Chapter -18-
"Conflict"

Felicia Lombardi groaned, reaching up to rub her head. She turned towards Dayluck, Jackson and some other guy – a tall tiger with a bad disposition. "I know what I saw in there. That was Kimmy's parents in there and…" She sighed softly, rubbing her forehead one more time. "What the hell is going on here, anyhow?"

"Ya' wouldn't believe us," replied Jackson with a sigh. "Darlin', it's like this… Other than a hunter, you're the only mortal person on Corneria to have seen them. Think of them as clones – they're not necessarily evil but hunters like m'self believe that they shouldn't exist, once they've died and… so… we hunt them. Right now, though, they want to make a truce until that stone robot, or whatever it was, is defeated."

"This is getting really weird," she said with a frown. "I feel like you guys aren't telling me everything but… I also feel like you've been more honest with me than anyone else – ever. So, I'll deal with it."

"A wise decision," replied John Karl. The elderly judge swiped a paw across his left shoulder, brushing the snow from his clothes. "Young lady, you were impressively calm and collected in there. It's possible, in the near future when you're piloting days are at an end, that you could make some extra money by helping us to hunt. They're more than clones." He cut his gaze towards Jackson and smirked. His eyes panned back towards Lombardi. "Young lady, I expect you to mock and ridicule what I'm about to tell you."

"Just lay it on me, old man."

"Indeed," he retorted with a scoff. "They're vampires. Supernatural creatures, reanimated as the undead by means of blood transference from the host to a drained victim in order to keep them alive. To date, there isn't enough scientific evidence to support the reality of their existence because they're secretive enough to keep it under wraps. They hide because mortal fear would cause widespread panic resulting in a modern day inquisition. Kim McCloud's family is among the undead; they continue to 'rescue' family members into the ranks of the undead as they die – one by one."

"And these vampires have special abilities, like that shadow bubble that encased me back in the club?" She lifted her head, looking up at the sky to where she saw Andross flee, earlier. "This is getting weirder by the minute."

Again John Karl smirked. "You should feel lucky he didn't erase your memories while holding you in there."

Dayluck, rubbing his chin, approached the group. He blinked his eyes several times, trying to rid his eyelashes of the snow that began caking up on them. "I'm wondering if only his wife has that ability."

"Anything is possible," replied Karl. "It's also a possibility that he allowed Felicia to retain her memories because they wanted to embrace her."

Lombardi put her hands on her hips. "I heard what you were saying about Jamie McCloud while I was in there. I'm not going to change my identity and hide from anyone. On the same note, I'm not getting a pair of fangs in my neck – no matter who they are. And believe me, I'm as skeptical as you would expect me to be."

Dayluck Fischer nodded firmly. "That's normal. Only an idiot would believe in something so far fetched without scientific proof. Even in our field, science is important to try and prove, as well as learn about these… things. But you really start to believe in them once you witness what they can do. We've been hunting Fara Phoenix… McCloud for years. Jack, here, thinks she should have been buried properly when she died all those years ago."

Felicia lifted her left forearm, glancing at the digital chronometer built into a computerized gauntlet. "Okay… school is out from the weather. If Kim turns up missing for too much longer, the press is going to be all over this. Let's find her first then figure everything out. Unless, of course, you actually want the press swarming all over us. If every member of the McCloud family is dying, they're going to be very interested in Kim's disappearance. What are our options?"

Father Karl lifted a large right paw and shook his head. "You're not trained for this kind of work."

She gritted her teeth. The hybrid folded her arms and replied, "I'll do whatever it takes, even if creating a diversion while sitting on the sideline will help. Just tell me what I have to do."

"Actually," said Dayluck, bringing a furry finger to his chin. "I think I have a plan." He turned to Jack and frowned. "You'll have to start by talking to Fara Phoenix." He canted his head towards Lombardi and added, "This will cause you to receive a few demerits from school – this diversion will buy the McCloud family the time they'll need, though. I want you to go and get a little tipsy on liquor then drive a hover car through the academy grounds. Smash into something like a small building… but you have to choose carefully so no one is hurt. Meanwhile, Jack and I will help the McCloud family to …requisition some fighters. They'll go after Andross. Jack and I will show up on scene and publically arrest you for being drunk while driving. We'll later claim that you passed the breathalizer test and you'll only receive demerits for having an 'at-fault' accident on academy grounds."

"Foolish and ridiculous," muttered the ex-padre.

Felicia grinned inwardly. "Dad would be proud." She nodded firmly and said, "I'm in." With a flit of her wrist, she brushed away the snow building up in her hair. "Are you sure Jamie McCloud is safe?"

Jackson nodded firmly. "We left him in a witness protection hotel room. He's safe – no one will find him."

"And… what if he leaves himself?" She tilted her head.

"I doubt he would," replied Dayluck. "He knows his sister is in danger – he wouldn't be crazy enough to put his own neck out on the chopping … or rather… the chomping block."

Lombardi shook her head and sighed. "All right, let's go grab a few drinks and a hover car. I hope whoever is lending me their car has insurance."

Kimberly McCloud struggled against the ropes that bound her wrists behind her back. She paused to look around her makeshift cell then continued struggling to loosen the binding. "Tell me again… why you let yourself get captured?" She glanced over her shoulder at her little brother with a frown.

