Here (dun dun duun) is chapter 5. Unlike most, it doesn't jump around at all. It starts before the final sequence of 4, and ends after it. This particular chapter doesn't even have Nathan in it. However, it does give further insight in to my favorite character. :) Fun side game: Aerix and Tiera cut eachother off several times in this chapter. Guess what they were saying when they got cut off ;) _________________ Tiera leaned against the wall, by the entrance to the training simulation room. Most of her team was already assembled, the only one missing was Aerix. She checked the time and sighed. "I really don't want to do this without my heavy armor." Hers was a tactical squad, 25 strong counting her. Her squad's ‘mission' was an aggressive take over of a stronghold, she would be outnumbered between 3 and 5 to one, thankfully as long as she kept it going right, she would have the element of surprise. "Oh well. Can't do much about it, these things happen. Roll call." She pulled up her roster, her ears twitched. "Ahh, here he comes." Those with equally keen ears nodded, soon everyone could hear the heavy impact of Aerix's armored hooves. "Sorry I'm late." Aerix said, his voice taking on a mechanical quality through the armor. "Lift is under maintenance, couldn't take this much weight." "Just don't let it happen again." Tiera growled, then called roll, a formality, she knew everyone was there. "You folks know the drill." Tiera said at the end, pulling her helmet on. "Lock and load." "Light ground fire, ship board guns will cover you." That was her pilot, Damian. A panther who had lost his legs in a riot on Phobos. He was seated in the control room. "And mind that first step.." He opened the doors, which replicated a drop ships doors. Aerix was the first one out, ignoring the fact that the fall was at least 15 feet, that's what his armor was for. He hit the ground and got his bearings, they were in an earth-atmosphere exercise, he never understood why they did them, but he enjoyed it. A familiar sound rang in his ears, gunpowder weapons. Bullets started bouncing off his armor, he had just repainted it. He charged the machine gun bunker. "Impulsive as always." Tiera sighed. "Blacktom, Kelvin, cover Aerix. Everyone else, fall out." Her men obeyed without question. She had the best return record of any squad leaders, for exercises at least. "Damian, how long can you maintain this position?" "I've got about 2 minutes, ideally 1. They're sending up low altitude fighters." "Roger." She grabbed the crate, waving Blacktom and Kelvin down, She followed close behind them, riding the crate down. "You're clear Damian, get out of here." "Roger, good luck down there." "Drop zone is cleared." Aerix came over the com. "But the longer we wait, the better prepared they are inside." "I know." She had already begun unpacking the crate, setting aside the massive rail gun, knowing Aerix would grab it. "Blacktom, Kelvin you two will take guard duty. Jack, Aiden, Sor, Zeke, you four, split in to two teams, take out their perimeter defenses." She issued orders as she worked, assembling the scrambler. "B Squad, you will take the east flank. C Squad, you will take the west. A Squad, we'll take the front door." She activated the scrambler, which would kill communications from all com frequencies but theirs. Two teams of six broke off, leaving her, Aerix and four others. "What kind of defenses are we up against inside?" Aerix asked. "No clue. If the outside is any indication, nothing major." Tiera said. "But expect anything, let's move." Aerix grabbed his rail gun, hooking it to the shoulder mount on his armor, and took off at a run. Well, the closest to a run he could manage in such heavy armor, which was still impressive. The compound was well defended, but nothing a coordinated effort couldn't handle, the front door, a heavy blast door, couldn't even compete with Aerix, and the enemies inside, every one a faceless robot, weren't expecting heavy firepower as soon as the door opened. When the exercise was done, it had taken 47 minutes of the allotted 60. Tiera took her helm off, exiting the training room, she checked the statistics. "Lost 3? Who all did I lose?" "Aiden fell prey to a rooftop sniper. Mark was lost when an oxygen tank next to him was shot. Dax took lethal wounds in the base assault and died on the transport out." The operator said. "21 of 24 returned Tiera, not bad." Aerix said. "I still lost three." She shook her head. "It's not acceptable." "You're never going to bring everyone back Tiera." Aerix put a hand on her shoulder. "Try and remember that. Besides, the best record anyone else has for this mission is returning with 17 of 24." "It's all moot anyways." Tiera shrugged. "Until it's real combat." They headed back to the lockers, where Tiera helped Aerix out of his armor. AEA was not the easiest thing to get out of, so by the time they had gotten him out of his armor, they were the only ones left in the locker room. "How are things with the human?" Aerix asked, pulling his trousers on. Other than the training he was off duty today, but he always kept covered. He said he'd put