, walking down the steps to close the distance between the two.

“Yes, the fierce Captain Typhon! Rogue scoundrel of the stars. Stealing your men and booze all at the same time!” Isaac said, painting a picture for Typhon to see. The Saberwolf’s inverted black eyes twinkled like the stars themselves as he listened in, trying to see the picture Isaac was creating for him. “Jumping from one galaxy to the next! Pulling off the most dangerous of heists, the fiercest of fights on top of space trains, because why not.” Isaac shrugged and Typhon wagged his tail at that. “Fighting off all the ninja assassin monks sent to stop his endless crusade to sniff all the booty he can get his hands on.”

“Pirate ninjas!” Typhon would usually jump in, adding something to the tall tale that Isaac would weave and the Terran would do his best to incorporate his improve into the bit.

“Yes! Mighty pirate ninjas from pirate ninja planet… 9. Because 8 just wasn’t enough!” Isaac laughed.

“Oh, oh, oh!” Typhon bounced from one foot to the next, getting giddy about it. “What if, hear me out… dramatic pause… I’m the pirate ninja!” His eyes beamed as bright as his smile was.

“Of course! What a twist! You were the pirate ninja the whole time. All the other pirates and ninjas were jealous of your pirate ninja… ness.” Isaac finished with clapping hands together. It always felt off when he did that.

The metallic metal left hand touching his normal right hand. At times, he forgot which one was his and which one was the one he had attached.

“And scene,” Isaac waited for Typhon’s reactions. “Well?”

“You forgot one very important detail,” Typhon slid a hand around Isaac’s side, into the curve of his back and hoisted the smaller male off the ground. Spinning him around several times, Isaac telling Typhon to put him back down as he laughed, the Saberwolf was the one to finish the story. “Then you’d be my space prince. The one treasure I stole away from the rest of the universe,” Typhon bumped his dark blue tinted nose against Isaac’s freckled one. “And then,” Typhon began.

“They lived happily ever after,” Isaac ended the silly bit with. As he always did. With all the random stories and tales he’d tell Typhon over their years together.

“The perfect ending.” Typhon winked before licking up Isaac cheek and setting him down. Giggling about what he’d done, Typhon took two large steps backwards away from Isaac’s flying fist. Only for the large Saberwolf to trip over his tail and fall on the ground.

“Yeah, no.” Isaac wiped the drool from his cheek. “I doubt there is any ninja in you.” Isaac rolled his eye.

“What! There is plenty of ninja in me!” Typhon jumped back up. He lifted both arms, then a leg as he took the crane position. “See!”

“That’s karate, not ninjitsu.” Isaac had to remind Typhon, who often got the movies they watched together mixed up.

Typhon didn’t grow up with the entertainment Isaac had and the human was more than happy to show him the classics. Watching the movies together sometimes in the main room with the others joining in, or alone. Just the two of them in the captain’s quarters, snuggled up side by side with each other, nothing on, as they watched the movie together in each other’s arms.

“No one will see me coming, arr.” Typhon just kept at it and his tail continued to wag as he saw the Terran react to his over-the-top acting. It was good to see Isaac smiling again, laughing, and joking with the others. Even having the Terran overreacting to things was a nice change of pace.

It was better than the uncomfortable silence and that empty look Isaac had been getting in his eye as of late…

Typhon had seen it. It was impossible to miss. An emptiness in his eyes as if Isaac wasn’t even alive… Typhon would often do something over the top and silly, even dropping something on the floor to snap Isaac out of it. It was better to hear his anger and frustrations over what the Saberwolf had done. It was better than silence…

Typhon had told the others. They hadn’t seemed bothered by the news. When he pushed further, it was Juke who snapped at Typhon. The ‘Yote telling the Saberwolf to “leave it alone!” And that he “wouldn’t understand.”

Everyone seemed to be keeping their secrets and Typhon was left, as always, ignorant to what they maybe or how to help.

“The idea was not to stand out, Captain Typhon.” Isaac playfully reminded Typhon, nudging his side as he walked beside the Saberwolf into the open-air market.

“Thus, ninja!” Typhon jumped forward, holding his arms up as he faced random directions. He moved his hands several times in front of him at a passing stranger before growling, “ninja…” At them as Isaac walked over to join him. It would’ve been easier to ignore Typhon and keep walking, as everyone else did.

Isaac just laughed at the Saberwolf. “Idiot,” the Terran shook his head as he glanced around their surroundings.

The place wasn’t large, but it stretched from one side of the glass walled structure toward the other, creating a very long alleyway of goods they were forced to walk down before getting to any other part of the station. Isaac checked his tablet, rerouting their path before thinking better of it.

The blueprints that popped up on the tablet reminded Isaac of a layered cake. There were multiple levels stacked on top of each other with small connecting ladders and elevators between them. The structure was donut shaped, the hole in the middle being where the gravitational “eggs” were that kept everyone from floating up and into the air. The gravitational stabilizers created an artificial planetary surface for everyone to walk around in. While nothing too extreme, Isaac had seen pictures of entire planet sized stations with these structures creating even artificial waves within the range of their “orbit,” able to simulate a moon’s gravitational pull along with that of a sun.

It was… remarkable. Isaac had never seen anything like it in person. People walked around them, acting like this was normal. This was all artificially created, and no one seemed to appreciate the amount of work and care that had to be put into creating such a stable environment for them all to walk around in.

Isaac and Typhon could have easily gone around the stalls, pass the express elevator and take the emergency stairwell down to one of the lower floors before crossing over through one of the space bridge tunnels to the area the contact had told them to meet up at. It would be the most logical and efficient way of going about this.

Isaac could do his job, just as he had always done as a Flight Officer. To fulfill the mission. His happiness was irrelevant. Like he’d been taught to do. Ordered to do his entire life. Obeying and hoping… hoping that if he did he’d amount to something. To chase after some dream of proving himself to his family and The Terran Fleet. Earning medals and accolades that he could bring home and show off.

To a home that was empty and cold as space itself… no one was there any longer. Not anymore. That house was no home. Like space wasn’t space. Not without the things, and people, within it. It was… a cosmic void.

Where nothing grew. No light shined. Empty places of space where nothing existed. Where even the warmth of the nearest star couldn’t reach…

Or? Or Isaac could shut the fuck up and could have some much-needed fun for once!

“Dork no jutsu,” Isaac jumped in as he stood at Typhon’s back, facing the other way as he made dumb signs and references that only a fellow Terran would’ve gotten.

The two got plenty of looks but the majority overlooked the two of them after seeing the band on Isaac’s arm and the Saberwolf accompanying him. It was a sort of get out of jail free card and Isaac was still trying to figure out why. Not to say he hadn’t abused that fact several times in the past already.

Practically flaunting it in others faces at times.

“Still incredible,” Isaac held up his arm, looking at the band. It caught Typhon’s attention and the Saberwolf glanced at Isaac, before focusing on the silver band and those passing them by without a second look. “It’s like a ward that, well, wards off others.” Isaac laughed as they stood in line at a nearby stall.

Even though Isaac had told the others not to get sidetracked, he was the first one to do so it seemed as he rocked back on his shoes. The bottom of which were thicker and heavier than normal. They had magnetic surface, when turned on, and even booster that helped Scrappers navigate space debris fields.

Standing in line was taking too long and so Typhon gave a smirk to Isaac.

“Man,” the Saberwolf said loudly. “It really is itchy.”

“What’s itchy?” Isaac asked innocently, playing dumb about it.

“My balls,” Typhon continued as he scratched himself lewdly in public.

