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Chapter 14 - Into The Wild Blue Yonder

"So how were 19th century...furs...able to move the Gate-Way?" Shawn asked as the group made its way along, nearing the far end of the colossal cavern.

"Well as you can see, the Gate-Way hovers above the ground" Leo said matter-of-factly. The red panda continued on quickly with his explanation as the human opened his mouth with further questions boiling within him. "The Gate-Way can be disassembled into small sections, in fact those pieces were used to transport a great deal of supplies."

"Before you keep going, and give me a headache," Shawn said, muttering the end of his sentence. "Can you explain furs to me? I really don't understand you guys. How could so many species have evolved to be sentient and not killed each other off?"

"What do you mean?" Leo asked. The red panda tilted his head in confusion, causing the silver heart dangling from his ear to swing wildly.

"Well thanks to one very brave science teacher I know how humans evolved, but how did you guys evolve? And why don't you war as much as humans?"

"I would imagine much the same way as your species did. You have a fossil record that traces your race back in time. We do too. Likewise, I suspect we've warred with each other just as many times as your species. Though that doesn't answer your question does it? You may be aware that humans and chimps are cousins of a sort in your dimension, yes? The same things can be said of the different species here. We have our own cousins that are related to us however distantly. We simply took a different evolutionary turn than them. This largely solves the problem of how certain species which, in your world, hunt and kill each other can coexist here."

"So...you eat your distant relatives?"

"No, species within the same family tree do not generally eat each other. However, neither do we prevent other species from eating their natural food sources."

"But you still fight with each other?"

"Occasionally, we do...or rather we used to. In order to ensure that it happens with less frequency, we have a global governing body responsible for the rules of war. The United Species has representatives from each of the sentient species of this world. As you can imagine, it's a truly massive organization. Since its creation, we've not had a single war. Just bickering. It's similar to what your United Nations will be."

"And how does the Gate-Way work?" Shawn asked, knowing full well that he was likely to understand none of it. "What is the United Nations?"

"It is a body of representatives from different nations from your world. However ours is an actual government that is much more powerful and less corruptible than the human version. We have solved such issues and it works smoothly. Your United Nations was an attempt after the Second World War to stop another war from happening. However, because your United Nations does not hold any real power, it is effectively useless. Ours does actually hold power over species and Nations and its word is law."

Before Leo could continue, they were interrupted by Matt's return, escorted by Jason. The young arctic fox stood in awe of the massive piece of technology before him. Jake grinned pulling Matt in close, welcoming him home. It was all the welcome he needed to remain silent as Leo continued.

"The Gate-way works by creating a physical bridge or passage between dimensions" Leo explained slowly as they gazed up at the gate.

Leo held up his paw in a fist, "Imagine that we are standing on one version of earth within this dimension." Placing his other paw next to his right he continued. "Now I want you to imagine that all around our dimension, there are other earths within their own dimension. Each that looks almost identical to ours, but has minor changes.

"Each dimension is surrounded by a veil of anti-matter, or what you could call a wall. This wall stops our dimensions from crossing with the others and becoming entangled. The Gate-Way seeks out locations within our dimension that are both weak and closest to the other dimensions. Once it finds such a location it creates a tear which allows us to pass through to the other dimension.

"The furthest extent we can control this tear is within a general range of our intended target. We have yet to unlock a way to be more precise with the Gate exits."

"So is that why I...and Max...were sucked into it randomly?" Shawn asked, rubbing his head. He was grateful that Leo had been kind enough to tone things down so that he could understand them.

"Yes, we have been working on the triangulation process," Leo said. "In fact we are planning on testing it later. I'm sure Jake would be more than happy to take the whole team on a test run. I hear you haven't been out of this facility yet. I think it would be a great way to test out the mark of suits in live fire conditions."

"I still don't get who created the Gate-Way," Shawn said. "Or have you been able to discover that yet?"

