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Chapter 13 - A Proposition Made

Ethan stirred gently from his sleep, his maw stretched open in a yawn. Not recognising his surrounding, he attempted to open clear the fog from his mind. He was in the movie screening room again, his head tucked tenderly in Jake's lap. Now he remembered. Jake had wanted to watch a movie with him, and they must have fallen asleep. Blissfully unaware of the movement below, Jake's head lay back against the soft cushions of the theater seat, still asleep. Ethan smiled as he curled tighter against the senior officer, and closed his eyes.

As his morning stupor wore off, Ethan became gradually aware of a problem that required his immediate attention. He was laying nestled in the lap of a handsome male wolf...in the morning. His pants were tight with the urgency of this problem, and so, it seemed, were Jake's.

Impressive, Ethan thought, unable to stop himself from noticing. He sat up slowly and gave Jake a mild shake.

"Jakey? Time to wake up," he breathed. The stubborn wolf merely grunted and refused to move. Ethan shook a bit harder.

"Come on sweetie wake u-" He was cut off as Jake grabbed him, pulling him down onto the cushions again. Ethan's eyes went wide as the wolf spooned him tight, kissing his neck.

"Morning sexy," Jake whispered.

"Umm...Jake...I think you need to wake up...like now..." Ethan blushed deep red feeling Jake's bulge pressing against him. He could now almost hear the embarrassment as the groggy fur behind him realized, Definitely not who I thought you were.

"Must have been some dream you were having!"

"S-sorry," Jake stammered. It was the only word that came to mind.

"Not complaining, but I think I definitely need a cold shower."

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Jake continued to avoid Ethan's gaze as they made their way to the breakfast hall, but the smell of food quickly brightened his mood. As the pair walked through the grand, carved doors, their maws watered at the heavenly aroma now assaulting their nostrils.

Crêpes with raspberries, stacks of waffles, platters piled high with sausages and eggs, and bowls of potatoes and fresh fruit lined the massive oak table. To Ethan's surprise, Shawn was already helping himself to a sizeable piece of cantaloupe on the other end of the room. The human nearly dropped his plate as he noticed Jake. They still had yet to speak since the incident with Matt, and Ethan was hoping he wouldn't have to break up a fight.

Breakfast resumed quietly as the trio busied themselves with plates of food.

"Jake...listen...about what happened..."

"Who wants bagels?! I know I do. The bagels on the opposite end of the room are always better. I'll just go get them!" Ethan exclaimed, retreating to the superior baked goods far away from what was surely going to end in a fight.

"What's there to talk about?" asked Jake, not thoroughly convinced Ethan was entirely sane.

"I just...wanted to say I'm sorry. I didn't know how you felt or I never would have done anything with Matt. It was an accident."

"You accidently got yiffed?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow. From the far end of the table Ethan chucked a muffin at his head, still listening intently.

"I guess I can't be angry with you," Jake sighed. "Neither of you knew how I was feeling, least of all you. I forgive you...Actually I wanted to speak with you anyway. I have a proposition for you."

Shawn let out an audible sigh of relief. "What kind of proposition?"

Jake paused as the doors opened and Trevor walked in, his hair and shirt rather ruffled. He had a satisfied look on his muzzle and a distinct smell drifted about him.

"Sorry I'm late, I guess you got my text about meeting someone at the pier. He um," Trevor paused smiling sheepishly, "He let me stay the night"

Trevor took his seat, blushing as he spotted the human. Sitting quietly, he grabbed some toast and began to nibble quietly. Ethan plopped down in the chair next to Trevor and the pair began to gossip about their nights as Jake continued speaking.

"Well I wanted to speak to you about your behaviour over the past few weeks. I know losing your brother was hard on you, but you need to come to terms with it and move on with your life. You know I have been there, you need to take his death and use it as motivation to keep living."

"I've been trying, but he was the only decent person who cared for me, who meant anything to me."

"I think the solution you need is for you to get your wings back, I can't have you spending your days moping all day." Jake said, frowning. "I need a pilot, a fighter pilot. From what you've told me you are skilled in such a situation. Of course you will need to be trained to use planes of this era, but I have great confidence in you, you have the instincts and skills to survive as a pilot. I'd be counting on you."

