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Description
Part Three: Complication

Krystal groaned softly, her head pounding as her eyes began to open.  The vixen shook her head as she struggled to sit up, her body weakened as her memory came flooding back.  The last thing she could recall was Sofia shouting something about gas and then everything fading to black.  Now, Krystal had no idea where she was or how she got there.
Mentally, the vixen did a quick check of her body.
"Good, nothing broken" She thought as she tried to get up, "But I can't feel my weapons weight.  That's not a good sign."
Suddenly, Krystal felt weight against her back, the weight forcing her down onto her stomach!  The vixen tried to push back against it, but when she tried, the weight forced her back down to the floor.
"Struggling is futile against me." A gruff, reptilian voice told her, kicking her side!
Krystal took a sharp breath as an armored boot connected with her side, the pain spreading through her side as she withheld any sign of pain.  The vixen looked up to find a reptilian creature standing over her.  It's blood red eyes glared down at her as the creature gave a soft growl, turning away from her as the vixen tried again to push herself off the ground.  Krystal's mind clicked, recognizing the creature as a Sev`fel!
"You and I are going to have a little chat." The Sev`fel stated calmly.
"What makes you think I have anything to say to you?" Krystal asked in reply, finally managing to get to her feet.
She heard the soft click of a hammer being pulled back on a pistol.  When Krystal looked towards the source of the sound, she saw the creature holding a handgun, the barrel pointed to her chest.  Krystal knew that the weapon was not holding a stun round in the chamber.  Without any way to defend herself against a point blank shot, the vixen decided it would be best to do as the creature said until she could retaliate.
*           *          *
Chase was leaning against the wall of the cell, examining it carefully.  Sofia's plan was simple enough.  Get a guards attention, somehow get the keys from the guard, then escape.  It sounded easy in theory, but Chase knew well that theory had issues when plans were applied to an actual situation.
But as a guard passed by, Chase smirked to himself, nodding to Sofia.  When the dove nodded back, Chase rapped on the cell wall.  The guard looked back to him, the Sev`fel giving a low growl as he walked over.  Once he was close enough, Chase struck!
The fox grabbed the guard by the collar of his armor, pulling the Sev`fel up against the cell door as Sofia snapped a remote device off the Sev`fel's torso!  Chase shoved the guard back as Sofia unlocked the cell door from inside.  The door unlocked as the fox pushed it open, Sofia moving past him quickly as the guard raised a weapon!  The dove's armored boot lashed out, knocking the weapon away before he could fire.
Chase grabbed the gun off the ground, cocking it and taking aim at the guard.  The Sev`fel growled and tried to get up, but Sofia pushed him back down, her boot planted firmly on his chest.  The Sev`fel growled at them as Chase stared him down, the barrel of the pistol unwavering.  Finally Sofia's boot lashed out again, knocking the Sev`fel aside into an unconscious state.
"Come on, there should be a guard station where they took our weapons." The dove stated.
Chase nodded and followed her, but on his mind wasn't his weapons or the mission, but his partner.  If the Sev`fel hurt Krystal, they would pay for it.
Sofia, sensing what was on Chase's mind, decided it would be in their best interest to hurry up and find Ronin-2 before anything happened to her.  As she looked around the hold, Sofia spotted, what looked like, a guard station near the entry to the detention center of the vessel.  The dove motioned to Chase, the fox nodding and staying behind her, the Sev`fel's gun still in hand.  At this point, the fox was regretting not bringing his arm blades with him.  But against a Sev`fel, the fox was sure he could do enough damage with his bare hands.
Sofia took one side of the door, Chase taking the other.  Sofia glanced into a window, seeing another Sev`fel guard inside, but he seemed focused on the monitors in front of him, not paying attention to his surroundings.  Sofia nodded to Chase, signaling for him to go in first.  The fox cocked the pistol and nodded back, slowly moving to face the door as Sofia's hand reached for the handle.  Chase pointed the pistol in front of him as the dove opened the door a bit, quietly.  The fox took it from there.
Chase kicked the door the rest of the way open, the Sev`fel going for his own pistol as he also went for the alarm as Chase fired!  The barrel of the handgun flew up, the flash from the end of the barrel bright as the bullet sped forward in a straight path.  The reptilian creature's body spun and hit the floor with a thud, his body going limp as Sofia found a panel to a locked cabinet next to the monitors.  They had been lucky the Sev`fel hadn't been able to set off the alarm.
"This could take a bit of time." Sofia said as she typed at the panel.
As she worked, Chase kept an eye out for any more guards.  The fox glanced to her after a minute, the dove finally managing to open the cabinet.  She pulled out Chase's pistols, handing the twin Stingers to the fox as she pulled her own out, finally slinging Krystal's S-32 Heavy Assault Rifle over her shoulder.
"You'd better plug Jennifer into that terminal by the door." Sofia stated as she checked her weapon, "Get a map and then we can find Ronin-2."
Chase nodded, not needing to be reminded of the fact that he and his partner were separated.  The fox walked over to the terminal, removing Jennifer's AI from his armor.  As the fox slotted her chip into the terminal, Chase checked his weapons.
"Did they put our extra rounds in there too?" Chase asked.
Sofia tossed him his pack, "Right here."