someone's eye out if he didn't. "He has a name, you know." Tiera said. "I think he's rather depressed. No surprise though, losing two women he loved, in what for him has only been a year. Not to mention his entire race and planet. We're going down to the surface, that pre-war museum sent a message for him offering him a job." "Uncle Bob's?" Aerix asked. "Yeah, how did you know?" "Grew up fairly close to it." Aerix said. "Ah. Well, I think he's only going there because of me." Tiera said. "I don't think he's interested in the job, he's just going because he knows I want to." "Well that's sweet." Aerix grinned. "So, has he found your collection yet?" Tiera blushed. "Erf. I hope not." "He doesn't even know you ha-" Aerix started, but was cut off by being snapped with a towel. "Hush." Tiera said, folding the towel back up. "I have to get to my post, another exciting day of standing by a door, looking important." "When do you two leave for the surface?" Aerix asked. "Two days." Tiera said, heading out of the locker room. Aerix nodded, following her out, but turning the other way. He tended to wander the halls when off duty, nothing better to do on a space station when you had no one to court and no real hobbies. Sometimes he would work out, or spar. But right now he just wanted to relax. He had never understood why he was dropped in a non combat post. He was one of the best fighters aboard. Often he considered requesting a transfer to Phobos. He would be a king there, he would be free, not restraining himself to avoid hurting someone. Two things kept him from requesting it. Tiera, and the question. When a guard revels in the violence as much as the prisoners, which side of the bars should he be on? The scent of blood caught his attention as he wandered through the halls, he followed, getting close to Kilin's office when he found the source. It took him to recognize the bloody mass on the floor. "Kit!" He dropped down next to the mess that was a two tailed fox. It took him a moment to find a pulse. He was still alive, if barely. Aerix knew procedure said to call the med bay, but he also knew he was twice as fast as they were. So he scooped the little fox up in his arms, taking off at a dead run through the halls. The thing about being the largest creature on a space station, when you run through the halls, everyone gets out of your way. That was something Aerix had learned to take advantage of. When Aerix left Kit at the med bay, the doctors had started to ask questions, but thought better of it when they saw the look in his eyes. As soon as he was sure Kit was in good hands, Aerix turned around and headed back for Kilin's office, it was clear to any who saw him that he intended to kill someone. He found the door to Kilin's office locked, but that didn't even slow him down, breaking through the thin metal as if it were paper. The office was empty, and clean, freshly cleaned. The fumes of cleaners filled the air, covering up any other odor. "Aerix, stand down." A voice came behind him, it was a tiger on guard duty. Aerix don't know his name off the top, and didn't care at the moment. "Sorry buddy, no can do." Aerix growled, turning around. "This is between me and Kilin. I got no beef with you, but you're in the way." The tiger was nervous, he knew there was no way he could stop Aerix, not alone. "Look, I don't know what happened, but I do know there are better ways to solve this." Buy time for reinforcements, they're on the way. Aerix growled, nostrils flaring. "He tried to kill my friend. Sliced him up like a side of meat, and left the poor kid in the hall to die." "Do you have proof?" The tiger asked, hearing the heavy footsteps of his reinforcements. "Don't need proof. I know what happened. Now get outta the way before I move you myself." Aerix heard the footsteps too, he really didn't want to hurt anyone, other than Kilin that is. The reinforcements arrived, and with them, Kilin. "Step out of the office, and I return to find that not only did someone try to kill my assistant, but I have a rampaging minotaur trying to destroy my office." Aerix growled. "'Someone'? It was you, you goddamned bastard!" "Why would I want to kill my own assistant?" Kilin asked, shocked at such an accusation. "Hell if I know, but I know what you did." Aerix advanced, but found his path blocked by guards. One swing could get them all out of his way, but they hadn't done anything. "Quit hiding behind other people, and face me. Coward!" Kilin shook his head. "You know, I think it was the human." "A human with claws?" "Humans are tricky creatures." Kilin said, hiding a smile. That was just too far. Aerix casually swept the guards aside like rag dolls. He hoped he didn't hit them too hard, but that was regret for another time. He stepped towards Kilin. "Aerix! Stand down!" Aerix paused. Why did she have to get involved? Tiera walked up to him, resting a hand on his arm. "Don't do this." "But..." He began, but was cut off. "Aerix, like it or not, I am your commanding officer." Tiera growled. "It's not a suggestion or a request. Stand down." "Yes, sir." Aerix growled, glaring at her. "Thank you