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Although it does contain some M/M Yiff scenes, at heart it is a dark scifi/love story that may appeal to all tastes. Anyways, give it a shot, and prepare to enter a new world. If you have any critiques or anythin', just let me know! WARNING: some violence and fight scenes are inside, but nothing more than what would pass as a mature audience in a movie theatre. It is a military theme after all.\n\nThanks to @darkgoose for my Avatar!","description_bbcode_parsed":"This is an ongoing story about a military wolf and his husky friend as they struggle through a web of intrigue and deception in a futuristic world where nothing is quite as it seems. Although it does contain some M/M Yiff scenes, at heart it is a dark scifi/love story that may appeal to all tastes. Anyways, give it a shot, and prepare to enter a new world. If you have any critiques or anythin', just let me know! WARNING: some violence and fight scenes are inside, but nothing more than what would pass as a mature audience in a movie theatre. It is a military theme after all.

Thanks to \r\n\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdarkgoose\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t		\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdarkgoose\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
for my Avatar!","writing":"[center][/center]Acceptable Hazard\n\n\n\nChapter 1\n\n Colin woke with a start. Cold sweat running down his muzzle and matting his fur, he temporarily forgot where he was. In that moment of blank panic his breath stilled as the reality of the waking world rushed in. As his eyes began to adjust to the cramped apartment's morning darkness, the dream evaporated like night sweat into the cool air. Exhausted, Colin let out his breath and fell back onto the thin pillow. Turning his head he glanced at a large bulge, wrapped in the majority of the bed's thick woven blankets. \n \"Thank god he's still asleep,\" he sighed inwardly, relieved. \" I thought I might have woken him again.\" Rolling back toward the worn nightstand, Colin lifted his friend's wallet out of the way of the small alarm clock. The numbers '3:16' glowed dully, barely visible even in the dim light.\n \"Damn nightmares. At this rate, I'll start passing out in the lab again.\" He thought. Cringing against the thought of the long day ahead, Colin gently climbed off the Queen mattress in an attempt to let Paul sleep off the rest of the morning.\n \" Slam!\"\n Colin had fallen forward, smacking his jaw on the cold tile floor of the bedroom. Letting out a muffled grunt, he looked through dazed eyes to find his claws had caught in the sheet, which had been tossed to the foot of the bed during last night's escapades. The covers stirred, but the form beneath them made no sound.\n\"Well, at least I didn't wake him.\" Picking himself up off the ground, Colin felt his way to the wall and into the bathroom, massaging his jaw as he went. Stumbling groggily to the sink, he felt along the wallpaper for the light switch. The bare bulb clicked on, temporarily dazzling him in the flash of the fluorescent light. As he blinked away the spots obscuring his vision, he leaned in toward the mirror and scanned his haggard appearance. Dark circles pooled under his eyes, which stood out against the snow white fur covering his face but not the dark grey of the rest of his head. Checking his swollen cheek, he caught a glimpse of the fine silver roots coming out beneath his left ear. It was a stinging reminder that he had forgotten his nightly ritual. Pulling open the cabinet, Colin rummaged through the junk and pulled out a small vial of dark grey dye. Dabbing some onto a brush, he combed the fur along his ear, erasing the traces of his past. \n Colin was a mixed breed, his mother was a Husky, and his father was a grey wolf. Although he mostly took after his father in body structure (according to his mother at least), the pattern in his fur and the electric blue of his irises were distinctly that of his Mom. Unfortunately, he had also inherited her distinct birthmark; both his left ear and left eye were covered in a silver patch of fur. In Arceus, especially after the start of the battles, Huskies and other lower canines were considered an inferior race due to their more passive nature. Having been raised in the Lorine Military District, he had been the subject of hate and social stigma by his lupine peers, made worse by the damn patch of fur like a scarlet letter emblazoned on his face for all to see. \n Rinsing off the excess dye, Colin reached in to the cabinet once more. Grabbing a bright blue bottle, he applied the electric blue gel to the tips of the fur on top of his head and ears. After fifteen minutes, he went back in to the bedroom to put on the less cumbersome parts of his uniform. As he sat on a simple wooden chair lacing his combat boots, he squinted through the blackness toward the bed. To his shock, the covers were tossed to the floor and the bed was empty. As he stood up to take a closer look, he was knocked face first into the bed as another body collapsed on top of him.