"We have indeed found the source of the Gate-Way," Leo said. "It took us a long time. It was only after we discovered ruins here within our dimension that we were sure. When I said that there are dimensions around our own that are almost identical to our own, I left out one thing. We know of an exception. There is a dimension that the builders of the Gate-Way came from that is entirely unique from our own. Unlike the others, it looks nothing like ours.

"Within this dimension rests the empire of the Gate Builders. They created the Gate-Way to travel to other dimensions and study the inhabitants there. We know this because we found their records within the observatories they built here. They were able to travel back to when our earliest ancestors were spreading out and study us. One of the reasons we know so much about our early ancestors is because of the Gate Builders and their research and studies of us."

"What do they look like? Why would they want to study you?"

"We are so different. They are not furs, nor are they humans. They are of a completely different species, entirely alien to our own. We don't know how or why, but they picked up and went back to their own dimension. Something happened, something big. They left so quickly they left a great deal of technology and research behind. From the damage to the structures both inside and out we believe they were attacked.

"We don't know by what or who, but it had to have been something as powerful if not more so than they were." Leo said, shaking his head at the enormity of what he had just said. "Imagine what that would take. All of the technology you see here has been reverse-engineered from the documents and specimens we discovered within the ruins here on Earth and in other dimensions. This is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There is still so much we have yet to unlock. We have vast store rooms filled with technology we do not understand."

Shawn was awed by what he heard. Looking around it was already incomprehensible that such technology, such things existed. To imagine that there were technologies more advanced than those he saw here was incredible.

"How about we get you to your jet?" Leo asked the dumbstruck human.

"Yeah ok I want to see this bird!" Shawn said, suddenly excited to finally be getting off the ground once more.

"I just hope you can handle her," Jake said with a grin.

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Shawn stood perfectly still, his mouth and eyes wide open at the sight that greeted him. After leaving the gate room, Jake had taken him and the rest of the team on a winding route to the hangar. It reminded Shawn of the hangars he had spent a great deal of his time in back in his own dimension. Along either side of the hangar were hundred of berths for jets to be rearmed and refuelled.

Each of them was enormous, easily four times the size of the spitfire Shawn had flown before. The skin of the jet looked perfectly smooth. He could not even see where the canopy was. The only breach in this smooth surface was the landing gear that extended from both wings and from beneath the nose. He could not see anything resembling armaments or machine guns.

The engine was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Not only was there no propeller it had a large exhaust hole half as big as he was tall. The wings ran along the fuselage and extended out further back. Two tail fins stuck up on top to either side of the engine exhaust.

"Impressive isn't it?" Max asked, a look of fierce pride for the job he had done retrofitting the aircraft.

"What is it?" Shawn said awestruck.

"It is a phoenix class attack craft, powered by a Mk. VI Scramjet, and plasma boosters for increased manoeuvrability. Armed with both plasma guns and lasers, it can burn through just about anything in a matter of seconds." Jake said, clearly excited by the thought of such destructive capability from one craft. "The Scramjet is used for high altitude climbs into the upper atmosphere. It allows us to travel at mach twenty five. From there the plasma boosters kick in at cruising speed of just mach six."

"Mach what?" Shawn gaped.

"Speed travels at different rates at different heights. At sea level it travels at 340.29 meters per second. When one of our planes exceeds this speed it is going mach one. Once we reach this speed we are traveling in a supersonic jet. However, with the use of the Scramjet we reach low warp speed." Leo explained, hoping he hadn't confused anyone.

"I can take you up in it after if you'd like, once I'm finished showing Shawn how it works." Jake whispered in Matt's ear.

"Ok that would be really cool," Matt said. He was nervous but he trusted that Jake would let no harm come to him. Jason had brought him down here immediately after they reached the mansion.. He was still too awestruck to do anything but listen and stare at the gate. It was absolutely incredible and he was still having trouble comprehending the magnitude of what was going on here.

