Furry who doodles here and there | Lot of Macro/Micro stuff | FA: beepbeepster, twitter: beepingbeepster | 18+ Only


Flintoxicated
@Flintoxicated

Spes stared up at the giant. Had he just imagined that? He had to. in the weeks the giants had spent systematically erasing their cities from existence they hadn't spent even a single second even trying to communicate with them or even responding to their own attempts to get their attention.

Above him the giant scanned the are with his eyes. Once more his lips moved. "I-i didn't lose connection did I?"

It was real! How the hell was it real?! Spes stood frozen in place, shaking like a leaf. Around the city section he could hear people screaming and the sounds of panic as the giant leaned in closer, casting them in his shadow.

"Hello?"

The lynx quickly raised the radio back to his lips. "I-i'm here!"

"Oh!" The giants lips curled into a smile. "Good! Are you alright in there? I tried to be as careful as i could when picking you up."

Careful? How was uprooting what remained of their city in any way careful? "W-why are you doing thi- why are you attacking us?" Spes asked, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"I'm not attacking you. I'm trying to keep you safe."

He bit down on his jaw. "Safe?! You've destroyed countless cities and killed hundreds of millions of people!"

Surprisingly the giant seemed a bit taken aback. Their lips opened and closed several times as if confused as to how he would respond. "I-i know. We have a good reason-"

"A good reason?!" Spes balked, anger overtaking his fear. "There isn't any reason you can tell me that justifies killing so many of us!"

"I-i-Please listen- I'm saving yo-"

An angry, bitter growl sounded from the lynx. "Dont give me that shit! You're invaders hellbent on exterminating us! And what--did you grab us to be pets? I'd rather die than be pet to some monster!"

Above him the giants face shifted oddly, his lower lip seemed to be shaking. His rage subsided enough to allow the lynx to realize that antagonizing his captor was likely not the best course of action. He'd made a mistake, one that might cost the lives of everyone in the city section.

Before he could say anything else, the radio signal was lost and the giant looked away. Spes couldn't help but rush out of the buildings to alert the people that they might be about to share the fate of the rest of their city.


He tried to stammer some response, realizing anything he could say would mean nothing. What did an apology mean from someone who has erased a dozen of your cities? These people had every reason to hate him. "I-"

A knock on his door made the mouse jump. Before he could even stand up, the door slid upwards and a figure stepped inside. "Sorry, couldn't wait for you to call." The dark furred squirrel said with a smile. His cocky smirk lessened as he looked into Eleos's face. "Is something wrong."

"Erebus!" Eleos quickly wiped his face and stood up. "I-im fine." He lied. "It's just-it's been a long day. Sorry, i totally forgot i was gonna call you."

The squirrel wasted no time walking up to Eleos. "No, there's something wrong." He placed a hand on the squirrels shoulder. "It's alright, you can tell me."

He swallowed back a sob. "I-i was just reading some news from the front lines." Eleos lied.

The color washed from Erebus's face, though he didn't show any other sign that the news affected him. "Ah. I should have guessed." Erebus swallowed. "It's hard not to let that get to you." The squirrel forced a smile. "Dont worry, as soon as we're set up here on this planet we'll be able to secure proper resupply routes."

Eleos wanted to nod. Not only was he lying to someone he truly cared about, but he'd done so in a way that now had him thinking of something if not equally, then far worse.

"Let's not linger on that." Erebus gave him another quick pat. "Let's focus on the good things, like how i finally have a weekend off that lines up perfectly with a certain round eared cutie-"

He blushed. "I-i gue-" The squirrel suddenly pulled him in close for a hug, holding him firmly.

"-And i'm gonna use every single hour to remind him what an absolute cutie he is." Erebus continued, planting a kiss on the mouse's forehead. "Tonight we cuddle, tomorrow i'll treat you to the finest rations and then we-"

"First- i gotta shower." Eleos said, giving his boyfriend a pat on the back to prompt him to release him. "Seriously, i'm filthy."

"Is it weird if i say i'm into it?" Erebus smirked.

Eleos laughed. "Very." He wiggled out of the squirrels grip and walked over to his bathroom. "I'll be quick."

"You better!" The squirrel chuckled. "I'll wait here and try to find a way to live a few minutes without you!"

He laughed again. "I'm sure you'll manage." The mouse chuckled as he closed the door to the bathroom. He'd offer the squirrel to join him, in fact the idea was something he'd always liked to try with Erebus, but his shower barely fit him alone which was saying much since there wasn't much to fit. Eleos stripped and stepped into the shower, while he'd like to linger in the warm water for hours, far more comfort awaited him in the squirrels arms.


Erebus paced around the room, spotting the piles of clothing in the corner. He always loved hearing more about his boyfriends exploits outside the colony. Being a member of the security detail he didn't exactly get many chances to step outside the colony ground, which was a real shame since this was the first planet he'd been on beside his home-planet. There was a whole world out there to explore and he wasn't going to be the one to do it. That's where Eleos came in.

They'd med when Erebus had approached the shy little mousy to ask him about the outside. It wasn't until the second hour of listening to the nerd rant on about their lack of equipment that he realized he was quickly enamored with the guy. He was cute, clever and was perhaps the only one in the colony shorter than himself. Not only could he finally feel like the big tough military man for once, but he could do it with the single cutest field researcher they had. Truly everything he dreamed of when he signed up for the Astral Army.