“Did you ever get that checked out? It could be some contagious venereal disease!” Isaac gasped dramatically.

“I did! The doc said it extremely infectious!” Typhon said that two more times as they were finally getting noticed. “Said that it can spread through minor contact,” Typhon scratched himself before slapping the nearest alien on the back.

“I’d hate to have pus leaking out of me,” Isaac played along, talking even louder now as he began recounting several disturbing factoids about venereal diseases and how horribly painful and “Wet” they could be.

Be it how loud they were, how disgusting Isaac got as he began talking about it in graphic detail, or the fact Typhon kept slapping people in the back… the crowd quickly stepped aside and let the two “freaks” go first.

Something Typhon and Isaac were laughing about after, vacating the stand quickly before any kind of security showed up.

“I thought you said we shouldn’t stand out.” Typhon winked at Isaac.

“We’re ninjas!” Isaac just shrugged as they ran away from the stand. “We’re nothing but ghosts,” the Terran felt the need to make several ghost noises that went straight over Typhon’s head.

“Now you’re getting it,” Typhon chuckled as he bumped Isaac’s side.

“Plus, I got this?” Isaac showed off the band. “It’s my get out of free card.” He winked at Typhon.

“What about me?” Typhon asked, whining softly, and jutting out his bottom lip.

“Don’t worry, baby.” Isaac patted one of Typhon’s large hands. “I’ll see you in prison. Space prison!” Isaac laughed, adding the word space onto it as they did with nearly anything. The inside joke had gone over the others head.

“Conjugal visitation rights in prison, nice. Space prison!” Typhon jumped on and Isaac was the one to nudge his side as the two continued walking through the market.

“I already feel like I’m on the lam,” Isaac said before getting a confused look from Typhon. Some expressions and words didn’t translate well with the universal lingual. “I just mean, running away from the police.”

“Space police!” Typhon nodded and the two laughed like idiots together.

“Be easier if I could cover this up.” Isaac said bringing up the band again. Typhon quirked an eyebrow. “I mean, watch.” Isaac held up his arm at two passing bird aliens.

At first, they just looked at Isaac as if he was insane. That was until one of the two saw the band and then pointed it out to their partner. With a startled squawk, the two birds quickly left them behind.

“Huh? Oh, them?” Typhon said as he bit into the kebab he’d bought from the stall. Isaac didn’t even bother scanning the meat, not wanting to know what kind of protein you could buy out here in the middle of nowhere. The kebab looked more like a Shawarma. A giant hunk of meat on a stick that the Saberwolf was happily chewing up. “No one wants to mess with a Saberwolf.”

“Yeah, I got that much.” Isaac rolled his eye as Typhon dug back in, getting sauce and grease everywhere, ruining the outfit he’d gotten. The Saberwolf tried to wipe the grease off, only making the mess worse. “I’m just asking, why?” Isaac continued as he eyed the growing mess. “People don’t just… fear something. They need a reason to be afraid.”

“Well,” Typhon tapped a finger on one of his saber fangs, thinking about it. It was a very Typhon mannerism for him to have. “Saber is a war planet. Saberwolves are fierce warriors, and every member of the clan has medals of honor showing that. Each time they survive combat? They’re awarded, or marked, with their achievements of victory and conquest. The only way for a Saberwolf to have a true afterlife, is dying in combat. Or some such,” Typhon shrugged at the end. “I didn’t really pay too much attention.”

While Isaac found the Saberwolves culturally fascinatingly frightening, Typhon wasn’t in the same mindset. He rarely talked about his past or the planet he came from. Seemingly having given up on the idea of bringing Isaac back home with him, as he was supposed to do.

It appeared as if Isaac and Typhon were both choosing to ignore their orders from their superiors. All so that they could be with each other, if only, a little bit longer…

“Fierce warriors, huh? What’s your excuse then?” Isaac asked, only after Typhon stuffed his cheeks full with food. Isaac had been waiting for the moment to tease him.

The chipmunk cheeked Saberwolf turned to look at him. Typhon’s eyes were large, the inverted irises seemingly glowing with some unseen force. Isaac always loved Typhon’s eyes. He felt like he could get lost in them. Able to see the stars of the night sky, even down on a planet’s surface. All he needed to do was look at Typhon.

Swallowing loudly, pounding on his chest with a closed fist, and belching inappropriately, Typhon answered.

“I have you.” Typhon would say whenever Isaac teased him like this. It was such a cop out! Isaac knew that. He knew that wasn’t a real answer, or an excuse for why Typhon was the way he was… and yet, every time Typhon did? Isaac’s cheeks would become flushed and the Terran would have to turn away from the Saberwolf, hiding his embarrassment.

It felt good to be noticed, like this. Even if it was Typhon teasing him.

Typhon bumped his hip against Isaac’s side with a low chuckle.

“Seriously. Even this,” Typhon motioned around at the crummy stalls around them. Most were trying to sell grilled meats and strange alien fruits and vegetables. “These dingy, grimy, nasty smelling, burnt and yet also somehow undercooked food stands? This is great. Because you’re here with me.”

Isaac knew how stupid that was, but still enjoyed hearing it.

These things? These stands? They were for the hungry space fairer, capitalizing on the lack of real meals and food during long space flights. Most the time, Isaac had to survive on protein vitamin packs that were more tasteless gruel than anything else. Sure, it kept you alive. It also tasted like regurgitating constituted bean products.

These stalls and those selling the wares were simply taking advantage of that fact. Even if they were doing it poorly, as Typhon had pointed out.

Bringing unknown alien fruits or vegetables back to the ship could contaminated the food products you did have. Isaac would need to scan anything they came across before letting Typhon dig in, not letting some unseen parasite or bacteria hitchhike its way onto his ship. A good captain made sure to only bring what they needed, and what could last, onto his ship.

His ship… With his “First Officer” Typhon as his second in command. Even if the rest of the crew agreed it would be Juke in private if something did happen to Isac.

The idea of that, that this was his crew and his ship and his First Officer? It made Isaac smile, feeling all warm and bubbly at the thought of being a captain. With how many people were in The Terran Fleet, there was little to no chance that he’d ever command his own ship and yet, here he was now. Somehow.

All thanks to this strange alien that had kidnapped him.

“Look!” Typhon pointed at the next section of stalls after the food ones. The run down, questionably safe food stalls and grills were replaced by vibrant colorful ones. A sharp contrast from the greasy food pits they came from.

Sheets and ribbons danced in the wind, circular helicopters floated in the air as translucent bubbles supported them, keeping them aloft. There were musical instruments and video recording devices that would replay whatever they recorded in hologram form for others to enjoy.

“Comes in seventeen different colors! Not all eyes can see! Promise… no money back,” the saleswoman said to anyone who drew too close to where she was standing. With a long lizard like body, the yellow skinned woman had a beak and feathery eyebrows.

Isaac wasn’t sure what she was. Maybe a hybrid. In fact, there were a lot of those out here.

“There are a lot of freaks out,” Typhon crassly said, not caring if any of them heard what he had said as he continued to drill a finger into one ear. He inspected it after, flicking the wad of wax to the side and wiping the finger on the front of his jacket.

“It’s because of the restrictions,” Isaac said, rolling his eyes. Typhon glanced his way before keeping an eye out. Even out in public, Typhon was still Typhon. Nothing seemed to be able to change that. “There are certain… limitations, let’s say, of who and what can marry and produce offspring. Terran’s are only compatible with the like a tenth of the known, common, alien races out there. These outer regions of space? There aren’t as many… restrictions, that limit who and what you can mate with. Resulting in,” Isaac coughed into his hand before looking towards a four-legged centaur creature that was half deer and half bird.