The fox caught it and smirked, reattaching it to his armor and reloading his handguns.  As he checked the pouch the fox smiled, seeing all of his ammunition still there.  The fox didn't second-guess it as he cocked the pistols.
Once he heard the 'ping!' in his ear, Chase took Jennifer's AI from the terminal.  As he replaced her into the AI slot on his armor, the fox looked to Sofia, the dove having Krystal's assault rifle over her shoulder, her own pistols on her hips.
"We ready to go?" Sofia asked.
"I am inputting a waypoint to the bridge now." Jennifer stated, "I cannot, however, locate Ronin-2."
Chase sighed, "Alright…we proceed as planned then.  Get to the bridge and download the Sev`fel's plans from the carrier main frame."
Sofia nodded, but she could sense that Chase was still worried about his partner.  The dove walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"She'll be alright." Sofia said with a smile, "Ronin-2 is pretty tough.  She'll be fine."
Chase nodded, "Yeah…yeah she is.  I guess she can take of herself, but I'm still worried."
Sofia nodded, "Then let's go complete the mission and find her."
Chase nodded and opened the door, his pistols raised and ready to fire.  Sofia walked next to him, checking their flank as the fox found a way out of the detainment section of the warship.  A large steel door was all that stood between them and the rest of the ship.
Sofia moved quickly, opening a panel on the side of the door and beginning to hack it.  As she worked, Chase checked the map Jennifer had downloaded on his HUD.  The map seemed pretty straight forward, the AI having already laid out a route for them to follow.  He turned to Sofia once he heard her close the panel, the dove nodding as she got to her feet and hit the button to open the door.
*           *          *
The Sev`fel captain paced before Krystal, keeping his handgun trained on the vixen, "Now, we are going to do this nice and easy.  I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it."
Krystal glared at him, "And if I refuse?"
The Sev`fel smirked wickedly,  "Then I shall enjoy punishing you until I get the answer I seek."
Krystal did not like the sound of that.  But the vixen would tough it out, mentally steadying her mind to withstand the punishment so she would not break.  Krystal knew what was at stake if she broke; the colonies, her employers, and, most importantly to her, her partner's life.  No matter what happened to her, Krystal would not allow herself to let even a breath of information slip from her lips.
The captain placed his handgun in a holster at his side, "Now, tell me mercenary, what are the main defenses around the mine on this colony?"
"Like I would tell you." Krystal replied, her eyes flashing with a fierce glow.
The Sev`fel's hand moved quicker than Krystal's eye could track as it formed a fist and knocked her aside with ease!  The vixen caught herself before she could hit the floor, the impact causing her jaw to ache for a second.
"Now, shall we try that again?" the captain asked.
Krystal glared at him, "You'll have to do better than that.  I'm not going to break that easily!"
The captain smirked and chuckled, "Oh then this will be a lot more fun for me.  For you, however, it will be far from that."
Krystal steadied herself, looking the reptilian creature dead in the eyes as she spoke, "Do your worst.  I'll never break to you!"
The Sev`fel Captain cracked his knuckles, "I was hoping you would say that."
*           *          *
Chase and Sofia were moving quickly down a hallway, the fox checking the corners every time they reached a door or another corridor.  In his mind, the two had already been discovered to be missing from the detainment section of the ship.  If they were caught, he knew the enemy would open fire first.
But once again, as Chase checked down a hallway adjacent to the one he and Sofia were going down, the fox was surprised they weren't seeing more Sev`fel or Reaper units.
"Think they even realized we've escaped?" Chase asked.
Not a second after the words left the fox's mouth, a wailing alarm blared through the ship!  Red lights began to flash through the corridor as the alarm sounded.
"You had to ask that, didn't you Ronin?" Sofia replied, "Move!"
Chase did not need to ne told twice.  Once the alarm began to wail, the fox took off at a run, checking the corners quickly as they moved towards a lift Jennifer had marked.  But as Chase checked around one of the corridors that intersected the hallway, a blast of energy passed by his head!
"Reapers." Chase stated bluntly.
Sofia nodded and cocked her pistols.  The dove moved next to Chase before crossing the intersection, opening fire with her pistols as she took cover against the wall across from Chase.  The dove nodded to Chase as blasts of energy shot down the hallway between them, the dove blind firing around the corner.
Chase opened fire around the corner, taking carefully aimed shots, as the Reapers grew closer, the four robots continually opening fire as they were fired upon.  Chase's first shot grazed one of the Reapers, but it wasn't enough to bring the robot down.  Sofia finished it with a headshot, the bot going down once the round slammed between its eyes.  Chase's next shots brought down a second Reaper, the spread slamming against its chest as Sofia brought down a third one before placing her final shot between the fourth one's eyes.
With that threat eliminated, Chase moved quickly, leading Sofia to the lift.  As expected by both Chase and Sofia, the lift was locked down.  The dove went to work as Chase covered her, the fox holding both pistols pointed down the hall, his eyes checking both ways down the hall.  Sofia managed to open the elevator panel, working with the wires to hack the panel as she had with the one in the detainment center.
"Jennifer can you do something about that alarm?" Chase asked.
"Sorry Ronin, it requires a manual deactivation." Jennifer replied, "I cannot turn it off."