As he wandered around the small quarters, an object caught his eye. A small lunchbox sized case resting on the mouse's desk. Erebus immediately recognized it as a field sample box and he quickly moved over to it, eager to see anything from outside the colony. Was Eleos even allowed to have this?

The strange grey clump looked odd. it took him a moment to realize what he was looking at. These had to be the buildings of the tiny natives. His eyes lit up and his tail swished behind him excitedly. By the time he arrived the area had mostly been cleared of them and he didn't get a chance to see them.

Erebus leaned in closer, trying to see if he could see them better, failing to do so. He'd heard they were small, but not so small he couldnt see them.

It was strange to think that those tiny grey blocks were actually buildings.

The squirrel reached a hand towards the glass cover and tapped it a few times to see if he could get some sort of reaction.

While he hadn't seen any of their cities, he'd certainly felt their influence. During their first week on the planet some natives had apparently managed to get into their electronic wiring and triggered a fire alarm. He was still somewhat salty for having been woken up in the middle of the night by blaring alarms and fire suppressant systems. "Little bastards." He muttered.

He couldn't help but wonder what it was like. It was hard to imagine how entire cities of these things could exist. The official stance of the Astral Army was that they were considered enemy combatants, he'd been briefed that they had a few weapons that could be a threat but it was rare that individual cities had access to them. Erebus chuckled, trying to imagine how going to war with something this small would work.

An idea crossed his mind. He picked up the container carefully and moved it to the floor to get a better idea of what it would look like in the wild. Erebus rose to his full height and stared down with a smirk. If he didn't know what it was he might have assumed it was some form of grey mushroom or something. "Heh~"

He raised his foot over the container and held it there. Had Eleos done this? He'd heard that Field researchers had been relegated to clearing areas of these things and heard from others that it was usually done via ruining their settlements to drive them off. The squirrel lowered his foot slightly and rested it on the dome. No wonder they had the nerds doing this if it was this easy.

"What are you doing!?"

Erebus looked up to see Eleos standing in the doorway of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Before he could say anything the mouse launched himself across the floor, tearing the container out from under his foot and holding it close to his chest. "Woah-"

The mouse scrambled to his feet and moved past him, carefully placing the container back on his desk and leaning over it, examining intensely.

He stepped up to Eleos. "S-sorry, i was just playing with it-"

"They're not toys!" The mouse hissed at him.

Despite his conditioning, Erebus found himself flinching a bit. He'd never even heard Eleos raise his voice, let alone be angry. "I-i'm sorry. I didn't mean to-" His voice trailed off when he saw the mouse wasn't listening, instead he was completely focused on the container, looking at it like a mother would an injured child. "Eleos. What is this. Why do you have that?"

Eleos glanced over his shoulder. "I-i can explain."


The city had been in a panic as soon as the other giant appeared. His tapping of the dome had sent painful shock waves through the city sections, though that paled in comparison to seeing the underside of the giants sole.

As the dome creaked and groaned under the weight of the foot and Spes thought their strange twist of fate was simply going to result in the same grim doom as the rest of the city, they were snatched out from the cold clutches of death.

By the time Spes could even realize what was happening, they were back where they were with the previous giants, Eleos, face looming over them. For the first time since the invaders arrived, the lynx could see what he recognized as fear on their face.

He lingered by his window, even as Eleos moved away. Spes stared at the two giants as they moved over to the bed, the larger one with the fluffy tail stared intently whole Eleos spoke, nodding occasionally. For a moment they seemed to argue, the round eared one seemed to tear up a bit. Spes braced himself as the fluffy tailed one stood up, only to see he pace around the room. Occasionally one of them would glance back at them, and every time they did Spes feared they would do something.

2 hours passed before the fatigue in Spes's legs had him sit back down. The two giants seemed to finish their conversation and joined each other in the bed.

Around the city section people were also calming down enough to try to sleep as the lynx tried to process what he'd just seen. After staring at the sleeping titans for a moment, Spes opted to try to sleep as well.


When he woke up Erebus was gone. Eleos sat up, not feeling rested at all. Last night had been a trial. He'd expressed to his boyfriend how he felt about their colonizing of the planet despite how necessary it was. He hadn't expected him to take it lightly, being in the military proper.

Erebus had tried to argue the necessity and hadn't taken it well when he'd argued despite that. They'd left things on a sour note. He'd have to talk to him later. For now he had more pressing matters.

Eleos got to his feet and walked over to his desk. He stared down at the container, spotting the small lights between the streets. His mouth was dry, and hurt slightly from having talked so much long into the night, swallowing didn't help.

With a shaking hand he reached for the comms again and held it to his mouth. "A-are you there?"

Total silence. Eleos tried to swallow again. He was shaking.

"...yes."

His tail twitched. "I-i'm sure you wont believe me, but i promise i'll do everything in my power to keep you safe." He said, his voice was a bit raspy and it shook with every word. "And i swear to you, i'm going to find a way to stop the construction of this colony."

There was another moment of silence. Eleos braced himself, expecting to hear more about the horrors he and his people had inflicted, hearing the tiny person on the other end call him everything horrible under the sun. He deserved far worse.

"...i believe you."



Flintoxicated
@Flintoxicated

It didn't take long for their actions to cause effects.