The bird wings were useless for the heavy four-legged creature, resulting in its awkward way of walking.

“Terran’s can’t mate with either of those species.” Isaac shuddered at what kind of babies would come out if they ever did. “I can only name the numbers of alien species that can on my fingers,” Isaac laughed as he held up his hands as if he was about to count them out.

“Saberwolves being one of them, right? Right? Am I right?” Typhon continued to nudge Isaac before he caved in and agreed.

“I already told you! Terran’s haven’t come across your kind before. You aren’t in the data logs,” Isaac held up his tablet. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and Typhon grinned at his win, teasing the Terran.

Typhon snorted. “That didn’t stop us last night.” The Saberwolf, of course, said as loudly as he could before looking around for someone to agree with him as Isaac groaned, covering his face.

“Typhon, please.” Isaac begged him.

“Yeah! Exactly like that! It wasn’t so whiny. It was more,” Typhon finished with several pelvic thrusts to emphasis and Isaac had to physically stop him.

“Typhon!” Isaac laughed.

“I just want everyone to know we do it. All the time! Daily! Sometimes more.” Typhon said loudly at the end, making sure he was heard.

“We already know!” Someone shouted at the loud, boisterous Saberwolf. There was a very strange misconception that those banded, like Isaac was with the silver band, were sexual prisoners of Saberwolves.

Not that they weren’t actively physical together, it was just embarrassing for everyone to presume that. Isaac only knew Typhon and had no other reference to go off of to know if that was a nasty stigma or just equally nasty rumors being spread around about Saberwolves.

Were all Saberwolves like Typhon or was he an exception? Isaac was, honestly, afraid to find out.

“See! He gets it!” Typhon pointed them out before faltering. “Uh, she? They? Them? It? It! It agrees with me!”

“Typhon!” Isaac laughed though, knowing the Saberwolf didn’t have an issue with other alien races. Or hoped that was the case. Unlike his own people. Terran’s were well known to be bigots, thanks to The Armed Armada. The Terran Fleet did their best to fight against such things. Isaac liked to believe he was a good role model for Typhon, and others, to go off of. “Easy there. I don’t want to get shot at, again.”

Typhon rolled his eyes. “It’s been,” he checked his wrist band. Typhon had gotten one after seeing Isaac constantly checking his arm for the time. It matched Isaac’s. It was kind of cute, how the Saberwolf wanted to look more like him. Even copying what equipment Isaac would bring along with them on missions. “It’s only been two one-hour galactic hours. We have plenty of time still for someone to get pissed off and shoot at us!”

“You mean two galactic hours?” Isaac rolled his eyes. “Thankfully, we arrived early. Gives us a chance to sight see.” Isaac felt guilty for not letting the others know. He knew they’d wander off, but still.

“You do enjoy that.” Typhon said as the two walked over to a giant tree in the next section of the station. Someone had grown it, or brought it, into space to create a greenery in the otherwise dull and gray station.

Strands of golden vines hung from the plant. It twinkled with bioluminescent spores that floated around it, seemingly being drawn in and expelled from the giant tree as if it were breathing. Vibrant flowers grew in pots and vases made from different pieces of colorful glass glued together were set up all around the pathway around the tree. Some of the plants grew fruit, while others released pleasant smelling pollen. Otherwise, were just fascinating to see as they shifted and changed colors with a goat-like alien playing a string instrument in front of them. The flora seemingly reacting to the music being played.

An artificial waterfall was behind the tree. A stream flowing around it and forming a small pond where a pair of ugly, gray flesh squids were currently soaking in.

“Yeah,” Isaac agreed, resting against the railing, and looking down at the view. Then around at the stalls they’d come from. He could still smell the strangely sweet, yet rancid, meats in the air. “This is just… incredible!” He beamed happily, unable to contain his excitement. “There is nothing like this back at home,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Somedays I’m really glad I got kidnapped by you…”

“Only somedays?” Typhon fidgeted, worried pooling in his stomach. “Not all days…?”

“Most days,” Isaac bargained.

“How about… a substantial amount of days,” Typhon wagged his tail as he rubbed his chin, thinking about it. Smelling the greasy meat on his fingers, the Saberwolf licked his fingers off as Isaac laughed.

“Is Saber like this? So vibrant and beautiful and… for lack of a better word,” Isaac apologized. “Alien?” He motioned at the station, the tree behind them and at the water flowing. The water looked contaminated, and the two squids didn’t seem to be helping that.

“Saber?” Typhon rested against the railing looking down at the tree, then at the flowers and finally at the diverse gathering of aliens listening to the music being played. It was a string instrument and yet made sounds only a whale could make. It was eerie, yet wonderful. “No…”

Typhon’s voice was soft as he said it, turning his back on the sights and looking up at the thick panes of glass overhead.

“Saber is nothing like this.” Typhon went on, knowing Isaac was going to ask. “It’s large. Larger than a lot of planets… but it isn’t a place one shoulder ever live at.” He grimaced, his brow scrunching up as he thought about it. “Saber is a war planet…”

“You mentioned that.” Isaac turned around, leaning back, and looking up with Typhon. “What does that mean…?”

“It… It’s not a safe place. Some even refer it to the gates of hell. The Saberwolves have always been fighting. Fighting on that barren red rock… It’s a barren planet. Void of all life. Or should be. If Saberwolves weren’t so damn stubborn, we’d have abandoned our home and settled elsewhere. We’re born to fight. That is our purpose. No questions asked. No one knows who started the war but us Saberwolves have been fighting to protect our ancestral home since we can remember. There are no records of peaceful times for us. We are born, we learn to fight, we fight, we mate when we can to increase our numbers and then… and then we die… the cycle just continues endlessly.” Typhon tried to shrug it off, as if it wasn’t weighing on him.

That his purpose in this life hadn’t been haunting him since the Terran had accidentally stumbled on the hibernating Saberwolf.

“Typhon…” Isaac offered his support, as always, for his friend. “That sounds really, really, REALLY… boring.” Isaac had to tease a bit at the end, to lighten the mood. It wasn’t out of disrespect. It was because he knew Typhon.

And Typhon would appreciate him making light of the serious situation. That was how they both got by.

“Saber is a very… harsh place to live. You need to be, to survive. There is no green. No plants. Just… barren, rocky red lands. Filled with the bodies of our dead… It isn’t forgiving or loving or caring or…” Typhon shook his head before looking down at Isaac at his side. “Not like you.”

“Me?” Isaac wasn’t sure where that was coming from.

“You’re just so… alive.” Typhon grinned, proudly showing off his saber teeth as his tail thumped against the railing.

“I’m sure there are plenty of other aliens far more lively and animated and alive than I am!” Isaac let out a loud single “hah” at the thought. He even motioned at a passing pair of feathered birds that were every color of the rainbow, and colors Isaac had never even seen before. “They’re amazing!” Isaac said, starting off strong before faltering. “Not… not like me. I’m just a Terran. A bland, no name, nameless Terran scout that ended up failing the one mission he was trusted to be a part of… Hell. I barely even passed my final test! I’m always just getting by and, just… I’m nothing.”

Isaac felt it in his chest. A stabbing cold ache that made him grab the spot where his heart should’ve been. Clutching at the spot as he leaned forward, breathing heavily. The more he thought of these things, the greater that ache grew. It hurt at first before growing… numb. Cold. Empty inside as he closed his eyes.

