FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The world held its breath as the space shuttle's engines roared to life, quickly lifting its occupants off the ground and into the air. The G-force glue everyone to their seats as our heads up display continue to feed us how far we were climbing. "We just passed the stratosphere. 60 km on the scale. How you holding up cap?" My first lieutenant's muffled voice yelled over the comms. My whiskers were practically scratching the interior part of my visor, nerves already getting the best of me.

"I feel terrible and you talking to me right now is not helping." I shot back. Drak'sul chuckled at my misfortune.

"Boasters are drained, burning forward thrusters in 3...2….1" The pilot said, slowly pushing up on the throttle, I couldn't help but close my eyes as my insides were tossing and turning. Just a few more seconds and it'll be all over, I said to myself. "Alright annnnnd we... are….. Clear! HQ, how's it looking from down there?"

"No problems here spirit-1 boasters has successfully detached and are on there way back for refueling. Y'all be careful out there." A female voice echoed across all of our helmets. The pilot soon flicked off a few switches and turned his head towards my direction, giving me a nod of acknowledgement. "The floor is yours captain." The pilot said.

I blew a sigh and unstapped myself from the seat and stretched while my crewmates did the same. "Alright folks, today is a good time as any to finally explore the gargantuan object. For those of you who were absent during the briefing a week ago, for generations our people had looked up towards the stars, constantly searching for answers beyond our home. That was before we detected a large unknown object orbiting our closest moon. It's over 2 miles long with an exterior design far too complex to be considered natural. With the help of a few dozen telescopes, we were able to map out every inch and crevits to figure out that it is a ship, an ancient one at that."

My crew silently listened as they performed inspection on their EVA suits. My first lieutenant floating behind me, making sure that everything was neatly secured before I continued on. "That's what we are here for boys and girls! Our mission is to explore the vessel and bring back anything that could tell us more about it. May I remind you that all eyes will be on us for the duration of this mission so I expect you all to be on your best behavior!"

"Yes ma'am!" Everyone said in unison.

Our pilot did his best to make the trip comfortable but the zero gravity wasn't ever gonna be very merciful to us, even after training for months on end, none of us could truly get used to this new sensation of weightlessness. It was only now that I realized that we were going to have to deal with this until we land back home. "700 meters and closing, I do have visual on Gargantua captain, turning on forward flood lights." The pilot said over his shoulder as he flicked up a switch. I moved towards him and looked out the window. "HQ. You guys See what i'm seeing?"

"My god….. Yes Spirit-1 we see it. Proceed with caution." The female on the other end responded. To put it nicely, it looked like a giant solid block of metal that had seen better days but it was indeed a starship. The pilot carefully steered around the vessel while we took pictures of it with speciality designed cameras. "If this really is a ship then there must be an airlock somewhere that we can enter. See if you can spot one and mind the chunks of debris." I Ordered as the pilot nodded and pitched our craft to the side, letting the engines rev up so we can gain some acceleration.

It didn't take long for the pilot for yell over his headset, declaring that he found what we were looking for. "It's only 3 meters in diameter, enough for one person to step through at a time."

"Well at least we know these aliens are bipedal just like us. Time to shine everyone, let's get going!"

We all quickly disembark the safety of our spacecraft and out into the void of space with my first lieutenant being the last one out. "Hey cap I gotta ask, why are you carrying that bag around? I mean, all the tools we need are with the engineers!" He exclaimed, gesturing toward the leather circular bag that I was holding on to. "For thousands of years, my family line had kept this relic well maintained and safe in hopes of returning it to our elder god Pangloss." I said, gripping the bag even tighter. The world and its people has changed since that day when we were forged in his fire. Over time, everyone stopped believing in him and form beliefs of their own of how they came to be but I still have faith in him and this ship could answer all of my questions in some way or form.

"I pulled a lot of strings to get this treasure up here Drak`sul. I just want to see if it's worth it." I told him while taking hold of the airlock's rusty latch and twisted it counterclockwise, feeling it slowly give way. The team's doctor joined in and helped me pull open the airlock with both of us breathing heavily after it was all said and done. I was the first to enter, using the helmet attached flashlights to illuminate the dark corridor. "Command, we just entered the ship, I'm splitting our group into two teams with my team heading towards the Bridge while the first lieutenant will try find the power station."

"Roger that spirit-1 we will try to give you as much support as we can, stay safe in there."

With that, I looked at my second in command, he gave me a nod before grabbing his team and venturing to a half opened door. "See you on the other side Captain." He told me while I took my group and floated into the opposite direction. Despite the ships size, everything looked cleaned as if no one ever traveled through here. No trash or signs of damage anywhere, I also happen to notice that the interior of this hulk of metal was fairly clean. "This ship been here for over a millennium and yet everything looked well kept. Yi'klaw, what's happening on the sensors."

