Walking through the halls of the residential quarters, Maximus found it amazing how anyone could live on a space station, such confined spaces. He also found the sheer number of stares he got quite amusing. But he supposed they were deserved.

He stood well above any other resident on the station, aside from the minotaurs, obviously built to fight. But his piercings and the tribal designs dyed in to his fur made it clear he wasn't military. The sword he carried also was by no means a standard issue broadsword. It looked ancient, and it was. He told everyone it was Excalibur, not that anyone knew what that was anymore.

Some might have also noticed the fact that the claws on his left hand were metal, or all the scars under his fur. But he doubted there were many that were that observant.

He came to a stop when he reached apartment B 32, it had taken some work to discover that was where the human was staying. No one seemed to even want to acknowledge the presence of the human, and those that did wouldn't admit to knowing where he was. He finally found out he was staying with a wolf by the name of Tiera, and used the stations database to track her apartment down.

He was about to push the call button when he noticed the door had been forced open. He slowly judged the door open just enough to slip through, ever cautious he glanced around the room. It was a mess, but there was no evidence of a fight or someone searching for something.

A sound from the other room caught his ears. "Tiera? Mr. Ericson?" He knew it was always best to announce your presence when entering someone's home. "I apologize for letting myself in, but the door had been forced open, I wanted to make sure everything was OK in here."

A hiss caught his ears, followed by the unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn. He drew his own, sliding in to a defensive stance as he entered the bedroom.

A flash of silver cut through the air, it was fast, but Maximus was faster. His broadsword came up swiftly to parry the offending blade. It was then that he got a good look at his attacker, a massive snake armed with twin short swords, and sporting a few scars, obviously from bolt rifles.

"The good Samaritan," the snake hissed, "sometimes... it just isn't wise." The snake's second blade came low, for Maximus' right leg.

"Neither is attacking before you know your target." Maximus said with a grin, letting the blade strike, the blade stopped dead on impact with his thigh with the sound of metal on metal. He flexed his left hand, extending the claws to combat length before swiping up the snakes torso.

The snake jerked back with a hiss of surprise, not expecting claws long enough or sharp enough to get through his scales. "Ssst! Why do you come?" The snake held back its attack for a moment.

"I am a messenger." Maximus stated simply, remaining in a defensive stance. "You however, I would take it are an assassin?"

The snake hissed, sounding almost like a chuckle. "Observant. Forget you saw me, and I'll let you live."

"No deal." Maximus growled, advancing on the snake, sliding to left. He brought his sword around for the snakes head, and his claws swept the serpent's right arm as he went past.

"FOOL!" The snake hissed, pulling away from the blade, ignoring the claws. He slapped Maximus with his tail, flinging the lion in to the wall. Maximus staggered to his feet, not even having time to properly recover his balance before the snake was on him again. He twisted away from one blade, lashing his left hand out to grab the second, his right hand swinging around, natural claws extending to slice in to the snake's face.

The snake roared with pain and fury, blood pouring in to his eye, obscuring his vision. He grabbed Maximus' left arm and flung him out of the room. There was the unpleasant sound of metal snapping as the serpent flung Maximus, putting too much pressure on the artificial elbow joint. He collided with a book shelf, which in turn fell over on top of him, pummeling him with an assortment of old fantasy novels.

As Maximus struggled to get out from under the shelf, the snake made a hasty retreat, hissing. "You got lucky this time, cat."

Maximus wondered for a moment what caused the snake to retreat, he was also glad for the fact. He wasn't sure how much more abuse he could take. He carefully pushed himself to his feet, and went to recover his sword. Then he began the task of righting the shelf and replacing the books entirely without the use of his left hand.

* * *

Aerix stared quietly up at the front of the Open Arms orphanage. It was the closest thing to a home he had ever known. Above the door was a vacant spot, something was obviously missing. From old photographs he knew it to have been a statue of a human saint. It had been torn down at the downfall of man.

He pushed the door open, it still creaked just as it always had. Despite it having been more than twenty years, he still cringed at the creak, remembering how it always gave him away when he snuck in late. That, and hitting his head on the door frame, which he did, forgetting to duck.

"Damned thing jumped out at me again." He muttered.

The elderly woman at the front desk chuckled slightly, "They do that... Can I help you with something, sir?"

Aerix smiled at the sound of her voice. "Just visiting home, Mother." Then with a slight chuckle, "And sort of hoping I could get you to patch me up."