Walking up to the craft, a crease suddenly appeared next to where Shawn assumed the cockpit was located. Sure enough the canopy of the massive craft opened up revealing two seats set one behind the other. A ladder extended from the rim of the cockpit down to Jake's feet.

"Um no offence but I fly solo," Shawn said as he gazed warily at the craft.

"Oh don't worry this is just the trainer. Your jet is a single seater. You will have to prove you can fly this first though before you get your own." Jake said as he climbed into the rear position of the craft.

"Come on, hurry up and get in," the wolf said impatiently, his tail flicking back and forth as he stood up in the cockpit.

Shawn approached the craft apprehensively. Climbing up the ladder he stopped abruptly and gaped at the interior of the jet. The seat looked much stronger and more heavily armoured than the one he had had in his Spitfire. Its high backed surface and headrest was made out of some kind of black material. There appeared to be some kind of flight suit built into the seat. The legs and arms were split open down their centers allowing a pilot to slip into them. The chest piece was absent however.

"How do I get in that?" Shawn asked looking up from the seat.

"Just get in and sit down," Jake said calmly, already encased in his own suit.

Reluctantly he climbed in and sat down; his body fit perfectly into the shell. As soon as he was seated he heard a hiss and watched as the two halves of the suit around his legs drew together, meshing to form a seamless bond. Next he watched as his arms were similarly encased as the suit drew closed around them. Finally the suit began to close over his chest as a helmet was lowered onto his head.

Suddenly, his entire body began to tingle and his hair stood on end.

"What is going on?" Shawn asked, the panic rising in his voice as the suit constricted and tightened around him.

"Shawn just relax, the suit is trying to match the frequency of the electrical field generated by your central nervous system. It is interfacing with it so that you will be able to control and interact with the jet on a much more direct level." Leo said from his place at the base of the ladder. "With enough training you will be able to control the jet with thought alone, as you are so intimately connected with it."

"Now just relax and enjoy the ride," Jake said over the headset. Revving the engines, he hit a button to close the canopy. As the armoured bubble sealed them within, Shawn surveyed the strange instrument panel before him.

A multitude of glowing screens sat before him. Where his gun-sight on his Spitfire had been sat a strange holographic display. On it numbers sat at zero, each one representing altitude, speed, weapons load out and target selected. As the jet came online, more information began to be fed into the displays, showing him the status of the jet.

The greatest difference between his Spitfire and the jet was the control stick. He had looked for it yet it was not where he had expected it to be. Instead of between his feet it was set into the right armrest of his seat.

As Jake finished the pre-flight tests he clicked on the com system, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah let's do this," Shawn said, both excited and anxious.

Slowly the jet taxied out and down the hangar. At the far end was a ramp that led up to the surface. An enormous blast door sealed them in. It rivalled the one guarding the Gate-Way in thickness and size. They finally reached the ramp, where Jake stopped the jet at the edge.

Doing a final check of the ailerons and flight surfaces, he amped up the engine as the blast shield raised out of the floor behind the jet. Shawn looked to either side of the jet. The ramp appeared to be large enough for dozens of jets to launch at the same time. He was impressed. During an attack getting the maximum number of jets in the air was critical.

Suddenly there was a flash of sunlight and a rumbling began as a second colossal blast door split open before them. Jake gunned the engine and pushed the throttle to full. With a shudder the jet shot up the ramp, gaining speed as it went. Rocketing out into daylight Jake quickly retracted the landing gears and pushed the plasma engines harder. There was a massive boom as they cleared the blast door.

"What was that?!" Shawn yelled in shock, worried something bad had happened.

"We broke the sound barrier," Jake said calmly as they continued to pick up speed.

"Broke the what?" Shawn said totally confused. "How fast are we going?"

"Roughly 1225 km/h (761 mph) and climbing,"

"What?!" Shawn screamed. That was impossible! His spitfire had only ever been able to max out at 557 km/h (348 mph) and now they were going twice that with no sign of slowing down.