Shawn's gaze drifted out the window, into the brightening sky as he thought for a moment. This is what I need...a chance to get back at someone...to kill for Andrew. He wouldn't want to see me like this...Look what I've become...I'm becoming just like dad. They've taken the lives of Jake's friends and family...now I'm going to take their lives. What have I got to lose? Everyone I loved is dead, but these critters are willing to help me and put up with me.

Shawn looked up and smiled, "Flight officer Shawn Wood reporting for duty, sir" he said, snapping his heels together and performing a crisp saluting.

Jake grinned, and stuck out his paw, gripping the human's hand firmly, "Welcome to the team Shawn, you have a lot of training ahead of you.

"Flying has changed a lot since your time; planes are much faster and much more deadly. Let's go, I'll show you your new bird."

"Welcome to team rainbow," Ethan chimed in grinning.

"After breakfast we'll take you down to the hangar to check out your bird" Jake said, "Eat something other than syrup this time. Ethan, please let Max know we're heading down. Trevor, wipe the drool off your muzzle."

The fox blushed and wiped his mouth, he'd forgotten he was staring at the human and hoped only Jake had noticed.

"I'll ask Jason if he wouldn't mind driving out and picking up Matt from his parents'" Ethan chimed in.

"Thanks Ethan," Jake said.

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Stepping out of the elevator, Jake turned to the group, "Alright Trevor, go start up your toy. Ethan get Brad and suit up, then radio Leo that we need him to meet us in the gate room."

"Sir, Yes, Sir," they chorused, saluting, they jogged off towards the armoury.

Motioning for Shawn to follow, Jake began making his way down the corridor. Catching up to Jake, Shawn slowed his pace and took in his surroundings. The corridor was huge, easily thirty feet across and another twenty high. Massive blast doors lined either side, through those that were open Shawn could see barracks, mess halls and infirmaries. The entire passage was constructed of quadruple reinforced concrete. The exterior walls that met earth were easily ten meters thick; the separating walls a mere five. Hundreds of florescent lights hummed far above, illuminating the sparse white walls and stainless steal of the Blast doors whose surfaces were painted with inter changing hazard lines.

Suddenly they were stopped dead by a huge blast door that spanned the entire width of the hall. Jake turned his head towards the armoured guards standing at attention within the hall's security station. With a nod from Jake, the pair of armoured figures saluted. One of them then reached down and flipped a switch Shawn couldn't see. With a hiss of hydraulics and pressurized air the massive blast door rumbled open. Yellow warning lights began to flash and spin as the door retreated into the floor and ceiling.

With a final shudder, the passage was clear. Walking forward, Shawn gasped as the hall opened up into a colossal room. He remembered back to when his cousin had sent him pictures from the Grand Canyon. Some of them had been taken at the bottom, looking up. Remembering those pictures Shawn now knew how his cousin must have felt.

Enormous alcoves lined the walls; within each was a sight that nearly caused Shawn's heart to stop. Within each of the dozens of alcoves stood a metal giant, surrounded by scaffolding and furs who were working furiously to repair the massive amounts of battle damage on each of the beasts.

"Impressive aren't they," Jake said, turning to admire the one hundred foot giants.

"What...what are they?" Shawn said, shocked at the immense scale of these weapons of war. Their purpose was all too clear to Shawn as he gazed at the weapons that served as their arms. Each had a massive cannon as a right arm; Shawn guessed it had to be over fifteen feet in diameter. The other arms of the giants ended in what Shawn guessed were Gatling guns; each was completed with an enormous box of ammunition strapped to it.

"Those are Annihilatus class Battle Titans, as you can see they are armed with railguns, MAC guns, and missile launchers. Each has enough firepower to take out a small army."

"How did you get them? Where did you get them?" Shawn said in awe as he watched sparks cascading off the giants like rain from the welding being performed by the repair crews. "If they are so powerful why don't you just march over to where ever the Corporation is based and destroy them?"

"We...liberated them from a number of different strongholds and bases held by the Corporation." Jake said, his gaze fixed on the giants before him. His eyes sweeping up and down their massive hydraulic driven legs; he had seen them a hundred times before and was still awed by the sight of them. "The reason we don't use them is because while we have well over a hundred. The Corporation has thousands, they would be able to discover we were coming before we reached their base and would be able to mount an appropriate counter attack before we even reached them."