Erebus was gone before he woke up. The mouse was met with a letter on his nightstand where his lover explained that he was going to take a shower and have a heart breakfast before the took him in for questioning, followed by a heartfelt farewell that he hadn't assumed the squirrel was capable of expressing. He resented Erebus a bit for leaving without saying goodbye for what might be the last time, but he knew it would be too hard for both of them.

He'd barely gotten dressed before an alarm was called colony wide, demanding everyone go to their stations and remain there. Eleos carefully grabbed the city section he had and hid it inside a vent shaft in his room, whispering an apology to Spes before heading off.

When he arrived to his station he was met with his fellow field researchers, they didn't seem to know anything, His CO, the capybara, was there as well, seemingly on edge. After a few hours standing there and listening to his co-workers ponder what the reason was, they were allowed to return to their rooms. Everyone except for him. Perhaps he hadn't been as secretive as he thought he'd been.

The capybara grabbed him by his shoulder, he considered resisting but since the large built rodent was easily twice his size he opted to save his strength. He was lead through the colony halls, earning stares from his fellow colonists, hearing them whisper about him.

He was lead deeper and deeper into the colony complex, to the lower floors past the generators and into the storage rooms. They stopped at an empty storage room.

"Get in." The capybara ordered.

Eleos didn't object. He walked inside, not stopping till he got to the wall as the door was closed and shut behind him, leaving him in the darkness. The mouse sat down on the stone floor and rested his back against the wall.

Hopefully Erebus was alright.


A metallic bang sounded as the door opened again, light flooded inside the room and blinded the mouse as he snapped awake from his sleep. How long had it been? He'd lost track of time pretty early on, and fallen asleep twice.

A figure stood in the door, shielding him from the stinging light. "Hold him to the wall."

Before Eleos could get to his feet, a pair of larger, burlier figures burst through the door. He was seized by the arms and wrestled to his feet before being slammed against the wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Eleos tried to fight but his attempts were quickly quashed by a fist being driven into his stomach, forcing a dry, empty lunged wheeze out of him that would have sent him to his knees, only to be shoved against the wall again.

As his vision adjusted to the light he could see his captors, a tall, broad rat wearing a security outfit and a shorter, but no less burly gopher, each on either side of him and keeping him firmly against the wall.

Standing in front of him was a tall figure, wearing a sleek, dark blue suit with a white shirt. A chipmunk, his expression was intense, focused entirely on Eleos. He recognized him immediately as the colony administrator. Themis.

"Eleos Iscarios." Administrator Themis said clearly. "Age Twenty six. Height: Five feet, three inches. Got your degree in the Mús University in biology with a minor in electrical engineering." The chipmunk stepped closer, leaning in towards the still wheezing mouse. "Tell me, how did you falsify this information?"

"I-" Eleos gasped. "I-i didnt-"

"Don't lie." Themis narrowed his eyes. "How long have you been spying for the insurrectionists?"

He tried his best to get a full, deep breath but that only made his lungs hurt. "I-I'm not a spy."

A smirk spread across the chipmunks face. "Oh? So i suppose you just happened to send sensitive information to the federation on accident?"

Eleos tensed up. "I-i didn't send anyth-"

"So tell me, how did you convince that squirrel to help you?" Themis continued. "I hear you two were quite close. Was he in on this from the start or did you pay him off somehow?"

He clenched his jaw. "I had nothing to do with this."

"Another lie." Themis sighed. "It's like you think we picked you out at random. We've of course investigated your crimes. Let me set the scene-" He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses, placing them on his nose before also grabbing a pair of glasses. "Twelve hours ago a message was sent from our long range comms, written by you. This message contained blatant exaggerations about the life forms on this planet and claims that our colonization of it is unlawful, also untrue. You sent this to the federations ethic committee in hopes of putting a stop to the colonization proce-"

"I had nothing to do-" Before he could finish his lie the rat drove his fist into his stomach again, prompted by a nod from Themis.

"Please don't interrupt." The chipmunk sighed. He adjusted his glasses and continued. "Your goal was to stop the colonization. And yes, i know it was you." Themis shot him an angry glare. "The message contained a picture, your proof as you called it."

Themis turned his device towards the still gasping Eleos. He glanced up to see the picture of the city section he'd included in the message.

"Now, as you likely know already, that is a NS-0410S sample container." Themis turned the device back to himself as he began pacing back and forth. "We have exactly fifteen hundred and seven on site. 1422 are not in use, 17 are broken, 67 are in use and one is unaccounted for. How am i doing so far?"

Eleos tried to breathe, feeling his lungs protest the attempt and yet begging for a full breathe of air. Despite the pain, he didn't take his eyes off the administrator.

"A single container, issued to a clearing mission completed three days ago, conducted by two people. One of them being you." Themis said dryly. "And before you try to deny it and shift blame to your loyal countrymen-"

The chipmunk snapped his fingers. An aide of his shuffled in from outside and handed a small, flat object to the administrator. Eleos felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the chipmunk hold the contained city section in his hands.

"We of course searched your room and found this." Themis continued, staring down at the container, and the streets contained within. "So. Why did you do it?" The chipmunk said through his teeth. "Are the insurrectionists paying you? Are you one of them? Have you been in contact with the-"

The administrator tilted his hand as he spoke. Eleos could see the rubble gathered in the corner of the container from their cleanup effort the day before roll to the side, colliding with the buildings. "Stop!"