"So they would take me to you. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on. I was on a celebratory night-flight with my 'gifted and talented' group; I saw what looked like a cloaked ship and memorized its location coordinates. When we landed, I grabbed a telescope, checked it out and used a computer to augment the silhouette. You were missing and Venom had a stealth ship in the area. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on. So, I kinda' 'borrowed' an old fighter from the night patrol, at shift change. I launched with his team and they never even knew. I broke formation, jammed the communications line… then I flew up here, let them capture me with a tractor beam and… the rest is history. These Imperial morons have no clue who I am, heh."

"And yet you're as screwed as I am." She offered a sigh. "Okay, back to back. I'll try and work on your knot, you try and work on mine."

"At least we have that option, now." He cleared his throat and wiggled over towards his sister. "Besides, the tracking transponder on that M-Class fighter will let Corneria know of my last location before the tractor beam shielded its beacon. Even if this Venom ship moves, guess what? Corneria knows a fighter broke formation at random, it veered way out of the way, and then disappeared. They'll investigate."

"Right. Like they're going to come after us any minute, now." She pivoted on her rump until they were back to back and pushed her knotted paws against his, trying to tug at the knot in his ropes.

"Sure thing. Any second, even." James grinned over his shoulder when suddenly the entire ship shifted, sending them into the closet wall. Gravity ceased and the two of them began to float, making it impossible to work on one another's ropes. "You know, Kim… you're really bad luck sometimes."

"Quit grousing," she replied. "I think I can reach the manual latch at the top of the door. Push off the wall – bump into me; it's just a bit further." As per her orders, Jamie pushed off the wall and bumped into her. She floated to the top of the closet door and used her nose to depress an override button. The door slid ajar just as the power failed. It only opened by a few inches. "Great," she mumbled.

"Quit grousing," James told her in a sarcastic tone. Emergency lighting, from out in the hallway, filtered through the slight gap in the door. He moved towards it and put one foot against the wall and another against the floor to stabilize himself then he rubbed his roped wrists against the corner of the metal door. "It's not quite sharp enough…" After a moment he said, "I think I'm making my ropes loose, though."

"Keep working on it," she told him in a soft tone.

"I am," he replied, furiously rubbing the ropes against the corner of the door at an angle. "I wonder what happened to cause gravity and power to fail? It felt like something collided with us."

"It collided with a what?" The Executive Officer approached the flat panel screen and said, "Pull up the tertiary grid on that interactive interface – transfer it to the holo; augment it by a zoom-factor of forty-five percent." He approached the holograph emitters and folded his paws across his chest. A few seconds later a three dimensional field appeared out of thin air. He reached out and cupped the grid, manipulating it with his paws.

"Aye, sir. I'm thinking it collided with some sort of small satellite or ship but whatever it hit while leaving the atmosphere I can't see anything but a shadow."

"Ensign, I can't really tell what that object was by the blurry picture we got on satellite but… this - oh, I know what this dark patch is, right here. It's a Venom trooper transporter. I've not seen one since the war but I know this silhouette; I can't believe our secondary detection computer didn't catch this splotch." He shook his head and frowned. "And just the perfect night to have a skeleton crew on base and a horrible snow storm. Call the alarm."

"I can't let you do that," said the ensign. The canine turned around, facing his commanding officer.

"Excuse me, son?" The Sheppard approached a tactical control panel. "I'll do it myself; don't you ever delay a command, young man." He felt a strong paw on his wrist and turned, face to face with the ensign. "What are you doing? Let go!"

"He won't let you go," came a feminine voice from the other end of the command center. "He's my thrall and I've ordered him to keep you from alerting the base." A female vixen crossed the small command center and placed one paw on the side of the Executive Officer's throat, her other paw came to the side of his head, forcing him to look away with ease. She bared her fangs.

"Hey… what are you doing…?" His question went on deaf ears and, upon the puncture of fangs into his flesh, he gasped and fell limp into her arms. She eased him to the floor, glanced up at the ensign and nodded.

"You've done well, my dear. He will remember nothing when he wakes up tomorrow. Tell him that he tripped and hit his head on the communication console. Tell him the reason you didn't call anyone right away is because you had to lock down the base to investigate the possibility that someone may have been stealing fighters from the hanger but couldn't radio for help because the comm. center was down. I don't care if Corneria finds out about the stealth transport shuttle - I just don't want them going after Andross. He's a supernatural creature now and it's best left up to fellow supernatural creatures to engage him directly. As far as your radio console, well, I'll damage it, but first…" She lowered her head, drinking her fill from the exec officer.

"As you wish, Mistress." The ensign approached the communication console and unplugged the networking cluster cable from the rear side then released it to the floor. "Just give it a swift kick on the corner. That should jar it enough that it could have pulled the jack from the back. I could easily feign ignorance on the reason it wasn't working."

Ten minutes later…

"Got it!" Jaye McCloud grinned at this sister and drew his paws from behind his back. He pushed his feet against the wall and scrambled through the air to his sister. He grabbed her forearms, brought his head down between her knotted paws and gnawed through her ropes. In seconds, her restraints fell to the floor.