Chase spotted a group of Reapers moving up on the pair, the fox opening fire as soon as he could line up a shot.
The Reaper went down as the stun round impacted against its chest.  The other two opened fire a second later, Chase dodging around the shots as he returned fire, Sofia firing with one hand while she continued to try to work, her shots missing the Reapers.  Chase fired off another burst, the second bot going down as the third one opened fire again, the energy gazing Chase's shoulder!
The force of the shot caused Chase to spin with it, the fox catching himself and firing off another burst quickly, his shield sparking as it failed from the shot.  The shots spun the bot as they grazed it's side, Sofia taking another shot that forced the Reaper to shut down as the energy overloaded it.
"You ok?" Sofia asked.
Chase nodded, "Had worse, I'll be fine."
Sofia nodded and finished the hacking, closing the panel and slamming the button down.  As the lift doors opened, Sofia got on first, Chase backing on, his pistols held so they were pointing down the hallway in either direction.  Once they were on, Chase pushed a button that Jennifer instructed him to, reloading both handguns as the lift ascended towards the bridge level of the vessel.
"That went well." Chase said as he deactivated his shield.
Sofia nodded, reloading as well, "I was expecting a lot more security.  I'm actually disappointed."
Chase smirked, "Sounds like your well used to more action.  Why'd you settle to be my CO's assistant?"
Sofia smirked, "Tell you what.  We make it through this mission in one piece, and I'll tell you."
Chase nodded, "Deal."
*           *          *
The Sev`fel's fist once again slammed into Krystal's gut, the vixen groaning in pain slightly as her knees buckled, the air escaping her lungs.  The reptilian creature chuckled, pulling her head up to look at him.  The vixen was panting, clearly trying to withstand the pain clawing through her.  He let her go, the vixen falling for a second before the reptilian creature slammed his elbow into her back!  Krystal went down, hitting the floor hard as she let loose a soft growl of pain.  Before she could recover, the Sev`fel picked her up by the collar of her armor.
"Well, I was expecting you to have broken by now." The Sev`fel captain stated, "But you are proving to be more of a challenge than I anticipated.  I have to admit I am enjoying this."
Krystal did not reply, simply growling at the Sev`fel captain as she bared the pain, her resolve still solid.
"Now, once again, what are the defenses around the colonial mine?" the Sev`fel asked.
"I…won't…tell you." Krystal growled.
"Pity." The Sev`fel said with a shrug, releasing her collar.
Krystal's body instinctively tried to hunch over to halt the pain, but before she could, the Sev`fel lashed out, knocking her onto her side with a powerful blow to her side!
As the vixen curled up, pain clawing it's way through her body from the blow to her side, the reptilian creature stepped over her, examining its blades.
"If you continue to refuse to cooperate, I will have to make you bleed." The Sev`fel stated calmly.
"Do…your worst." The vixen panted as she tried to force herself to her feet, "I…w-won't break…"
As the Sev`fel turned it's arm, his blades now pointed outwards, towards the vixen, it gave a chilling grin, "Oh, I shall and you will."
But as he pulled back his arm, an alarm blared!  The wailing siren engulfed the room in it's sound as a lower ranked Sev`fel opened the door.
"The prisoners have escaped the detainment section!" The crewman cried, "You're needed on the bridge Captain!"
The Captain nodded and turned to Krystal, "We will have to finish this later."
As he walked out, the captain turned to the crewman, "Make sure she does not leave."
The crewman saluted as the Captain left for the bridge.  But as he turned, Krystal had already gotten to her feet.  The vixen was hurting, but she knew that this was the best chance she had to turn the tables on the Sev`fel.  As he drew his pistol, Krystal made her move.
To the crewman's surprise, the vixen threw herself at him, tackling the Sev`fel to the ground as she knocked his gun away.  Krystal and the Sev`fel crewman struggled for a bit, the vixen gaining an advantage and knocking the Sev`fel out with a well-placed blow to the side of the head.  As she got up, the vixen doubled over in pain for a minute before regaining her composure.  Krystal picked up the Sev`fel crewman's pistol and checked it.
"A military grade Stinger 9mm?" Krystal asked herself, "I would think a race like the Sev`fel would be using their own weaponry."
The vixen shrugged and opened the door, walking out after making sure the coast was clear.
The alarm was still wailing as Krystal made her way down the corridor, red lights flashing as the vixen moved.  Luckily, there did not seem to be any security in her path.  She guessed that they were all trying to recapture Chase and Sofia.  Her second guess was that they were going to attempt to reach the bridge and download the Sev`fel's plans for the xalphidium they planned on collecting from this mine and from the other colonies they had already attacked.
"I may not know exactly where I am, but I have to do what I can to help Chase and Sofia." Krystal thought to herself as she cocked the pistol, "I've got fifteen rounds here…better use them wisely."
The pain in her body was not retreating as the vixen walked slowly down the empty corridor, instead only clawing further through her body.  But so long as she was on her own, Krystal would endure it.  She had been trained for this at one point in her life, only having used that training a few times in her life.  Now, Krystal was utilizing it again, suppressing the pain from her mind as she focused on one goal, finding her partner.