"Commander!" a voice cried out. Jake and Shawn looked over. Out from beneath the nearest Titan came a rather oily tiger, his black, heavy-duty coveralls spotted with oil. As he drew closer they could see that even his large muscular arms were covered in spots of oil and singed in places.

The tiger stopped before them. From the size of his chest and arms that stretched the material of his coveralls it was clear he worked out often. Standing at six foot he was slightly shorter than Jake, yet with his fangs and claws was no less imposing. The tiger saluted Jake smartly.

"At ease" Jake said. With a grin the tiger reached out to shake Shawn's hand. As always the human jerked back instinctively. Rolling his eyes Jake pushed the human forward.

"Shawn this is Max, my chief engineer, it's his job to keep the fleet of vehicles, tanks and Titans moving and in one piece."

"Pleasure to meet a fellow traveller," Max said with a grin.

"Fellow traveller? What do you mean?" Shawn asked, rather confused.

"The commander here told me you were also a victim of a malfunction with the Gate-Way."

"You mean you aren't from this world either? Speaking of which..." Shawn suddenly whirled on Jake, surprising the wolf by his boldness. "You have yet to explain what the hell is going on and what exactly you are. Or what the Gate-Way is, when are you going to tell me about all this." Shawn said with a frown

Jake grinned, "Shawn the whole reason you are down here is so that you will finally understand everything. I promise you, I will show you and explain everything to you."

"Max why don't you tell Shawn what happened to you?"

"It would my pleasure," Max said with a grin, glancing over at Shawn. "I know about the loss of your brother and those that you care about, I'm really sorry. While I was unlucky enough to be swept up by the Gate-Way I was fortunate that Allen, my mate, and our son Gary were swept up with me.

"We were standing out on our lawn when a freak lightning storm rolled in. We were out watching the sunset together from the porch. All of a sudden lighting started raining down. A couple of bolts struck the house. It...It's still a little fuzzy what happened next...We were about to run inside when we were knocked off our feet by one of the bolts.

"We heard this massive tearing sound. I...I had no idea what it was. Suddenly, this massive blue disk exploded into existence before us. We felt it pulling on us, like some kind of vacuum, it was too strong and we couldn't keep our footing." Max shook his head as the horrifying memories surfaced. "We woke up here in this facility, surrounded by Jake's guards. None of us knew where we were or what had happened. It took forever to convince them that we were not agents of The Corporation. We had no idea what they were talking about."

"It was our fault you were pulled through, as it was with you Shawn," Jake said regretfully. "We were trying to lock in on a team we had sent out but the Gate malfunctioned and opened in the wrong place. Leo can explain exactly how this occurred, he is our top scientist as well as top marksman."

"What is the Gate-Way though? What is this place? What is The Corporation?" Shawn asked impatiently.

"Leo will explain everything to you, we are on our way to see him. Max why don't you come too, I will need you to show Shawn the fighter plane that is ready for him."

Max smiled and nodded, "Of course sir, would be my pleasure. I can't wait to see how the new model handles."

The trio turned and continued along the center of vast armoury, passing massive Titans being repaired along with suits and tanks. Suddenly they heard a rumble and the echo of massive footsteps.

Turning around they were surprised to see a smaller Titan racing towards them. This one was different from the others however. At fifteen feet tall the strange Titan's knees bent backwards, what Shawn assumed could be the cockpit was very low to the ground. Bent over, the cockpit jutted out of an almost triangular shaped body. It reminded Shawn of an ostrich but without the long neck

Running flat out, the strange Titan had to have been going close to two hundred miles an hour. Shawn was dumbstruck. Never had he seen anything so fast; even his plane would have had trouble keeping up.

Sparks shot up as the Titan's feet fought for traction. Behind the Titan, two armoured figures ran. Each wore an identical suit of matte-black armour that while bulky seemed to fit the figures comfortably.

Both Shawn and Max watched as the Titan raced towards them. Jake stopped and turned around. Standing with his legs apart and arms crossed, he looked as though he was attempting to intimidate the Titan.

At the last second the Titan leapt over them, legs still going it came down hard. Not missing a stride the walker continued its mad dash down the corridor. The two armoured figures followed the walker's example. At the last second they went soaring over the trio.