Themis froze. "Why? Am i getting clos-" His eyes narrowed, spotting how the mouse's attention was focused solely on the container in his hand. For a moment he feared it might be a bomb, they had been in such a rush they hadn't even though about that, though what would be the sense in drawing attention to yourself with an explosion especially after going through the effort of hiding your tracks? That stare caught his attention. Either this spy was a masterful actor, or it was genuine. And the contents of the message he'd sent. "This?" He held the container up. "You did all this for these things?"

"They're not things!" Eleos growled. "They're sentient beings!"

"They're insects." Themis said coldly. "You chose to betray your species for bugs."

He struggled against the security guards grips. "They're living people and they dont deserve-" Eleos got punched again, not as hard this time but enough to shut him up.

"You idealistic fool." The chipmunk seethed. "Our empire stands on the brink of annihilation and you're just endangered it further for these specks!"

Eleos watched in horror as the administrator popped the cover off the container. "No-"He rasped, only to get punched once more.

Themis reached into the container and singled out the tallest building, using two fingers he grabbed it and plucked it out of the container. He held it to his face. "Species die out all the time and you picked something as pathetic as this one over your own."

Before Eleos could manage a breath to protest, the chipmunk squeezed his fingers and the skyscraper crumbled apart, the two chucks it formed falling to the ground below. He raised his shoe and slammed it down on the rubble, twisting it with a bone chilling grind.

He tried again to wrestle himself free as he saw Themis raise his hand above the container again. Eleos could only watch as the chipmunk pressed a finger on one of the city section and slowly ran it through the middle, like one would draw a line in the sand, demolishing everything in its path. Once he reached the end he pulled his finger out and wiped it on his jacket.

Eleos felt his heart race and he swore he could taste blood. It was as if he was seeing red. Themis bent down and placed the container on the floor, lifting his shoe above it. Summoning up the last of his strength, Eleos made a last ditch effort to escape his hold and save the tiny felines, but a shoulder was driven into his back in he was forced to the ground.

"No!" The mouse cried out as he saw the city section in front of his eyes, cast under the shadow of the administrators dress shoe. He tried to struggle as heel slowly pressed down on the edge of the city, flattening it in an instant. Slowly the rest of the sole began to lower, touching against the top of the tallest remaining building and-

"Sir!" A security guard, a red furred squirrel, appeared at the door. "Your presence is demanded in the docking bay!"

Themis stopped. "I'm bus-Who the fuck thinks they can demand my presence?"

The guard was visibly shaking. "Admiral Anhur, sir."

The room froze and went silent. Themis quickly stepped away from the container and towards the guard. He looked over at Eleos and then back to the guard. "You two. Come with me."

Eleos felt the rats elbow leave his back as the guards left to follow the administrator. As soon as he could move he crawled toward the container and dragged it to him, closing it shut and scooting back to the wall just as the door closed again. He sat there, his heart pounding in his chest and clutching the container close to his body, wrapping his arms around it.

His head throbbed and each breath felt painful, there was a constant sensation of something in his lungs that had him coughing, which brought more pain. Eleos felt the taste of blood in his mouth each time he tried to cough. He wanted nothing more than to help them, but he couldn't even see the container in front of his eyes in the dark and even if he could, his radio was back in his room...he didn't even know if Spes was alive.. All he could do was hope they survived.

"When the fuck did he arrive?" Themis growled as he and his guards hurried down the hallway.

"About ten minutes ago." The red squirrel guard explained. "H-he claimed to be here on official federation business."

Themis stopped. It suddenly felt like he'd just aged ten years. He took a deep breath, putting his hands on his knees and trying his best to stop feeling sick. This was supposed to be a simple quick colonization job. How the hell had it become this stressful? "Okay." He took a deep breath. "Okayokayokay-"

They continued onwards, entering into the docking bay. A massive, intricate ship, with a sleek, refined design that could have been described as elegant were it not for the class 5 cannons mounted on it. The ship bore the federations sigil.

Just as he started searching for it's commander, the ships cargo hold opened slowly.

A series of footsteps sounded as a regiment of federation personnel flooded out of the ship, taking up positions along the side of the ramp. Once in place, heavy, slow footsteps sounded from inside, getting closer and closer.

A towering silhouette, tall enough to almost reach the top of the massive hangar door of the federation ship walked out.

The figure was widely recognized around the galaxy. Stories of his numerous conquests and victories on the field of battle were circulated regularly in media, as were tales of his sheer brutality on the battlefield. There were some within even the federation that saw him as nothing more than a warmongering butcher. It was often wondered how the hell someone like him could rise to be the head of the federations Ethic committee.

Hailing from a large insectoid species on the edges of the galaxy often found to be hard to distinguish between aside from their height and manners, the Admiral was instantly recognizable, the yellow and black stripes on the fuzzy collar that adorned his neck stood out starkly from the standardized blue federation jacket, modified to accommodate the bees four arms with a single sleeve having been folded together due to the lack of an arm to fill it. The chest of the federation coat was loaded with medals, both from federation battles and his previous battles, that jingled with each of the towering insectoids heavy steps.