The woman, Mother, a canine of at least seventy years, looked Aerix over for a moment and then smiled, "Aerix! Much as I thought it wasn't possible, you've grown. Getting in to fights still?"

"Well... They started it." Aerix looked at the floor, shuffling his feet.

"Always an excuse with you." She smiled, "Let's have a look, shall we?" She rose from her desk and walked over to him, hardly more than half his height, she still had a commanding aura about her, but caring too. That's why everyone called her Mother.

She knelt next to him, looking at his knee. "You really shouldn't have walked on this." She scolded him, shaking her head. "And I'm not even going to ask how you got a bolt in the back of your knee."

"I got shot." Aerix said with a chuckle. "I had good reason though."

"Really?" Mother asked sarcastically, "I thought you had imbedded it in to your own knee for the fun of it. Now you're going to have to walk on it a bit further, need to get you to the infirmary."

"I can walk, don't worry." Aerix said, following Mother to the infirmary. "How have things been here?"

"Oh, same as always," Mother replied, "Children come and go, employees come and go. Though the Admiral has been threatening to shut us down for some time, saying we contribute to vagrancy."

"How?" Aerix asked. "You raise children who, otherwise, have no home. And most of us grow up to join the PDD because... Well, it's the only job we can get."

"I know Aerix," Mother shook her head, "I don't know how he figures it... But if not for the funding we get from Ion Tech, we wouldn't be able to last. As it is sometimes it's hard to make ends meet, and this Admiral is just making matters worse."

"I'm sure you will find a way, Mother." Aerix said, "You always have in the past, and you've always given us a better home than we could have hoped for."

"The board's been considering a move to Europa," Mother said, ushering him in to the infirmary. "Most of us are against it though. This building, this location, has a lot of history and a lot of importance. And the two of the other remaining orphanages in the system are on Europa. Beyond that, there's us and the one on Deimos, which is little more than a youth prison.

"But enough of our problems, Aerix, aside from getting yourself shot up, how is life for you?"

"Chaotic." Aerix said with a laugh, settling himself on his chest on a large medical table, which he was still too large for. "Have you heard the news from the Jump Pad?"

"What news?" Mother asked, tracking down the pliers, antiseptic, and bandages.

"We picked up a derelict craft recently." Aerix said, wincing slightly as Mother pulled the bolt from his knee. "Pre-war era deep space craft. The ship itself has some historic significance to those who are interested.. But the big news is that despite the age, one of the cryo pods remained intact so one of her crew survived."

"That's good." Mother said absently, cleaning and dressing the wound on Aerix's knee. "But I don't see how that would cause a big stir?"

"Her crew was human." Aerix said, and then gave it a moment to sink in. "So, we have the only living human in the solar system. And quite a few parties want him dead. And just to make life more interesting, a good friend is completely infatuated with the human."

"Life has a tendency to throw curves like that at us." Mother said. "How is the human adapting to his new surroundings?"

"As well as can be expected," Aerix said with a laugh, "For finding out that his race is extinct and has been replaced by humanoid animals."

"I think the term is ‘anthropomorphic'." Mother said, "It refers to a non-human being given human qualities."

"Humanoid works too, Mother."

"Yes, I suppose it does." Mother said, moving up to take care of the bolt in Aerix's shoulder. "But what of you, how has life been? Have you met a girl yet?"

"Oh, I've met plenty of girls." Aerix laughed. "Just none interested in a properly intimate relationship. Has something to do with being a titan, even for a minotaur."

"No need to brag about it, Aerix."

"Feh. I didn't mean that." Aerix grumbled.

Mother just laughed, finishing patching up Aerix's shoulder. This took a couple of minutes. When she finished she broke the silence again. "What brings about you sudden visit anyways? With most of our kids it's either a special occasion or an emergency."

"Well, I sort of ended up on a temporary suspension." Aerix said, sitting up. "Long story short, I tried to kill the bastard in charge of the space station. My CO stopped me though."

"And I'm sure you had good reason for that, too." Mother said. "I take it you're needing a place to sleep for a while then?"

"It'd be nice, if you got the room." Aerix said. "I can try to help out, if you need it."

"I'm sure we can find you someplace to sleep, Aerix." Mother said with a smile.