Suddenly, the vixen heard movement!  She froze near the corner of an intersection of hallways, carefully checking around the corner.  As she did, Krystal saw a small team of Reapers coming towards her.  The vixen cocked the pistol she had taken, ready for the robots.  With a deep breath, Krystal rounded the corner and opened fire!
The pistol's barrel flew up as the first round left the weapon.  The bullet pierced the first Reapers head, taking it out as Krystal fired off another round into the second robot before any of the Reapers could begin to fire.  Once the third robot had begun to open fire, Krystal took cover again, firing at the bots as they returned fire, growing closer.  Krystal's next shot pierced the third of the four-robot team, blowing a hole through its chest as the armor piercing round tore through it.  As it fell the last Reaper stopped firing entirely, rushing forward as it's claws extended.  As it rounded the corner, Krystal fired twice quickly!  The rounds punched through its chest and head, dropping the bot before it could attack her.
The vixen took a second to breath before walking down the hallway, keeping the pistol up, now with only half of the rounds left in the magazine.  Krystal decided to take a more stealthy approach to her search for the bridge, knowing Chase and Sofia would be headed there.  Carefully, the vixen checked the hallways as she passed them, keeping her eyes and ears open for any signs of enemy activity.  While Krystal was still as determined not to spill a living beings blood as ever, the vixen knew that if she got cornered she would have no choice.  Thankfully, the alarm was still wailing away, keeping her own escape from being noticed, for now.  But she knew that would not remain the case for much longer.  Once she was noticed missing, the units searching for Chase and Sofia would be reduced, others being dispatched to locate her.
With that in mind, Krystal watched carefully as a patrol of Reapers passed her, headed towards an elevator.  The vixen watched them for a second out of curiosity.  But once the Reapers leveled their weapons at the door of the elevator, she knew what was going on.
"They must be coming up that shaft." Krystal thought, taking careful aim, "I cannot let Chase and Sofia wind up in an ambush."
As the door opened, Krystal fired!
*           *          *
Chase took to the side of the elevator door, his pistol held up as he nodded to Sofia.  The dove had taken the other side, her weapon pointed downward as she nodded in return.  The two of them were expecting an ambush the second the elevator doors opened.
The doors opened, revealing a team of four Reapers.  As the bots opened fire, another shot sounded!  One of the bots fell, a round punching through it with ease.  Chase and Sofia took advantage of the distraction, firing quickly to take down two more of the robots as the fourth was shot down as it turned to face the first shooter.
Chase stepped out first, taking aim in the same direction the Reaper had been.  But as he did, the fox found himself being hugged by a blue furred vixen!  Chase hugged her back, just glad to have found Krystal in one piece.
"I'm so glad you two are alright." Krystal stated as she let him go.
"Same to you." Chase replied, "Are you alright?"
"Hurting, but I'll be alright." Krystal replied, "One of them tried to break me for information about the colony's defenses around the mines."
Sofia watched them for a second before nodding, handing Krystal's rifle to Chase, "Must have been this warships captain.  From what we know, they like to do that job themselves."
Chase handed Krystal her rifle, "Ready to go find him?"
Krystal smiled and took her pouch from Chase, reloading the weapon and cocking it, "Get the data first, then I can find him if there's time."
Chase smiled as Sofia walked past him, "Alright then, let's keep moving."
Krystal walked beside Chase, covering their flank as Sofia took the lead, checking each corridor for activity.  The alarm was still wailing as the team made their way towards the bridge, Jennifer having sent the waypoint to Sofia's recon HUD.
Suddenly, the alarm turned off as the flashing red lights slowly turned off.  Chase looked around as Sofia kept her eyes forward.
"Something's wrong." Krystal stated, knowing what her partner was about to say.
Sofia nodded, "We keep moving.  They might be planning an ambush, but we'll be ready for them if they do."
Chase nodded as Sofia kept following the waypoint, Krystal keeping her eyes on their flanks as Chase kept his weapons sweeping over Sofia and Krystal, ready to support either girl if the enemy made any attempt to attack them.  As Sofia checked around a corner, she nodded to Chase and Krystal.  Chase took the front, passing the hallway as Sofia kept it covered, making sure the bots did not come that way.
But as Chase moved up, Sofia watched as another team of Reapers moved up on them from a further down corridor.  The dove fired off a round, missing the bots as they raised their arm cannons, the multi-barrel cannons opening fire!  Krystal popped around the corner, opening fire quickly as Chase blind fired into the hallway.  Sofia dropped down under Krystal, opening fire as well as the first bot fell, Krystal's stun rounds shorting it out.  The robots continued to fire, oblivious to the loss of their fellow bot, the energy pounding the walls in front of them as the three continued to return fire, finishing off the patrol before they could get any closer.  The bots fell; disabled once again by the teams stun rounds.
But as they did, Krystal called out another group behind them, Chase turning and firing off several rounds as Krystal opened fire.  Their rounds slammed against the robots before the bots could open fire themselves, falling aside.
"I think we just found the ambush." Chase stated as they reloaded.
"We must be close to the bridge then." Sofia replied, "Let's go before another patrol cuts us off."
Chase and Krystal nodded in agreement before following Sofia towards the bridge, and the Sev`fel's long-term battle plans, once more.

