Everflame (Finished)

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tina ran up ahead, sliding behind one of the larger crates. She searched around, two dogs were looking for them, an stood by the carrier, guarding the troops as they leapt onboard. The lynx hobbled up behind her, and in a flash the dog caught sight of him and aimed his gun. he put a paw to his helmet, an ten other guards learned their location.
"I think we've been spotted," bullets zipped past the meerkat captain. "Kitt, the grenade."

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt ducked below two stray shots, and pulled the pin out... "Smokes up!"
The grenade bounced twice as it struck the floor, and then suddenly with a muffled -whoompf- a cloud of light grey smoke exploded outwards.... "This is the time you hurry your fluffy tails guys... go!"
Bullets flew blindly through the smoke, one striking a marine in the left calf, his two team mates grabbed the injured wolf under the arms and ran with him howling in pain as they neared the ship, guns raised...

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"Pfft, fluffy tails." The meerkat ran up ahead, and in a crouch, shot down a guard nearest to the ship, while Tina ran past, up behind the troop carrier, it's rear door still open as the soldiers strapped themselves in their seats. Gun raised, she stepped in, pulled the trigger, bullets filling the soldiers. They were stuck in their seats. The pilot, a young gecko boy, leaned round his chair down the ship's length, looking straight at Tina's gun.
"You!" she said, marching over to him, gun to his head. "There's a ship down below, hovering in the atmosphere of that planet. Fly us there." The pilot stared at the gun in his face, then turned, facing dead forward, hands on the controls, powering the engine. "Everyone, get in!"

[KittKat chunky~]

The marines piled in after Tina as the rear door slowly started to close... Kitt pulled a belt of grenades off one of the dead soldiers, as well as several ammunition clips. THe other Marines followed suite, taking pistols, rifles, grenades... anything and everything.... Kitt walked up beside the pilot and threw a fragmentation grenade into the air, catching it again in one paw...
"Smart choice kid... now dont try anything funny or i'l personally force feed you this grenade, understand?"

He smiled, despite the situation... "Kitt... for fracks sake why you smiling?" He looked up at Annie, who had taken two sub machine-gun pistols and was now looking at him with an ever growing frown..
"Youre supposed to be responsible for this team, not frackin' around smiling like a loony... you sure you didnt get hit in the head or summin?"

Kitt smirked, reloading his rifle... "Well... actually now that you mention it i do remember several blows to the head earlier from" Annie smacked him across the back of the head again, quickly wiping the smirk from his face.. "Okay.. shutting up.... though a kiss would'v been nice since we did escape alive n' all... agh, dont hit me again!"

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tina giggled at Kitt and Annie, while the Lynx and Meerkat threw soldiers out of the ship. The engines roared, lifting them all off the hangar floor, while bullets pinged off the hull.
"Close the door!" yelled the Lynx. The pilot did as ordered, and the rear door whirred as it closed. The floated through the hangar, and out into space. The cosmos opened to them, filled with ships firing lazers and missiles, all aimed at the sliver of a ship darted in the distance. Tina prodded the pilot.
"Right, go down, to the planet, you see that?" She pointed to the sensors, which were filled with green dots, and one grey. "That should be your destination. Take us there and we won't feed you to the Triffids." The ship headed downwards into the atmosphere, dropping like a stone. The Admiration, hung in the air below them, approaching fast, but at its side a small pod was clamped to it.

The Lynx walked to the cockpit, looking down at the cargo transport. He narrowed his eyes then turned to the meerkat, who's face screwed in anger.
"They're stripping her," he grumbled.

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt leaned over the back of the pilot's seat, laughing... "Ooh, yeah... the Triffids, lets feed him to the Triffids!" he laughed again, smiling widely... Annie shook her head, peering closely at him... "Why the heck are you so happy all of a sudden?.... Are you... drunk?" She frowned, watching Kitt burst into another round of laughter...
"No im not drunk... but we made, we're alive!... we got out of that hell hole and we... are... alive!  Wooooh!" he punched the air, tail swishing ecstatically... Annie finally gave in and hugged him close, smiling...
"Kitt.... i wanna hug you... but at the same time... i kinda wanna hit you with somthing real hard...." She hugged him even tighter, to the point where he started to choke for breath... "Yeah... we made it....." And with that she pulled off his mask and kissed him suddenly...