\n \"Mornin' buddy!\" came a mischievous growl from above. His head still buried in the pillow, Colin turned his mouth slightly and grumbled at Paul to get off him. Laughing, the big grey wolf rolled around on him for a bit before jumping off the bed and going out the door.\n \"Asshole,\" Colin yelled after him. \"What the hell you scaring me like that for?\"\n With laughter as the only reply, he finished suiting up and began to straighten the room. Pulling the sheets off the bed, he took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the adventure the two had the night before. Tossing the stained bedspread into a hamper, Colin replaced the duvet and left the room.\n A savory smell wafted from the other end of the hall as Colin approached the kitchen, his friend standing at the stove stoking the coals as strips of bacon sizzled in the iron skillet. But it wasn't the impending meal making his mouth water. Paul was cooking buck naked, his sleek grey coat roughed up a bit from sleeping. He was tall enough that he had to crane his head down as the ceiling was low, and at six-foot-two he still towered over Colin by half a foot. His eyes were drawn to Paul's sheath, the fur slightly lighter in color to the rest of his body, and he fantasized about what he knew was hiding beneath. \n \"Little cold there, man?\" Colin said jokingly. Paul turned his head back and smiled.\n \"I was hungry bro,\" he said, shrugging. \"worked up an appetite. Besides, ain't you enjoyin' the show?\" as he spoke he smiled and swished his tail back and forth teasingly.\n \"Well, I'm not complaining. But you're being very flirty for a supposedly straight guy, don't you think?\" That earned a bellow of laughter and a shake of the head as Paul returned to cooking the food.\n \"Well a friend in need, buddy.\" His voice becoming a little more serious, he added, \"And the way you've been acting lately, you seem to be in need alright. What's been goin' on? You've fallen asleep twice in the lab, I nearly had to shove my nose straight in Dink's ass to get you off on that one, and You've been havin' pretty bad nightmares from the looks of it.\" Caught off guard by his blunt statement, Colin stammered a bit in responding.\n \"I thought you were asleep...\" \n \"A damn fire-breather in a coma would'a woke. Even before you got up you was tossin' like you were havin' a seizure.\"\n \"That bad, huh?\" Colin said, and looking down at his hands.\n Paul took the skillet off the stove and placed it atop an oven mitt on the counter. He sat down in the chair next to Colin and leaned forward, his features pulled tight in concern.\n \"Out with it bud. What's up?\"\n \"I honestly don't know,\" Colin said, sweeping his arms out in an incredulous gesture. \"I can't remember the damn dreams when I wake up, and I haven't gone a full night's sleep in weeks. Not that you finally coming over helped with that.\" he tried joking.\n \"Cute, but seriously, bro. If you need me I'm here for ya; you know that.\"\n Colin reached out and pulled the wolf into an embrace, his emotions acting like a roller coaster pitching between the stress of his fatigue and the warmth of knowing Paul really cared for him. It was a new sensation, actually having someone to talk to who wouldn't judge him. He'd gone 23 years without the luxury of a good friend, and the rush of having a confidant he cared about overwhelmed him at times.\n \"Now come on, we gotta get to base befo-\" Colin pressed his muzzle against Paul's, cutting him off mid-sentence.\n \"It's only four, man. We got a little bit.\" Colin said undoing his uniform blouse.\n \"But,\" Paul protested, but then Colin wrapped a hand around his sheath. \"Ah, hell...\" He returned the kiss furiously, pressing his groin against the pads of Colin's eager hands. As his pink cock began to swell up and out of his warm sleeve, Paul took the uniform blouse in his teeth and pulled it the rest of the way off Colin's torso. Paul made his way, licking and biting gently from Colin's shoulders down toward his chest, as Colin nuzzled his ears.