Description
Part Three: Complication

Krystal groaned softly, her head pounding as her eyes began to open.  The vixen shook her head as she struggled to sit up, her body weakened as her memory came flooding back.  The last thing she could recall was Sofia shouting something about gas and then everything fading to black.  Now, Krystal had no idea where she was or how she got there.
Mentally, the vixen did a quick check of her body.
"Good, nothing broken" She thought as she tried to get up, "But I can't feel my weapons weight.  That's not a good sign."
Suddenly, Krystal felt weight against her back, the weight forcing her down onto her stomach!  The vixen tried to push back against it, but when she tried, the weight forced her back down to the floor.
"Struggling is futile against me." A gruff, reptilian voice told her, kicking her side!
Krystal took a sharp breath as an armored boot connected with her side, the pain spreading through her side as she withheld any sign of pain.  The vixen looked up to find a reptilian creature standing over her.  It's blood red eyes glared down at her as the creature gave a soft growl, turning away from her as the vixen tried again to push herself off the ground.  Krystal's mind clicked, recognizing the creature as a Sev`fel!
"You and I are going to have a little chat." The Sev`fel stated calmly.
"What makes you think I have anything to say to you?" Krystal asked in reply, finally managing to get to her feet.
She heard the soft click of a hammer being pulled back on a pistol.  When Krystal looked towards the source of the sound, she saw the creature holding a handgun, the barrel pointed to her chest.  Krystal knew that the weapon was not holding a stun round in the chamber.  Without any way to defend herself against a point blank shot, the vixen decided it would be best to do as the creature said until she could retaliate.
*           *          *
Chase was leaning against the wall of the cell, examining it carefully.  Sofia's plan was simple enough.  Get a guards attention, somehow get the keys from the guard, then escape.  It sounded easy in theory, but Chase knew well that theory had issues when plans were applied to an actual situation.
But as a guard passed by, Chase smirked to himself, nodding to Sofia.  When the dove nodded back, Chase rapped on the cell wall.  The guard looked back to him, the Sev`fel giving a low growl as he walked over.  Once he was close enough, Chase struck!
The fox grabbed the guard by the collar of his armor, pulling the Sev`fel up against the cell door as Sofia snapped a remote device off the Sev`fel's torso!  Chase shoved the guard back as Sofia unlocked the cell door from inside.  The door unlocked as the fox pushed it open, Sofia moving past him quickly as the guard raised a weapon!  The dove's armored boot lashed out, knocking the weapon away before he could fire.
Chase grabbed the gun off the ground, cocking it and taking aim at the guard.  The Sev`fel growled and tried to get up, but Sofia pushed him back down, her boot planted firmly on his chest.  The Sev`fel growled at them as Chase stared him down, the barrel of the pistol unwavering.  Finally Sofia's boot lashed out again, knocking the Sev`fel aside into an unconscious state.
"Come on, there should be a guard station where they took our weapons." The dove stated.
Chase nodded and followed her, but on his mind wasn't his weapons or the mission, but his partner.  If the Sev`fel hurt Krystal, they would pay for it.
Sofia, sensing what was on Chase's mind, decided it would be in their best interest to hurry up and find Ronin-2 before anything happened to her.  As she looked around the hold, Sofia spotted, what looked like, a guard station near the entry to the detention center of the vessel.  The dove motioned to Chase, the fox nodding and staying behind her, the Sev`fel's gun still in hand.  At this point, the fox was regretting not bringing his arm blades with him.  But against a Sev`fel, the fox was sure he could do enough damage with his bare hands.
Sofia took one side of the door, Chase taking the other.  Sofia glanced into a window, seeing another Sev`fel guard inside, but he seemed focused on the monitors in front of him, not paying attention to his surroundings.  Sofia nodded to Chase, signaling for him to go in first.  The fox cocked the pistol and nodded back, slowly moving to face the door as Sofia's hand reached for the handle.  Chase pointed the pistol in front of him as the dove opened the door a bit, quietly.  The fox took it from there.
Chase kicked the door the rest of the way open, the Sev`fel going for his own pistol as he also went for the alarm as Chase fired!  The barrel of the handgun flew up, the flash from the end of the barrel bright as the bullet sped forward in a straight path.  The reptilian creature's body spun and hit the floor with a thud, his body going limp as Sofia found a panel to a locked cabinet next to the monitors.  They had been lucky the Sev`fel hadn't been able to set off the alarm.
"This could take a bit of time." Sofia said as she typed at the panel.
As she worked, Chase kept an eye out for any more guards.  The fox glanced to her after a minute, the dove finally managing to open the cabinet.  She pulled out Chase's pistols, handing the twin Stingers to the fox as she pulled her own out, finally slinging Krystal's S-32 Heavy Assault Rifle over her shoulder.
"You'd better plug Jennifer into that terminal by the door." Sofia stated as she checked her weapon, "Get a map and then we can find Ronin-2."
Chase nodded, not needing to be reminded of the fact that he and his partner were separated.  The fox walked over to the terminal, removing Jennifer's AI from his armor.  As the fox slotted her chip into the terminal, Chase checked his weapons.
"Did they put our extra rounds in there too?" Chase asked.
Sofia tossed him his pack, "Right here."