"Alright boys and girls... nothing to see here..." The wolf private stood up, cross-armed, in front of the two... Kitt finally re-emerged, straightening his fatigues... he cleared his throat, looking down at the floor.. "But ah.... let us not.. forget, those who fell... so that we could stand here today.... hoorah, marines... first rounds on me tonight..."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The last three members of the admiration crew turned to Kitt and Annie and their little drama.
"We're not done yet," said the meerkat as he sat in the co-pilot seat, setting the weapons, aiming at the pod and shot it off the side of his ship. "They've probably infested it with bots, grabbing all our stuff." Tina shoved his shoulder.
"Oh come on, they're right. We're free, we did it. It's a time to celebrate." The meerkat looked back at her, still grumbling, but cracks of relief wriggled in his anger.
"I can't celebrate, not yet." He turned back to the viewscreen, his ship coming up beside them as they docked. "I mean look at it. They've probably debilitated the engines too."
"Oh that'll be fixed," she said with a smile, before stepping behind his chair and wrapping her arms around him.

The ship slowed to a crawl, then shuddered as it docked with the Admiration. Tina moved over to the gecko and hugged him to.
"Thanks a lot."
"Uuh," he mumbled, full of twitching nerves. "No problem." The rear door opened to the airlock and the Lynx stepped out. The place was bare, save for the ship's original systems. He moved through to the cockpit and activated the controls. Tina came up behind him, looked around and laughed.
"Looks like we still got power. You guys ready to be free?"

[KittKat chunky~]

Kitt grabbed the gecko by the neck of his uniform, and pulled him up out of the pilots seat... "C'mon... i aint leavin' you at them controls..."... he pulled the pilot along with him to the airlock and pushed him towards two rifle-wielding marines "You keep an eye on him... if he tries anything funny, remind him i'm still debating about feeding him to a Triffid..."

The marines nodded, both taking off the safety no their weapons.... Kitt walked up beside Annie, as the Lynx walked out through the airlock... "Back there... was that?..." She blushed, bushy red tail flicking.. "Heat of the moment sir... nothing more..." Kitt nodded, looking slightly crestfallen... "Yes, ah.... right...."

With that they both checked weapons, and moved out into the ship... "Captain... i recommend you and youre crew stay in the transport while my marines search every deck and cabin... we have no idea what could be in here...."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"Alright," said the captain. "But we will leave in three minutes." He looked up to the ceiling. "That ship up there can only distract the fleet for so long. To be honest, I'm surprised it hasn't jumped away yet already." He sat back in the pilot's chair. "After that, they'll come after us. They know we've escaped and they know where we are. We can't afford to to be caught now." He walked over through the transport, and leaned out  into his ship, looking over to the cockpit. "Hey you two, you best come back in here. The soldiers think it might be dangerous and I am inclined to agree." Tina popped her head into the corridor.
"Oh come on, sir, we're ready to go."
"I've given them three minutes, we go after that." The cat frowned.
"Fine, but I'm not going to that transport, I'm going to my room." With that, she marched out of the cockpit, pulling the lynx in tow. They moved down through the kitchen and and past the cargo hold. The meerkat sighed and headed across from the airlock, to the kitchen and over to the captain's quarters. Opening it, it was completely bare, without even a bed or shelves. He sighed again.

Then, a gun shot filled the ship.

[KittKat chunky~]

Marines on all decks raised their weapons, the -kerchick- of weapons being loaded resonated around the ship...
"Captain? Where the hell was that gunshot from!?" Kitt silently cursed the fact that their comms systems had been built into the confiscated power armour, as he ran down the nearest corridor, he caught up with Annie and the two ran back towards the airlock... "Keep frosty Marines! And captain, i'd advise your crew stayed aboard the Transport!.... Captain!?"