\n Paul's cock was large even for his height; the warm member pulsing with force made Colin's hand widen to accommodate his girth. The tight skin around his quivering cock still moved slightly over the bulging red veins crisscrossing his rod, and a small knot began to form right above the mouth of his sheath.\n Pushing Paul back slightly, Colin returned the favor by nuzzling his chest and using a finger to rub the dripping precum around on the tip of Paul's cock. The wolf began to moan as Colin teased just the tip of his dick with his tongue before licking the length of his shaft. He felt the knot expanding quickly, and with his free hand gripped the shaft just below the knot pushing the sheath low on his swollen balls. \n Paul began grunting and thrusting his hips against his buddy's mouth and hands, rubbing behind Colin's ears with one paw, and snaking his fingers down his arched back to his inviting tail hole. Licking his fingers, he rimmed the pink hole before slipping two fingers into Colin's ass. Colin moaned through the cock in his mouth and reached back to lift his tail to give Paul better access. He began thrusting faster, wriggling his fingers to search for the right spot.\n Pulling Paul's dick out of his mouth, Colin stood up and dropped his uniform pants and briefs down around his ankles. Bending over, he laid himself flat across the kitchen table and gripped the sides of the battered wooden frame. Paul held Colin's waist in his paws and began to run his shaft along the tight ass crack, grazing against the hole teasingly. Still precumming, Paul pushed against the tight ring of muscle before sliding his cock in all the way until it stopped above the swollen knot. As Colin reached back to massage the ball of warm flesh sticking out of him, Paul groped down and began to jerk his stiffening dick.\n Colin's insides stretched with the continual plunge of hard wolf cock, filling him up inside and making him feel complete and warm. Paul picked up the pace, grunting louder and signaling that he was about to cum. Colin began to thrust back, pushing his ass up against him, feeling the tension rise as he approached climax. With a yelp and a grunt, respectively, both Colin and Paul released thick ropes of spunk, spattering the table and coating themselves in cum.\n Panting, they collapsed into each other, spent from the quick exertion.\n \"So, you feelin' any better bud?\" Paul asked, one arm relaxed across his face and the other gently holding Colin's head to his chest.\n \"Im fine for now, really.\" Colin said reassuringly, even though he was even more tired than before their breakfast romp. \"I'm going to take a shower if you want to join me; we'll finish a cold breakfast later.\" \n\n************************************************************************\n Colin and Paul took separate sky rails through the city; a large expanse of sprawling urban landscape. Towering buildings surrounded the old streets below, cracked and crumbling after ages of disuse. As dawn broke, hazy with the smog of the machinery plants, the world was bathed in a soft red glow. Gazing out the window, Colin watched as the familiar superstructures zipped by: Karolis Textiles and Wear, the major clothes manufacturer for the district; the Caldwell Processing Co. HQ, the executive seat of Arceus' food distribution and hunger management companies; and Resident Housing Block Echo, featuring even lower income flats that made his Block Charlie apartment look like a mansion by comparison. However, even after years of taking this route, Colin still shuddered as they passed the largest building complex in Lorine: The Lorine Military and War Effort Academy.\n In the strict class system imposed in his country, Colin was doubly ostracized. He was neither full lupine nor canine, and suffered isolation by both groups. Lorine Academy was the main facility of education in the region, and from the start he knew exactly where he fell in society. The wolves had a separate course schedule, mostly pertaining to military strategy and training, as well as the higher academia. Their food halls, dorms, and class rooms were segregated, with the lower-class canine breeds learning trade-craft and labor intensive jobs early in support of the ongoing war effort. As a pariah, he was often bullied in his classes, and from primer school until specialization training in his 14th year, Colin relied on no one but himself. \n\n Faced with constant turmoil and polarization, Colin focused his efforts on survival by researching ways to escape and evade his tormentors. Once, in his 12th year, he stumbled upon an old library