FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

As much as the jumps through space were continually getting easier to get used to, the simple fact was that there really wasn't any getting used to it. For Carlos, the amusing thought he had in his mind ended up in the back seat, and though there hadn't been any critical issues with the hypercharge, he still picked up the hint that he should keep an eye on the instruments while they jumped.

Unluckily for him, there wasn't much information to be had from what he was looking at. All the displays were garbled, random blocks flickering in and out, along with numbers randomly changing from extremely high numbers through to the negative.

It soon had to end thankfully, and they had once more decelerated into general space. They had survived, certainly.

"All systems remaining operational. No external damage."

The report from his co-pilot was a very reassuring one. Carlos could expect Taylor to make a thorough report knowing him. What had felt like a few seconds had actually been a couple of minutes, in which he made a quick sweep through and inspecting the ship's systems.

"Hey, you okay?" It took Carlos a moment to realise that his vision had blurred during the trip, and he shifted when he saw that Taylor had been waving a paw in front of him.

"Oh! I'm good. Just a little dazed." He rubbed his eyes for a moment before asking, "Huh, the ship's good?"

"Yeah. Looks like this new system is finally reached a somewhat stable point, at last."

The wolf chuckled a moment before his stomach gave a reminder as to other things that needed to be done. "Breakfast?"

"Not started yet, but I was going to do that just now, right until the point I noticed you hadn't sat up yet."

"I'll do it this time," said Carlos. "You've worked pretty hard. You should take a break."

"But you're the one with the more frail body," replied Taylor. "You're consistently out of action for longer than I am after those jumps. Just leave it to me, Carlos."

"Okay, okay," smiled Carlos. "But I would like some extras if you'll please--"

"Oh no, you're not!" exclaimed the Shiba Inu, rushing out of the bridge at full speed.

The wolf chuckled, and he wondered how far he could stretch the boundaries of their friendship. Or whatever the state was of their relationship right now. Would it go anywhere? There really wasn't much point in questioning it, since despite the amount of time which had passed since the concept of simulations, there wasn't any real way of simulating a relationship. At least one that actually could factor in everything.

Carlos thought back to his early high school days, and he remembered the time when he attempted to build a relationship simulator for a little programming activity. It had failed to of course cover everything, so he ramped up the comedy instead. It made 5th place from a total of 76 entries, and he smiled at how novel the whole thing was.

Taylor retrieved the vacuum-packed bacon and shock-mounted eggs from the food containment unit, and had begun to fry them, the smell of savory food filling the small cooking area that he had. He knew it wouldn't be long before it would draw Carlos out, and watching him unable to resist the urge of food was something he had been entertained by during the long trips.

Taylor had trained himself to handle and cook food from an early age, so he didn't need to have computer controls over the cooking utilities to correct him. It did however kick in when Carlos had once attempted to surprise Taylor with a bit of crumbed chicken and ended up burning it to a crisp. Inedible, but that had forced Taylor to train Carlos to at least notice the signs of when cooking was going vastly wrong.

The thoughts running through his head nearly had him distracted enough to burn the eggs, and the crackling noise of the skillet brought him back to reality. He turned the heat down, and divided the food among two plates of the many they had. They did have a dish-washer, but they only did full loads, due to the highlighted importance of limited water supply. Not that the system would breakdown or run out, but because of the risk of clogging it all up. It was best to have a full load before washing it all up, so they made efficient use of the water they had.

The food was divided, and it was consumed. Despite attempts at making light conversation, it really wasn't how it was before. The Shiba Inu wondered whether it would be best to confront the issue head on, but the time to make a decision on it abruptly ran out.

"Woah, you getting the same as I am?" asked Carlos. The attention was no longer on the meal of which they had been sharing. Taylor's eyes moved to the instruments, and they widened when he recognised what it was that were set to arrive.

"Yeah, your eyes aren't deceiving you," he finally said. He grabbed the now empty plates and left them for cleaning at a later time. "I suspect that someone's gotten attention of our little ship."

A thought drifted to Taylor's mind, and it brought a question. Just what was it? There were unknown signatures all around, and there was no immediate hostile force to be reckoned with. The question lingered, and it was gone, as Carlos set the impulse engines into force. They shifted forwards, as their ship began to move again.

"Someone is hailing our ship," stated Taylor. "Respond, or listen?"

"I'd say listen. Too many signatures, and if they do have our position, I'd rather they not hear our calls for anguish. They might be friendly though."

"Could be, could be wanting to turn us into metal scrap too," suggested the Shiba Inu. Out of a slight paranoia, he turned up the output volume of the receiver. At first, he thought it was simply static, but it was a voice. Almost machine, but had a chill to it that seemed alive.

"War... is... near."

Taylor found himself shuddering. He wasn't sure why, but the voice felt ominous, overshadowing something. A part of him felt inclined to ask why, but he suspected that telling something unknown, something alien of their presence would throw them into more trouble than if they did not.

"War... is... near." A repeat of the message, but there was enough difference to tell that the transmission was certainly not a simple recording.