They slowed down as they landed, watching the walker as it made a sharp turn in an attempt to come about. Sparks flew and hydraulics groaned and strained to keep up with the crazy pilot's commands.

Tearing around the corner, it looked as though it was skating as it turned and made its way back to them. The Titan skidded to a halt in a shower of sparks, dust and burning coolant fumes before them. With a hiss of hydraulics the Titan lowered itself down slowly until the cockpit was but a few feet off the ground. Powering it down the pilot hopped out, Trevor was grinning ear to ear, his heart still beating fast from the adrenaline rush of messing around in his Titan.

Trevor lightly skipped and hopped, full of energy and adrenaline. Suddenly he spotted Shawn and halted, stumbling mid hop. Thankful that his fur was dark enough to mask his blush, the fox made his way over to the trio in a much more controlled manner, if only barely so.

"You know I only just replaced the hydraulic motors on that thing...I would appreciate it if you made them last this time." Max said, frustrated that Trevor would be so careless with a piece of equipment he had spent a week repairing after the last time the fox had decided to go for a joy ride.

The two other armoured figures trotted up to the small group, with a twist and a hiss they removed their helmets.

"Well that was fun," Ethan said, grinning at Brad who stood beside him, running a gloved paw through his head fur.

"Sorry Max," Trevor said head bowed, unusually quiet for once.

"Something the matter Trevor?" Ethan began. Suddenly he saw the red fox glance quickly at the human then just as quickly glance away, his blush just visible through his fur. A knowing smile lit up the wolf's face. "Oh I see."

"You three can go, I want you all on the course training. Oh and Trevor, go easy on the Titan, otherwise you're going to help Max fix it if you break it."

Trevor laughed nervously, all three of them saluted. Locking their helmets back into place Ethan and Brad waited for Trevor to return to his Titan. With a nod to each other they took off as the Titan rumbled to life. Sparks flying the Titan took off after them, its massive guns sticking out either side, trying to track and gain a lock on the two figures.

They watched as Trevor chased Ethan and Brad into the distant end of the armoury. Max groaned and covered his muzzle with his paws as Trevor took a hard turn that nearly caused the Titan to tip over. Hydraulics whining the Titan ripped around the corner, a rooster tail of sparks following in its wake.

Giving the tiger a sympathetic pat on the back Jake led them the remainder of the way to the Gate room. Shawn was eager to finally see the device that was responsible for his presence here in this strange world and for his questions to finally be answered.

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Turning the corner they finally reached the entrance to the Gate room. Before them a colossal blast door stood. Shawn's eyes traced up its massive surface; it was one hundred and fifty tall and thirty feet thick. Massive pins connected the two halves, ensuring they could not be forced inwards.

Shawn could not even begin to imagine the amount of force that would be required to open such a massive piece of metal. He didn't even want to think about how such an object was created.

As they neared the blast door a rumbling began. Shawn stumbled as the floor began to shake as the massive portal thundered open. Walking forward they passed through the gap created. Shawn swallowed nervously, trying not to think of how flat he would be squished if the gates were closed while he was between them.

"We had to rebuild the original door to allow for the Titans to pass through on their way to access the Gate." Jake said.

Clearing the door, Shawn's breath caught in his throat. The room they entered was so large he did not understand how it could possibly exist. Colossal columns supported the ceiling two hundred feet above them. Each wall was over one hundred and twenty feet from them, and the far wall was easily three hundred. It was an absolute maze of catwalks and gantries made up of hundreds of tons of metal.

Massive cannons like those on the Titan covered the walls, all pointed towards the far end of the hall. The Gate-Way stood before them, nearly touching the ceiling. It was almost touching either wall. The massive ring of silvery metal stood, yet there was no visible means of support. To Shawn it looked like the Gate-Way was hovering.

About halfway down the room and off to one side they could see the control room for the Gate-Way; a large glass enclosed box, within which stood a number of figures. It was too far to make out anyone in particular.

Nearby they saw an armoured figure busy directing a group of scientists and soldiers on some strange task. Shawn swallowed nervously as he watched this strange creature. It's armour was much different than that of Ethan and Brad, it was much more form fitting and sleek. Even at such a distance Shawn could tell the figure was female, her hips swaying as she walked, her eight foot tail swaying back and forth behind her.