She offered a dubious smirk at her brother. "Why couldn't you have bitten through them earlier?"

"I needed my fingers to help with…" The boy stopped, shrugged and said, "I suppose I could have. Anyway, we're both free now, so don't worry about it."

She brought her right wrist to her left palm, favored her forearm then switched to rub at her other wrist. "Mine were pretty damn tight. Let's try and put this ship out of commission."

"What do you think hit us, earlier?"

Kimberly shrugged. "I have no idea, let's just find some weapons and get the hell out of here! Your ship is still probably here – it might be moored to the belly. We'll figure out a way to fit into the cockpit together and get the heck out of here."

"Sounds like a plan, sis."

The two McCloud siblings hurried out of the broom closet by pushing the door manually across the track then they crept out into the hallway, floating close to the wall. An Imperial lizard came around the hall; Kim quickly reached for his neck then jerked her leg up, burying her knee into his face. He was rendered unconscious in an instant. She guided his floating body into a nearby bathroom and pushed him in. He spiraled through the void and stopped by a line of three sinks.

"Kimmy! Quick!" Jaye's voice, filled with urgency, caused her to push away from the bathroom door. She sailed through the powerless ship's hallway towards him. Her eyes flitted over him, squinting in the dark to see what he'd found.

"What's up?"

"Arms locker," he replied, adding, "It's not locked."

She grinned broadly. "Nice!"

Fara opened the security door then closed her makeup compact with a grin. She'd blown the powder across the keypad to unveil fingerprints on the keys. "The password has always been highest number to lowest number, ever since I was a test pilot for the academy."

She punched the numbers at the bottom first then worked her way up over five digits. The door opened and she grinned back at Fox, Vixy and James. They all exchanged a nod but Vixy stepped back from the group.

"Fara, Fox," she turned to her husband and added, "Love," then continued, telling them, "I'm not a trained pilot. Sure, I have my pilot's license from my heyday but I was never a fighter pilot. This… this is your mission. I'll contend with setting things in motion here. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up."

"We need four pilots," said Fox.

Vixy offered her son a knowing smile and nodded. "I know. You have a fourth pilot. But it will not be me. I want you to put your differences aside – he's fighting for us and for Nicole."

Fox McCloud's eyes lowered to the snow, standing outside the hanger door. "I'll do my best to work with Wolf. He's a great pilot but we've never seen eye to eye."

Vixy nodded and kissed the side of his face. "He's waiting at the entrance gate, keeping an eye out for intruders. I'll send for him; don't launch without him."

"I won't." Fox waited at the hanger entrance while Fara and James stepped inside and prepped four fighters. Vixy sauntered off into the whiteout snow. Moments later, Wolf O'Donnell appeared in her place, trudging through the intense storm. McCloud wiped snow from his face and said, "We're not going to have any differences while in the cockpit, are we?"

"Give it a rest," Wolf muttered. "Things are different between us with Nicole injured and Andross trying to screw up everything." He lifted a paw and pointed to both of his natural eyes. "She gave me back my sight. I also frickin' love her; let's get in the air, pup." He passed by Fox and into the hanger.

Fox followed his old ex-nemesis in, shut the door behind himself and they went to either side of a large rollup door, manually operating the chains together to raise the main doors. With four fighters powered up and booted, Fox and Wolf hurried to the empty ones and closed the canopies.

James' voice came over their radio patch. "Fara, Fox and Wolf… we're all natural leaders in the cockpit. Let's work together and stay alive. Don't think twice about ejecting. You can stay put long after the air runs out but if the fighter explodes, you will be roasted to dust. Be smart. The Fellowship seeks a truce with your sect upon the conclusion of… all of this. Now, team, follow me." The eldest McCloud punched his throttle, first out of the bay.

All four fighters launched into the night sky, keeping the rays of solar on the other side of the planet. Without being prompted, each pilot worked the control panel to polarize the canopy to block out the devastating sunlight before leaving the shade of Corneria. Once they changed their course for the Meteo asteroid belt, all four fighters fell into full sunshine.

Fara's voice came over the private channel to the other three fighters. "Stay sharp, boys. If you eject, your batteries will keep your canopy polarized for up to four days. After that, you'll either roast in the sunlight or freeze in the shade behind a planetary form. Freezing may not sound all that bad but if you're captured, you'll be defenseless until your thaw."

"No one is getting shot down," said Wolf. "Let's just get the job done. If you've got problems, crash land on Corneria in a safe place like a swamp. We've survived that once, right Fara?"

"By luck!" she exclaimed. "Let's be smart, Wolf."

O'Donnell snorted in amusement. "Think about it – this is the greatest team of fighter pilots in Cornerian history. We're flying together and we're all immortal. Andross doesn't stand a chance, even if he is among the rocks."

"Children, I have limited range of my abilities in a vacuum – and not in direct sunlight." James McCloud took the lead spot of a diamond formation and pushed the acceleration stick wide open. "Among the rocks, I'll have the most control of my obtenbration mastery. …Wait; check your sensor scope, everyone."

"Is that a Venom ship?" asked Fara, surprise in her voice. "It looks disfigured from here."

"Close in, team," replied James. After a moment of silence, the group moved in and he raised a brow in surprise. "There's an M-Class fighter beneath it with Cornerian school markings. We're going to play it safe – I don't want that ship getting shot down."