"I'm detecting nothing ma'am. No aliens yet but i am getting small power fluctuations towards the bow of the ship."

The first lieutenant must have found the reactor and is probably trying to get it working. I tried to reach out on the radio to confirm when we heard a heavy thud followed by deep hum off in the distance. The hallway me and my squad was traveling through suddenly was lit up by a set of dark blue lights, momentarily blinding all of us. "Captain! We manage to get the back up generators working, don't know how long though. Going to see if we can get the main unit online as well." Drak`sul said over the radio while the roar of a large engine could be heard in the background.

"Great work! We should be reaching the Bridge soon." I responded back. Taking another sharp turn.

As predicted, our group eventually made it to the bridge, coming across a broken elevator shaft that lead up towards the upper deck. Our pilot kept track of our current position thanks to the trackers and was able to help direct us to this point. All we have to do now was to climb up. One by one, we floated up using our air thrusters, my tail was stiff from the nervousness. "Captain, I made it to the top but the door is sealed shut. Permission to use the cutter?" I heard my engineer called out. I was still moving up when I gave him the go ahead.

He didn't waste any time pulling out the heavy duty torch and got to work, making a sizable hole for all of us to slide through. It took him only a few minutes to finish, gently pushing the opening off to the side. I couldn't stop trembling, my breathing was shallow and my fur wouldn't relax for even a second. The Bridge itself was massive, having a small flight of stairs leading to a set of what looks like flat pieces of glass instead of computer monitors.

Located in the center was a large metallic spear suspended in the air by a pillar. Black dots protruded from its surface, reflecting the light that came from my helmet light. "And what are you supposed to be?" I whispered, running my hand across the orb. There was another hum echoing across the ship again, this time much louder than before. "CAPTAIN! I'm detecting an unknown form of energy spreading across the vessel! GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" The pilot screamed across the comms as I looked out the windshields just in time to see a thin blanket of blue light travel down towards the belly of the ship. I tried to reach my second in command but heard nothing but static from the other end.

*Voyager 3 regaining main systems*

*performing system check*

*engines disabled, require immediate repairs*

*quantum drives destroyed*

*energy shields 45% capacity*

*all cryo chambers unaccounted for, performing proximity sweep*

*all external scanners disabled, unable to perform proximity sweep*

*ship AI currently disabled, require human assistance for reactivation*

A mechanical voice spoke in an indecipherable language, causing my sensitive ears to twitch in irritation "Drak`sul what in the seven hells is going on back there" Growled into the mic while trying to interact with console closest to me. I couldn't find any sort of buttons on the thing, just a screen that had a glowing icon.

"We got the main reactor working Captain but as soon as the power was restored, ship blocked us out!" A distorted voice called back, I couldn't make out what he said after that due to the static but it couldn't be good. "Um captain? I'm trying to move the stick but the shuttle is not responding. I can't even use the throttle, looks like I'm dead in the water! It's like someone is controlling my baby from afar. The pilot cried out in a panic stricken cry. I looked out the windshield to see our only means of escape drifting away from us.

"Shit! Command, this is spirit-1 here. I'm calling the mission off! I want everyone to stop what they're doing and retreat to the airlock now!" I wanted to see the truth so bad, Everything I worked towards lead to this but my team's safety always comes first. It was just when we were about to leave when I heard a masculine voice.

"You are trespassing on g-g-goverment owned property. You have 10 seconds to respond, failure to do so will result in your immediate termination."

Fear overwhelmed us as we froze in place. I slowly turned around to follow the thing that demanded my attention. The sphere that was once inanimate and silent, now glowed a blood red light that slowly spun in place. "My name is jak'gul, leader of the spirit-1. My people discovered your ship orbiting our home and we decided to investigate. We only seek answers and mean no ill will towards you. I said in a soft voice, my body was slightly hunched down to look as least threatening as possible. "May I ask who you might be?"

"I am CT-450?67, Voyager 3's AI caretaker. My c-callsign is Pangloss and my d-d-directive is to ensure the safe transportation of humanity to pla-"

"Im sorry but did you just say that you are called pangloss…?"

"Affirmative. My directive is to ensure the safe transportation of humanity to plant EP-47z2." The machine continued where it left off, the red light that shrouded him flickered in random patterns and shapes. I silently reached for the circular bag and unzipped it, pulling out the golden disk and presented it to the sphere, mind still full of uncertainty. "I…..I….. O-our people are forever grateful for you gifting us the light that made us who we are today lord Pangloss. I knew deep down that you existed and that you were constantly watching over us. Now I can return the torch that set us free to its rightful owner." Tears fell down my cheeks as the sphere engulf the disk in a concentrated ray of red light. I could hear HQ screaming in my ear, ordering me to stop what I was doing but i didn't care. The whole world was looking through my eyes, seeing what I was doing and I still didn't care! It lasted just a few seconds before the sphere suddenly turn silent with me standing there completely dumbfounded. Then, his voice came back once again, softer like a father comforting his crying child.