The fox caught it and smirked, reattaching it to his armor and reloading his handguns.  As he checked the pouch the fox smiled, seeing all of his ammunition still there.  The fox didn't second-guess it as he cocked the pistols.
Once he heard the 'ping!' in his ear, Chase took Jennifer's AI from the terminal.  As he replaced her into the AI slot on his armor, the fox looked to Sofia, the dove having Krystal's assault rifle over her shoulder, her own pistols on her hips.
"We ready to go?" Sofia asked.
"I am inputting a waypoint to the bridge now." Jennifer stated, "I cannot, however, locate Ronin-2."
Chase sighed, "Alright…we proceed as planned then.  Get to the bridge and download the Sev`fel's plans from the carrier main frame."
Sofia nodded, but she could sense that Chase was still worried about his partner.  The dove walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"She'll be alright." Sofia said with a smile, "Ronin-2 is pretty tough.  She'll be fine."
Chase nodded, "Yeah…yeah she is.  I guess she can take of herself, but I'm still worried."
Sofia nodded, "Then let's go complete the mission and find her."
Chase nodded and opened the door, his pistols raised and ready to fire.  Sofia walked next to him, checking their flank as the fox found a way out of the detainment section of the warship.  A large steel door was all that stood between them and the rest of the ship.
Sofia moved quickly, opening a panel on the side of the door and beginning to hack it.  As she worked, Chase checked the map Jennifer had downloaded on his HUD.  The map seemed pretty straight forward, the AI having already laid out a route for them to follow.  He turned to Sofia once he heard her close the panel, the dove nodding as she got to her feet and hit the button to open the door.
*           *          *
The Sev`fel captain paced before Krystal, keeping his handgun trained on the vixen, "Now, we are going to do this nice and easy.  I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it."
Krystal glared at him, "And if I refuse?"
The Sev`fel smirked wickedly,  "Then I shall enjoy punishing you until I get the answer I seek."
Krystal did not like the sound of that.  But the vixen would tough it out, mentally steadying her mind to withstand the punishment so she would not break.  Krystal knew what was at stake if she broke; the colonies, her employers, and, most importantly to her, her partner's life.  No matter what happened to her, Krystal would not allow herself to let even a breath of information slip from her lips.
The captain placed his handgun in a holster at his side, "Now, tell me mercenary, what are the main defenses around the mine on this colony?"
"Like I would tell you." Krystal replied, her eyes flashing with a fierce glow.
The Sev`fel's hand moved quicker than Krystal's eye could track as it formed a fist and knocked her aside with ease!  The vixen caught herself before she could hit the floor, the impact causing her jaw to ache for a second.
"Now, shall we try that again?" the captain asked.
Krystal glared at him, "You'll have to do better than that.  I'm not going to break that easily!"
The captain smirked and chuckled, "Oh then this will be a lot more fun for me.  For you, however, it will be far from that."
Krystal steadied herself, looking the reptilian creature dead in the eyes as she spoke, "Do your worst.  I'll never break to you!"
The Sev`fel Captain cracked his knuckles, "I was hoping you would say that."
*           *          *
Chase and Sofia were moving quickly down a hallway, the fox checking the corners every time they reached a door or another corridor.  In his mind, the two had already been discovered to be missing from the detainment section of the ship.  If they were caught, he knew the enemy would open fire first.
But once again, as Chase checked down a hallway adjacent to the one he and Sofia were going down, the fox was surprised they weren't seeing more Sev`fel or Reaper units.
"Think they even realized we've escaped?" Chase asked.
Not a second after the words left the fox's mouth, a wailing alarm blared through the ship!  Red lights began to flash through the corridor as the alarm sounded.
"You had to ask that, didn't you Ronin?" Sofia replied, "Move!"
Chase did not need to ne told twice.  Once the alarm began to wail, the fox took off at a run, checking the corners quickly as they moved towards a lift Jennifer had marked.  But as Chase checked around one of the corridors that intersected the hallway, a blast of energy passed by his head!
"Reapers." Chase stated bluntly.
Sofia nodded and cocked her pistols.  The dove moved next to Chase before crossing the intersection, opening fire with her pistols as she took cover against the wall across from Chase.  The dove nodded to Chase as blasts of energy shot down the hallway between them, the dove blind firing around the corner.
Chase opened fire around the corner, taking carefully aimed shots, as the Reapers grew closer, the four robots continually opening fire as they were fired upon.  Chase's first shot grazed one of the Reapers, but it wasn't enough to bring the robot down.  Sofia finished it with a headshot, the bot going down once the round slammed between its eyes.  Chase's next shots brought down a second Reaper, the spread slamming against its chest as Sofia brought down a third one before placing her final shot between the fourth one's eyes.
With that threat eliminated, Chase moved quickly, leading Sofia to the lift.  As expected by both Chase and Sofia, the lift was locked down.  The dove went to work as Chase covered her, the fox holding both pistols pointed down the hall, his eyes checking both ways down the hall.  Sofia managed to open the elevator panel, working with the wires to hack the panel as she had with the one in the detainment center.
"Jennifer can you do something about that alarm?" Chase asked.
"Sorry Ronin, it requires a manual deactivation." Jennifer replied, "I cannot turn it off."