His achievements would amount to nothing. His mother was gone, the only true family he had left. He wasn’t part of the Terran Fleet any longer. He’d abandoned them for… for what? What was the point of this. Of anything. To be here. In this emptiness.

“Isaac,” Typhon reached out and took hold of his hand. The Saberwolf’s hand easily engulfed the smaller Terran’s hand in his. He closed his fingers around it, giving it a strong squeeze… before easing up. “There is no one else like you, out there.” Typhon said only after Isaac opened his eyes to look at him. “The best part about leaving home? Was that I found you.”

The ache in his chest eased and Isaac felt warmth return to his extremities.

It was incredible. That was the word Isaac would use for him, for Typhon. No matter how cold the universe became, how lonely he felt inside or the pressure from the weight of expectations put on him by his family, his commander and even his friends… Typhon could easily absolve them all with a simple word.

“Yeah,” Isaac learned to agree with him. “And there is no one else, out there, like you…” Isaac said as he leaned upwards. Typhon was already leaning down and the two shared a quick, but passionate, kiss. Isaac hated the fact he could taste the grease on Typhon’s lips but, somehow, it made it all the better.

For there was no one else out there, for Isaac, than Typhon was. As if the wolf had been born for him and that he was born for the wolf.

“Only one Isaac,” Typhon wagged his tail.

“Only one Typhon,” Isaac smiled back as they parted from each other and rested back. “Ahh, that was so very gay.” Isaac quickly became flustered and had to turn away from both the crowd of people watching and the Saberwolf next to him.

“Extremely.” Typhon grinned. “Seriously, though. How have you ever lived without me.” The Saberwolf shook his blue furred snout back and forth, offering up his large, muscular arms in a heavy shoulder shrug. “You might as well have been the one frozen in that chamber! Not me. You had no life before me.”

“Did we ever figure out how you got in that hibernation pod?” Isaac thought about that, trying to figure it out.

“Eh, who cares. It led me to you.” Typhon winked. Isaac feared that had indeed been the very case though. As if it all had been orchestrated. By what or who? He didn’t know. Isaac just rather live in these brief, fleeting, yet happy moments. “Oh! You didn’t tell me about your planet.” Typhon had tried to bring it up a couple of times, but all Isaac would say, was that he already showed him.

Pictures of a field of golden wheat, next to a farm house, underneath a blue sky, at the end of a dirt road…

Typhon had never seen the pictures. Every time Isaac had tried to show him, the screen was blank. Just a dark screen, as if the tablet had turned off when Isaac pulled up the picture. Swiping through one blank empty picture after the next. Talking to Typhon, telling him about each of them. Talking about things that weren’t there.

No matter how hard Typhon squinted his eyes, he only saw darkness.

“My home planet? New Terra? What about it? It’s our new home planet after… after…?” Isaac asked before wincing, holding the side of his head at a sudden stabbing pain. Like brain freeze had suddenly set in. “It was…” He hesitated. “I’m sure it was…” Isaac tried to grasp onto the fleeting memories. “No. No, I know it was… what was it, again?” Isaac muttered aloud, trying to focus. To think. To grasp onto something concrete. To hold onto, as if he were sinking. “Here,” he said, and the pain instantly eased up as he pulled up his tablet. “Let me just show you.”

“No…” Typhon pushed a hand down on the tablet, lowering it back down. “That’s… I’m good. You don’t have to show me.” Typhon licked his suddenly dry lips, looking around the area before focusing back on Isaac. “Hey, Isaac…?” He asked and the Terran stopped to look up at him.

Isaac was resting against the railing, looking down at the tree. He was listening to the music playing from down below and enjoying the artificial breeze that blew down from the ventilation shafts above. It carried with it a stale smell, but it was better than no breeze at all and Isaac was enjoying himself.

The Terran glanced over at him, looking up at the Saberwolf as he lazed against the railing. What had just happened, already forgotten, and gone. It left Typhon uncomfortable, as if what had just occurred had never happened to begin with. Almost like a form of gaslighting. As if Isaac were trying to trick him…

Even when he knew that wasn’t the case.

“Hm?” Isaac looked over at him. “Did you need something?” The Terran asked, offering a warm smile. His dark red hair blew in the breeze. The edges of his right eye would wrinkle, ever so slightly, when he smiled like that. Enjoying the moment. These fleeting moments before they were gone.

Carried away on the breeze of time, forever to be forgotten and lost in the past.

“Nothing,” Typhon couldn’t bring himself to push it. His hands grew clammy as he fumbled with his fingers, unsure what to do with his hands. Or in general, what to do to help Isaac. “H-How about we go down there?” Typhon suddenly brought up, jumping on the first thought that came to mind. A perfect distraction from the inevitable truth they both were trying to ignore, no matter how many times it slapped them in the face.

Following his hand, Isaac looked down at the tree.

“The tree?” Isaac did want to scan it’s structure and figure out how it managed to survive in space. He was curious to learn if it was artificial as this part of the ship was or was an actual tree someone had managed to grow out here in the middle of nowhere.

“Yeah! The almighty Space Tree!” Typhon proclaimed proudly and even before Isaac could fully finish agreeing with him, Typhon grabbed his hand and was pulling Isaac towards the nearby stairwell leading down to it. “Come on! We can roll in the grass.”

“W-wait, Typhon!” Isaac shouted as he was dragged along. “I don’t want to roll in the grass.” He just laughed though, wondering what had gotten into the Saberwolf.

“Shut up and join me.” Typhon growled back and, turning around, picked Isaac up. Scooping the smaller male up into his arms, bridal style. “That wasn’t a question, or a choice.” Typhon nuzzled down at his face as the Terran squirmed in his grasp. “Now,” Typhon stepped up onto the railing of the stairwell.

“Typhon!” Isaac shouted out before the Saberwolf jumped. Sailing into the air, before he came crashing down. Landing hard on the artificial turf, Typhon pushed forward. Not even phased by such a drop.

These past three years, Typhon had filled out. His muscles coming in and his strength far more pronounce than that of a Terran. His body finally seemed to be fully maturing into an adult Saberwolf, if only his mind could catch up.

“Typhon!” Isaac could only call out as the Saberwolf ended up rolling forward with Isaac in his arms. Rolling down the small hillside and towards the waters below, surrounding the tree. Rolling with the Terran struggling in his arms.

Isaac’s face was pushed against the tuft of fur on Typhon’s chest and he could smell him. His musk, the body wash they had shared that morning and finally, the smell of ozone wafting off Typhon’s body. The smell right before a storm and Isaac found comfort in it.

A mixture of laughter and curses filled the air as Isaac pounded on Typhon’s chest for pulling such a stunt.

Panting heavily, Typhon pushed himself up with his arms and looked down at the smaller male beneath him. Isaac could smell that greasy meat on Typhon’s breath and wrinkled his nose, turning away as the Saberwolf nosed him. Sniffing under his ear, along his jawline before planting a wet kiss on Isaac’s lips. Forcibly slipping his tongue into Isaac mouth until the Terran pushed Typhon back.

“Ew, disgusting!” Isaac complained, talking about the taste of that rancid meat that Typhon had devoured. With a knowing smirk on his face, Typhon grinned down at the Terran. Isaac put an arm over his mouth, looking away as Typhon smiled down at him.

“Don’t you dare,” Isaac grumbled.

“What?” Typhon asked innocently, his diamond shaped ears perked up and turning into devil horns.

“I can see that look in your eye! Don’t do it.” Isaac warned.

“What? This?” Typhon said as he rocked his hips forward, pressing down on the smaller male. Making Isaac squirm. “You seem to enjoy it.”