* * *

After Nathan left with Uncle Bob, Tiera quickly left the War exhibit, looking to find something more pleasant. She found herself wandering rather aimlessly through the various exhibits, looking at everything from old video game systems, to kitchen gadgets, and even automobile parts.

It should have all fascinated her, but her mind was elsewhere. She couldn't focus on anything but worrying about Nathan, she knew getting a job wouldn't solve even half of his problems. And she doubted he'd take the job.

In the end, she found herself playing Othello against a 21st century computer, lost in thought. This is how Nathan found her, so engrossed in the game and lost in thought that she didn't hear him coming, or even notice when he was right behind her.

"You winning?" Nathan asked rather suddenly, causing her to jump out of her skin.

"Eep.. uhm yeah." Tiera said, turning to him. "Don't sneak up on me like that, you twit. How'd it go in there?"

"Sorry." Nathan said, smiling. "Well, I told him I'd think about it. He's got a room he said we could use if we don't have someplace else to sleep. That is, if you don't mind sharing a room with me?"

"Well, I suppose.." Tier smirked, "Just this once though."

As the two headed for the room, leaving the museum proper for the living quarters above it, they encountered Terrance slipping quietly out of a room, closing the door as noiselessly as possible.

"Hello, Terrance." Tiera said with a smile, then looked around briefly. "Where's Kit?"

Terrance pointed at the door. "Sleeping. Poor thing's still not got his strength up." Terrance smiled slightly, "But he's healing well. What of you two? What do you think of the collection?"

"It's nice." Tiera said, "A lot of fascinating things."

"I can't give an opinion," Nathan said with a chuckle, "Some of the stuff here, I had when I was a kid. It doesn't feel all that special to me. Parts of it are educational though."

"You gonna take the job?" Terrance asked.

"I'm going to think about it over night." Nathan replied with a smile.

"Right-o." Terrance nodded, turning to leave. "I've got to go talk to the boss though."

"Quick question," Tiera said, "This place have any other ways in or out?"

"Than the front door?" Terrance asked. "Yeah, the service entrance, down the stairs at the end of the hall, to you left. ... Why?"

"Hopefully for no reason at all." Tiera smiled. "But, I always like to know these things."

Terrance started to say something, then thought better of it and nodded instead and headed off.

"What was that about?" Nathan gave Tiera a rather odd look. "Planning on stealing something?"

"No." Tiera shook her head. "In case you forgot, we resisted arrest and killed at least one of the men sent at us, injuring the rest. They're going to come looking for us."

"... True."

"Always better to be prepared." Tiera said with a smile.

Nathan nodded, pushing the door to their room open. The room was small and sparsely furnished.

"Looks like we have to share a bed." Tiera said, smiling slightly. "So, what's the job offer like?"

"... I'm not taking it." Nathan said, shutting the door. "He doesn't want me for my knowledge or skills. He wants me to work for him because I'm human. A real live human. A freak show, for lack of a better word."

"I wondered.." Tiera said, shaking her head. "I'm sorry Nathan."

"It's not your fault." Nathan sat on the bed with a sigh. "Tiera.. I've been thinking."

"Yeah?" Tiera's ears perked, the hesitation and seriousness in his voice making her hopeful. She settled next to him on the bed, wrapping an arm around him.

"I ... How do I say this?" Nathan looked at her for a moment, then looked away. ".. I want to return to earth. It's my home.. It's where I was born, and it should be where I die... I'm sorry.. I'm just not suited for your world."

Tiera's ears drooped, she felt like he had just punched her in the stomach. "Nathan... I.." Love you. Just say it. It's not hard. Three words. It can't hurt now.. "... I'll see what I can do.." She wondered why she would agree to that. She wondered what she had done wrong. But most of all, she just felt like crying, but she refused to.

Nathan turned to her and smiled sadly. "Thank you, Tiera." There was a moment hesitation before he leaned in to place a soft kiss on her muzzle. "That means a lot to me."

The conversation ended there. There was nothing more to say. The two spent the night in each others arms, eventually drifting to sleep there.

* * *

Nathan's eyes flickered open. For a brief moment, all was perfect. The world he was in, the people who wanted him dead, none of it mattered. All that mattered was that he was snuggled up against the most wonderful woman he'd met in at least a hundred years.

He paused a moment, realizing that that was the first time he'd thought of Tiera as a woman, not a wolf. He trailed one hand over her side, running his fingers through her fur, then trailing down to her chest, idly stroking the soft fur of her breast, until he realized where his hand was and pulled it away, blushing.