"I ran a quick calculation on Andross' ascending trajectory," said Fara over the patch. "The damage on this ship's hull might be more than we realized… I think Andross clipped them in passing. Right now, they're without power and have minor systems running. They have life support and communications; everything else is down, including tactical, sensors and navigational abilities."

"Fara," said James, "Tractor that ship to a Cornerian star base. Meet us in the asteroids when you're finished."

"But I…" She found herself immediately cutoff.

"That's an order," replied James in a calm voice.

Fara broke formation and moved into position above the Venom troop transport ship without another word. James led Wolf and Fox back towards the Meteo belt. In a few minutes, they disappeared amongst the rocks, vanishing from Fara's sensor scope. Their transmitter signals lost reception, completely separating them from her.

She engaged the tractor beam and, slowly, began to move the powerless ship from its slowly-deteriorating orbit. An 'all channel' hail caused audio and video to fill the screen on her dashboard. To her shock and surprise, Kimberly and Jamie stood side by side on the monitor. "To anyone on Corneria who is receiving this. I've uploaded an approximation of our coordinates. We're escaped hostages aboard a Venom troop transporter in orbit above Corneria. The ship has been damaged and is currently without power. We require assistance from Cornerian forces – this is Kimberly and James McCloud. We're students in the Cornerian Academy and require immediate assistance."

Fara bit her tongue, knowing she couldn't respond to them lest she break the vampiric society laws. Her stomach turned and she closed her eyes for a moment. No replies came through from Corneria, leaving the children to repeat their message. She began to wonder if James somehow knew they were on the ship and offered her the chance to protect her children.

Vixy Nausica McCloud, the girl who now called herself 'Kimberly' returned to the 'all channel' patch. "Is anyone available to answer? Corneria, please respond. We've barricaded ourselves on the bridge and are unable to fight the remaining soldiers onboard this ship. We need immediate assistance." She glanced over her shoulder and her voice became somewhat quieter. "Jaye, have you figured out how to override the manual lockout command to keep them from breaking in?"

His softer voice was distant, in the background. "Yeah, I blasted the circuitry. I used a tight-beam blaster discharge to spot-wield the door; it will hold for a bit unless they use explosives."

"Get over by the corner," said Kimberly. "Keep your blaster sights on that door in case they come through it." She turned back towards the main view screen and in a clear voice, said, "Corneria, please respond. Ground control? Any space ports? Even a simple star-liner air traffic control operator. This is Kim and Jim McCloud – we require assistance. Anyone out there?" Silence.

Fara yearned to reply to her children's distress call but knew she couldn't say anything. She increased the beam intensity and eased forward on the throttle bar. Part of her wanted nothing more than to reply to the open channel patch and tell them that she was going to guide them to a nearby star base. The other part of her wanted to open a private channel to the base and demand to know why they weren't answering the children's distress call. She knew she was forbidden to contact either side, lest she break a law of her kind.

Fara pondered an alternative way to reply to their distress call, perhaps a text-based reply or somehow disguising her voice and not transmitting video feed. She rubbed her chin, wondering how she could let them know she was taking them to safety and to hold out just a little longer.

She knew that direct contact was expressly forbidden and seeing the frustration in her daughter's eyes was difficult to bear. Fara groaned, slumping in her seat. She ran a quick mathematical computation on another small screen and sighed. It would take fifteen to twenty minutes at best-possible speed to get the powerless Venom transport ship to the nearest Cornerian star base.

She opened a private channel to the star base, blocking the visual feed. "Star base Alpha Epsilon Zero T'ree Niner Fife, why aren't you responding to that distress call? Please acknowledge the call for help – it's not a hoax. Respond!"

"Unknown fighter," replied the base, "Please identify yourself – the distress call from the base is broken and distorted. We're unable to garnish a location. Their long-range transponder apparatus appears to be malfunctioning. If you're in range to understand their transmission, please respond to them directly as a go-between for us, copy?"

"Not possible," said Fara, frustrated. "My identity is classified – I'm a privateer for hire from the Cornerian Government; my status designation is for covert operations. I shouldn't even be talking to you. Please launch a rescue operation; you'll need to board this vessel with a small marine contingent. These children are academy students who were abducted. They've barricaded themselves on the bridge; the ship is in a decaying orbit."

"Established coordinates based on your transmission pattern," replied the base. "Our best response time is approximately twenty-four minutes with a rescue operation unit geared for an offensive operation."

"Dammit," she groused. "Get your people ready; I'm bringing them to you! Your satellite array should be a powerful enough network to have picked up their message, no matter where they were up here! How else do you think this Venom ship was able to get this close undetected! Get your crap together; stop giving the enemy cracks to slip through! If these children are harmed even in the slightest, I'll personally find you and break every finger on both your paws. Keep that in mind and pray that they arrive safely on your flight deck in fifteen minutes." She increased the thruster boost on her engines, stressing the propulsion manifold.

The communication patch changed on her dashboard, replaced by a visual of Kimberly and Jaye. "Again, if anyone is out there who can hear us, please respond. They're attacking the door and it won't hold out much longer. Our internal scanners claim the door's stress integrity level is only thirty percent, now. That gives us just a few minutes." The transmission abruptly ended.