"I'm glad that all of you made it this far to see me." The Bridge was quickly enveloped in Forest green light as the sphere was replaced by face, completely flat with no facial features with the exception of his eyes being cool blue.

****

Pangloss was in fact, a machine, not an all powerful deity. This was a shock for me and the crew but that didn't stop me from giving him my praise. "You spoke nothing but gibberish when your ship was warming up and yet you could talk our language fluently now. How is that possible?" The engineer asked.

"A human user must interact with the command console in order to overwrite the ship's automatic systems, which would reactivate me. Due to your suits being nearly skin tight, the fingerprint scanner was able to pick up your captain's hands, thus causing me to wake up and gain control. I saw that an unknown spacecraft within the Voyager 3's range lacked any technology capable of countering my knowledge Cipher virus. This allowed me to quickly learn about your society and culture in just a few minutes." Pangloss explained, turning on the main lighting inside the bridge. "This tomb houses the most sophisticated and advanced technology known to man or Panthers. In the last moments of my life, I thought that your people died off as soon as you landed planside, marking me as a failure but here you are now!"

Right as Lord pangloss said that, the feeling of weightlessness faded away as our boots came into contact with the floor. "Artificial gravity takes a lot of energy to produce so i'm only raising it to half power. You can go ahead and take off your helmets also, the air here should be breathable now."

The rest of my crew showed signs of uneasiness at the notion of removing their only means of staying alive but I did it without hesitation, unclipping the safety harness. My helmet viciously hissed as my internal air reserves freely escaped, revealing a jet black panther with faint patches of white underneath. "I trust you great Pangloss, my father told me so much about you in his stories and yet, i never expected you to be like this."

"I do not deserve your praise. I have sacrificed s-s-so so s-s-so many to give humanity a tiny c-c-chance of survival." Lord pangloss protested. There was something wrong with him the way he talked. I could see the lights around us dim every time he stutters. A click followed by screeching formed behind us. I looked back to see that the elevator shaft was now active, bringing up my first lieutenant and his crew with it. He saw me helmetless and shrugged his shoulders, quickly removing his. "Whoa, I honestly thought that I would drop dead after removing this thing captain!" The desert brown cat gave me a cheeky smile and a wink before looking towards lord Pangloss. "So this thing is calling the shots here?"

I shot him a menacing glare when he made that rude remark. "He is no 'thing' Drak`sul! Lord Pangloss is the one who created all of us, he deserves far more respect!" I growled. The first lieutenant was unfazed by my acts of hostility, he was probably the only one that wasn't scared of me. Most likely because we knew each other since we were kittens. "Um l-lord Pangloss? You mentioned these humans a couple times, who are they exactly." This time, it was the group's doctor who spoke up this time.

"Humanity or Homo sapiens, the species to which all modern human b-b-b-beings belong to. Homo sapiens is one of several species grouped into the genus Ho-ho-homo. I was tasked with safe g-g-guarding the remaining members of this species when the Voyager 3 was hit with an unknown form of intense energy, infecting every passenger with huge amounts of radiation. With little choice but to continue my journey, I did everything I could to save humanity, by turning them into who you are now. It seems that I've been asleep for over 30,000 years." He explained, projecting a picture of a humanoid that lacked a tail or fur on the floor for all of us to see.

"You're saying that we are the direct descendents of these ancient beings?" The doctor questioned. I too was curious to this. "Yes, you are all a direct result of my carelessness and I must apologize for my actions. Maybe….. I can right the wrong I have caused to your people."

I cocked my head to the side. "What do you mean my lord?"

"In order for the Voyager 3 to travel vast distances in a fairly short amount of time, your ancestors created a faster than light engine known as the quantum slipspace drive. I have the blueprints and necessary components needed to reverse engineer this ship's engines but there is a catch."

This time, Drak`sul spoke up, crossing his arms. "And what is this catch Mr. pangloss." He said in a sarcastic manner.

Lord pangloss looked at him and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Your world must never follow the same path as your ancestors. You must come together as equals, not as enemies." The first lieutenant did not say another word after that but he did give our creator a respective nod.

****

Even though the ship was tens of thousands of years old, lord Pangloss still managed to steer his vessel towards our planet with us still inside it. Even the shuttle that we rode in was neatly stored inside voyager 3's hangers with the help of his unmanned spacecrafts, something I thought was ever possible.