The bee-like admiral stood easily three times the height of even the tallest rodent in the hangar, his compound eyes glistened in the fluorescent lighting as he stepped forward, standing at the edge of the ship and stopping, his head locked directly onto Themis.

"Administrator Themis, I presume?" The Admirals voice vibrated through the air, monotone and without emotion.

"Ye-" Themis croaked. He cleared his throat and tried his best to regain his composure. "Yes. Welcome to our Colony Admiral. Though i must admit, i-I'm not sure as to why you're here."

The towering bee stared down at Themis, as if staring right through him. "The federation received a communicae from your colony approximately twelve hours ago."

Themis put on his most confident smile. "Yes. I should have assumed so. I'm sorry to say that you've made the trip for nothing, Admiral. That message was an elaborate lie sent by a spy. As you've likely heard We are at war with a group of insurrectionist. We sent a following communication explaining the who-"

"I am aware." Anhur interjected. "The federation has been watching the conflict of your species closely."

He bit back a comment about how the federation should be helping them, but opted not to anger the former warlord turned ethics director. "Y-yes, sir. I am truly sorry this little incident has wasted your time."

"And where is this spy now?" Anhur asked.

The chipmunk bit down on his jaw. "In custody. I was in the middle of questioning him before you arrived."

The bee stared, unmoving, unnervingly still. "I presume you are following the Federations guidelines on interrogation?"

"Of course." Themis lied. "Again, my sincerest apologies for wasting your very important tim-"

"I will require two field researchers to accompany my science officer." Anhur interjected. "I will provide the security detail."

Themis blinked. "W-what? What for?"

"For our investigation of the surface." Anhur clarified.

"I-I assure you-" The chipmunk placed his hands up, his demeanor faltering. "There is no nee-"

"Since i am already here-" The bee buzzed assertively. "It would be negligent of me to leave without investigating the claims. Regardless of need, it is protocol." Moving for the first time during their conversation, the towering bee leaned forward, once more the medals adorning his chest jingled. "Unless you have any objections?"

Themis tensed up, he could feel his hands sweating and was unable to look away from the intense, yet expressionless composite eyes. "W-with all due respect, Admiral. You are outside your right to demand to investigate us. The colony is not yet a recognized part of our empire and therefore not within federation jurisdiction." He said as firmly as he could muster. "Due to the ongoing war against the separatists, we cannot allow any unauthorized activity to take place on colony grounds. I'm sure you understand."

There was an intense silence between the two. After a few seconds Anhur rose back to his full, imposing height. "I understand. We will leave as soon as you hand over the prisoner to our custody."

Themis narrowed his eyes. "Why would i do that?"

"Federation protocol regarding terrorism against federation citizens." Anhur said. "Article 17 states that acts of war, such as espionage, against citizen species of the federation count as terrorism. As you are a rodent colony, this spy has committed a terrorist act against a federation species and it is within my authority to prosecute him through federation law."

"B-but-" Themis tensed up, visibly sweating. "Y-you cant do tha-"

"I can." The bees head quickly snapped towards some of the federation personnel behind him. "My head security officer will accompany you in case the spy tries anything."

Themis nervously adjusted his glasses. "T-that is not necce-"

"It isn't." Anhur interjected. "It's protocol."

Eleos snapped back awake. He'd passed out somehow. Despite his stomach hurting and every breath being agony, he couldn't keep his eyes open. It had been a few minutes since he'd stopped being able to feel his legs. The mouse tried his best on keeping his grip on the container as strong as he could.

They would likely try to take the container away from him whenever they came back. How he wished he could see the status of the people in the container. Was there even anyone left inside? Was he clutching a container of dust? It wasn't like he could escape and free the tiny felines, if there was anyone left inside they would likely get destroyed. Or worse is Themis was the one to get his hands on them.

Light flooded the room and Eleos hid the container under him the best he could. A massive shadow stood in the doorway and the mouse tried to get to his feet, only to feel a sharp sting run up his stomach, painful enough to send him back to the floor.

"Take him to the ship." Was the last thing he heard before he passed out.



Flintoxicated
@Flintoxicated

The last thirty five hours had been the most harrowing since the invasion began.

Spes looked out across what remained of the city section after their most recent ordeal. He could at least brag that he was one of the few people to have seen the underside of a rodents foot and lived to tell the tale...thrice. It had been foolish to think they'd made it out of the fire.

As horrible as almost being snuffed out under the rodents shoe was, Spes couldn't get the image of Eleos' pained expression out of his head. He hoped the mouse was alright but Spes knew that was hopeful thinking. The last thing he'd seen of Eleos was his lifeless body before he was dragged away.

They'd been taken after that. For twenty whole minutes the city section was in anarchy, fearing they were about to meet their end after a prolonged bout of luck, their guardian gone and once more in the clutches of unknown giants.

But then they had not been crushed. Instead it appeared they were being studied.

These knew giants were quite dissimilar to the rodents. Their snouts were longer and their ears sharper, triangular. Larger than the rodents as well.

So far they hadn't done anything to harm them, they hadn't even opened the container a single time. All they had done was observe them. After a while you kind of grew numb to the massive eyes glaring down at you...until even larger ones joined in.

Spes had just managed to calm the surviving populace down before a new shadow passed over the container.

Its face was massive. Abyssal black eyes like ocean of darkness stared down at them. Spes wanted to call out to the city to remain calm but their comms were down since their latest attack, not that he could get a word out.