deep in the bowels of the complex that no one had used for years. There he was not only safe from attack, but he had access to thousands of old books from before and after the first Great War, some hundreds of years old. Although he had not been instructed how to read old-text (Canines were only allowed to study in New-text, the official language of Arceus), Colin taught himself over the next year to understand most of the information kept in the tomes. \n\n He was especially fascinated with ancient technology and engineering, the wonders of an era long since turned dust. Colored illustrations (so different from the video pictures in their books in class) showed a world full of wonders, like metal machines that rolled on the ground for transportation, or ships that sailed under the water instead of through the air. He began to construct models of the devices he saw in the books, and by drawing on the current technology he learned in certain classes like metallic manufacturing, Colin quickly developed the ability to recreate and improve the ancient knowledge.\n\n He studied volumes of stories called fiction, much of which dealt with subjects strictly forbidden (such as magic) or stories with different morals than the Arceus Code, the rules the Arceurians must live by. One novel, the cover torn on the last letters so only 'Atlus Sh' could be read, was particularly moving to him. The ideas were so radically different from what he'd always been taught, Colin began to truly think about his world and how similar the two sounded. As he read and read, Colin found a new reason to live. He would live to find the truth, and to learn.\n\n As the skyrail came to an abrupt halt, Colin was thrown forward into the next seat, which snapped him out of his reverie and into the present. \n\n\"Really? Twice in one day?\" he thought, rubbing his wounded muzzle. As he looked down to the smear of blood on the back of his hand, a loud grating noise began echoing from the outside. The Shahir had come.\n\nEND CHAPTER 1\n\nCHAPTER 2\n\n It was still dark in the district when Paul boarded the Route 3 sky rail, the air filter of the compartment kicking in immediately once the door clicked shut. Between how far he went with Colin and his upcoming practical exam, his nerves were frayed and buzzing like the plasma wiring in the aging cabin that he buckled himself into. He hadn't expected to actually have sex that night, let alone a second time right before heading to formation. He'd known the husky since before graduating the academy, and had no clue that Colin felt any kind of attraction to him. In fact, Colin had only told him his feelings the week prior. Taking off his training helmet he'd changed into in preparation for Squad inspection, he leaned back against the dusty seat and let his memory wander back.\n\n**************************************************************\n\n\n Paul had been in the practice zone, completing the last few courses of Delta Platoon's infantry exam work-ups. Acting as section leader, he had spent the last thirty minutes navigating and fighting his way through a maze, intent on getting to the rival team's base. Finally he and his pack had found a nearly abandoned path at the rear of the facility, away from the bulk of the other squad's troops. Having studied with Kojak since Junior year, Paul knew exactly how the brute operated. He'd keep one or two lackeys behind in the flag room, and try forcing the rest ahead of him to absorb attacks like a damn coward. \n\n After sending one of his wolves to distract the two main guards near the entrance to a small room in the passage, Paul ducked into the small enclosure and reached for the narrow strip of tattered red cloth. The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as he was thrown forcefully against the opposite wall. The impact caused him to buckle on the ground. Above him, he saw a large timber wolf wickedly grinning down, his bulky frame stretching the glowing leather training suit to make him look like a red, feral giant. The beast thundered a deep laugh, an ugly baritone devoid of humor.\n\n \"Really, now. I knew you were dumb, but did ya really think I'd let you win today?\" Kojak growled as he began kicking Paul in the chest, \"You--\" Phwump. \"Are so--\" Thunk. \"Predictable!\" Leaning back into the third strike, Kojak thrust him across the room as a crack resounded in Paul's suit. As he struggled to get up, Kojak let out a final bray of laughter, and lightly tapped him with his training plasma-cutter.