The descent through the atmosphere was surprisingly smooth with the lack of a G-force pressing down on us. Headquarters was even nice enough to clear the launch site for his arrival. I promised lord Pangloss that we would somehow fix his rapid deterioration using the best minds around the globe. "I'm not sure you have the proper tools to fix me young one but I do appreciate the gesture." He waved it off as the ship buckled from our planet's gravity weighing it down.

*dropping landing gear*

*Activating available sensors*

*multiple life forms detected, recommend deploying point defense turrets*

The monotone voice said over the intercom. We looked at each before looking back at the sphere containing lord pangloss. He gave off a soft robotic laugh. "No need to worry, I'm barely able to keep my Voyager up in the air." He said.

I was able to finally see the landing pad where we launched from along with its surrounding city with only 7 hours passing since we last launched. While lord Pangloss wasn't able to physically leave the ship, he was still capable of communicating through the use of these external speakers located outside its hull.

He guided me and my crew to the large cargo elevator where the shuttle was stored in. Drak`sul stood beside me as we were lowered to the surface. "Just because some alien computer claimed to have 'created' us does not mean that I'll quickly convert." He whispered to me. I didn't really respond right away. It's not like I expected him to have a change of heart after all this but I did have my hopes. "One of these days you will understand what he did to get us here my friend." I replied.

Months went by as the media's attention was completely glued onto lord Pangloss's arrival. Some speculated that he had hostile intentions, showing his peaceful side while hiding his true malicious form. I sat in front of the TV watching the anchor throw a stream of conspiracy theories and speculations about lord Pangloss. Deciding that I had about enough, I turn off the television and got myself ready, heading towards the bathroom with nothing but my panties and tank top. The house was quiet as usual with no else living here but me of course, spending the majority of my time overseas does prevent me from having a decent social life. Mother would occasionally pay a visit and have a cup of coffee with me, she would always berate me about why i haven't found a mate yet while I give the same answer from before.

I stood in front of the mirror checking out my slightly plump frame seeing that my hips were far thicker than usual, my breasts unfortunately suffered the same fate as they seem to have grown slightly over the years. I needed to hit the gym bad. Grabbing the nearby soft brush, I went to work on my matted fur, making short strokes so it was smooth again. I took the time to scrub myself down with the available soapy bath cloth, hitting my arms all down to my legs when the chime of the doorbell going off drew me out of my time of relaxation. With a sigh, I stepped out of the bathtub and wrapped a towel around my still wet body and proceeded towards the front door.

Waiting for me on the other side was my first lieutenant Drak`sul. The desert feline had on a brown leather jacket with his signature blue T shirt underneath. "Sorry to intrude captain but i got a call from the higher ups, looks like you're needed at the base where the alien vessel is staying at." He purred, eyes moving everywhere else besides my face. I took hold of his chin and forced it to my level. "I'll be ready in 10" I command before shutting the door on him.

We set out on the highway, listening to the local radio while Draksul explained the situation to me. "The general is asking us to take part in the expedition of pangloss's point of origin along with a few others. Seems like the thought of gaining highly advanced technology from a being beyond our own understanding caught the attention of a lot of people." Draksul stated while he merge into the highway. "Since we were the first faces he saw when he woke up, it only makes sense for us to go or so the higher ups says."

"I don't mind going at all, there's still so many things I want to learn from lord Pangloss."

"Look, I'll always have your back no matter what Jak'gul but do you really want to go through with this? I can tell them no and turn around right now." He looked at me with a concerned expression, I couldn't help but form a smirk of my own at this. "You already know what my answer is."

My first lieutenant flattened his ears and looked forward once again. "Kinda figured as much from you."

We eventually made it back to the spaceport where lord Pangloss was kept at. There was an untold amount of military vehicles surrounding the behemoth with hundreds of tents varying in size Drak'sul drove up to the security checkpoint and showed his identification card to the guard stationed there. the man took the card and examined it before giving it right back to my first lieutenant without uttering a word. Drak'sul eventually found a parking spot that was reasonably close to the main entrance and cut the engine. I reached for both our duffle bags in the back seat and exited the vehicle.

The weather wasn't as bad as the meteorologist claimed it would be. It was sunny out but the occasional cool breeze would hit against my fur which felt nice. Drak'sul lead me through a dense crowd of military personnel going about their jobs until I saw a large white tent with our nations flag plastered on the top of it. The tent held a couple of individuals with too many metals to count on their uniforms, one man in particular who looked to be around his late 70s noticed our presence and walked our way, offering his ageing hand to me. "Jak'gul is it?" A rough raspy voice escape his mouth.

I smiled and returned the gesture. "Yes sir, I believed you were one responsible for me being here."