"I'm about to engage the scramjet. This is going to get noisy"

Jake hit a button on the control panel in front of him. There was a loud screeching noise, then a loud boom. The entire jet shot forward again, the scenery below going from whizzing past to a total blur.

"Mach 2 achieved" a rather mechanical yet female voice chimed.

"What is Mach 2?"

"2450 km/h (1522 mph)" replied the mechanical voice.

Had his helmet not been so securely fastened Shawn's jaw would have opened wide. How was this possible? He thought.

"Mach 4 achieved"

Shawn wasn't sure he wanted to know how fast they were going. It was an incredible rush but he wanted to be flying. It was not that he did not trust Jake. He had never been comfortable allowing others to fly for him. He was about to request a turn at the controls when the computer chimed in once more.

"Mach 6 achieved"

"7350 km/h (4567 mph)" Jake said calmly, clearly anticipating the human's question.

"Mach 8 achieved"

Shawn gripped his seat tighter as he felt the familiar rush of adrenalin coursing through his veins. Everything was passing by so fast it was absolutely incredible.

"Mach 10 achieved"

Jake grinned as he pulled them higher and higher into the atmosphere.

"Mach 12 achieved"

"14700 km/h (9134 mph)" Jake said, the excitement was beginning to get to him too. Shawn nearly jumped, or would have if he could when Jake howled loudly in excitement.

"Mach 15 achieved...Mach 16...17...18...19...20...21"

They were going so fast that the voice began blurring the numbers together. Looking down all Shawn could see was a mat of colour ripping past and slowly disappearing as they climbed higher and higher

"Mach 22...23...Mach 24 achieved, top speed and orbit achieved"

"How fast are we going and what did she mean orbit achieved?"

"We are currently orbiting the Earth in the upper stratosphere at 29400 km/h (18268 mph)" Jake said, his voice filled with excitement. "I'm going to slow us down and let you take the controls once the plasma jet kicks in."

Easing back on the throttle, Jake watched as their speed began to slowly bleed. The human let out a shuddering breath as he tried to relax. An idea came to mind. With an evil grin Jake slammed the control stick forward and hard left, causing the jet to fly screaming towards the ground in a vertical spin.

The sound that greeted his ears surprised him. Instead of fear he heard the human yelling in excitement as adrenaline surged through his body. Jake grinned and levelled the jet out, now flying at just over eight thousand feet and flying at mach five.

"You think you could handle a turn at the controls?" Jake asked the adrenaline filled human.

"Yeah! Let me at this beast!...I mean jet," Shawn corrected himself quickly, fearing he may have insulted Jake.

"Alright, I'm transferring controls to you. I will be able to take over if it's too much for you to handle. Otherwise she's all yours. Now show me what you can do."

Shawn grinned. As they spoke the jet had dropped down to a manageable Mach 2. Taking the controls the human pushed the craft forward. Beginning with simple manoeuvres like the ones he had been taught in flight school he slowly began to get a handle of the craft.

As his confidence rose he began to edge towards the more daring tricks Andrew had helped him perfect after they had gotten their wings. The com crackled and Shawn heard Jake's voice in his ear piece. "I'm going to take back control and bring us back down."

"Alright, roger that."

Shawn leaned back as Jake took over. The ground rushed up to meet them. Just as it had when they took off, the massive armoured doors began to retract. Slowing their descent. the jet glided slowly into the earth, setting down with a soft bump as the wheels touched the underground tarmac.

Flipping on the com Jake said, "Leo, gather the gang in the conference room. I think it's time we remind The Corporation that they aren't alone in exploring the dimensions."

Leo's soft voice came on, "Shall do Jake, see you soon."

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Matt winced as Jake slammed the thick metal restrains over his head. With a hiss they locked him and his suit into place within the drop ship's hold. Jake flashed a reassuring smile before moving off to check the rest of the drop's complement of soldiers. Across the aisle Ethan flashed Matt a thumbs up.