Fara's eyes widened. She maneuvered the M-Class fighter about and moored it to the belly adjacent to the other fighter, belonging to the academy. The canopy opened, rising into the interior docking tube of the transport shuttle. Phoenix unbuckled her seat and pulled herself up into the empty room, eyes narrowed to red glowing slits.

Meanwhile, up on the bridge, Kimberly ordered her younger brother to hide up in the crawlspace beneath the holo-emitter unit. She redirected her attention on the imminent door breach. She closed her paws into fists, ready to be taken back to her cell. In order to mentally prepare herself for the possibility of harsh treatment, she took several deep breaths.

The double doors burst with a flash, followed by a cloud of dust. Several glowing blaster beams lanced from the smoke, striking the floor and ceiling. A small canister bounced across the floor. She ducked behind a console, clinched her eyes and mashed her palms against the side of her head. The muffled noise was incredibly loud but she retained her equilibrium.

A point-man raced in, firing his stun blaster every which way until passing through the smoke. He stopped several feet to her left, facing away from her. She glanced over the console to make sure the doorway was still too cloudy to see then dove at the man. Instead of pouncing, she shoved her palms into the backside of his knees. He buckled backwards and she pushed two fingers into the scaly flesh at the base of his neck. With all of her strength, she drove her fingers into the pressure point behind his collarbone, forcing him to drop the blaster in his hand.

Kimberly locked her left arm around his neck, reaching her right paw for the gun. She brought the barrel to his temple, changed the setting to its highest output factor then whispered, in her best Venom wording, "Lie to them or die."

The fluent Venom words rolled off his tongue with an edgy tone. "She's armed!"

Kimberly took a moment to translate the conjugations used then groaned in frustration. She cringed behind his form, using him as a body shield. As the smoke cleared from the doorway, a bright energy beam lanced forth, striking the lizard in his forehead. The energy discharge entered his body through the skull, immediately electrifying his entire form.

The powerful jolt passed through his neck and into her arm, blowing them apart. She landed on the floor behind the navigation console and the lizard's body rocketed into the air. It dropped unceremoniously over the chair opposite of the control panel. She peered over the console, saw his charred form and shuttered, slinking back to her haunches.

"Throw us your gun, Cornerian! If you are unarmed, we will have mercy on you and make you our captive again!" The dialect was a little rough but she could understand him in the native Cornerian tongue.

"You're in our airspace, you idiot!" she shouted back. "Do you really think Corneria will appreciate a Venom ship coming in and abducting Cornerian academy students? You're committing an act of blatant war against the daughter of a celebrity figure. Do you really think nobody will notice? How about I leave and you go back to your side of the system?"

"There are nine of us," returned the Imperial soldier. "You have ten seconds to surrender or Corneria will be starting their 'investigation' by counting your body parts, when we scatter them all over an escape pod! Don't make us come in there, after you."

"I think I need more than ten seconds to think it over; it's a big decision, boys!"

More Venom gibberish followed. "It's the boy!" one of them shouted.

Kimberly craned her neck just in time to see several stunner blasts fired at young James. Her eyes widened, seeing the discharge pass through his back and strike the console in front of her. The body of James wobbled a bit and dropped to his knees. Confusion marred her brow, not understanding how the blast could have penetrated his body and continued out the other side.

James slumped on the ground. All nine soldiers raced from the door, surrounding him. The lead Imperial said, "We have the boy. Come out or he dies!"

Vixy's wristband vibrated. The simple digital clock feature disappeared, replaced by lettering. "It's a hologram trick!" The text message from her brother made her blink in surprise and elation. She reached over the console, took aim and fired, striking the head soldier in his jaw.

The remaining soldiers, shocked by her aggressive actions, immediately opened fire on the body at their feet. After the dust settled from shooting a hole into the floor, the bridge lights dimmed and the holograph faded away. They backed their way to the doorway and fortified their position in the hallway but not before Kim shot another one in his armored helmet. It threw him to the floor. He scrambled through the door on his hands and knees, dazed from the energy transference.

She cursed her luck but was glad they killed the power to the bridge. Now she knew they couldn't see in to get her but she could see them in the hallway lighting. After a moment, another flashbang grenade tumbled into the bridge. Again, she ducked down behind the console, clinched her eyes shut and covered her ears. By the time she looked up, all the soldiers but one had rushed into the dark bridge. Now they shared her advantage of darkness.

The bright lighting from the hallway made her natural night vision useless. She couldn't see anything but the bright doorway. She closed her eyes and perked her ears. Someone grunted, gasped then began what sounded like a muffled, startled cry for help. The noise immediately went silent, followed by a thump. She peered over the console, looking towards the open doorway. A brilliant splotch of blood decorated the bulkhead wall across the hall from the bridge doorway. It covered the ceiling, was splattered across the floor and yet she didn't see the body.

She heard footsteps from her left and quickly turned her head. More footsteps, this time they came from the doorway. She jerked her head back to the bright illumination emanating from the hall but only saw a flit of someone's silhouette passing into the bridge.