"Mmm. They don't bite." Tiera said with a chuckle, not even moving.

"I would hope not." Nathan said, "But you might. Been awake long?"

"Long enough." Tier said, turning to face Nathan. She smiled and licked his chin. "And I won't bite you either, unless you ask nicely."

Nathan chuckled and started to say something, but was caught off by Tiera pushing him on to his back and positioning herself over him. He looked up at her for a moment, he could feel himself stirring. "... Tiera, are you sure we sho-"

"Hush." Tiera cut him off, leaning down and licking his lips. "It's fine."

Part of Nathan felt as though he should be disturbed by this, not aroused. But then things rarely work the way they should. He looked up at her for a moment, trying to figure out precisely how to go about kissing a canine muzzle, then threw caution and logic to the wind and kissed her. He felt more awkward than the first time he'd kissed a human, but like then, he made it work.

After a moment, Tiera broke the kiss, nuzzling in to Nathan's neck and nipping him softly before sliding down his body, he could feel her hot breath as she worked her way down. Her hands slid down to pull his boxers out of the way.

Nathan's heart raced, his body shivered with anticipation, every movement she made seemed to just make him want her more. Her hot breath washed over his manhood, a single claw traveling up his length eliciting a moan.

There was a sudden crackle of static from the corner of the room as the com on Tiera's uniform came to life. "Tiera? You and Nathan need to get out of there. Now." The voice belonged to Aerix, and it sounded urgent.

"... I'm sorry Nathan.. Get dressed." Tiera said, her voice barely a whisper, before she bounded across the room, unhooking the com as she hastily donned her uniform. "Aerix. This has better be damned important, otherwise I'm killing you."

Nathan sighed, looking over at Tiera for a moment before recovering his clothes and dressing.

"You've got at least a dozen armed and armored PDD officers heading for your location." Aerix came back over the com. "Seems someone tipped them off to your location. You've got an estimated.. minute before they're there. Tops."

"Great." Tiera muttered. "You heard him Nathan, we have to run. Now. And this is why I found out where the back door was last night."

Nathan nodded, pulling his shirt on with a bit of a bitter chuckle, "Why couldn't they have given us ten more minutes?"

Tiera clicked her com back in its space on her uniform and checked her knives. "Next time, I'll skip the foreplay." She said with a grin, grabbing their bags and slipping out the door. "Stay close. We should have plenty of time, but I don't want to risk it."

Nathan nodded silently and followed her, watching every move she made, finding her body more impressive with every passing moment. He was reminded once more just how inhuman she was. Despite the beautiful body and the often giddy school girl mentality. She was made for war, and she trained for it. It just further cemented in to him the fact that he didn't belong in this world.

The two made it to the back door without incident, and found Aerix waiting for them on the other side.

"How did you..." Tiera asked, looking at him funny,

"I told you." Aerix said with a smile. "I grew up here. Follow me, we should be able to stay far enough ahead of them, for now."

* * *

Three PDD officers stood in Uncle Bob's guest bedroom, with Uncle Bob. The leader of the group, a middle aged fox who was intimidating, despite his diminutive stature, turned to Uncle Bob and growled. "You told me he was here, Alphonse."

"He was, I swear." Uncle Bob stammered. "He must have left..."

"Why would he leave?" The fox asked. "Were you and he not going to discuss a job for him."

"I don't know." Uncle Bob said, edging out of the room.

"He was here, sir." The wolf of the group said, sniffing the bed. "I think. Female wolf and a scent I'm not familiar with. I have to guess it's the human. They were here not ten minutes ago, and she is one sick bitch."

"Eh?" The fox looked to the wolf. "What makes you say that?"

"She was all over him, like a cat in heat." The wolf said with a laugh, eliciting a growl from the panther across the room. "They left in a hurry though. Someone must have tipped them off."

"How many ways in and out are there, Alphonse?" The fox demanded.

"Just two, the front door, and the service entrance." Uncle Bob said.

"Good." The fox said, then triggered his com. "I need two men on the front door, two men at the service entrance, the rest, meet me at the service entrance, we've got some hunting to do."

He turned his attention back to Uncle Bob. "Now, if I find out you're the one who tipped them off, or you're hiding them here, I will personally see to it that you never get a trial."