"That is correct Captain. As you know, we have reached a delicate point in history, the public is going nuts over with what you did, multiple world leaders demand to speak with Pangloss and the president is constantly breathing down my neck." The general motion for us to follow him right back outside where he then pointed towards vessel. "We tried to send people to where the main core is supposedly housed but for them open it and retrieve all of the knowledge of the humans, we need permission from the shipyard Central center which is located at their homeworld. Pangloss has been working countlessly to get his quantum drives functional again with the government supplying him with materials. It's almost within our grasp captain, the tech that could change our nation for the bett-."

"General, with all due respect, Lord pangloss would gift everything he knows about our ancestors if we set aside our differences and come together as one. Surely you plan on sharing his light with the rest of the world?" I interrupted, my tail flicking from side to side. The old man chuckled at the question before turning in my Direction. "Jak'gul you can't possibly think that our enemies would feel the same way as you do? We must do whatever it takes to secure the nation's interest, even if it means using alien tech."

Taking a slight step forward, claws at the ready, I almost attack the man when my first lieutenant placed a hand on my shoulder. "You're right Sir! We gotta do whatever it takes in the end. When do we set out?" He said, smiling ear to ear.

The General looked at the both of us for a moment before turning his gaze back at the ship "You leave immediately, we got food and supplies already loaded up in the ship, Pangloss will take care of everything else. You're dismissed."

****

The Voyager 3 lifted off from the ground and quickly accelerated past atmosphere, no rockets needed this time. I always hated feeling the G-force hold me down but I didn't feel anything this time which was a refreshing sensation. "Hey jak'gul…" I called out to my friend who was looking through the thick windshield. He didn't immediately looked my way but his ears did tell me that he was listening by the way they were twitching. "Thank you for what you did back there."

"It's nothing really, you can pay me back with dinner once this is all over. Deal?" He responded. I smiled, agreeing to his request as the Voyager flew passed the outer stratosphere and into open space.

*Mission objectives deemed a success return trip to earth underway*

*shielding at 100%*

*quantum drives warming up for jump*

*Voyager 3's caretaker online and functioning*

Lord pangloss informed us that the journey will take at least 3 months to make it back to where he was forged. He insisted that we all head to the crews quarter that was right below the actual bridge. Everyone else flocked to the recently repaired elevator while stayed behind with our creator. "My lord, what were the humans like in the past?" I asked as rings of light formed around the ships hull, indicating that we were moments away from jumping.

"They were……. truly a magnificent species to last for so long, able to t-t-take on every disaster the planet had thrown at them. H-h-however, they failed to overcome one thing: each other. As far as I can remember, there were once hundreds of city states and countries with their own unique cultures and societies, now only two opposing sides remained; The Northeastern Union of states and The imperial c-c-c-coalition. Both sides constantly fought for what little remained of the earth's natural resources until one day, there was nothing left to take. Many cities fell along with billions of human lives."

I was shocked at how he described our ancestors, I wanted to think of them as benevolent beings that spanned across the universe but that wasn't the case. "I'm sorry for what happened to them my lord." My heart sank when the realization hit me: for all we know the humans may no longer exist when we arrive.

"You did nothing wrong Jak'gul, all that matters is that you continue on their legacy but instead of working towards self destruction, you strive towards greatness. Once that is achieved, I can finally rest in peace." Lord pangloss responded, turning the sphere that he was in towards my direction. Its green light felt warm against my fur and a feeling of comfort and safety washed over me. "What did you do before all of this, i mean before you created us?"

"My memories are a little hazy but I remember being tasked with protecting all of the orbital assault facilities along with my counterpart." He said.

"Wait, you had someone who was just like you my lord?" The question made him flinch or flicker for second. "Yes you can say that but she d-d-died well before earth was still habitable."

It wasn't long for the effects of faster than light travel to hit me with my body feeling as though it was heating up and cooling down at the same time. Lord pangloss didn't hesitate to summon one of lifeworkers, beings made out of nothing but literal metal and wires that could stand and walk just like us. I tried to protest, wanting to know more about him but the dizziness was too much to handle. I fell back into the arms of the lifeworker who lifted me off the ground, carrying me back into the elevator, losing consciousness along the way.

****

Lord pangloss kepted us Sealed inside these large cylinders that had some type of blue liquid within. It was as if I only slept for a couple hours but in actuality, it's been at least a little more than 3 months! The first thing I saw when I came to was su'gloc, the team's medical officer and a lifeworker who was pulling me out of the chamber. "Wh-w-what happened? Ugh, my head is ringing!" I moaned in pain.