\n The moment he did so, a loud buzzer sounded throughout the facility and a glowing slogan blazed across Paul's visor shield: 'RED TEAM WINS. BLUE LEADER KILLED.'\n A soft whir began to echo through the training area as the Labyrinth walls descended into the dark floor, and harsh artificial light flooded the expanse of the room. Swaying as he picked himself up, Paul started to growl. However, a sharp agony radiating from his ribs cut his threat short, and he collapsed to one knee.\n\n \"You bastard.\" he muttered, panting shallow through the pain. \"I'm going to k-\" \n\n \"Corporal Lyall! Corporal Adolphus! What in the HELL is going on here?\" \n\n From the far side of the room, two towering wolves in dark grey dress uniform strode toward them; the wider of the two bellowing as he marched. As they approached, Paul could hear the harsh jangle of their glittering medals clanging against each other, a rainbow of color stretching from their chests nearly to the top of their left shoulders. Despite the pain in his side, he hitched in his breath as the Assistant Battalion Commander and his aide came to a halt just feet from their position.\n\n \"Is someone going to tell me what just happened? Lyall, Status report now! Why are you injured?\"\n\n \"He tripped and fell into me after the buzzer,\" Kojak said before Paul could speak. \"I tried to catch him but he fell too fast and I think he hit himself on my knee.\"\n\n \"Really. That's what happened, eh?\" The commander turned toward Paul eyeing him closely. \"Is that how it occurred Corporal Lyall?\"\n\n Paul straightened, seething with rage behind a blank face as he stood at attention before speaking. He was no bitch, and certainly not a mewling pup anymore. \n\n \"Yes, sir. I fell on my own. It was my fault, sir.\" He said, tightening his fists as he spoke. \n\n The Commander narrowed his eyes and waited a beat before sighing, \"Very well then.\" Swinging his head toward Kojak, he spoke quickly before turning away. \"Adolfus, good work today; I hope you can perform as well in front of the facility chief this month.\" As he began walking away, his silent advisor in-step beside him, he called, \"And Corporal Lyall, get your blasted tail to the infirmary. We don't need soldiers like you failing their quals due to clumsy stupidity like today.\" \n\n The two officers' footsteps fading into the distance, Paul turned back to Kojak. \"You and me. We gonna fight this out later. Mark my words ya scummy mutt.\" Glaring at the wolf before him, Paul stormed toward the exit of the training hall; the sharp jabs dulling into a heated throb as he walked into the expanse of the northern tunnel.\n\n Lorian Military Base contained a sprawling underground complex, serving both the main infantry regiments and the research facilities of Arceusian Western fleet. It took over fifteen minutes for Paul to climb out of the subterranean training center and into the bio-medical research tower which housed the facility's medical clinic on the 24th floor. By the time he had reached the 19th platform of the structure, Paul felt dizzy and disoriented from his injured chest. Breathing heavily, he fell back against a wall opposite the developments lab, and slid to the floor coughing.\n\n \"Paul?\" Colin had just entered the hallway from the workshop door and ran to the fallen wolf, his white laboratory coat fluttering around his dark blue engineering uniform. \"Are you ok, dude? What's wrong?\" he said, ears laid back against his scalp in concern. Without waiting for a response, he attempted to lift Paul and earned a sharp howl as he pressed his right side. Colin immediately released him, backing away slightly in confused panic. \"Seriously, what happened to you?\"\n\n \"Bad side bro. Just... help me get ta the infirmary.\" Paul said between coughs, attempting to balance himself against the large water pipes lining the side of the hallway from floor to ceiling. Colin gingerly tossed Paul's left arm around his own shoulder, using one hand to secure his wrist to his bicep, and the other to gently lift the wolf by the rump until he was standing with the wounded soldier.\n\n \"Oh no we don't,\" Colin said impatiently. \"The elevation pod on this level's been deactivated for maintenance to prepare for inspection this month, and I don't think I can carry you up the stairs. Come on, I got supplies in my office, I'll take care of you.\" As the husky spoke he led Paul to the door, moving his hand across the scanner which read his pad-print. Ducking a bit (and making Paul wince inwardly from the slight motion), Colin placed his muzzle into an indentation on the wall as an iris scanner checked for secondary confirmation of ID before opening the thick metal panel.