Beneath her slender arm she held her helmet, allowing her to let her long, wavy snow white head fur to cascade down her back. Shawn was able to catch a glimpse of this alluring creature's face as she glanced sideways. Her fur was mainly a reddish brown colour, save for around her muzzle which was white along with a small rounded streak of white on her cheek.

Jake reached a paw up to the collar of his uniform and hit the com switch hidden there. "Leo, could you come here please?"

Shawn watched enraptured as the strange female fur clipped her helmet to her belt. Reaching back she bound her hair up in a tight knot behind her head. Donning her helmet she hit a button inside her helmet, and to Shawn's shock, disappeared. Shawn felt a strange tingling sensation just as the figure disappeared.

"Did you guys just..." Shawn began. Turning around he stopped, next to him stood the strange female figure. At six foot two she was slightly taller than him. Her slender figure was even more enticing up close. Her eight foot tail, encased in an armoured sheath waved lazily back and forth behind her.

Snapping a quick salute to Jake she said, "You called commander?"

Shawn was struck dumb. While he knew next to nothing about furries, he knew enough to know that that voice could not possibly belong to a female. He watched in surprise as this strange fur took off its helmet.

"Leo I would like you to meet Shawn, he is the newest member of the team and I would like you to take some time to help him learn about us, and the Gate-Way." Jake said

"It would be my pleasure Sir," Leo said smiling, turning around he shyly put out his paw to shake hands with the human.

Shawn could only stare in surprise at what he had first thought was a female. As he had seen before, Leo had a small rounded streak of white fur on his cheek that was offset by his reddish brown fur. His short muzzle ended in a small pink nose. It was his eyes, however, that most caught Shawn's attention. They were almost entirely black, causing him to look as if he had one large pupil. Glistening in the bright lights of the massive room, a heart-shaped earring dangled on a silver chain from the strange fur's left ear.

"You're male?" Shawn said in surprise, still trying to focus through the female aspects of this strange new fur's features.

"Yes, I know. I get asked that a lot." Leo said, frustrated that once again someone had mistaken him for female. While his voice was low his features were quite feminine, much to his annoyance.

"But you're just so cute, and fluffy," Trevor said grinning, the small fox walked towards the group quickly followed by Ethan, Brad and Kyle.

Giving the fox a playful slap to the back of the fox's head Kyle said, "He's more than just cute he's drop dead gorgeous." Leo blushed at the compliment, greeting his husband with a kiss. Feeling much more relaxed before his friends than in public.

"Today we are welcoming Shawn to the team, and I need Leo's help to get Shawn set up with his new toy. Max just finished the final touches but I need Leo to walk him through it."

"Oh what does he get?" Trevor said excitedly, glancing over at the human he blushed and looked away as their eyes met.

"A Phoenix class attack craft," Max said. He was rather proud of himself for having finished retrofitting the bird for the human. "Oh and Brad, you'll be happy to know that Allen took Jake up on his offer and will be coming back to help you out here."

"We've finally finished retro fitting it for a human pilot," Leo said, "We did not have to make too many modifications. Mainly we removed a few things and changed the seat so that it would be more comfortable for a human."

"What does Allen do?" Shawn muttered to Ethan.

"He's the head cook here and looks after the kitchen, Brad is one of his apprentices." Ethan explained. "They have been friends a long time."

"What do you mean? How is that possible? If Allen is anywhere as old as Max he has to be in his early thirties at least," Shawn said, "Well that's how old he looks, it's kind of hard to tell with you guys."

"Younger Allen went to school with Brad. Max's Allen is from the future. Surprisingly they're still good friends." Ethan said grinning. "Refuses to tell me anything else about future Brad though."

"Would you really want to know?"

"No I suppose not," Ethan said with a sigh. "The mystery is far to exciting for spoilers!"

"Come on Shawn let's go, Leo, Max you too." Jake said. Glancing over he noticed Trevor trying to get his attention. Not sure what the fox wanted he decided he would ask the fox later. For now, "Trevor! You had best come too,"

The fox jumped. Trying to hide his excitement he hurried after the group. Trevor paid more attention to the human as Leo began what the fox knew would be a long, complicated and rather boring explanation of the inner workings of the Gate-Way.