Tiera." Kilin said, and then turned to Aerix. "I understand you're emotional about the attack on your friend. I could have you penalized for this. Instead though I'm putting you on the next boat to the surface, you're taking some time off to cool down." Aerix nodded, silent. "Sir, if I may, I would like to speak to my soldier in private." Tiera knew how to be all business, and hide her hatred of Kilin. "You are both dismissed." Kilin said with a nod. Tiera casually reached up, grabbing the ring through Aerix's nose, which she could only reach because he slouched, and pulled him back to his dorm. "Tiera, I don't care if you're my CO." Aerix growled. "Unhand me or.." "Or what Aerix?" Tiera snapped, "You'll hit me? Like to see you try." Aerix raised his hand, but they both knew he couldn't do it. He sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry Tiera... about back there, too." It was then that she released the ring. "Don't feel bad, I want to kill him, too." "How'd you find out?" "Kurz called me from med bay, told me you had brought kit in, all slashed up." Tiera said. "I put two and two together, got four and ran, hoping to stop you from doing something stupid." "Well, I just made an ass of my self." Aerix shook his head. "Smacked six guys upside their heads, and tried to kill the commander. I think you were a little late." "You run faster than I do." Tiera said with half a smile. "Now, the real problem is getting Kit out of here before the next departure to Phobos." Aerix stared at her for a moment. "Phobos?" "Yeah." Tiera sighed, "After I got the call from Kurz, I called Marv, had him check the transfer orders. Kit got hit with a transfer to Phobos." "That's death for him." Aerix growled. "Kilin didn't want to kill him, just maim him. Make him an easy target." Tiera shook her head. "Kit knew it was going to happen too. He was worried when he told me Kilin's plan to get rid of Nathan. Now look what's happened to him." "I.. uh, don't mean to eavesdrop.. But did something happen to Kit?" The two both turned to see a fairly young wolf mix standing there. Aerix started to growl. "Who are you and why do you ask?" Tiera asked, eyeing the crossbreed. She sniffed the air, her nose twitching. "I'm Terrance. I work for Uncle Bob, came here about the derelict.." He hesitated, the skin inside his ears turning bright red. Tiera stepped forward, sniffing him and cracked a smile "You don't have to answer the second part. .. But does he re-" "Tiera!" Aerix cut her off, knowing what she was about to ask. "This is no time to be thinking about that." Tiera grinned "But I can't help it. He always teases me about it." Terrance backed up a step, looking at Tiera oddly. "How did you .." "Nose." Tiera answered. "I accumulate a database of scents associated with members of my ‘pack'. That includes the particular scents that come from sex, when I get the opportunity." Terrance blushed deeper. "So with a sniff, you know we fooled around.." "Don't worry. I don't tell anyone." Tiera smiled. "And everyone assumes Aerix is gay, because he doesn't have a girl." Aerix mumbled something about humans under his breath. Terrance eyed Aerix for a moment, and then nodded. "No offense Mr. Minotaur, but if you were gay.. I'd run screaming." Aerix nodded, not at all irked. "Yeah, that's the reaction from women... They're al turned on by the size, enjoy playing with it, teasing it. But then it's ‘you wanna put that thing in where?'. Leaving me with the old Southpaw." Tiera looked between the two for a moment. "Subject at hand folks?" Aerix gave Tiera an odd look, then a moment later she groaned, and Terrance fell in to a fit of giggles. Tiera sighed. "Seriously, back to the important subject. Not that your penis is unimportant Aerix, I know you are quite attached to it." "Yeah, you tried to pu-" "Aerix!" Tiera snapped, "Not the time for that." Aerix just grinned. "So, really..." Terrance said. "What happened to Kit. It's not because we..." "No Terrance, it's not because you two had some fun." Tiera shook her head. So many gay men acted like it was going to get them killed. "His boss tried to kill him, for undermining a plan to kill Nathan, and is now going to transfer him to Phobos." ".. How bad is he?" Terrance asked, getting pale. Aerix shook his head. "The only reason I knew it was Kit, was the two fox tails attached to the bloody pulp." "Is he gonna live?" "Kurz thinks so." Tiera said, sounding hopeful. "Not for long though if he goes to Phobos. On Phobos, he'll get gang raped until there's nothing left of him. By he guards or the inmates either way." "What a way to go though." Terrance said. "Why do all gay men say that?" Tiera asked with a sigh. Aerix grinned. "Because, it's every males dream to be sexed to death." Terrance giggled and nodded. "I wonder if I could convince Uncle Bob to let him stay with us for a while?" "If he can get to the surface, and tender a PDD resignation, he'll be safe-ish." Tiera said. "It's worth a try." Terrance nodded. "I'll contact Uncle Bob and find out." "Let me know when you know something." Tiera said. __________ Stay tuned for chapter 6. Dunno when that'll happen.