Seconds later, someone else cried out but went abruptly silent. The nauseating sound of tearing flesh and snapping bones caused Kimberly's ears to flicker. Two thumps ensued, followed by a softer third. She could smell fresh blood in the room; her whiskers lay back along her muzzle and her ears perked tall.

A blaster discharged followed by a feminine growl. Next, a masculine shriek filled the air before ending with a grotesque gurgling sound. Another thump was heard as a body crumpled to the deck in the dark. Kimberly could smell smoke, which began to fill the bridge from where the power coupling was destroyed when the lizards shot the floor, earlier.

Seconds later, auxiliary lights incandesced, bathing the bridge in dark red. Black liquid splotches covered the far walls and the thick smoke made it difficult to see anything. The shadowy form of an Imperial lizard raised an assault rifle then turned around. Another dark silhouette came from out of nowhere, eviscerating him with what looked like claws. He shouted in pain but one of the second form's paws came over his mouth from behind. The shout became muted and the attacker snapped his neck. The reptile dropped to the floor, his weapon clattered across the deck.

Two blaster discharges flashed through the smoky dim room, striking the attacker. It only appeared to anger them; their agitated posture and general body language became more aggressive. Kimberly took careful aim from behind the navigation console and shot the gunman in his neck. He dropped his weapon, clutched at his throat and lowered to his knees. She took aim again and shot him beneath the helmet line. The Imperial toppled backwards, dead.

She cut her eyes again, seeing the remaining lizards converge on the shadowy figure. From what she could see, they had a fluffy tail and wide bat-like ears. The lizards surrounded her on multiple sides. Kimberly rubbed her smoke-irritated eyes with the backside of her paws then squinted. Her eyes, beginning to water, made it difficult to discern what was happening but by the time they cleared, she could make out the Cornerian mammal standing triumphantly above more dead blobs, lying on the deck.

The figure headed for the doorway, passed into the light and rushed down the hallway. In that instant, Kimberly could see that she had short brown fur with a billowing furry tail. The vixen disappeared and Kimberly, not even thinking beyond her personal curiosity, bolted up and across the bridge. "Stay put, Jamie!" she hissed then left the bridge in pursuit of her rescuer.

The woman stopped on the flight deck and Kimberly knelt down in the doorway, remaining silent. The vixen lifted her left arm to her muzzle, keeping her back towards the door and said, "Small change of plan. I had to help the children; they were under attack. Don't worry, they never saw me. I'm going to try and nudge the troop transporter shuttle to repair its orbital tract and let Corneria come pick them up. I'll join you guys in Meteo – my ETA is ten minutes."

Kimberly strained her ears to hear the reply from the wristband worn by the woman. "Okay, Fara. Hurry. We could use your help. We'll talk about your conduct regarding the children later on. Intervening was beyond unacceptable."

Fara closed the channel, cursed softly and opened the hatch in the floor. She sat down on the deck, sliding her legs into the chute.

"Mom?" Kimberly stepped from the doorway, into the flight deck.

Fara glanced over her shoulder then quickly looked away.

"It is you, isn't it? You're the lady from the arcade. But why?" Kimberly, emboldened by her curiosity, approached the fennec. "Are you in a secret government operations program? Witness protection or something?"

"…That woman was murdered," Fara replied in a husky voice. "My name is Maria. Find your brother and protect him."

"No, your name is Fara McCloud!" Kimberly retorted in a stern voice. "I demand an answer! Why did you leave us?" She stormed across the deck and took the older vixen by her arm. "Talk to me!"

Fara glanced up at her, making eye contact. "I'm sorry, Vixy Nausica McCloud. I will always love you but I'm no longer apart of your world." It was then that Kimberly saw a cauterized blaster hole clear through Fara's chest. The girl could see part of a rib, jutting out from the wound.

"Oh my Goddess, you're injured!"

"I'll… be fine. It's not fatal."

"Bull!" Kimberly shook her head. "There's a hole in your chest, mom! We need to get you to the medical bay!"

Fara shook her head. "It's right where my heart should be but I'm still alive. What does that tell you?"

The younger vixen shook her head slowly, unable to comprehend. "That… you're some sort of machine. Nothing can live through that."

"I can. But I'm not like you, anymore. Listen, we never spoke. You never saw me, do you understand?" Fara shook her head, dazed now that her frenzied attack was over. "It's… it's in your best interest."

"Mom, you're swaying – you're not okay. I still want answers but first we need to get you medical attention."

"I just need blood," Fara mused without realizing she'd said it.

"If it's a blood transfusion you need, I can give you some of mine, back at the medical bay. I'll help you there – you look woozy." She offered a paw to her mother, who still sat on the floor, her legs inside the hatch, leading down to the M-Class fighter.

Kimberly was reaching for her mother's paw but her wrist brushed against her mother's nose. Without thinking properly, Fara closed her fangs over the exposed forearm of her daughter's right wrist. Kim's eyes widened in surprise but the sensation of the fangs, buried in her fur and flesh, were unlike anything she'd ever experienced. Her body relaxed.

The hole in Fara's chest healed with ease, leaving only a tear in the fabric with fresh fur poking through. After a moment, the fennec withdrew her fangs from the girl's wrist and flickered her tongue over the dual puncture wounds. Within seconds the two marks vanished, leaving only a saliva-matted patch of fur on Kim's wrist.

