Chapter #5

The early morning sun slowly crept up into the sky to cook away the dense layer of fog that had swept in during the night, rays of light creeping into windows and view ports to rouse those on the other side. Massive dark shapes sat nestled in the layer of fog to look like creatures of lore waiting to strike, the morning rays slowly crawling up over their features and seem to imbue them with that life. Large bay windows along the length of the massive complex slowly filled with forms as they looked out at the large field nearby, the fog drifting away from the dark shapes to let their true forms be shown in the soft rays of morning light.

The Nautilus seemed to come to life as crew moved along to check it's hull one final time before the morning's scheduled launch, smaller ships slowly seeming to form out of the fog as the blanket was slowly eaten away by the light. Five assault class Black Claw drop ships shone brightly in the light as their almost rectangular forms seemed to rise from the mist, while the four Terran Overlord class drop ships towered above them. Warning sirens started to blare their screeching cries out into the early morning, followed by an almost cheerful voice of a technician. "All personnel please clear the field, twenty minutes and counting until launch."

Crew and Officers alike snapped to attention as Admiral Direwolf walked onto the bridge, his towering form covered in his heavily armored suit from neck to clawed toe as his boots thumped against the decking. "Lightfoot, I've done some thinking over the night. You're promoted to Captain of the Nautilus, when I'm not aboard you're to treat her and her crew as well as I have." He watched his first officer choke on his drink, before patting him on his shoulder. "But you're still going to have to put up with me, the Nautilus is my baby and I've chosen her as my Flagship."

Anastasia's hips made her want to stumble as she walked, silently cursing pup as she forced herself to only walk a little funny as her booted feet thudded onto the Bridge decking. She sniffed her suit again and smiled as she was sure she'd cleaned it well enough, looking up as she heard a few gasps at what Pup had said last. She watched as Blade stopped reclining against a wall and moved like her toward Pup, his body also mostly covered in an armored suit. "Why are they acting so oddly?" She asked softly as she reached Pup's side.

Blade chuckled and smiled down at her from beside Dark, leaning his massive form down some to speak. "Only three Admirals have ever chosen a dreadnought as their flagship, all three being the among the deadliest warriors we've had...."

"The Nautilus was my grandfather's ship, and I plan to keep her in the family..." Pup said as he looked down at Anastasia's face, a smile growing across his Wolfin mouth. He looked up at the crew and smiled.

"You know the procedures, get this ship back out into space. Signal the rest of the fleet to do the same and form up.

Being strapped into your mech's command couch in a bay or safe in your bed was one thing, but watching from the bridge of a massive dreadnought as drop ship and warship alike lifted from a planets surface took a few breaths that morning. As they passed into the void there was a slight sense of weightlessness before the gravity control systems kicked in and adjusted. It would still take days to reach a safe jump point even with the Wolfin technology and abilities to jump larger distances with their ships. The crews went about their routines as they normally did in space, techs combing over the heavy machines in the bays and soldiers weapons and armors just in case battle happened.

Anastasia and Pup ended up breathing hard for a different reason than normal for them, combat practice with a large group of the fighters. They were running a non firearms raid, meaning blunt weapons, tasers, and blunted swords and claws were allowed. The "casualties" on both sides were high as expected for the simulation, though what troubled the couple the most was that a human woman caused half their side's casualties. "Sir she's starting to actually break bones....I think she's having flashbacks...." came over Pup's comm, making him huff and step out of cover.

"Sim over, stand down...." He trailed off as he had to duck to dodge a flying wolfin in heavy armor. "Anastasia move on her right I got her left, everyone else stay clear. Don't harm her she's been through enough...." He said, getting something in German back as he raced around to one flank.

Standing in the middle of a mass of fallen raiders was a lone woman in light combat armor, the only thing making her stand out from the others was the green glow coming from her helmet's visor. That gave Anastasia pause as she looked past her to Pup. "Um....I've never seen that before."