"I was nervous on my first drop too, after you do it though the rush is incredible and it becomes a breeze."

Matt smiled, feeling slightly better knowing others had been as scared as he currently felt. He had been so eager when Jake had outlined the drop and the plan of the mission. Jake had explained to them that their intelligence networks, had succeeded in finding the planned route of a convoy. According to reports, the convoy was meant to bring supplies in order to begin the creation of a new base, for the Corporation's expansion.

To either side of him sat soldiers he had never met before. Both had their visors down and faces hidden. The drop ship's hold could, according to Leo, carry up to forty troops and a pair of small walkers. Currently, only half that number was present including Jake, Matt, Ethan, and Brad. Brad appeared as if he felt sick, and Ethan had the tiger's paw clenched in his affectionately. The small red fox, Trevor, sat drumming the dash of his walker to a beat only he could hear. Fifteen soldiers of the 47th Liberation Regiment's A Company filled out the rest of the entourage deemed necessary for the mission to succeed.

The intercom crackled to life and the pilot's voice filled the hold as the doors hissed closed.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. If you would kindly fasten your seatbelts and shut it, we can start this wild ride. Skies are clear and sunny, and the drop zone should only contain a moderate amount of flak. Thank you for flying 'stickin' it to the man airways'."

The pilot's announcement ended and was greeted by a resounding "Oorah".

Matt's helmet muffled the screech of the jet engine as they began to spool up. He swallowed nervously as the drop ship took off into the air. Floating up towards the portal, Matt began to hear a strange hum, like that of transformers on the power lines near his house. There was a loud bang and it felt as though the drop ship was accelerating as a blinding light filled the drop ship's interior.

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His entire body felt like it was being compressed and stretched at the same time. Everything was so bright and dark all at once. He felt like he was both here and there, in the past and future, everywhere and nowhere. With a second flash it was over. Matt gasped, sweat dripping down his muzzle.

Panting he looked around, glad to be back in a moment that made sense and no longer made him feel queasy. Just as he closed his eyes he heard a click on his mic. Activating it he heard Jake's soothing voice over the com. "Hey, how are you holding up? I know the first transition can be a little difficult. We'll be on the ground soon."

The pilot's voice came on over the intercom, "Furries, we'll be over the drop zone in a moment, so if you would all proceed in an orderly fashion to the rear of the ship we can get this show on the road."

The roar of the hovering jet engines was muffled by Matt's helmet as he watched the other furs get up calmly in the vibrating craft. Hitting the release on his harness Matt stood up and followed the others to the rear.

One of the armoured troops with sergeants stripes stood and marched to the release panel. After a confirming nod from Jake, he hit the release on the rear hatch. As it lowered wind began to whistle and buffet against the furs standing in their armour. With an order that was more bark than word the lieutenant leading the A Company troops fell out first. In formations of five the soldiers jumped headfirst and remained in perfect formation as they disappeared from view.

"Alright ladies, let's show the tin men how it's done," Jake roared as he ran towards the end of the ramp and leapt out into the air.

Rolling in the air Matt watched as something akin to a surfboard shot from the bottom of each of Jake's boots and connected into one large board that he began to surf the air with. With shouts of excitement and growls the rest of the team followed suit, pulling Matt along with them.

Matt gasped as he fell through the air, the ground racing up to meet him. Getting over the initial shock his training kicked in; angling his body he controlled his descent in what seemed a rather bland performance compared to the acrobatics the rest of the crew seemed to be doing. Each of them was spinning and cartwheeling around as they fell. Finally as the warning symbol began to blink on their visors they activated their jump jets, slowing their descent short of terminal velocity.

Landing hard, the team was dispersed but all headed towards the designated target that they had been briefed on earlier. Jogging towards the trees, Matt could see the lieutenant had already gathered his command squad and was reviewing a portable holo-map of the area.