He stared down at the container, his eyes had trouble focusing on something so small in front of him but he could see the structure in it. Anhur rose back to his full height, almost reaching the ceiling of the lab section. "They're sentient."

"Yes." His ship lead science officer, a short, older husky replied. "Not far from warp technology."

Anhur continued staring down. "That makes them PW class." Though aged, his eyes could still see the damage caused to the container. "They're damaged."

The science officer nodded. "I'm not sure I can open the container without causing more damage. We have next to no data on them and it's not like the rodents are sharing whatever they have."

The bee turned around slowly, not replying to the statement. "Start analyzing their biology as quickly as you can." He said as he began walking out of the science bay. Themis had cut off contact about as quickly as he had kicked them off the colony. Currently they were in orbit above the planet, monitoring the rodents activities. Themis had quite sternly demanded that they leave their orbit or they would open fire to which Anhur reminded him that he was a federation Admiral piloting a red star class battleship armed with plasma torpedoes. As far as he knew, the chipmunk was still trying to contact his planets ruler.

The question that was burning in his mind at that moment wasn't if the rodents knew the tiny species was sentient or not, anyone with even halfway working eyes could tell that. The question was how he was going to prove it. He could assume that the rodents would deny knowing anything about it or even rush their colonization efforts further and eradicate the species before it could be verified. He'd seen it before countless times with countless other planets. It was an effective means of hiding their crimes.

Whether or not a species was sentient or not could be determined via a simple can, judging by their level of development they would at least have electricity, though the Rodent would know so as well, any signs of that would be their first target. Even if the rodents had missed anything, the scanners were being blocked by the colony. No doubt Themis was down there right now, thinking of a means of covering up their actions or finishing them before anything could be done.

There was someone on this ship who could verify what the rodents knew. Whether he could actually tell him was a whole different matter.

After a very short, brisk walk Anhur arrived at the medical bay, stepping inside and heading directly to the only current occupant. He was met with his chief medical officer, still leaning over the mouse with a scanner. "What is his status."

"Immobile. Internal bleeding, huge loss of blood. Keeping him sedated for the pain." the Medical officer, an older shrew quickly answered, likely sensing her Admirals intentions as soon as he arrived. "He is in no condition to talk."

Anhur stared down at the unconscious mouse. "I only need a few minutes."

The shrew looked up at him, keeping her stalwart glare despite the sheer difference in height between the bee and herself. After a few seconds she stepped away, grabbing a syringe from a table beside her. "For the record, i don't approve of this."

"Noted." Anhur said with his low, hum like voice.

The medical officer stepped up to the bed and carefully injected a small dose of chemical into her patient. Anhur quickly stepped up behind her, looming over the bed. After a few minutes the mouse stirred, opening his eyes and wincing from the light, his face contorting as his body awoke and the pain of his various injuries washed over him.

Before the mouse could even open his eyes, Anhur spoke. "Stay calm. You're in the medical bay on my ship."

"W-what?" Eleos croaked. "I-"

"Did the rodents know the planet had a sentient species?" The bee asked immediately afterwards.

The mouse shifted in bed, wincing again from the pain. "W-where is the co-container?"

"Answer me." Anhur insisted. "Did the rodents know."

Eleos stared back at the towering silhouette above him, barely able to see or even think straight from the blinding pain coursing through him. His chest felt tight and breathing felt like forcing his lungs to tear open each time. The light began to fade as keeping his eyes open grew too difficult. He could hear faint beeps from his side before he drifted off.

"Step away." The medical officer tried to push the bee away, only managing to do so when Anhur moved himself. She injected another liquid into the mouse and began to work once more. "This interrogation is over."

"I was not finished. Can you wake him up again?" Anhur said.

"I can, but wont." The shrew glared at him over her shoulder briefly before focusing back on the mouse. "As your chief medical officer my authority trumps yours in matters of medical health. He'll die if this continues."

Anhur met her stare with his own, expressionless and yet intimidating stare. "Unfortunate. Notify me when he wakes up."

"You're lucky I don't ban you from my medical bay and report you to federation command." The shrew growled.

The bee rose back to his full height and made his way out of the medical bay. "Noted." Anhur stepped into the halls of his ship. He needed a witness before it was too late.


"Admiral Anhur." The white furred mouse said with a tone that reeked of seething anger hidden behind a professional smile. "So gracious of you to finally respond. Perhaps you care to explain why you are accosting one of our colonies?"

Anhur put his three arms behind his back. "You will excuse my tardiness. As you can imagine, the duties of an admiral extend past a single planets matters." He explained. Truth be told, he'd never quite gotten the hold of diplomatic talks, being far more accustomed to negotiating the terms of surrender with a conquered planet. From his experience he'd come to think of political talk as much the same as that, only with far more flowery speak than he was used to. His first move was to assert his rank, which would likely prompt a similar response.

"I'm sure." The rodent high command head said dryly. "As you can likely assume, the duties of running an entire empire amidst a war eclipse even your duties on the...ethics committee."

There it was. The attempt to disregard the importance of the call by specifying his station. Where he the admiral of the federation fleet it likely would not even have been mentioned unless he wanted it so. "And yet, here you are." Anhur responded.

"Indeed." The mouse furrowed his brow. "I don't have to explain to you the importance of this planet for the rodent empire. After all, you were one of the votes against bringing the federation into the conflict."