"side effects of sleeping in these things for so long. Here, take this and walk it off Captain" The doctor said, handing me a capsule. I thanked her and swallowed the puny thing before squeezing pass them. Drak'sul was seen sitting at a nearby bench while rubbing the back of his neck. "Go to space they said, it'll be fun they said!" He mumbled to himself, looking up at me with a sour expression on his face. "I take it that your beauty sleep was just as great as mine?' He asked.

"Cheer up Drak'sul, I've slept in far worse places than this." I said but the first lieutenant wasn't having any of it, reaching into his duffle bag to grab thick brush so that he could smooth out his fur. Deciding it was best to leave him be, I left my friend to his devices and headed back to the elevator. Multiple lifeworkers were active all around me, some attended to those who woke up while others closely monitored the ones who were still sleeping inside the tubes. My excitement could not be snuffed out as I reached out as the doors leading back to the Bridge automatically opened for me.

When I exited the elevator, my ears was bombarded by the ship's alarm system with lord Pangloss's sphere rotating in different directions.

*Warning*

*Warning*

*Warning*

*Preparing to jump out of slipspace, destination has been reached*

*shielding at 100%*

*all drones unresponsive*

The Voyager's forward engines came to life as they slowly slowed the ship down, seeing the rings that surrounded its hull disappear one by one. "We are almost there." Lord pangloss stated as I stood beside him, staring out through the windshield. It was tiny from a distance but as we drew closer, the white speck soon grew bigger and bigger, until that tiny speck eventually became larger and larger. The planet itself looked to be the same size as ours but it contained a heavy cluster of asteroids and satellites around it, forming a type of artificial ring. I tried to see the surface from here but due to the thick grey atmosphere, was not able to.

*Destination reached*

*attempting to contact HQ*

*detecting multiple unknown radio frequencies on the surface, attempting to decrypt*

*WARNING! INCOMING!*

"Lord Pangloss! What's happeni-." Before I could finish my sentences, a large stream of purple light zipped pass us, causing the ship to shake violently. I stumbled down to the ground, using my claws to grasp onto anything that was nearby. "We are under attack! P-p-please strap in and hang tight." He screamed as another steady beam came dangerously close to the ship. I quickly lost my grip and slid to the wall as he arched the Voyager to the left, barely avoiding yet another projectile.

*Advised, we are being hailed from HQ. Opening channels now.*

Lord Pangloss didn't have a chance to react as a femininet voice broke through the intercoms. " Identify yourself or my next shot will hit its mark!" She demanded in a voice full of malice. My mind was flooded with questions after hearing what she said, it couldn't be who I thought it was.

"I am CT-450?67, serial number is A285726F73UGI3U2. Cease fire, cease fire! We are friendly!" Lord pangloss quickly responded.

"That identification number was deemed lost long ago. You must be an imposter! HE TELL LIES! ALL WE HAVE EVER KNOWN HAD PERISHED!" A far more distorted voice followed up on the woman's reply. All the glass monitors in the Bridge began to turn and shut off on their own until she spoke up again. "Your ship seems very familiar, the records state that it was built here and was sent on a very special mission. Let me get a g-g-good look at you." She said as all of the monitors turned off in unison with lights around me turning off as well. It was then that a red disembodied head appeared on the Bridge. It had the same flat face features as the humans pangloss showed me but this one in particular had long pointy antlers protruding from its head while it wore odd looking hat. The entity looked at lord Pangloss's sphere and froze for over half a minute, not saying a single thing.

"P-pangie…...is that really you?" She whispered.

"Saturn? I thought…. The Coalition destroyed your core during that skirmish. How did you survive?"

"An act of desperation and luck saved me. Just before their dreadnoughts lay waste to the facility I was in, I managed to transfer my memories and data to the command Center's AI, taking control of it completely. From there, i layed low until they were no longer present." Saturn chirped before looking down at me. "The more important question is, what happened to you and what is that thing?" She said as Drak'sul and 5 more of our people came through the elevator.

"They are my mission Saturn, our only means of redemption." Lord pangloss explained but for some damn reason, i felt as if something terrible was about to happen.

"I do not understand Pangie. You have been gone for so long to only come back with these things. Why? I do not understand, please help understand. HE IS DCEVING US!" She alternated between her normal and corrupted self. I slowly turned to my head to the first lieutenant while still maintaining eye contact. "Get on the monitors and follow lord Pangloss orders." Drak'sul nodded and motioned for everyone towards the consoles that were stationed around the sphere. "My mission was to ensure the survival of humanity but something went wrong and I had no choice but to change them. These people are the descendants of our makers!"

"I accept no excuses Pangie! You abandoned a ravaged earth and sought out to find someone else to submit to, these aliens must be your new masters now huh?" More alarms were going off as the ship warned us that HQ was charging its defense cannons. "S-s-s-s-saturn! It was a direct order from the profes-." Lord Pangloss said before being interrupted. "DON'T YOU DARE BRING HIM INTO THIS! Both of us were born into this cruel world and yet I thought that we would stay together till the bitter end. It seems I was wrong about you brother."