Standing quietly Matt listened to the commander giving orders. Off in the distance he could hear Trevor's walker thumping through the trees.

"Our objective is the mining operation and smelting plant The Corporation has established in this sector. Our infiltrators have identified weak points in the defence that we can penetrate and set bombs to cripple their infrastructure." The commander paused, pressing buttons to bring up the interior of the plant.

"You all know your positions and I expect the best from all of you. Good luck and move out."

A cry of Oorah met this last remark as the troops formed up and began to march into the forest. The communication system buzzed and crackled as the scouts and forward troops reported as they advanced.

The forest was eerily quiet as they advanced. Only the rustle of leaves and the occasional snap of a twig betrayed their march. Suddenly a scout cut in over the main command frequency that Matt had been listening to.

"Sir, we have reached hawk point one," The scout reported, using the code word for lookout point. "We have eyes on old smokey and there are more ants than anticipated."

"Can you give me numbers?" The commander replied.

"Well over two hundred. Heavy weapons emplacements have been bulked up and I see at least two Annihilatus class walkers standing within the perimeter of old smokey."

"Continue to monitor their movements and check for a pattern. We need to destroy that plant."

A few minutes later the radio operator spoke, "Commander, I am getting an increase in radio traffic within the compound and with a distant point, it's close but small and I can't seem to pin it down."

"Everyone, tighten formation, we may be walking into a trap. Be careful but let them think they have the upper hand. I want groups on the flanks to spread out further and hide yourself."

"Sir," the coms crackled again as the scouts reported in, "A large force has just embarked on APCs and has driven off along the road to a position roughly west of you."

The commander began to respond when a huge explosion rocked the forest, the blast rumbled through, rocking the trees and battering against the soldiers. A massive warhorn blew in challenge as a second rumble shook the ground.

"Scouts report!" the commander shouted as everyone took up defensive positions.

The ground continued to rumble as the troops took up defensive positions. "Scouts report!"

"Sir, this is west flank, the convoy has turned off the road and is proceeding towards us in a staggered line. Count twelve vehicles, repeat, one two vehicles."

"Commander, scouts are dead, this is forward observation. We have walkers inbound on our position. Scouts have been vaporized. Suggest we pull back and call for air lift."

Matt suddenly saw Jake take off in the direction the troops had radioed from. He quickly followed, desperate to help Jake however he could.

"Soldiers, fall back to the landing site and set up a defensive perimeter while we wait for pick up."

Matt radioed Jake as he ran "Wait up, I want to help you. There isn't time to argue so don't think about it."

"I don't want you to get hurt, be careful. This isn't just a training exercise, something has gone seriously wrong here."

Matt nodded, thankful Jake trusted him enough to allow him to continue with him.

"We need to get to the troops still forward and begin a staggered retreat. The lieutenant has already called in our pick up but I'm not leaving troops behind.

Suddenly they stopped as they arrived at the edge of the woods. In the far distance they could see the smoke from the refinery. Much closer however they saw the remaining scouts running towards them. Matt's eyes widened as he saw what they were running from.

The two Annihilus titans from the refinery were on the march, shaking the ground with each step. Their bodies were painted black and looked almost scaly. As they watched the leftmost titan opened up with its rail gun. The missile slammed into the group of scouts, tearing them apart, leaving nothing left except a large hole in the ground.

Jake howled in anger and frustration, loosing off a shot from his rifle in defiance of the war giants. One of them blew its warhorn in response and raised its gun to target them. The pair turned and ran back into the forest as they heard the gun powering up for its shot. With a crack the shell exploded from the barrel and tore open Matt's world.

Feeling himself thrown through the air his body slammed against a tree. Groaning the fox looked around for Jake. He tried to pull himself forward but felt darkness taking over as he passed out.