\n \n \"I don't have access in here...\" Paul started, his voice low and weak as he limped down the passage.\n\n \"Shut up and close your eyes then. We gotta hurry, my cubicle is just around this next corner...\" Kicking open his office door (ROOM 1903-B4. BIO MECHANICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT), Colin dragged Paul to one of the vacated desks nearest the entrance and set him down on the cold steel table.\n\n \"We can't do this, you'll get reprimanded, bro. And why are we even in here? I need a Medi-bed.\" \n \n \"Just relax and calm down, everyone's left for the day already.\" \n\n Out of sight, Paul heard his friend opening and slamming closed several filing cabinet drawers. He felt very tired, and the ache had swollen into a pulsing feeling that ran across his chest in time with every gulp of air. Colin rushed back into view carrying a dusty black case and told Paul to stay still.\n\n \"What's that?\" Paul panted, eyeing the box suspiciously.\n\n \"It's called a first-aid kit, I made it myself for emergencies. I obviously can't afford nano-serum, so I make do. Now let me take off your clothes and take a look.\"\n\n \"Wait, do you got any medical training?\" Paul asked, his quiet voice becoming high pitched.\n\n \"No, but have a little trust.\" Colin quickly unsnapped the upper training armor, tossing it to the side in a glowing blue pile of leather. Gently feeling the fur along Paul's torso, he found the source of the injury punctuated by a howl of pain. \"Does that hurt there?\"\n\n \"What th' fuck you think, buddy? HELL YES it hurts!\"\n\n \"I think you've broken a rib, dude. We gotta get you into an infirmary chamber, but first we gotta make sure you make it upstairs...\" Colin began to shift around the contents of the case until he pulled out a grey plastic bag, a bottle of water, and a roll of cloth which he began to unravel.\n\n \"Arceus be damned! It's getting worse now! What in the blazing fires are you doing?\" Paul stammered, the pain causing dots of colored light to begin dancing in his vision. Paul watched as Colin ran back to the rear of the room and started searching through packages on a shelf (EXPLOSIVES COMPONENTS: A-L), coming back a moment later with a jar of white powder marked 'DANGER'. Colin took the lid off the chemical and poured a bit into the grey bag, replacing the jar on the wall and adding half the bottle of water before sealing and shaking the container.\n\n \"Here, stick this on it,\" Colin said, holding out the bag.\n\n \"I dunno what that crap is!\"\n\n \"It's Ammonium Nitrate, just do it now!\" \n\n Grumbling, Paul grabbed the offering and nearly dropped it out of shock. It was over eighty degrees in the building, but the small package was freezing to the touch. Placing it on his torso, the ice pack stung momentarily before causing the throbbing to begin to slow. Colin began wrapping the thin bandage around his chest and shoulders, fixing it firmly around the cold sac. \n\n \"Wow, that's amazing. How the hell did ya do that?\"\n\n \"It's just chemistry,\" Colin said with a small shrug. \"Our ancestors used things like this all the time to treat wounds.\"\n\n \"Who told you that?\"\n \n \"Just some things I learned over the years. As for the rest of your pain...\" Colin trailed off and went into a nearby room behind the desk Paul was sitting on. He came back a moment after with a large glass bottle and a cup. As he finished filling the glass, Paul apprehensively turned away.\n \n \"What's that, another weird concoction of yours?\"\n\n Colin looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed. \"Nope. This is Whisky.\" He downed the cup in a couple of seconds and handed the bottle back to Paul. \"Drink up buddy, we've got five flights of stairs to climb.\"\n\n After downing part of the liquor and honestly feeling a lot better than he had when he collapsed, Paul let Colin lead him to the clinic, where he was immediately rushed by a pair of busty timber wolf nurses into the recovery wing. The operation room was brightly lit, with a row of wide tubes jutting from the pristine white walls. In each tube there was a rolling platform with a mattress on top and limb restraints, with enough space to lie upon. They stripped Paul out of his clothes, removing ice pack which was still cold. The doctor that stopped by to supervise was completely baffled by the make-shift treatment, and as the nurses strapped him into the medi-bed he asked where Paul got the notion for it.