With a blink of her eyes, Kimberly returned from the short trance-like spell and quirked her brows. "What…. Just happened?"

"I'm a monster now," noted Fara in a soft voice. "I love you but things are now different. I'm sorry. Again, you never saw me. But I'll always watch over you and your brother. I'll always love you. And… your father will always love you. Promise me you'll never tell a single soul. Even little James."

"I… I promise." Her eyes lowered for a moment, only to notice that the wound on her mother's chest was now gone. "You… your hole is gone! I…"

"I know," said Fara, still speaking softly as though she were ashamed of her actions for even being here. "I'm a freak, now. I'm no longer apart of your world, sweetheart. I'm afraid if you ever go public about this, you'll be ridiculed and, ultimately, one of our kind will come to give you amnesia. Worst yet, I'll be in trouble as per my kind's laws. I didn't choose to become this way, but please understand that I've never intentionally left you behind."

Kim's lower lip trembled. "Are you the one who came for daddy's body, after he was shot in that alley?"

Fara nodded. "I brought him back to life; he's like me, now. I couldn't be without him. I… I'm sorry."

The girl ran her fingers back through her hair and sighed. "Andross is alive – I saw him." She could tell by her mother's eyes that the older women already knew. "Meteo belt, huh? Go get him, mom. Give dad my love. Don't be insulted but… I don't want to be like you. I don't want to hide from the world; I promise I won't tell anyone. I don't want you to get in trouble – just… if anything happens to me let me die. I mean… I don't know. It seems more… natural."

"It is." Fara reached up and cupped the girl's muzzle. "You're a beautiful young lady. I'm proud of you and I love you, sweetheart. You'll make a fine pilot. Remember to always do your best and…"

"Shh," Kimberly interrupted, placing an index finger on her mother's lips. "I already know. We both have so much to say to one another but it would take a lifetime to get it all out. I heard them on the communicator. They need you. Jamie needs me; he's hiding on the bridge. Don't be a stranger – come visit me like you did when you came to spend the night with dad."

"How did you…?"

"…Your scent, mom. Everyone always said my nose is a little more sensitive than anyone else in the family… James wants to live with Falco – I tried to get him to move in with your parents but he's a little headstrong."

"See if you can sway his way of thinking but don't force him or he'll only want to do it more. As much as I love Falco, he's not a very good role model for an impressionable young boy," said Fara. "Have him focus on school for right now." The fennec lowered her eyes, wishing she was able to be there to help raise the kids the right way. "And you're right; I used to come visit your father. I had to get him a bit tipsy so as not to give away my secret."

Kimberly smiled a bit. "I knew there had to be a good reason why he turned to the bottle. It wasn't to escape his dead wife; it was so he could be with her. I expect you to stay alive, mom. I want to know you'll see me on my wedding day and see my children grow up. I want to know you'll be watching over me when I do well at something in life."

"If I play my cards right," Fara began, "I'll be as ageless as history itself."

A nod. "That explains why you look so young," replied Kimberly. "I chose my name because you said it's what you would have named me, if dad hadn't initially chosen 'Vixy Nausica.' I think it suits me better. I hope you like it. Now go before I get clingy and silly. I love you, mom."

"I do like it," Fara assured her with a smile. "I love you, too." She slid down into the hatch and descended into the cockpit of the waiting fighter.

Leaning over the edge of the hatch, Kim gazed down over her mother and said, "Stomp Andross into the dirt for me."

The fennec glanced up, offered a sly grin and a nod. "I will." She reached up, drew the hatch shut and waved with her other paw. Kim pushed the lid shut in the deck floor and headed back to the bridge.

With the auxiliary lighting on, the main view screen glowed with power. She knelt down, opened the hatch beneath the holographic emitters then approached the view screen and watched as the last vestiges of a booster glow disappeared into the distant asteroids.

She whispered under her breath, "Kick his ass, mom."

Seconds later, the view screen partitioned with a garbled communication on the right side. "…Cornerian forces," followed by a burst of static, then, "…Clear for docking. Lay down your weapons and prepare to be boarded."

James stood up and dusted himself off then turned towards his sister. "I can hear ringing in my ears from those magnesium grenades." He turned about, noting the bodies strewn about the bridge. "What the heck happened here?"

She abruptly tore her eyes from the screen and wrapped her arm around his head, pulling his face into her shoulder. "Do yourself a favor and don't look at the gore, okay? Have some common sense and don't stare or you'll be having nightmares, Jaye."

"Oh, whatever. I'm not a kid anymore. How'd all this stuff happen?"

With her other paw, Kim touched a control panel on the nearby console and said, "Corneria Marine contingent, this is Kim McCloud of the Cornerian Capital City Flight Academy." She paused, trying to think of a good cover story then said, "I managed to reprogram a security droid, which dispatched the Venom Imperial forces present on this ship. Unfortunately, it was vaporized by a stray blaster shot but we're free of enemy forces, here. We'll be waiting for you down on the flight deck – the bridge is no place for children right now. We're ready for extraction and transfer back to the CCCFA; I have a test tomorrow." She released the transmit button, turned to James and said, "Keep your eyes shut – it's for your own good. At least until we're halfway down the hall." She kept her arm around his neck, his face buried against her shoulder.