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"Commander, where is Jake?" Ethan demanded as he entered the hastily dug command dug out. Bullets whizzed back and forth over the trenches that the squads had dug, preparing for The Corporation's advance. The flanking force had found them dug in and prepared. So far, without the assistance of the titans they had been unable to remove the rebel troops. The ground around the rebel position was too rocky for them to flank.

Crossing over open ground out of the forest had cost The Corporation forces dearly at the hands of the snipers and heavy weapon troopers.

"Ethan, they went to try and secure the retreat of our forward troops. That was hours ago, we don't have time or troops to spare to get them. We need to hold here until the drop ship arrives. We blew up their jamming vehicle and got a message through. We only need to hold another half hour."

"I'm not leaving them behind! I am taking Trevor with me and we are going to circle around and find them!"

"Very well, but if and when those titans reach us we need to pull out regardless if you're back or not. We have nothing that can fight them."

"I understand and I don't care. I'm going to find him."

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Matt groaned and coughed, blood splattering the inside of his helmet. He took a shaky gasp. His HUD was fuzzy and jumping in and out. There were warnings from different damaged sections of his armour. Thankfully nothing had broken the seal and he was safe. The pressure blast had crumpled the armour on his left leg, making it stiff and impossible to walk. His chest was on fire and his breath came in a wheezing gasp. Had his suit not injected him with adrenaline and pain suppressors he doubted he'd be able to move.

Looking around he spotted Jake's crumpled form. Most of the outer casing of his generator had been stripped away, revealing the mechanism itself, one arm seemed broken and the other crumpled like Matt's leg.

Dragging himself forward he succeeded in rolling the unconscious wolf onto his side. Inspecting Jake's armour he found a large gash in the protective layer of the suit, the edges coated with sealing foam and blood. Foam continued to ooze from the hole as the suit attempted to maintain its atmosphere. Matt hoped that it had succeeded before too much of the local atmosphere had penetrated.

His com system crackled "Matt ... an ... hear ... e ... *Static* .... alive?"

"Yes, I'm here, with Jake! We're alive! We need help!" Matt cried

"On way ...ho... tight"

Matt rested his head on Jake's chest, panting as blood drooled from his maw. Suddenly he flicked his head up as something large came crashing through. Ethan hopped down off of Trevor's walker and hurried forward.

Looking at Jake's wound he shook his head. "This is very bad, we need to get back right away! Can you walk?"

"I... I don't think so."

With a grunt Ethan picked Jake up and slung his limp form over his shoulder, reaching down he grabbed the harness point at the back of Matt's suit and pulled him to the walker. He hurriedly strapped Jake and Matt onto the upper area of the walker before hopping on.

The ride was fast but tremendously rough, they were forced to skirt the ongoing firefight before the landing zone. As they approached, medics rushed up and helped Ethan dismount the pair and bring them into the emergency dugout. Ethan stood outside watching the firefight.

The general line radio crackled. "This is your chauffeur, I'm on final descent so everyone get ready to get on and get out."

Suddenly Ethan picked up the rumbling of titan steps and a warhorn. "Pilot break off! Break off! Titans approaching! titans approaching!"

Without warning a beam of light struck out from the trees and speared the drop ship. The ship exploded as its engines were hit. Dropping out of the sky, it crashed before the trenches. The blast wave of its crash knocked Ethan from his feet.

Stumbling forward he stopped as he heard someone chime into his com system. "Ethan! It's me, I need you to come with me and get out of here!"

Ethan stopped, in shock as he heard Brad's voice. "Where are you?"

"I'm out on the left of the trenches! You need to come with me right now!"

Ethan didn't need to be told twice. He dashed out of the trench toward Brad's position. How could this all have gone so wrong?! He wondered. Have to get to Brad! Then home! I'm coming, my love, just hold on!

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************** Jake stirred awake and groaned. His bones and muscles felt like they were on fire. Hearing him groan, Matt sat up and looked at him, his concern blocking out the sounds of continued gunfire in the distance.