"Prosthetics....arms and legs to one degree or another, right shoulder, both eyes, and a mechanical lung that will never let her run out of air." He stepped forward and watched as Anastasia's body mirrored his own, the woman looking back and forth between them.

"Sounds like she was dead...."

"Nearly was....we barely got her back to life after we found her, they'd been torturing her for months before we got here..." He tossed his sword to the ground and showed his open hands peacefully, which didn't calm her one bit. He opened his mic and cleared his throat. "Human are you alright? What is your name?"

Anastasia watched as the woman focused on her over grown mate for a moment, not wanting to believe what she heard next. "Bishop....Tara, Aide de camp of Tara Cambell, Countess of Northwind." The woman spoke, and without a second thought Anastasia's helmet left her armor in her own hands.

"Tara Bishop, Pilot, preferences in machines being a Pack Hunter." She spoke, watching as those glowing dots in the visor locked onto her, the figure stepping back to bump into a storage container before looking around.

Pup didn't move and held a hand for Anastasia to stay in place. "Bishop, do you remember...."

"God....I did it again...." She took off her helmet slowly and looked around. "I'm....I'm sorry Sir, every time we do this I slip into flashbacks...." Her body was shaking and quickly held up by two sets of arms. "Never thought I'd see you again..." She shivered and then shook her head. "I'm alright....call the medics we need them..." She pointed to the unconscious and injured around them.

An hour later Anastasia met with Pup and Tara in one of the meeting rooms, loosing her armored suit for her more traditional leathers. She walked in slowly and nodded to Tara to gave a single nod back. "I never expected to see you again." She admitted softly.

That got a snort and a smirk from the cybernetic woman. "Well you're not seeing all of me, no one ever will again..." She slipped on a pair of dark sunglasses that hid the glow of her cybernetic eyes and allowed her to look a little more normal. "I want to go home, I want to see my Prefect...and most of all." He smile took in a sinister look that made Anastasia grin. "I want Malvina's head on a spike." A soft shake of her head to clear her thoughts.

Dark would bow his head softly as he listened to them. "A couple of our more covert craft have reported back from Summer. They are gathering there in part in talks about what to do about the Alien threat to..."

There were little mews from under the table that made the Admiral look down. He wasn't the only one looking down at the fluffy black kitten that was sitting at Tara's feet mewing up at her. The tortured woman seemed to melt and mewed back at it, before it climbed her clothes and she cuddled it lovingly like a baby. "Hey baby...you miss me?" She cooed and grinned when the kitten purred.

Anastasia's mouth hung open a moment, before Dark reached across and touched her chin. "Human's use animals for help healing from trauma....we studied this and well..." He nodded to the kitten that was batting at his human's synthetic hand and fingers, purring.

Anastasia's eyes roamed over the little collar on it's neck and saw the name, letting out soft laughter. "Whiskey....a fitting name for a Northwinder." She said and got a nod.

After they had finally settled and Whiskey had made his rounds to Dark and the new human he fell asleep inside Tara's now buttoned up jacket. Dark brought up some of the captured intel and smiled.

"Paladin Janella Lakewood has been sent out of the fortress, along with Cambell."

Tara smiled. "The Lyran's have sent Trillian Steiner into the talks, she was closest and well...the most expendable. Spirit Cats, Wolves, dozens of mercenary units from across the inner sphere. There are also many other factions present in smaller presences though."

"What is the...."

"Plan?" Dark finished and grinned. "I've already dispatched a broadcast ship, unmanned of course. The power plant has enough fuel to run until we get there." He nodded to Tara. "I've had her send a few coded messages within the main message."

Anastasia's face paled a little and she rubbed her head. "Don't tell me its the same damn peace, and your intel is dated. Trillian is the damned Archon now. Thankfully she's not as ruthless as some of those preceding her. We have two factions of Clan wolf on planet...and you have..."