They walked out into the hallway and she led him through the corridor. Before long, she let him go. James looked up at her and frowned. "Is that really what happened back there? A rogue sentry 'bot?"

She grinned and changed the subject. "I really appreciate your clever use of the holo-emitter, Jamie. I wouldn't have survived without your quick thinking. I was literally seconds from death when you did that and when I say you saved my life, I mean it."

"Until the lights went out, I could see everything through a vent hole." James quirked a brow at her. "Including the guy who got owned in the hallway by your, uh, sentry robot."

"It's a secret," she replied. "You might find out when you're older but right now, it's best if we just stick to the same story."

He folded his arms and sniffed in an almost disdainful way. "I miss mom."

She furrowed her brows in return, eyeing him for a moment. "You were awfully young, Jaye. You hardly knew her."

The boy turned his head back towards his sister and offered her a slight smirk. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Either way, I guess we all have our secrets in life." He was quick to segue, telling her, "I, uh… have a secret crush on a girl in school. She's probably wondering where the heck I am and why I wasn't in class. She's nice, though."

"Who is she?"

"It's a secret," said James with a sly grin. "But I'll give you a hint. She's a rabbit – she's pretty and her mother's name is Lucy. You've never met her – she's not in your age group." Then, quite abruptly, he changed the topic this time. "I'm hungry; I could really go for a sandwich. With a stacked condiments bar at my disposal. And maybe a big can of root beer."

"Fine, when we get back I'll get you something. Don't worry about the money, it's on me."

"We're not exactly a poor family," said James. "And, on that note, I've been thinking about what you said. Maybe living with the Phoenix family would be a little smarter than living with Falco."

"Oh? What made you change your mind?"

The boy shrugged as they walked onto the flight deck together. "It's what mom would want."

Kim couldn't help but wonder if he somehow heard the conversation from earlier. "How would you know? Like I said, you were awfully young when she died."

He shrugged. "I don't know… I guess I…" He shrugged a second time. "What woman would want her kids to grow up with Falco?" He grinned a bit.

"Oh, I don't know," said Kimberly, quick to defend Felicia's father. "He acts differently around his daughter."

"That's because she's a young, impressionable female," he said, almost quoting Fara exactly from earlier. "He's probably not a good role model for someone like me. Maybe, if he doesn't work things out with Miss Monroe-Lombardi, he might make a good roommate when I'm older but for right now, I'll try and focus on school and living with the Phoenix family. Would that be easier on 'ya?"

"Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked, fearing he may know more than he was letting on.

"No reason. Maybe I'll explain things to you better when I'm older, right? For right now, though, it just seems like a good idea. After all, it's going to be hard for you to raise me while you're at the academy. And, uh, Falco is trying to get his marriage back together. I don't want to get between that, you know?"

The main blast doors at the other end of the hall became outlined in red. The lighting panel that followed the contour of the large doors changed from red to green, signifying the fact that there was now atmospheric pressurization on the other side of the large doors. Kim glanced up from her brother and said, "They're coming through, now. Remember, we're dealing with Marines who will be armed and overly excited. Keep your paws up so they know we're not a threat."

"Yeah, yeah." James lifted his paws into the air. "They won't shoot at an attractive vixen; we're safe."

She blushed slightly, unseen beneath her fur. "I'm just looking out for you," she joked, playing off his compliment by nudging his shoulder with her elbow as her paws lifted. The double doors parted against the will of the hydraulic system by means of a powerful electronic magnet designed for boarding. A large group of male canines burst into the flight deck, guns drawn. They set up a parameter circle around the children, guns pointed outwards and a dashingly well-dressed officer walked calmly towards the foxes.

He offered his paw to Kim, drew her knuckles to his lips and said, "I'm Lieutenant William Gray Junior. Allow me to be your lesion back to the Academy. If the Press pushes a microphone in your face, I'll handle it. How does that sound?"

Kim tried to fight the flutter in her chest. She responded with a coy smile. "That… would be fine, William Gray Junior."

He released her paw and said, "Most call me Bill Junior, but my friends call me B.J. for short. I prefer if you referred to me by the latter."

She drew her lower lip between her teeth, smiled and said, "All right. Lead the way, then." She placed her right paw on James' back and guided him forward. The vixen offered her left elbow to Lieutenant Gray; he hooked his right arm through and escorted her off the flight deck.

A/N: Okay! So I plan on finishing this story soon. I've got a lot going on and I'm also getting ready to put more time into Spy Cooper. I'm not sure where I'm going with that story, y'know? Maybe something will pop into my head soon! :D

For now, thanks for reading one of my oldest stories and I'm not sure when I'll have the climatic chapter ready. I won't make you wait TWO YEARS this time, though. Promise!

Again, thanks for reading! And thank you, Assassin's Shadow, for asking me to get back into this story. I'm glad you liked it, man.

Finally, if you haven't read the newer reviews for this story, Chris made a clever guess as to the identity of Lilith. I wasn't going to say anything but he figured it out. If you're interested in the tiny spoiler, read his review. If you want it to stay a secret until the last chapter then DO NOT read the reviews!

See ya soon!

-K