\n\n \"Well,\" Paul said, the numbness of the alcohol slightly slurring his drawl, \"it was my friend here, he-\" But as Paul turned to look for Colin, he was gone.\n\n \"Oh you mean the mixer brat?\" one of the nurses said with a sneer. \"We sent him back downstairs. I don't know how he got in this building in the first place.\" Appalled by her words, Paul's face twisted in disgust; however, the nurse must not have noticed because she went on talking as she grabbed a full syringe from the white counter top. \"I still think he must have cheated on his exam papers. At any rate, we're going to give you two units of Nano, followed by a day or two of rest in the compartment.\" \n\n \"Fine, let's get it over with,\" said Paul as Nurse Number Two jabbed his ribcage with the long thick needle. He watched as the plunger sank a viscous blue fluid into his body. The effects were immediate, and as a gentle tingling started to overcome the pain, the sedative properties of the drug began to overwhelm him. Nurse Number One took a sheet and draped it over him, folding it at his waist. Clicking a small lever on the exterior of the tube, there was a clicking sound as the contraption unlocked the fixed position of the mattress.\n\n \"Night sweetie\" said the nurses in unison as they slid his bed all the way into the infirmary chamber and shut the heavy glass lid.\n\n Two days later, the grey wolf opened his eyes groggily as the stasis afterglow faded away, his strength returning after the short hibernation. Flexing his arms and feeling his chest (his restraints had been removed as he slept he supposed), he found he could move freely without pain. The nano-serum had reset and mended his broken rib, likely in the first six hours of the hospital stay. The rest of the recovery time in the medi-bed was likely meant to burn through the worst of the side effects for such a large dose. Still, a queasy sense of nausea slowly sickened him, and his eyes remained sensitive to the blazing overhead lamps of the operation room he'd been wheeled back into. Staring at the blank wall and the curtain surrounding his bed, he felt frightened by the claustrophobia of the small space. Grabbing the sheet, Paul pulled the spread over his head and turned, letting out a small confidential whine into the pillow.\n\n \"Wow, dude. You're really not a morning person are you?\"\n\n Paul shot up on the mattress, startled. Colin was sitting in a chair on his left, and the wolf had completely missed his presence. Colin was smiling; the sides of his muzzle turned up in a lopsided grin.\n\n \"Colin?\"\n\n \"The medical staff said you were out of stasis, so I've been waiting for you to wake up,\" he said, rubbing his hands lightly on his knees. Then he frowned a bit and continued, \"of course, they weren't exactly inviting, so I told them I had important data to relay to you before you went back to work.\" \n\n Paul cringed, remembering how flippant the nurse was before knocking him out. At a loss of words, and slightly embarrassed, Paul lay back down and smiled in an effort to lighten the mood.\n\n \"I like the intrigue bud. Very secret spy of you,\" Paul joked, clapping the husky on his shoulder. Colin brightened a little and locked his arm against Paul's in a traditional sign of friendship. As Paul shifted up on the bed, the sheet fell to his mid-thigh. Eyes wide, Colin looked away immediately and broke the connection. Confused, Paul looked down and saw the sheet had dropped below his sheath.\n\n \"What's up? It's not like ya ain't seen one before bro,\" Paul said, an amused expression crossing his face. But Colin was still turned the other way, is ears cocked ashamedly. \n\n \"Sorry,\" he said, reaching down blindly for the sheet and pulling it up two feet to the wolf's chest. \"It's just awkward.\"\n\n \"Why? We're both males, it's not like anythin's weird right?\" Paul said, still smiling, although he felt very confused. He walked around naked in his barracks all the time, and none of his squad mates acted like this before. \"Is there something wrong with it?\" Paul gasped, taking inventory of his appendage and checking for damage, suddenly worried there was a complication during stasis or that it had shrunk because of the drug (a common barracks rumor).\n\n \"No! Not at all,\" Paul stammered quickly. \"There's nothing wrong with it! I mean, Your cock is fi--, I mean, its gre--, I mean..., ah damn it.\" Colin buried his face in his hands, leaving Paul baffled as to what his friend was trying to say.\n\n \"Bro, calm down; Why are you actin' so strange all've a sudden?\" There was genuine alarm in his voice now, and he reached out to lift the husky's chin. \"come on bro, you can tell me. What's goin' on?