Dark rumbled with whining laughter that made the kitten stir. "I've attached fully unaltered files and battle footage from dozens of sources. They are all currently getting to watch everything from the failed peace talks...our blood lust, and our shift back to proper methods."

Anastasia's mind whirled as she tried to think of how at the very least the other clans would take the sight of everything. "You know this is going to cause hells own chaos between them all...I mean it's like"

"It's like the poor inner sphere when the clans invaded. Warships, powerful armors, towering beastial warriors that ripped men limb from limb..." Why the hell was Tara grinning.

"I have sent coded messages to the right people. But I wish I could see their faces right now." Tara was grinning in a way that made Anastasia's skin crawl for some reason.

***********

Tara Cambell watched the videos with a mix of awe and fear, oh how she hated that feeling, She'd felt it far too often over the last years. She had a tumbler of whiskey she sipped on as she watched videos showing the Steel Wolf ships jumping into the system, and the systematic destruction of two of the Jade Falcon ships that had come too close to the...the... "Dear gods that ship is coming here..."

There was an odd glitch in the video and a whisper that made her spill her tumbler on the floor. She saw something blink on the bottom of the screen and typed in an old code she'd used years before. What she saw brought tears to her eyes.

Tara Bishop lay on death's bed, dead falcons all around her as she wailed out in pain. "KILL ME PLEASE!" She wailed before medics put her into a coma. Files printed from the station at the desk showing body damage and what had been done in the months following.

"I'm so..."

The screen immediately shifted and the green eyed Bishop stood in full uniform in front of a station. "I swear if those are the first words out of your mouth when I see you, I'm going to slap you. And this is a recording...so be quiet and listen Countess." She smiled and was distracted for a second by the purring fluff ball that licked at the side of her head bathing her.

Tara Cambell watched her long-thought dead Aide-de-campe and cried, wiping her eyes and nose off as she shifted in her chair, playing with that lock of hair.

"I am coming with them, but I can't come back to you fully yet. I'm dangerous, I'm having fits of flashbacks that send me into..." The kitten crawled over her and mewed till she pulled it down and pet it lovingly. "The admiral got me a kitten to try and help with the ptsd. They didn't know who I was when they started working on me. They saved thousands of lives, gave implants and prosthetics to everyone needing them. They're rebuilding Skye, granted right now they're also holding it. But I've seen what they're doing for the people. They're trying to help even after what happened, some hate them because they're alien and others well....some like them a lot..." She covered her mouth with a synthetic hand and snickered. "Well some of them you'll just have to see to believe, and yes before you ask the rumor is true....Anastasia really does like her clan namesake a little too much...and just think I made this recording a month before you're watching it and I know you're blushing..."

Tara blinked and felt her cheek as she watched the odd little kitten bounce back up and snuggle around it's human's neck. "I've missed you..." She whispered to the screen, watching her friend smile at her.

"We'll be there soon enough TC, and if humanity can keep from fucking this up a second time then we will have the greatest allies we could have ever hoped to find in the stars. I've been through their archives...there are races out there I pray we never meet..."

********************************

The following morning Tara was almost surprised that she wasn't the only one that brought a folder full of data sheets and a drive with more files to the meeting room. Tara looked up, eyes still bloodshot from crying...and whiskey, too much whiskey. "If anyone was wondering I've already sent word for Duke Gregory and his son to come here as requested by the Wolfin expedition commander." She saw a few people move to stand and retort. "If you object to that then leave these talks now!"

The Paladin stood up slowly and raised her hands shooing people back to their chairs. "I watched the same video the countess got to see, along with others. Do not test her or she is likely going to gut you, and I will help." That made people behave under the two women's hard gazes.

The clan wolf Khan just grinned as he had a thin folder in hand. "I got a technical readout of alterations done to the Steel Wolf mechs...and one other that wasn't among their ranks." He slipped a drive into his terminal as his grin grew. "Apparently the admiral has a taste for old tech...." He typed in a few things and an incomplete technical readout came up of what had once been an Atlas. "112 tons, fewer weapons in number, heavier armor and framing. They took one of humanities most fearsome weapons and turned it into a monster meant to kill mechs."