"Your civil war is not for the fe-"

"Insurrection." The mouse interjected. "Your investigation is based on the actions of a spy. The federation already plays right into the palms of the insurrectionists with their inactivity and now you're delaying us here."

"That may be." Anhur ceded the point, not to admit fault or placate the rodent, but because it was a step in the right direction for his next attack. "And i would be far out of my authority to take any further action if it had not yielded results." Anhur readied his shot. "The planet is home to a sentient species."

The mouse's face darkened for a moment before his no doubt practiced smile returned. "I really would have thought the admiralty of the federation was a bit more thorough in their research."

Anhur stared back silently.

"That.. sentient species as you called it, is a fake." The high council head explained. "Planted there by the insurrectionists. According to our research records there was no sign of that species up until that communication from the spy was sent out."

His wings splayed but a fraction. "You cannot expect me to believe that an entire species, cities and all was planted under your noses."

"Our field teams report the so called cities you cite are empty. Those sentient creatures you have are likely some species procured by the insurrectionists forced to lie on their behalf." The mouse smirked wider. "The rodent empire will of course introduce steps to rescue and care for these displaced species."

"If it is as you say-" Anhur's tone took a deeper hum. "Then allowing us access to the planets surface should be of no consequence. My research team should be able to come to the same conclusion."

The white furred mouse narrowed his eyes. "If you insist, i can allow you back on the planet as soon as we've done a security sweep. We've just had a security breach at the colony. Things are on lockdown until a security detail from the nearest rodent planet can arrive to assist. It should only be a few days."

No doubt a means of delaying so they could finish eradicating the evidence. It was rare that Anhur was in such a position, on his backfoot in a fight even if it was a verbal one. It seemed that the rodents had everything planned out, of course they would. They would use every single trick in the book to keep away from the protocols. He had to change up his strategy. "Strange. Your claims dont match our findings."

The mouse's brow furrowed further and he sat forward, his face filling more of the viewscreen. "Are you referring to the false data sent by the spy?"

"I am referring to the sample we procured while on site." Anhur declared.

"Y-you were not authorized to do any sort of che-"

"My sincerest apologies." Anhur interjected. "Due to a miscommunication a few samples were taken during the short period were were docked on the planet." He strode to his view window, staring down at the planets surface. "Our findings go against everything you've just claimed."

The head council man didn't respond.

Anhur turned back around and pressed his point further. "We found that not only has this species evolved here, but all the materials in their cities are sourced from the planets resources. Unless you're going to claim several hundred cities were crafted and placed on the planet without your administrator noticing." Anhur shot.

"T-this has to be some error." The head councilman stammered, clearly offset for the first time since this conversation started.

"Perhaps we should as Themis about this discrepancy?" Anhur suggested. This would offer the councilman an out from responsibility. While he would like nothing more than to crack down on the entire operation, time was of the essence.

"Y-yes." The councilman agreed. "I-i'll contact him so h-he can explain this d-discrepancy."

"I'll give you a minute to reach him." Anhur said in a low buzz as he placed the call on hold, noticing another incoming call. He accepted it.

"Sir." His head science office, the husky appeared on the other line. "I've managed to re-activate power for the container and figured out what sort of food they can eat. I'm just finishing up making sure they're safe inside the container and just about ready to start researching them for the report."

Anhur nodded. "Good. Once you finish the report, don't upload it to the server until i say the word. Understood?"

The husky cocked his head. "Uh-o-alri-yes sir! Uh- but doesn't protocol say to uploa-"

"That's an order." Anhur said sternly, earning a nod from his science officer. The bee cut the transmission. He'd never been much of a gambler, but had often heard he had the perfect poke face. Besides, it was only falsifying federation records if he was wrong.


He woke up feeling a sharp pain in his head, it served to distract him from the pain in his stomach, legs and arms for a brief moment before his growing consciousness made the mouse keenly aware of just how aching his body was.

Opening his eyes the light stung them briefly. Eleos understood it as meaning that he was someplace different than he passed out in, whether that was a good sign or not remained to be seen.

Through his blurred, groggy vision he could make out very white surroundings, not very spacious. He was in something soft and warm, a bed. In front of him, at the foot of his bed was a towering figure. He tensed up, feeling a jolt of pain surge up his body.

"Relax." A stern voice ordered. "You're safe."

"Where am i?" Eleos asked, his voice raspy and dry.

"You're in the medical bay of a federation ship." The voice explained. "You've been unconscious for five days."

As his vision began to clear, the mouse became more and more aware of the figure in front of him. A tall, massive even, insectoid wearing the blue uniform of the federation that contrasted strongly against his black and yellow furred body, adorned in metals and tassels. An admiral. "Y-you got my message?"

Anhur nodded. "We did."

"T-the planet! You've got to st-" He tried to sit up but felt his body protest the attempt.

"Lie still." The bee ordered. "I'd rather not have my medical officer threaten to report me again. The planet is being handled, and we are in the process of stabilizing the feline population."

He felt his heart slow down at the words, like a weight had been lifted of his chest. Eleos allowed himself to slump back into the soft bed.

"Administrator Themis is being escorted to the nearest federation facility to answer for his crimes, hopefully we can press him into implicating some of the higher ups." Anhur continued.