Chase spotted a group of Reapers moving up on the pair, the fox opening fire as soon as he could line up a shot.
The Reaper went down as the stun round impacted against its chest.  The other two opened fire a second later, Chase dodging around the shots as he returned fire, Sofia firing with one hand while she continued to try to work, her shots missing the Reapers.  Chase fired off another burst, the second bot going down as the third one opened fire again, the energy gazing Chase's shoulder!
The force of the shot caused Chase to spin with it, the fox catching himself and firing off another burst quickly, his shield sparking as it failed from the shot.  The shots spun the bot as they grazed it's side, Sofia taking another shot that forced the Reaper to shut down as the energy overloaded it.
"You ok?" Sofia asked.
Chase nodded, "Had worse, I'll be fine."
Sofia nodded and finished the hacking, closing the panel and slamming the button down.  As the lift doors opened, Sofia got on first, Chase backing on, his pistols held so they were pointing down the hallway in either direction.  Once they were on, Chase pushed a button that Jennifer instructed him to, reloading both handguns as the lift ascended towards the bridge level of the vessel.
"That went well." Chase said as he deactivated his shield.
Sofia nodded, reloading as well, "I was expecting a lot more security.  I'm actually disappointed."
Chase smirked, "Sounds like your well used to more action.  Why'd you settle to be my CO's assistant?"
Sofia smirked, "Tell you what.  We make it through this mission in one piece, and I'll tell you."
Chase nodded, "Deal."
*           *          *
The Sev`fel's fist once again slammed into Krystal's gut, the vixen groaning in pain slightly as her knees buckled, the air escaping her lungs.  The reptilian creature chuckled, pulling her head up to look at him.  The vixen was panting, clearly trying to withstand the pain clawing through her.  He let her go, the vixen falling for a second before the reptilian creature slammed his elbow into her back!  Krystal went down, hitting the floor hard as she let loose a soft growl of pain.  Before she could recover, the Sev`fel picked her up by the collar of her armor.
"Well, I was expecting you to have broken by now." The Sev`fel captain stated, "But you are proving to be more of a challenge than I anticipated.  I have to admit I am enjoying this."
Krystal did not reply, simply growling at the Sev`fel captain as she bared the pain, her resolve still solid.
"Now, once again, what are the defenses around the colonial mine?" the Sev`fel asked.
"I…won't…tell you." Krystal growled.
"Pity." The Sev`fel said with a shrug, releasing her collar.
Krystal's body instinctively tried to hunch over to halt the pain, but before she could, the Sev`fel lashed out, knocking her onto her side with a powerful blow to her side!
As the vixen curled up, pain clawing it's way through her body from the blow to her side, the reptilian creature stepped over her, examining its blades.
"If you continue to refuse to cooperate, I will have to make you bleed." The Sev`fel stated calmly.
"Do…your worst." The vixen panted as she tried to force herself to her feet, "I…w-won't break…"
As the Sev`fel turned it's arm, his blades now pointed outwards, towards the vixen, it gave a chilling grin, "Oh, I shall and you will."
But as he pulled back his arm, an alarm blared!  The wailing siren engulfed the room in it's sound as a lower ranked Sev`fel opened the door.
"The prisoners have escaped the detainment section!" The crewman cried, "You're needed on the bridge Captain!"
The Captain nodded and turned to Krystal, "We will have to finish this later."
As he walked out, the captain turned to the crewman, "Make sure she does not leave."
The crewman saluted as the Captain left for the bridge.  But as he turned, Krystal had already gotten to her feet.  The vixen was hurting, but she knew that this was the best chance she had to turn the tables on the Sev`fel.  As he drew his pistol, Krystal made her move.
To the crewman's surprise, the vixen threw herself at him, tackling the Sev`fel to the ground as she knocked his gun away.  Krystal and the Sev`fel crewman struggled for a bit, the vixen gaining an advantage and knocking the Sev`fel out with a well-placed blow to the side of the head.  As she got up, the vixen doubled over in pain for a minute before regaining her composure.  Krystal picked up the Sev`fel crewman's pistol and checked it.
"A military grade Stinger 9mm?" Krystal asked herself, "I would think a race like the Sev`fel would be using their own weaponry."
The vixen shrugged and opened the door, walking out after making sure the coast was clear.
The alarm was still wailing as Krystal made her way down the corridor, red lights flashing as the vixen moved.  Luckily, there did not seem to be any security in her path.  She guessed that they were all trying to recapture Chase and Sofia.  Her second guess was that they were going to attempt to reach the bridge and download the Sev`fel's plans for the xalphidium they planned on collecting from this mine and from the other colonies they had already attacked.
"I may not know exactly where I am, but I have to do what I can to help Chase and Sofia." Krystal thought to herself as she cocked the pistol, "I've got fifteen rounds here…better use them wisely."
The pain in her body was not retreating as the vixen walked slowly down the empty corridor, instead only clawing further through her body.  But so long as she was on her own, Krystal would endure it.  She had been trained for this at one point in her life, only having used that training a few times in her life.  Now, Krystal was utilizing it again, suppressing the pain from her mind as she focused on one goal, finding her partner.