He didn't even wait for a response, signaling his men out, he activated his com again, this time calling in to base. "Command, this is FC Zyrx. Target is no longer at Uncle Bob's. Target is not alone, in the company of a female wolf. Likely still in Sector Seven though, man hunt underway, requesting additional ground forces."

"Field Commander Zyrx," His com replied. "This is Command, additional ground forces en-route. Be advised target's companions are to be considered armed and dangerous. Lethal force is authorized for use against companions. Target is to be taken alive."

"Understood. Zyrx out."

* * *

Mayhem stalked through the hall, she moved with a purpose, and the look on her face made everyone get out of her way. It had taken quite a bit to get out of the brig, and she was going to make the bitch and her human pay.

She reached the door to apartment B 32, her mind so focused on what she would do, she failed to notice it had been forced open, she simply keyed in the manual over ride to open it.

"Tiera, dearest?" She growled as she entered, "You have no idea what I had to go though to get out of the brig, and now you and that thing will..." She trailed off, seeing the apartment in shambled, and a lion sitting at the computer, tinkering with his cybernetic left arm. "Who the fuck are you, and where the fuck are Tiera and her play thing?"

The lion gave a pleasant smile. "I am Maximus. And as for Tiera and her 'play thing', I have no clue. But I might recommend simply taking your gripe and obscenity elsewhere, as I've already dealt with one individual who seemed intent on the death of this apartment's inhabitants, I'm really not in the mood for another fight."

"So you are a friend of Tiera?" Mayhem spat, "Or worse, the human?"

"A friend, not yet." Maximus responded, remaining calm and paying more attention to his arm than Mayhem. "And ally they are not yet aware of is a more apt term."

"So, you'll just be getting in my way later then." She growled, stalking over to the lion and swiping the tools from his hand. "And you should learn to pay proper attention when addressed by your superiors, worm."

Maximus growled softly, standing up straight, he towered over the panther, and any who saw him would swear he looked like nobility. His voice took on a much darker tone, "I do show proper respect to my superiors. You however, are a childish imitation of power. You likely dress in leather and tie your men up, so you can feel dominant, you know not true domination."

"Am I supposed to be impressed or intimidated, worm?" Mayhem growled, swiping her claws across the lion's face.

"That, dear pantheress, was a mistake." Maximus said, his voice deathly calm as he lashed his left hand out, catching the panther's neck and lifted her off the ground, her weight nothing to him. "I really am in no mood to fight, but if you wish to learn true domination, I shall teach you." With that Maximus flung her across the room, and immediately pursued.

Mayhem growled, twisting in mid air to catch herself, landing on all fours, she dodged to the side of the lion leaping on to his back, her claws digging in to his flesh to get a solid grip, and sunk her fangs in to his shoulder.

Maximus ignored the pain as best he could and loosened his body before throwing himself backwards. There was a surprised howl and a yelp of pain, as well as the pleasant sound of cracking ribs when the the panther found herself in the unfortunate position of breaking his fall.

Mayhem gasped for breath as the lion rose to his knees, she saw him pull his belt off and tried to move away from him, but he was quicker than her in her present state. He caught her by her tail and pulled her back, dropping his looped belt over her head.

Her hands were then deftly bound behind her back. She growled, trying to pull her hands out of their bindings, but she found herself slammed down on to her back. The belt around her neck pulling tight, she found herself struggling for breath once more.

Maximus knelt over her, growling as he looked in to her eyes, she saw no emotion in his, and she knew he could see the fear in hers. The thin shorts she wore were torn away, leaving her exposed, vulnerable to anything her captor might choose to do.

All she could think, looking in to the eyes of her killer, was wondering what kind of monster could stare in to the eyes of a dieing woman, and rape her. Without any show of emotion. These were her last thoughts before blackness overcame her.

---

So, there's chapter 10 for you. Things are heating up, in more ways than one. I know part of this chapter disagrees with an earlier section, that section is going to be removed when I revise the story, despite how much I liked it at the time of writing, I have since decided that it was too soon at that point. In general, I appreciate all the positive feedback I have received so far for this story. However, it is still just a first draft. I am equally interested in critiques of it, things that would make it better, things that should be changed, etc. (I know I should make the chapters longer, so don't even bother saying it.) You can post in comments, send me a PM, or drop me an email to yverthel (at) yahoo.com