“Not as much as you!” Isaac sat up and glared at the Saberwolf leaning over him still. “I told you, not in public.” He ended up whispering at the end, blushing as he glanced around them.

The crowd had parted and there were far fewer people down here than there had before. They might’ve been scared off by a Saberwolf jumping down from the third floor.

“Come on, baby,” Typhon teased further, sniffing at his hair. “Just pretend the people are just stars in the night sky and-,” Typhon didn’t even get a chance to finish as an empty can of beans was dropped on his head from above. “Who?” He snarled, looking up to see Juke leaning over the railing, looking down at them.

Sphinx appeared next to the ‘Yote, rolling his eyes at the two and what they had almost been doing.

“Don’t mean to interrupt you lover birds, but,” Juke motioned upwards with his muzzle and the two looked over. “Looks like you boys got some uninvited company. Unless ya’ did invite them. Not judging, just saying I wish I got an invite.” Juke bit into a pear-shaped fruit before spitting out the seeds.

Typhon stood back up, pulling Isaac with him and pushed the Terran behind him. Isaac rolled his eyes at this as he pulled out his sidearm and wiggled the band down to his wrist where he could easily lift it up and activate the barrier shield from the device.

A pair of crustaceans began moving towards them from the other side of the artificial river, from behind the tree. Walking sideways as crabs were known to do towards them.

“Oi, is that them?” One of the two asked. The other pulled out a small device and clicked a button on top of it. A hologram appeared above the button that showed a wanted poster of Typhon’s face on the front cover.

It was not a pretty face and Typhon was sneering at the whoever had taken the candid picture.

“That’s t’em.” The blue crustacean walked straight into the water without slowly, gurgling as it’s eyestalks vanished under the surface. The red crustacean joined them. Bubbles continued to bubble up from underneath the surface as they made their way through the water, into the pond then around.

“They, uh, realize we can still see them, right?” Typhon felt the need to point out as Isaac shrugged.

The trail of bubbles moved through the water. Popping up on the other side, the crustacean jumped when it saw the two still facing towards them. Typhon and Isaac easily tracking their movements.

“They found us out!” It gurgled, foaming bubbles leaving the side of it’s lips. “Plan, go into the water so they don’t find us is a bust!”

“And I thought your plans were idiotic,” Isaac rolled his eye as Typhon snorted.

“Better than ‘run away, run away’,” Typhon nosed at him and the two continued to bicker.

“I’ll handle the ones up here.” Juke called down to them as Isaac touched the left side of his head, scanning over the two crustaceans.

“They’re from Aquarsis…” Isaac heard the gunshots above but didn’t turn away, figuring Juke had his own share of company. They were found out far faster than he thought they would be. “There are four more in the water,” Isaac scanned the ponds surface. “Unsure if they’re all hostiles but safe to assume…” He added, noticing how the two squids that had been soaking in the water before were gone.

“Ah,” Typhon nodded as if that made sense. Stepping forward, he cracked his knuckles. “Looks like crabs on the menu tonight!”

“I can’t believe this needs to be said… But please don’t eat sentient creatures,” Isaac sighed as he stepped to the side. With a flick of his wrist the band began to glow a translucent blue before it formed into the shape of a shield in front of him. It looked like a star.

Holding up the shield, Isaac aimed his firearm through it. A simple blaster pistol that worked well enough. It was small, portable and with Samson’s modifications could pack a punch.

“Are you here about the pearls?” Isaac called over, the lingual translating it to the correct language for him. “We don’t got them anymore,” he shrugged a shoulder without lowering the shield. “Looks like you missed the chance to swipe them from us.”

“They aren’t planning to return them?” Typhon asked, confused. “Oh! They’re trying to steal our reward!” He growled before Isaac explained.

“These crab people eat the pearls, thinking they can gain the power of the octosharks. Obviously, it’s not true. I read it’s a delicacy for their people, though.” Isaac pulled the trigger of the blaster. It didn’t’ fire. Instead, he could feel energy building up inside the gun, the lights on the left side beginning to light up one by one as he grabbed hold of it with his other hand. Needing to use both hands to keeping the charging pistol steady. “Last warning!”

“You’re the one needing the warning,” the blue crustacean blew bubbles as it spoke.

Lifting an oversized claw, it snapped it shut. The sound must’ve been a signal as the next second the water burst forth behind them and several other crustaceans popped out of the water in front of them. Crayfish and lobsters joining the crabs as they pulled out laser rifles or snapped their claws at them. Some had bands on the end of their claws, looking like rubber bands, but when they opened them they glowed with energy and a snap of their claws sent a pulse of energy forward.

“Pulse claws and laser rifles, fun,” Isaac imaged those bands could also cut through anything they caught their claws on. Outnumbered as they were, with Juke fighting above, Isaac took a gamble.

“Fine,” Isaac didn’t aim at them. Instead, he swapped hands and aimed skywards. His mechanical hand easily held the fully charged pistol, where his normal one couldn’t. Being a Terran had a lot of limitations Isaac needed to work on. “Typhon. Plan B.” He said and the Saberwolf grinned.

“What are you-,” the blue crustacean gurgled.

“Don’t you krill bastard!” The red crustacean lunged forward but Isaac had already released the blast.

The charged shot exploded from the end of the blaster pistol and shot upwards. A ball of energy soured ever higher as every eye followed it. The blue blast connected with the glass ceiling and easily broke through. Instantly, everything and everyone around them began getting sucked out from the hole. Several stalls and the toy ribbons and floating pinwheels from before getting sucked out as their bodies lifted from the ground.

“Typhon!” Isaac didn’t even need to say a word as the Saberwolf clicked his heels and the boosters kicked on in his shoes.

Boosting, one step at a time, through the air, Typhon spun around and delivered a swift kick into the soft underbelly of the red crustacean sending them flying back into their friends. Using the booster thrusters at the end of the kick, the floating crustacean didn’t have a chance as it pinballed between the others before being sucked skywards.

“Strike!” Typhon stuck his tongue out, flipping the others off.

“Wrong game,” Isaac fired two quick shots, one after the other. The power behind each were weak but it his aim was true. Thanks to his mechanical eye that connected to his cybernetic left arm, Isaac could shoot almost as good as Juke could.

The blast hit two of the other crustaceans swimming their way through the air towards them, knocking them off balance and having them get sucked upwards through the opening in the roof. It was only thanks to the outfit Isaac had on that kept him from being pulled away with them. The boots magnetic switch had flipped and every one of Isaac’s steps felt heavy and weighted down as they clung to the floor.

The red crustacean snapped his claws on the railing, holding on for dear life as drones poured out from the safety slots and began taking care of the issue.

The suction stopped the next second as the automated safety procedure activated and the broken glass opening was sealed off. Several drones getting to work to repair the thing as Isaac and Typhon fought off the others.

“I’ll handle the drones,” Sphinx’s voice crackled in their comms and Isaac was thankful he could. It would be enough trouble dealing with these bounty hunters without security drones harassing them as well.

“That took, slightly longer than I thought it would.” Isaac said in apology as he lifted up one shoe and was boosted backwards by it as the crayfish came swinging in at him from above. One claw was far larger than the other and the thing had tried to bludgeon Isaac in the face with it, bringing it down hard enough to break through the turf and into the metal flooring underneath. “I hope no one died.” Isaac said this as he lifted up the blaster and took the crayfish’s head off. “I’d hate to be responsible for that.” He charged the next shot and aimed it for another, taking off one of their pincers.