"That message is pretty straight forward," chuckled Carlos. When Taylor gave him a long stare, he put his paws up. "Come on, I'm only trying to make humour of all this!"

"Not working." Taylor shook his head. "I'm sure they're not entertained either. There isn't a good way out of this, and you're making jokes." There was a growl in the voice, and Carlos could tell that his friend was in a highly stressed state. He knew it wouldn't be good if it escalated.

"Look. That drive of ours isn't going to do much until it's ready. They don't seem openly hostile either, so try to stay calm, Taylor." He grasped Taylor's paw and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "We're not going to die if we can help it, yeah?"

"Yeah." Taylor was somehow able to keep himself composed, and Carlos found it remarkable that he himself hadn't simply panicked when all the signatures had registered on the sensors. Perhaps it was adrenaline, he thought.

The wolf investigated the options available to their ship. Things could get ugly pretty fast if they picked the wrong sort of action. Unfortunately, encountering aliens didn't have a training course, or at least one that took the subject seriously. It might have been present had they had been a part of the IPF, but they were not a part.

Immediate escape wasn't possible due to the fact there were so many ships in the region. It was the equivalent of having an entire enemy bearing down upon their tiny ship, and Carlos didn't like their chances in that situation. Unlike events prior, they weren't carrying vital information. They were simply a courier service.

Fighting wasn't really a possibility. Engaging a ship in battle was a criminal offence, and would lead to serious repercussions down the line. It wouldn't place well on their reputation, or Carrier Wolves if they tried.

They hadn't been located yet, so it seemed to him that the best course of action was to simply stop anything that might give their location away, except for the hypercharge drive. They would be counting on it to get them out of there as soon as they could manage.

Given all of that, Carlos spoke to Taylor firmly. "I'll tell you what we're doing. We need to power down anything that might give our location away. We need to get out as soon as possible, so we have to wait for the hypercharge drive to be ready to go. You understand what I'm saying?"

There was a moment of silence before the Shiba Inu responded with a nod. "Okay then," said Carlos, "shutting down non-essential systems."

The lights dimmed, and a warning indicator noted that the tracking systems would not be functional. Carlos dismissed it, and the quiet ship had somehow become even more quiet than ever. Despite how peaceful it seemed outside, the tension within the cabin was exceptionally high.

The radio remained on, and though he considered turning it off, Carlos didn't want to discount that there could be something else to be heard. There might have been a purpose to that warning. There was a burst of static, and then voices. It seemed that others had wandered into this sector too.

"...not seeing anything out here. Gosh, why'd they send us here?" The voices sounded rather irritated.

"They did so because they're paying us to do it, dumbass." A response, something that the wolf could have reasonably retorted with, if it weren't for the unusual state of which their ship was in. Not only that, but the ships seemed oblivious to the many unknown ship signatures which were scattered throughout the sector. "You can go home if you want, but then you're not going to get paid, are you?"

"No, but sometimes I like a bit of excitement, you know?"

Checking the radar systems, it seemed a number of the unknown units were converging on the signal. The message should've gotten to them, and then it hit the wolf. The ships that they had were not part of the current generation, so they would be lacking the communication technology or sensors to pick them up. Trouble was near, yet he knew that to attempt warning would only result in their own detection.

Looking over at Taylor, he seemed to be quite alarmed. His eyes stared down at the still repeating radio. "How haven't they heard this yet?!"

"I'm guessing they're using fourth generation ships. Light and fragile, but they're lacking the more recent sensors and comms. Can't say for sure," he replied.

"What's going to happen to them?"

"I don't know. Ship computer guesses they have 45 seconds before their proximity alarms sound." He queried the terminal for any more information. "We've identified weapons on the unknown vessels, but it doesn't match any of the scanner schematics. I'd put a bet on dangerous though."

As if on cue, the radio started up again. "Hey, shut up for a moment. Something's being picked up on the sensors. What is that thing?"

In the background, the radio sent out a shrill tone, a tone that the wolf recognised. It was a teleport being activated. There was a crash, the operator having left the radio on. "Crap! We've got boarders!"

"Shit. Power weapons and get those fuckers away from us! Multiple vessels incoming! Get that transport jump ready to go!" The other ship hadn't been boarded, but it didn't look like negotiation was something possible in this case.

Carlos somehow found their ship drifting into view of the unfolding battle. He could confirm that they were indeed, fourth generation ships. At least for the moment. It seemed like they were putting up a good fight, but the amount of units which surrounded the two ships made it almost certain as who would not live, in the end.

"There's too many of them! Jump! Jump now!"

The second ship began to zoom faster and faster, but it detonated, the jump being too much for the ship to handle. The first ship already seemed overcome, it looked like the alien vessels were going to scrap it.

"Shit..." Carlos looked over. It was Taylor who had said that, and he just seemed entirely lost for words. "They didn't even stand a chance..."

The wolf nodded silently in agreement as their ship continued to drift through the vacuum, They would escape the fate of the two ships that they had seen, but the experience was completely new. It would not be forgotten.