"Jake! How are you feeling?"

"Not good...You need to leave me here," Jake groaned, holding his stomach.

"We're not doing that! Ethan went to get Brad to help and Trevor is looking for the Gate-Way device so we can get out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Jake groaned rolling onto his side to face Matt. Through his helmet his fur was matted with sweat and blood. His eyes were unfocused and foam was collecting in the corner of his maw. The tear in his suit continue to leak blood and sealing foam.

Suddenly Trevor dashed in, knocked off his feet by a massive explosion. Ethan quickly stumbled in.

"Everyone is dead! Corporation troops are advancing! We need to get out of here right now!" Trevor ordered.

Ethan seemed dazed and lost, looking to Trevor he asked. "Did you get the device?"

Trevor nodded and hit the button on the box he was holding. With a loud thunderclap a portal opened up in the wall of the medical dugout.

Jake shook his head. "I'm not going."

"No time to argue," Trevor said as he grabbed Jake, leaving Matt for Ethan to carry. The wolf followed Trevor with Matt in tow. Jumping through the Gate-Way, Matt felt the same confusing barrage of sensations as before, until suddenly he was flung out the far side of the gate.

"Shut it down!" Trevor screamed, "Get us medics and a control squad down here right now. We need Jake in quarantine."

"It's...*snarl*...too late...*growl*....shoot me" Jake said. Falling from Ethan's arms, his body thrashed and contorted. The sound of snapping bones and tearing flesh resounded over the sound of boots pounding on the concrete floor.

"Everyone get back, weapons up!" The sergeant in charge of security shouted as they circled Jake from a distance. "You three, get out of the way!"

"No I'm not going anywhere! I'm not leaving him!" Matt cried, watching as Jake thrashed and screamed, his body rebelling against him. Tears and blood ran down the wolf's face. He let out a piercing howl as his knees snapped back and his fingers contracted. His form began to grow and morph.

"*Growl* out....*snarl* ruu...*howl*" Jake tried to say through the pain as he tried to fight off the change.

A tearing sound ran out as fur erupted from the back of Jake's suit, his body increasing in size, casting off his armour. Shaking as bones cracked and reformed, bloody foam drooled from his maw as his head shifted on his neck. His ribs expanded into a much beefier barrel shape. His fangs lengthened and claws extended, head growing as his bones slowly reshaped themselves and settled into their new form.

Head swaying, the wolfen Jake collapsed, whining and mewling like a newborn pup. Trevor grabbed Matt's shoulder as he made to stumble forward. Panting hard, Jake's mews and whining slowly turned to growling as he make his shaky way to his four paws. His eyes were closed but his ears lay back, lips revealing long sharp teeth as he snarled.

"Everyone back now! We need to bring him down!"

"No, don't!" Matt shouted. He approached slowly and placed his armoured paw on Jake's shoulder.

Matt screamed as Jake whirled around and pounced on him. raising his arm up to protect himself as he fell back, he felt the Jake beast's teeth clamp down on his arm, compressing his armour as it snarled. It looked into his eyes with the fury of a feral beast. Matt screamed Jake's name as he tried to push the wolf from his arm.

"Jake stop! Jake it's me!" Matt cried, tears streaming down his muzzle as Jake's bloody saliva dripped around his arm and onto his visor. "Stop Jake let us help you!"

"Jake!" Matt continued to scream and struggle against the beast with only his armour to protect him. It was not enough to overcome the beasts unnatural strength.

Suddenly Matt thought he saw Jake's eyes begin to refocus and his jaws relax slowly. His paws no longer scratched at Matt's breastplate. Matt screamed as he heard someone yell "Fire!"

An echo of bangs erupted and Jake shuddered as he was struck, topping forward onto the prone fox, smashing the fur's head hard against his helmet.

Matt began to sob as he felt darkness overtake him.