Tara nearly giggled as she saw the mech's name was missing, keying her own panel and smiling as "Feral" popped up on the screen as the mech's classification. "That is his mech's name, a custom rework of a mech salvaged from a dead jump-ship And that is a rail-gun on it's arm my dear Khan."

Janella would slap down her hand and smacked in her drive, typing in a code that brought up a recording. "Every single recording we have gotten of the wolves shows them in armored suits, which are dual purpose. They protect them and keep the still furred race from overheating on worlds like the ones we thrive on. They also wear them in their mechs, and have made them the Steel Wolves that joined their ranks."

Trillian watched as the video played. "Those are civilians in those suits...they gave them to the people working in the cities. I've seen footage of the cleanups in the different cities on Skye."

Tara nodded to that. "The suits would cost as much to us as handing out battle ready power armor, and they produced and gave it to anyone working in dangerous conditions on Skye." She leaned back in her chair. "The ones that were willing to deal with them at least." She choked off a sob that tried to raise up and ruin her, making the clansmen look at her curiously.

Janella raised a hand and pointed to the screen as the video shifted to various people with augments and prosthetic limbs and eyes. "Another thing that is readily given to everyone they found, including a woman they at the time didn't know who she was, only that she'd been tortured by the falcons..." Tara nodded to her as tears streamed down her face.

A video popped up of a human woman with prosthetic limbs and glowing green eyes beating Wolfin and Elemental alike that came for her. The next moment she was charging another that tore it's armor open to reveal it's furred body and canine head, letting loose a roaring howl as the Admiral caught her arms in his, fur shifting as muscles flexed to hold her. "Captain...calm down....you're safe. The falcons are gone!" Glowing eyes blinking as the woman seemed to come back to herself and backpedaled from the monster in front of her. The screen froze and split showing a dated image.

"That is Tara Bishop, the last surviving member of forces captured on Skye and thought dead. I like a few of you got personal messages and files from her that were hidden in the broadcasts. She is bringing us gifts since she's one of the few humans that the Admiral trusts...that won't have fun pissing us off like his..."

"Mate...my message was from his Mate and now General Anastasia Kerensky. Though I think it was made before they planned to meet us peacefully. She made certain promises that make me easier to bargain with." The Khan said and got a nod from the Spirit Cat leader, noting a few shivers from different delegates in the room. "Each member of a major party is to be scanned head to toe and the data transmitted to the ship at the jump point." He raised a hand to keep everyone quiet. "Mine comes with the price of stopping any and all engagements with the Commonwealth, and we will each be given a mech built by the Wolfin people as gifts and a sign of peace."

Trillian looked around at the others. "I will do it if it means peace, but I know nothing about piloting a mech."

The Khan smiled at her and was cut off by Janella. "According to the captain, each of these mechs was designed from the ground up for the leader it was meant for. You should have little trouble if you have had any sim time."

The Spirit Cat leader nodded. "Bargained well and done." He said with that clan finality to it. "Where are they planning to land their drop-ships?"

That got a laugh from Tara. "Drop-ships..they will be landing one here with the gifts." She leaned forward, tears still on her cheeks. "They're landing their fleet north of here." that got some laughter from the others that just made her grin grow evil as she brought up footage of the Nautilus hovering over a city and moving to take fire from the Falcons. "Their warships can enter atmosphere and land..." She saw the wolf Khan pale. "Awe...what's wrong...puppy steal your tongue?"

Janella barked a laugh. "Peaceful meeting it is then, after the Falcons bastard greeting I think we can allow them to land and go to meet them ourselves." That got nods from the others after a moment.

Tara smiled and wiped the tears away from her cheek, taking a drink from a flask. "Ok so when do we all get naked?"

After a howl from the wolf Khan, Janella pointed her finger at the Countess. "No more whiskey for you!"