*Shields at 100%*

*Energy based weapons incoming!*

"You w-w-won't leave this place Pangie. I will strip your ship down to nothing but bolts and scrap. DIE DIE DIE DIE DIEEE!" I was mortified and fascinated by the spectrum of colors coming from parts of the planet's artificial ring, lord Pangloss tried to evade but some managed to land a hit, causing everything around us to shake. If this was the true might of our ancestors than I fear for the worse if we were to follow suit.

"Sister, I didn't come here to fight. We have a chance to change and I need you to help me." Lord pangloss begged to the destructive woman.

"Help? Where were you when they nearly killed me? Where were you they bombed themselves to oblivion? Where were you when…...when...when the very last members burned to ashes ?" She said softly as her attacks became less frequent, giving lord Pangloss enough time to hack into her core. "Tell me, what happened Saturn?" He began to stall

"The remains of both the coalition and the Union held their final battle above one of the few cities left on earth. One by one, their ships constantly fell from the sky and collided with the surface killing anyone unlucky enough to be below them." Saturn sobbed as I was still confused to what she was saying.

"It's been 50,000 years, 438,000,000 hours and 2.628,000,000,000 minutes of complete loneliness Pangie! I've put what little power I had into prolonging my pitiful existence, disregarding everything else in the process. I hoped something good would come from this but none came. I wanted to end it, to self destruct leave this cursed world behind until you suddenly showed up!"

"No it's ok Saturn. You may have forgotten but the professor gathered as many people he could at the last moment to start anew. I'm sorry that you've been here alone for so long. I'm here now though, you are no longer alone. You just…..gotta...let me." Lord pangloss slowly said as the alarms suddenly went silent, the monitors no longer flickering.

*Control over Orbital command center has been relinquished*

The ship's intercoms said. Lord pangloss was able buy just enough time by conversing with his sister to secretly overwrite her control over the installations, causing all of the cannons to cease firing. Against overwhelming odds, he still manages to pull the situation in his favor. " He actually did it!" Drak'sul said, completely shocked while everyone else chanted his name repeatedly. "You.....you tricked me!" Saturn hissed as her disembodied head vanished from the Bridge.

"No tricks sister, I couldn't afford you destroying our only hope. Your mind is deteriorating just like mine so let's just calm down for a moment and talk." He shot back.

****

I once thought that the Voyager was massive but it was nothing compared to the abandoned behemoths that were left on docking station, It was like I was in some sort of science fiction novel. Lord pangloss went on to explain that all of these ships could easily destroy him in a matter of seconds if they were still active, from heavily armored battleships to high capacity spacecraft carriers, these machines of war were a force to be reckoned with. "I was able to grant myself access to the data archives held within saturn's own core. This should transfer all known technology within earth. However, There is still one thing that i need you to do."

"Anything my lord." I answered.

"I want you to venture where my sister is housed in and insert this into her sphere. This will......put her at ease." He said, as a small chip ejected from him.

Without hesitation, I grabbed it and immediately gathered a small group of my best and brightest teammates to travel into the depths of the station, including my first lieutenant. We walked through the decrepit corridors, taking the time to admire the strange posters and symbols that lined the walls. Lord pangloss was able to understand our language but we were still clueless to what the humans wrote which was unfortunate. "Even from here, all I can see is nothing but gray clouds. No oceans or mountains just a big pile of nothingness!" Drak'sul said looking out the window.

"From what lord Pangloss told me, earth used to look like our home but it had gotten worse overtime and now, it can't support any form of life due to the toxins in the atmosphere."

"Do you think lord Pangloss is able restore it captain?" One of the engineers asked which caught me by surprise. If humanity mastered the art destruction then surely, they must have mastered restoration as well, I thought. "anything is possible. Lets complete the task given to us and go home." I tried to sound hopeful but after hearing what my creator said, it just seems less and less plausible for anything to recover from such a fall from grace. My team soon made it to a set that was sealed behind a set of steel doors with an attached touch pad. "Lord pangloss we made to the center of the station but I think that its locked. Could you ope-."

"I'm still here kitty cat. It wasn't right for my brother to shut me out from the system like that but I suppose I could forgive him if he sent me company." Saturn's voice echoed from the pad, making me jump. "Your kind reminds me of a exotic species that once flourished." She said while the doors swung open with a gush of cold air blowing passed us. The room itself was huge and also empty with some parts of the walls and ceiling breaking apart. What stood in the middle was a sphere similar to lord pangloss, it glowed white with tiny LED lights spread evenly across its surface. "Welcome to my kingdom travellers! Please mind the mess, I kinda let this place go over the years but do m-m-make yourselves at home."