Isaac aimed for the spindly arm of the crustacean and the blast easily tore through it. They gurgled and flailed on the ground.

“Mudbug!” The lobster, and largest of the group, let out a bubbled shriek as his friend fell over in front of them. With a long body, they looked more like a horrifying version of a crustacean centaur than anything else. “You muck slinger! I’ll pinch you in half!”

“Don’t think! Got cha,” Typhon grabbed hold of the lobsters tail while they were distracted and, grinning widely, gave them a wink when they looked back at the Saberwolf. “Here we go. Swing you right round baby like a record,” Typhon spun and spun and spun, kicking out with a foot to boost himself as he spun faster and faster. Picking up speed as he did so.

Typhon never got the chance to let go as the lobster’s tail was pulled clean off and it’s shell of a body went flying off to the side. A hunk of meat was still connected to the tail and Isaac gagged at the sight.

“Hey, Isaac. Can we grill this?” Typhon asked as he lifted up the dripping tail. It was still twitching.

“We’ll have to check with one of the grill stands up above if they can.” Isaac called back as he used the shield to block the blaster pinchers. The force pushed him back and he winced, trying to look cool in front of Typhon but felt the pressure of that blow as the blue crustacean moved in.

Despite the barrier shield blocking the attack, the force behind the pulse claw still made the Terran’s arm ache and his body tense. The crab continued to move in, blasting him two more times. His body rattled and he winced as the third blast hit the shield. Isaac coughed and he could taste blood as the crustacean opened it’s pinchers wide and aimed it at him.

Typhon was waiting and watching. Having full confidence that Isaac could handle this. Isaac didn’t want to disappoint him and yet, was struggling just to keep himself standing.

Isaac wanted to be like that. To be so confident in a fight but here he was, being pushed back by a freaking crab. It made his chest ache as he lifted up his left arm. Charging the blaster before those pincers snapped down and another large energy pulse hit the shield.

The shield shook and Isaac found the force going around him, split as the shield took the brunt of it before the leftover energy shot outwards. The pressure of it, the harsh wind blowing made the blaster slip from his grip as the raw energy tore up the ground and ship around Isaac. A fully charged shot fired randomly to the side as the gun slipped from his fingers and Isaac cried out in pain, holding chest with his arm.

“Fuck,” Isaac cursed.

“Isaac!” Typhon called as the last member, a mollusk creature, latched onto Typhon’s arm and held the Saberwolf back from helping. Typhon’s confidence had turned into horror seeing Isaac hurt before anger at being held back from helping him. “Get off me you fishy bastard!”

“They aren’t actually fish,” Isaac coughed, wincing as the crab closed in.

Cursing, Isaac was pushed back again and again as the crab encroached on him. Opening the pincers wide, charging the blast before releasing it fully at him. The shield didn’t shake, it didn’t crack or break but Isaac could feel the force of each one rattling his bones inside.

If it had been Typhon or Juke? They would’ve been able to handle it. Sphinx was an AI and wouldn’t be effected. Isaac on the other hand… only a Terran… out here in the middle of space.

“Failed again, huh?” Isaac grimaced at the thoughts flashing before him. “You just keep succeeding in lowering my expectations of you. Pathetic. Unable to even make it into the top ten in your class? Your brother was breaking records, and here you are… struggling.”

Another blast wave hit him, the pressure making Isaac grit his teeth.

“I’ll do better next time…” Isaac could only say as he looked past the blue crustacean and at the dark memories lurking behind him.

Coughing blood, Isaac reached out his mechanical hand. Unsure what he was going to do as the crab closed in. A clicking sound came from the approaching crustacean and Isaac was sure he was laughing at him.

Mocking him.

Ridiculing him for being so weak and pathetic. For being born a Terran. An alien race that was looked down by everyone in the galaxy.

Like Isaac was.

Looked down by even those he called family…

“No more,” Isaac swallowed and tasted something foul in his mouth. “No more.” Isaac suddenly felt a creeping cold spread through his body and into his extremities. “No more!”

Charging up it’s claw, the blue crustacean stopped in front of him and pointed it down at his face.

“No bounty on this one,” it said and the lingual translated it around Isaac’s neck. “Not even worth a price. Dead or alive. Worthless. A nobody from a mud planet on the fringes of space…”

Isaac vision went dark, and he couldn’t see anything before him…

…

…

“Sink,” the words slipped from Isaac lips as dark sludge dripped from his lips and wept from his left eye, running down his cheek. “Into nothing…” And Isaac grabbed at the air in front of the crab. Directly in front of it’s chest.

Taking hold of something that was there.

He felt his mechanical hand touch something he couldn’t see. The sensors in the palm felt as if it were touching something that wasn’t there. Isaac felt cold. Ice trailing down his arm, prickling his flesh. He felt it pulse underneath, that thing in his palm, and Isaac took hold of it. Gripping it tightly in his fingers, that weren’t even there. These fingers weren’t his own. They were fake. Mechanical. Installed onto his body. These weren’t his… Unreal, unnatural fingers grasping hold of something that was and wasn’t there. That thing inside the crustacean’s body. He felt it squirm with life. The rush of blood, of an organ, and Isaac squeezed it tightly.

He thought he’d be angry, be resentful for this thing and what it had said… all he felt was nothing.

“Drown in nothing.”

All he felt was empty.

“Drown in emptiness…”

It was so cold.

“Drown in the icy touch of space.”

The lingual around his neck crackled and sputtered, sparks flew from the device as the crab’s entire body tensed going rigid and becoming still. It’s eyestalks bulged as it suddenly froze, pincers up in the air as it stared down at the Terran in shock horror and fear.

Paralyzed and helpless as Isaac felt inside.

“Suffocate, on nothing.”

The crab began to flail in the air. Unable to move forward, held by some unseen force. Lifted off the ground, it’s spindle little legs desperately trying to touch the ground again.

“Drown, in nothing.”

Bubbles gurgled from the crab’s mouth, eyes looking in every direction as it tried to do something. Helpless and weak. Small and sad… just as Isaac felt inside, being a lost Terran in the middle of nowhere. A no name man. From a dirt planet. In the middle of space, alone. Not even worth noticing. Nothing. That’s all Isaac was.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing…

Then he felt it. Felt when it stopped struggling, stop moving and felt the life die from it’s lips as it went still. Pincer arms falling to it’s side. The legs had stopped struggling, its body stopped spasming. It just… stopped. Yet, it’s eyestalks stared upwards. Up at the stars above and into the bleak, black void between them.

Staring at…

“Nothing…” Were the last words it ever truly said.

Isaac released and he fell backwards, coughing several more times as the crab dropped to the ground. It’s feet touched the ground, but something was wrong…

Isaac had felt it’s breath fade away, felt when this thing died and yet it stood before him as if it still had the strength to stand. Isaac could only watch, fearfully, as it stood there.

It stood there, frantically looking around as the bubbles spilled from it’s lips. It wasn’t breathing, Isaac noticed. It tried to gasp and struggled to inhale anything. Large claws pounded on it’s chest, cracking it’s shell. Trying to get it’s body to breathe again.

Struggling, gasping breaths. It might not be a fish, but it looked like one. A fish out of water, unable to catch it’s breath.

Horror dawned on Isaac and washed over his face as he pulled back as it looked at him. Looking at him with those accusing eyes, knowing what he had done. Isaac wasn’t even sure what he had done and now… now…

There was a flash of light to the side and Isaac looked over to see the mollusk, seared from the inside out, fall to the ground as a very pissed off Saberwolf ran towards him on all fours. Typhon’s claws tore through the ground as he charge forward, leaping into the air and with a brilliant flash of blue light clawed through the crab.