Suddenly, the vixen heard movement!  She froze near the corner of an intersection of hallways, carefully checking around the corner.  As she did, Krystal saw a small team of Reapers coming towards her.  The vixen cocked the pistol she had taken, ready for the robots.  With a deep breath, Krystal rounded the corner and opened fire!
The pistol's barrel flew up as the first round left the weapon.  The bullet pierced the first Reapers head, taking it out as Krystal fired off another round into the second robot before any of the Reapers could begin to fire.  Once the third robot had begun to open fire, Krystal took cover again, firing at the bots as they returned fire, growing closer.  Krystal's next shot pierced the third of the four-robot team, blowing a hole through its chest as the armor piercing round tore through it.  As it fell the last Reaper stopped firing entirely, rushing forward as it's claws extended.  As it rounded the corner, Krystal fired twice quickly!  The rounds punched through its chest and head, dropping the bot before it could attack her.
The vixen took a second to breath before walking down the hallway, keeping the pistol up, now with only half of the rounds left in the magazine.  Krystal decided to take a more stealthy approach to her search for the bridge, knowing Chase and Sofia would be headed there.  Carefully, the vixen checked the hallways as she passed them, keeping her eyes and ears open for any signs of enemy activity.  While Krystal was still as determined not to spill a living beings blood as ever, the vixen knew that if she got cornered she would have no choice.  Thankfully, the alarm was still wailing away, keeping her own escape from being noticed, for now.  But she knew that would not remain the case for much longer.  Once she was noticed missing, the units searching for Chase and Sofia would be reduced, others being dispatched to locate her.
With that in mind, Krystal watched carefully as a patrol of Reapers passed her, headed towards an elevator.  The vixen watched them for a second out of curiosity.  But once the Reapers leveled their weapons at the door of the elevator, she knew what was going on.
"They must be coming up that shaft." Krystal thought, taking careful aim, "I cannot let Chase and Sofia wind up in an ambush."
As the door opened, Krystal fired!
*           *          *
Chase took to the side of the elevator door, his pistol held up as he nodded to Sofia.  The dove had taken the other side, her weapon pointed downward as she nodded in return.  The two of them were expecting an ambush the second the elevator doors opened.
The doors opened, revealing a team of four Reapers.  As the bots opened fire, another shot sounded!  One of the bots fell, a round punching through it with ease.  Chase and Sofia took advantage of the distraction, firing quickly to take down two more of the robots as the fourth was shot down as it turned to face the first shooter.
Chase stepped out first, taking aim in the same direction the Reaper had been.  But as he did, the fox found himself being hugged by a blue furred vixen!  Chase hugged her back, just glad to have found Krystal in one piece.
"I'm so glad you two are alright." Krystal stated as she let him go.
"Same to you." Chase replied, "Are you alright?"
"Hurting, but I'll be alright." Krystal replied, "One of them tried to break me for information about the colony's defenses around the mines."
Sofia watched them for a second before nodding, handing Krystal's rifle to Chase, "Must have been this warships captain.  From what we know, they like to do that job themselves."
Chase handed Krystal her rifle, "Ready to go find him?"
Krystal smiled and took her pouch from Chase, reloading the weapon and cocking it, "Get the data first, then I can find him if there's time."
Chase smiled as Sofia walked past him, "Alright then, let's keep moving."
Krystal walked beside Chase, covering their flank as Sofia took the lead, checking each corridor for activity.  The alarm was still wailing as the team made their way towards the bridge, Jennifer having sent the waypoint to Sofia's recon HUD.
Suddenly, the alarm turned off as the flashing red lights slowly turned off.  Chase looked around as Sofia kept her eyes forward.
"Something's wrong." Krystal stated, knowing what her partner was about to say.
Sofia nodded, "We keep moving.  They might be planning an ambush, but we'll be ready for them if they do."
Chase nodded as Sofia kept following the waypoint, Krystal keeping her eyes on their flanks as Chase kept his weapons sweeping over Sofia and Krystal, ready to support either girl if the enemy made any attempt to attack them.  As Sofia checked around a corner, she nodded to Chase and Krystal.  Chase took the front, passing the hallway as Sofia kept it covered, making sure the bots did not come that way.
But as Chase moved up, Sofia watched as another team of Reapers moved up on them from a further down corridor.  The dove fired off a round, missing the bots as they raised their arm cannons, the multi-barrel cannons opening fire!  Krystal popped around the corner, opening fire quickly as Chase blind fired into the hallway.  Sofia dropped down under Krystal, opening fire as well as the first bot fell, Krystal's stun rounds shorting it out.  The robots continued to fire, oblivious to the loss of their fellow bot, the energy pounding the walls in front of them as the three continued to return fire, finishing off the patrol before they could get any closer.  The bots fell; disabled once again by the teams stun rounds.
But as they did, Krystal called out another group behind them, Chase turning and firing off several rounds as Krystal opened fire.  Their rounds slammed against the robots before the bots could open fire themselves, falling aside.
"I think we just found the ambush." Chase stated as they reloaded.
"We must be close to the bridge then." Sofia replied, "Let's go before another patrol cuts us off."
Chase and Krystal nodded in agreement before following Sofia towards the bridge, and the Sev`fel's long-term battle plans, once more.