"Th-there was another- uh- i had someone working with m-" Eleos stammered.

"Yes. He is en route to a federation prison as we speak." Anhur interjected. "Unfortunately the rodents are working diligently to demand he be extradited to their prisons to be tried as a spy but i've leveraged a bit of influence to make sure those demands get locked behind layers of protocol. While i draw breath he shall be kept out of their hands."

He felt the lump in his throat loosen and breathed a raspy sigh of relief. "T-thank you."

Something akin to a laugh sounded from the towering bee. "I'm merely doing my duty. It is you who is deserving of praise. Were it not for you the felines would have faced genocide. Thanks to you we'll be able to bring down quite a few corrupt operatives within the rodent empire."

Eleos clenched his jaw. "I-i don't deserve thanks."

The bee didn't reply, he simply stared with those large, expressionless eyes.

"I was complicit in the genocide." Eleos admitted, his voice cracked a bit. "I-i-i was part of missions that lead to the destruction of at least two cities. I should be tried right along with everyone else. It's what i deserve."

Another sound came from the bee, perhaps a chuckle? "We rarely get what we deserve." Anhur buzzed. "So, you would wish to be tossed into a federation cell to rot away?"

Eleos swallowed. "Yes."

"Coward." The bee chuckled.

The mouse blinked. "I-i-uh-"

"You would rather sit and be crushed under the weight of your guilt than to carry it forward." Anhur accused. "It is the choice of a coward, you might as well ask for death."

He tensed up, feeling his heart race in his chest. "W-what-"

"It is not up to you to decide what you deserve." Anhur said. "It is up to me...and i have made my choice." He reached over to to a table behind him and brought fourth an object. "And i have made it in cooperation with those you have wronged."

Eleos recognized the object immediately. The red plastic looking container that housed the city section that had started this whole ordeal. He wanted to leap up from his bed and grab it from the towering admiral, fearing that at any moment he might clench his fingers and crush the container in his oversized hand. As he was about to try to move, the bee leaned forward, holding the container for him to grab. The mouse wasted no time, grabbing the container and holding it to his chest protectively.

He stared down into the tiny streets, almost tearing up with joy when he could make out the tiny dots mingling around between them. A large section of the city had been reduced flat, in the distinct shape of a heel. There were even lights coming from the tiny buildings.

"You can communicate with them using the button on the side."

Eleos looked up, way up. The admiral had stood up to his full height while he was busy inspecting the feline habitat. "I-"

"They were quite adamant about staying by your side, regardless of the promise that it was safe to relocate them back on the planet." Anhur turned and started walking to the door. "There is someone there eager to speak with you."

Before Eleos could get another word out, the admiral was out of the room, leaving him alone. He quickly turned his attention back to the habitat, pressing the button on the side, a blue light lit up beside it.

"H-hello?"

"Hey! You're alive! Thank the stars!" A familiar voice beamed.

Unable to contain his feelings any longer, Eleos broke into sobs.


He spent the next three hours recounting the past few days to the mouse.

When the heel crashed down on the edge of their container he'd though that was it. There was no way that fate would allow them to survive three separate attempts at stomping them but it had happened.

Finding themselves under the gaze of this new alien species, not knowing what was happening, not knowing where their lone protector in the world was. not even knowing if he was alive.

Spes had done the only thing he could think of. He'd told the populace that remained to hide indoors.

When the container opened again he could only pray.

And it seemed those prayers had been heard. Instead of being crushed or worse, a large amount of food was deposited inside the container, once he managed to work through the disbelief he sent out squads of people to gather and distribute the supplies. For the moment they felt a sliver of safety once more.

...until they saw the insectoid. For the longest time he'd thought the rodents would be the largest thing he'd see in his life, the bee sent the fear of gods into his heart. When he heard him speak he could hardly keep his voice steady enough to reply.

"So yeah." Spes sighed. "I-it's been rough."

"I-I'm so glad you're safe." The mouse said, still recovering from his emotional breakdown. "I-I'm sorry-i should have d-done more to keep you safe."

"It's okay." The feline replied, holding back his own emotions. It was admittedly hard to see the mouse like this. Hard to believe that someone that big could seem so vulnerable.

"It isn't." Eleos interjected, leaning over the container. "I should be locked away for the rest of my life."

Spes swallowed. Truth be told he was having trouble reconciling with his feelings on the mouse. By his own admission he'd assisted in the eradication of several cities. How many people was that? Five million? Were they large cities? Small cities? He shook his head. "You heard what Anhur said. We need you for something else."

The mouse blinked, sniffing far above them.

"From what I've heard from the admiral, they're having trouble earning the trust of the people on the planet. Which is understandable." Spes explained. "My people have a hard time viewing them as more invading giants. Anhur explained to me that they need someone they can trust to lead the effort to restore our world."

The mouse blinked again. "T-that cant be me. I-I'm one of those invaders."

"You're also the one that saved the planet." Spes argued. "You at least have some standing with us. I mean, you got use to trust you."

Eleos didn't reply, his eyes scanned the streets idly, clearly lost in thought.

Spes smirked. "Though I'm sure Anhur can set you up with a prison cell if you demand it."

The mouse stared down at them for a moment. For the first time in a week the mouse laughed, then wheezed from the strain it put on his body. "That's a great set of choices. When you put it like that, how can i refuse?"