Electricity burst into the air and streaks of blue lightning tore apart the ground around them as Typhon roared out. His claws rendered the air apart, making the hair on Isaac’s arm stand on end as everything became supercharge.

Four claw marks tore through the air leaving blue sparking streaks in their wake.

The crab’s entire body jolted upwards, standing on it’s tip toes as it’s flesh burned from the inside out before it fell apart in four separate perfectly sliced, seared chunks to the ground.

Ending it’s suffering.

Breathing heavily, electricity crackling through Typhon’s fur. Blue sparks sputtering off his body. Energy pulsing out from him as he looked out quickly to make sure there was no one else. Once the coast was clear, his body began to relax, and Typhon reached out a hand to touch Isaac’s left cheek.

“Are you alright?” Typhon tried to ask but the electricity still surged through his very being.

His paw pads touched the sludge, his fingers brushed his cheek as Typhon looked down at him, unaware of the dark fluid seeping from Isaac’s eye. It reacted to the lightning and the two forced collided with one another with such an impact that it repulsed Typhon’s hand.

“Isaac, ar-,” Typhon yipped loudly as sparks flew and Isaac flinched away as Typhon’s hand burned his cheek before whipping backwards from an unseen force from the contact.

Pulling back, Isaac rubbed over the spot as he stared at Typhon who was looking at him, horrified at what he had done.

“Typhon…?” Isaac could barely speak. He coughed, sludge pouring out of his throat and staining the ground as Typhon tried to help but feared touching him any further.

Isaac could and spat and vomited the foul substance. It hurt so bad his eye were burning with tears.

“Shit,” Isaac hurled once more. “Fuck,” he grabbed at his chest. “The hell just h-happened?” He looked up at Typhon who moved closer. “S-stay back!” Isaac told him, fearing what would happen if Typhon touched this substance.

Typhon froze on the spot, eyes widening as his ears folded back.

“No. No, no…. I didn’t. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Typhon said, misunderstanding Isaac’s reactions, unable to see the black substance. He looked down at his shaking hands. Electricity sparked between his fingers, making his blue fur stand on end as energy surged through his body. “They, he, it was trying to-to, a-and you were, and I had to, then…” Typhon took another heavy step back. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. Isaac…” Typhon bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.

Blue blood dripped from the wound and it sparked with energy, making Isaac keep his distance.

Wiping the sludge off his face, Isaac lifted a hand. “Breathe,” he told Typhon. “It’s alright. You just discharged a bit of that energy of yours. I’m alright.” Isaac tried to stand, to show he was fine, but his body felt heavy, and he fell back to his knees. His left arm hung useless at his side.

Weighing him down.

The very thing that had helped him through his life, the cybernetic implants, was the very thing keeping the two of them apart.

Isaac felt that in his chest. A harsh reminder who and what they were to each other.

Typhon was a Saberwolf from a war planet that saw anything as unnatural to be vile and evil, something that needed to be destroyed and burned alive. While Isaac was… defective. He was some nobody from, some nameless mud planet and now… now…

“Isaac!” Typhon whined.

“Relax, I think you just accidentally fried my circuits…” Isaac forced a smile onto his face, through sheer willpower kept the tears from falling. Wincing, he tried to lift the left arm. It didn’t even budge. “I might need to disconnect it. Give me a second,” Isaac pulled off the side of the jacket, struggling a bit, before getting the useless mechanical arm out and began tinkering with the top of it, where it connected to his shoulder.

His pale flesh looked darker around the edging of the prosthetic. Dark bolts crept over his flesh from the spot as if he’d been burned by icicles, frostbite marks that felt numb to the touch. They streaked outwards from the spot. Like an electrical burn, yet… frozen.

Pushing the safety release switches on the shoulder, he released the arm.

With a puff of heated air, hissing through the openings, the arm fell useless to his side. Isaac stared in horror as he saw it.

Sludge dripped from the opening the cybernetic arm had connected to. From within his body, it oozed out of the opening, staining the grass black as it turned it slick, like oil. Oil staining the ground. Isaac quickly got to his feet, nearly slipping in the substance, and ran towards the water to rinse it off.

“I-Isaac?” Typhon looked between him and the arm several times before carefully reaching down to pick it up and following after the Terran. Unaware of his electricity lashing out and burning the dark substance staining the ground. The two different forces having adverse effects in the others presence. “Isaac, a-are you alright? I’m really, really sorry about that. I’m not good at controlling that electricity yet… I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please… please look at me.”

Isaac ignored Typhon as he looked into the water.

The pool of water reflected everything in it’s surface. A body of one of the nearby crustaceans floated nearby. Isaac ignored it. He ignored everything as he looked at his reflection. Pain filled his eyes seeing his image now.

Isaac had always presumed it was some kind of body dysmorphia he suffered from. Or, possibly, some kind of neurological disorder. His cracked image in the mirror. His inferiority complex. Due to his upbringing, he was sure to suffer from some kind of stress induced mental fatigue. Seeing himself as “defective” compared to others…

Staring at his reflection, he began to see it was something else altogether. And how right even his greatest fears turned out to be.

The cracks formed on his face, as always. They formed where his left eye was, where the sludge dripped out. Bursting forth as if his reflection were a mirror that someone had cracked right where his left eye was. Then new cracks had appeared, forming where his left arm was… but the problem was, in his reflection, Isaac could see the arm that he’d lost connected to him, but he couldn’t feel it.

A phantom limb? Or… or what? What else could it be?

Isaac stumbled backwards and directly into Typhon’s front. It made him jump, turn around and look at the Saberwolf. Typhon was conflicted. Wanting to reach out and touch him and afraid to do so. His hands held up helplessly in the air.

“Isaac,” Typhon reached out slowly. “Y-you’re scaring me…” He placed a hand on Isaac’s shoulder, but sparks flew, and it seared his flesh, burning his hair and Isaac jerked away.

Stumbling backwards, Isaac just looked at Typhon.

“I-I’m sorry,” Isaac managed to choke out.

What could he say? How could he fix this? Why was Typhon looking at him like he was some kind of freak? A monster? A defect…

Defective. Incapable of being a captain. Unable to be strong like Typhon or with Juke’s reflexes. He wasn’t skilled like Samson or smart as Sphinx. He was… in the end he was just some farm boy from a mud planet.

A useless, nothing, Terran…

“Run…” He could hear it but covered his ear with a hand. “Run away…” It told him, it urged him, it yelled at him. Words that filled every fiber of his being. “Isaac…. Run…”

“I-I’m sorry,” Isaac broke down on the spot as hot tears flooded his face. He looked up at Typhon. “I’ll do better next time…” Isaac forced a smile onto his face, before turning around and running from the Saberwolf who was left speechless after what had just happened.

Pitifully, Typhon reached out a hand after him. Wanting to call out to Isaac. To say something. He wasn’t sure what to say, what to do as his friend took the emergency flight of stairs on the far side of the opening and headed towards the other side of the station.

Away from Typhon.

“He was, running from me…?” Typhon gritted his teeth, the sparks on his fur increasing as his hackles rose.

Lightning violently lashed out as his emotions overwhelmed him. Hate and fury building up inside that made electricity surge into his claws, making them glow with a bright blue light. Typhon wanted to howl. To roar like thunder and crash like lightning, smash and break everything around him and unleash this building rage inside…

“No,” he breathed out. Letting out his frustrations as he glared at the dead bodies of the bounty hunters around them. “This… this is their fault. I’ll apologize t-that I wasn’t faster at helping him… and… and everything will go back to the way it was. How it should be.” Typhon nodded before following after Isaac. “How it should be. Back to the way it was…”

Even Typhon didn’t believe such lies.