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

The meerkat ran out of his room, gun ready at his side, he moved through the kitchen.
"Tina and Daray, they went to their room, come on, follow me." He headed off at speed out the door and across the cargo bay catwalk. Opening the door to the quarters' corridor, the lynx was pressed against the door, keeping it shut. Tina faced the door with her gun raised. "What happened?"
"The thing that's stealing all our stuff is in there," Tina said, not taking her eyes from the door. "A big armoured floating robot eyeball with arms. It came at us with a plasma torch." Just as she spoke, a dot on the door, by the lynx's head, began to glow. Sparks started shooting off from it. "It's cutting through! Baby, get away from that." She reached to pull him as he leapt to the other side of the corridor.

[KittKat chunky~]

"Okay... so when i said stay on the transport... that obviously means go off wandering around the ship doesnt it?!"
Annie slapped Kitt around the back of the head as she ran past... "For fracks sake stop shouting and do somthing usefull.... sir..." Kitt loaded his rifle, ordering what marines had managed to find them into a firing line...
"Okay... as soon as that thing has finished cutting through, open fire with everything we got... dont give it time to actually get out just fire straight into the hole it's cutting..."
Five marines knelt at the front, raising whatever rifles they had, while Kitt, Annie and the wolf private stood behind... The wolf loaded a smooth bore combat shotgun, setting it to solid slug... Kitt looked to the recruit, raising an eyebrow... The wolf smirked, pumping the shotgun with a load -kerchunk-...
"What?... I likes my guns simple sir... point and shoot... dont get much more simple than that..."
Kitt rolled his eyes, flicking a switch at the side of his rifle... everyone else did the same, eight laser lights sprung into life, wandering over the sparking doorway like fireflies...

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

Tina sighed, "Ugh. Our room is going to be ruined." Her lynx breathed a laugh, and she glanced at him with a smile, shaking her head. While the plasma torch curved over the door, the captain stepped beside Tina, away from the marines.
"Well at least it didn't finish taking your stuff. I barely have a room left at all. It stopped short of stealing the wall panels."
"Where does it put it all," Tina lowered her gun, letting the marines do the work. The red line on the door curled into a circle
"You know that pod that I shot of the side of the ship?" said the meerkat. Tina stared at her captain, her eyes widening as she realised what he had done. "Exactly," he shrugged with an apologetic grimace.

The plasma cut was complete and the circle fell from the door. A large white ball flew through it, plasma cutter outstretched.

[KittKat chunky~]

The automaton had barely passed through the hole when eight red dots lit up across it's surface... what followed could only be described as a maelstrom of bullets as the marines opened fire. Depending on their personal preference some marines fired on full auto, other firing semi bursts while the low percussive boom of the Recruit's smooth bore blasted a solid slug into the machines metal casing...

The machine which was now so riddled with holes it now looked like a large, metal Swiss cheese, sparked and dropped to the floor with a clang. It sparked a few times, twitching, before finally falling still... Kitt walked up to it, and gave it a testing kick... it whirred and fizzed for the last time, before falling completely still...

"Okay... Everyone stay back... let's just make sure this guy hasnt got any friends with him..."

[Asia Kali Yusufzai]

"The quarters seem empty now. There's only the engine room left," said the captain. "Tina can show you the way there, she's the one who fiddles around with it." He turned to her, before noticing the lynx looking over the corridor to Max and Alain's rooms. Tina watched him, her expression falling as he walked to the rooms, opening Alain's door, and pausing. He didn't sigh, he didn't move, he just stood, looking at the room. His shoulders faintly drooped as he moved to open the next door, finding nothing again. Tina walked up behind him.
"Oh," was all she said. Her voice was frail, evaporating in her throat. The lynx turned and sheperded her away to the captain.
"Anything?" asked the meerkat. The lynx shook his head, the captain stood back, against the wall. He ran his fingers scratching against his thumb, which then clenched into a fist. "It was in the pod." He folded his arms, closed his eyes and swung his head back, pressing against the wall. "Ok," he said. "Tina go show them the engine room." She watched him, staring at him with solemn eyes. Her teeth were clenched behind her lips, half in accusation, half in worry.
"Okay," she said, and sidled through the marines to lead them out the door.