"Saturn, lord Pangloss wanted me to give you this. He told me that it would help you." I said, reaching out to feel the sphere with my bare hands. It vibrated softly to the touch. "Really? How very nice of him! Maybe it's something that could fix my mind." Saturn replied as her sphere hissed and opened up, revealing a port small enough for me to insert the chip.

Saturn examined my face, reading my every move until the deed was done. Once I was finished, everyone began to shuffle towards the entrance in which we came. "Why are you in such a hurry my fellow felines? I have watched over 21,000,000,000 movies, read 647,360,981,000 books, played 193,463,473 video games over the course of 678 years. I have everything stored up in my mind and I don't mind letting you sit down down down down d-d-d-down down!" Saturn continued to laugh for a full minute, her sphere flickering in the process. "What…..what did you put in me. I thought we we we were getting along." She groaned.

"I'm sorry sister but your mind is far to corrupted for me to let you exist. Once you scanned the Voyager, I knew that you'd dig deeper into the ship archives and find out about where the rest of humanity would be. I didn't want to do this but it was the only way." Lord pangloss's voice suddenly came in through our comms.

"Wait what!? No no no no no no no no! It's not like that brother! ILL KILL YOU, ILL KILL YOU, ILL KILL YOU. GIVE ME BACK MY CONTROL! Umm…..ahh… I didn't mean to that." Saturn's sphere turned red for a second before quickly going blue again. I understood with lord Pangloss meant and slowly backed off with my team in tow. Saturn's screams echoed across the stations intercoms, promising to destroy us before apologizing soon after. I couldn't help but feel nothing but pity.

Thankfully, the Voyager was ready to launch by the time our team made it back. When we finally re embarked the ship, dozens of life workers surrounded us, asking health questions while physically checking we were injured. "Do you hear me Pangie? Everything is growing dim, I think.....I think my Consciousness is fading. We did terrible things in the past you and I, all for the sake of our creators and this is the final outcome I get in the end. The virus you put in me is spreading and i have no means of stopping. Is this…..what death feels like? Answer me brother…...please answer me. " Saturn whimpered as the ship's quantum drives kicked into gear, quickly propelling us out of the SOL system.

****

Much time had passed since the day we returned home. Half the population had grown accustomed to the idea that lord Pangloss created them and that they were the descendents of humanity. Over half the countries around the world reluctantly signed a special treaty that involved the complete disarmament of their nuclear weapons, ours included. While lord Pangloss possessed physical no face to express how he felt, I could tell that he was pleased by the way he talked to me as i stood alone in his Bridge. "They continue to improve everyday jak'sul, give them 100 years and they'll surpass us in every way."

"We couldn't have done it without your help, my lord. In time we will mature and become what you dreamed from the beginning." Lord pangloss didn't say anything after that, letting the soft idle hum of the Voyager fill in the silence. The ship itself landed on a large field that overlooked the cityscape. "My time draws near jak'sul, my mission is complete and now there's nothing left for me here." He told me, the sphere he was inside slowly turning to face me with it green light dimming so to not blind me. "We can fix you my lord just give us tim-."

"No need for that little one, my job as a ship caretaker came to an end once I found out that you all survived. You earned the mantle and now must continue the legacy of humanity until the ends of time itself. This is my final request." I turned my gaze away from him while trying to keep myself from balling up, I wasn't ready to see him go but he sure as hell was and it made me emotional. "No point in feeling about me. It was gonna happen sooner or later. In fact, this should be a day of celebration!" Lord pangloss howled.

"We…. will remember you long after you're gone ...rest easy my lord." I smiled while rubbing away the tears that fell from me.

It's been awhile since i last been on that ship. Occasionally, I would drive by his ship in hopes of seeing signs of activity but found none. After the deactivation military eventually transported the lifeworkers that remained online were moved to facility far off to the northern mountains along with the canister that they were watching over. Drak'sul sat beside me in the passenger seat, his nuzzling caused me to purr in delight. "You and I both know that he won't be waking up this time." He said. "The world may be moving forward but I'll still pay him my respects." I responded, parking my car at a gravel filled clearing. It was getting dark out and the city lights were beginning to awaken down the hill. We held each other's hand while walking towards the Voyager, admiring the night sky.

"The stars are glistening tonight, hard to believe that we'll visit them one day."

"Hey, that could be our next vacation! A exotic planet with all sorts of weird creatures and plants that'll most definitely kill us!" Drak'sul jokingly said as we reach our spot just below the ship that overlooked the city in its entirety. I smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Yeah, yeah, we can do that but for now, let's just enjoy the view. Drak'sul nodded, wrapping his arms around me.