“Oi!” A voice called and Typhon stopped, ear twitching before he turned around to see Juke jumping down from above. The ‘Yote’s boots boosters kicked in right before he touched ground, easing the fall until he could safely land. “Where’d the kid go running off to?”

Sphinx reappeared, swirling back into life. His holographic blue body looking around at the damage they had done.

“I’m not paying for this.” Sphinx, unhelpful as always, made sure to skirt out of such responsibilities.

“Well, he, uh, Isaac went to… Went to…” Typhon stammered a bit, forcing his brain to think. He usually left that to Isaac. Left it to the Terran to figure these things out.

Without him here, Typhon was at a loss of what to say or do.

“Went… Where?” Juke rolled a hand, trying to get Typhon to continue.

“To… to the contact!” Typhon blurted out. “The fighting m-might scare the contact off. Isaac ran off to make sure we’re still getting paid,” Typhon rambled out quickly. Coming up with the first lie he could think of. “I’m going to go get him and… and we’ll see you both back at the ship? Sounds good?”

“Uh, right.” Juke looked down at the arm, before glancing up at Typhon. “I’ll clean things up here. Not my first gunfight,” he added with a chuckle. “Sphinx. Go back to your master,” Juke motioned towards where Isaac had ran off. “I don’t need you nagging me all day.”

“Screw you,” Sphinx’s body turned red in anger before easing back to blue, before swimming through the air towards Typhon. The blue hologram flipping Juke off. “You’d have fucked up a simple shopping trip without me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Bitch, bitch. Moan, moan. Heard it all before.” Juke rolled his eyes before walking over to one of the corpses. “Hey-,” he turned to see Typhon running off after Isaac. “Of course. Fuck boy needs to make sure he doesn’t ruin this.” Juke sighed, shaking his head before he felt a twang in the back of his skull. Like a string being plucked.

Pulling out his revolver, Juke turned the transparent visor on over his eyes and began looking around for any kind of threat.

“Dro..wn…” Silent whispers crawled over the ground as the ‘Yote moved over towards another one of the bodies. “Dro…wn…” The crab was cut into four different parts but it’s eyestalks still stared, blankly, up towards the stars above. “Dro…wn…”

“The hell?” Juke pushed his hat up with the tip of his revolver, looking down at the thing. “Scared the crap out of me…”

“Drowning… drowning…” The crab continued to bubble and gurgle out the words that no one should be able to hear. Juke turned away from it and quickly distanced himself. “Drowning cries, that sink beneath the waves, that crawl into the mind, and sing lullabies for the dead…”

Juke spun the revolver around before firing, blowing the crab’s head apart. Spinning the smoking gun back the other way, he spun it before put it into his holster and dipped his hat down.

“None of that shit,” Juke spat to the side. “Need a stiff drink.” He cursed as he headed back before he began hearing any of these whispers. Unaware of the dark tint to his saliva.

…

Fights breaking out were common enough and most of the crowd had moved to other parts of the station, giving them plenty of room to duke it out in. They’d wait for the firing to stop, for the drones to clean up the mess before slowly trickling back in.

Except for one person who leaned over the railing, watching the entire show from above.

With a black tricorn hat on, an eyepatch over his left eye and only a single saber fang, the Saberwolf sneered down at the show below. With a mechanical clawed left hand, the rogue Saberwolf tapped on his fang looking over the mess the crew had made. With a low whistle, Captain Cyclone hopped over the railing and landed hard on the ground below.

Hard enough for it to break underneath his mechanical feet. Gears turned; pistons hissed as his legs pushed him back up with a slow creak.

“Need to oil these things, again.” Standing up, Captain Cyclone walked around the carnage. He inspected one body, then another, before stopping in front of the sliced open, head blown off crab.

“Dro…wn…” It continued to gurgle even without any clear source for the voice to come from. “Dro..wn…ing…”

“Sucks, mate. Been there. Done that.” Cyclone crouched down. Searching through the ugly duster he wore, the Saberwolf pulled out a glass hourglass in a golden stand. “Let’s see what really happened here, shall we?” He tipped the device around. Once, twice, and finally a slower third time, slowing down as he did before letting go.

The hourglass floated in the air, slowly ticking back to the way it had started like a timer being set.

The scene around him blurred and moved and returned to how it was, leaving the original bodies behind as ghostly images played out before him like a recording. The crab standing there with the Terran on the ground.

Isaac’s mouth opened, black sludge dripped from his eye and his mechanical left hand squeezed. Cyclone walked around the scene, crouching down to get a closer view. Watching as the black sludge slide from the socket of the arm, through the device and towards the end of the hand through the ghostly transparent images the hourglass had recreated.

Glancing over, Cyclone could see a dark shape take form inside the crab’s chest. Squeezing around it’s lungs and stealing all the air from them. Emptying them out, leaving crushed air sacs behind. No matter how much the crab tried to breathe in, it was useless. The lungs refused to take any kind of air into them.

“Suffocation. Nasty way to go.” Cyclone was about to stand before those dark shapes let go and vanished from within the crab’s chest cavity. His eyebrow lifted and he looked forward, nose twitching. “Is that…?” Water filled the lungs, sloshing around inside. Filling the empty space.

Cyclone knew it couldn’t be water as he stood back up and surveyed the scene around them. No one else seemed to have suffered such a fate. Drowning on open land.

“Hell of a way to go,” Cyclone whistled as he walked through the battlefield and over to the scorched mollusk. “Huh, didn’t expect to see this so soon…” He hummed softly, looking at the scorch marks Typhon had left behind. On e of his diamond shaped ears twitched and he glanced back to see a severed head fly over the railing.

It landed only a couple of paces away and Cyclone looked up from it at the black scaled reptilian above.

“Raskatan,” Cyclone called up to him. “Late as ever. You missed the fun.”

“Was dealing with a heretic,” the blackguard glared down at the Saberwolf. From head to foot, the draconic looking reptile was covered in thick plates of black scales that overlapped each other. Lifting a bloody hand, the black scaled reptile pointed at him. “Did you find the anomaly? Or wasting more time drowning yourself in booze?”

Cyclone clicked his tongue, tsking as he turned to the side. “Not yet,” he lied and was met by a roar from the reptile.

“Useless! All of you faithless savages are useless. This is why I called the crusaders!” Raskatan swung his arm before him sending droplets of blood into the air. “Find them! Find them now! Begone from my sight until you have earned your keep, pirate. Pairing up with you has been my greatest mistake yet.”

Snatching the hourglass from the air, Cyclone stuffed it into his jacket and headed towards where the others had left to. Following the fleeting afterimages of their ghosts up the stairs and towards the other side of the station.

Crouching down, fire burst from the bottom of his metal feet. With the force, Cyclone easily leapt into the air, clearing the entire staircase, and landed on to the top railing. Stepping down, he glanced back at his partner on the other side.

“What about the rest?” Cyclone called from the top of the steps.

“Burn it.” Raskatan turned on the spot and with a single hand, took out another fleeing merchant. Piercing through their chest cavity with sharp claws and ripping out their heart, to feast on in a bloody mess. “We can’t leave any void-touched tainted ones left alive…”

Cyclone gagged, turning away. “At least cook them first,” the Saberwolf began to whistle as he stalked after the targets. Twirling a matching band to the one Isaac had on around one finger. “Time to collect the debt…”