\"\n\n \"Really?\" Colin said slowly, a careful expression coming over his face. His paws shuffled beneath him as he took a deep breath. \"Paul... I've never told this to anyone. I'm not sure how you'll react, so...\" His voice trailed as he looked down at the floor while his claws dug into his pants. \n\n \"And? Just say it!\" Paul said, placing his hand on Colin's arm and shaking it gently.\n\n \"I'm, I'm gay.\" \n\n Paul froze for a moment, unsure what he'd been told. \"What do you mean you're gay? What's that?\"\n\n Colin looked up now, into his eyes, and explained under his breath, \"It means I'm homosexual. I'm attracted to other males.\"\n\n Paul inhaled deeply and held it. Homosexuality was forbidden under Arceusian law, strictly enforced under the code. Violating this tenet was a sure way to be delivered to the Ministry Board of Corrections, the very thought of which sent chills through his body. At the sight of his shock, Colin's tail bristled defensively and he backed away from Paul's hand. His fingers suspended as if by invisible wires, the wolf remained motionless as the impact of what he was hearing set in.\n\n \"Are... Are you sure, bro?\" Paul said, his voice rising slightly as he regained his bearing.\n\n \"Yes I'm sure! Keep it down! There is staff in the next room!\" Colin said with a finger to the tip of his muzzle.\n\n \"But, isn't that forbidden? They could take you to the Board!\" Paul said hoarsely. \"If my father found out...\" Paul's dad was Cobalt Lyall, chairman of the Judicial Support Clan, the managing directors of the Corrections Ministry. He was renown throughout the district for his strict and ruthless passions, but his son had years of experience with just how sinister his dark side could be. His blood ran cold as he thought about what his father would do to Colin, not just a Husky, but a half-blood wolf.\n\n \"Well, I've never been one to abide by rules I don't like; you should know that by now. And besides, it's the way I am dude. I can't just switch it off.\" Colin's ears and tail dropped dejectedly. \"I thought you'd understand...\"\n\n Paul gaped for a moment, then shook his head as he cleared his mind. Resolve rising within him, he reached out again and firmly gripped his friend by the shoulder once more. \n\n \"No, you're right. You've been my friend for years, bro, and I'll be damned if I turned my back on you now. Hell, you just saved my life. Besides, nothing's changed anyway.\"\n\n Colin stared at him, a hopeful uncertainty in his gaze. He returned the shoulder-lock, and smiled, tears beginning to form in his eyes.\n\n \"Come on now, bud,\" Paul said awkwardly as he released Colin's arm and scratched the back of his own ear, \"You know I ain't into that bitch stuff.\"\n\n \"Thank you Paul.\"\n\n*************************************************************\n Daylight had not yet broken when Paul attempted latching his air filter tight around his muzzle, starting the eighty yard trek from the sky rail station to the base entrance. The fit was becoming loose, he noticed, and he'd have to buy a new one soon. It was expensive, but what else could he do. In the last several years it was obvious that the atmospheric toxicity levels had risen, despite numerous news stories to the contrary. The pollution from the multiple war factories in the district had only increased since the Shahirizan forces had begun periodic raids in the outer sectors, and it was already a guaranteed week in stasis if one inhaled too much of the outside air.\n\n The only sound around him as he walked was the rushing wind, a foreboding shadow of future storms. Crossing into the gaping maw of the base's decontamination chamber, he shuddered against the cold fingers of the outside brushing against his fur. He hit a worn and chipped button on a nearby counter and the door closed firmly behind him, cutting the gusts like a puppet from its strings, and leaving the air still and silent in the dimly lit room. As a vacuum began to whir somewhere above him, he waited until the source of light above faded from red to green before opening the facility door. \n\n Walking down the corridors, he made his way to the locker room to rinse off the smell of the outside. The room was quite large, with dozens of uniform rows of metallic cabinets to store the battalion's uniforms and clothing. Turning down the farthest aisle, Paul stopped midway through and placed his hand on a pad-scanner. Clicking open the locker, Paul grabbed a large stick of soap and began to strip out of his training gear. With practiced skill, he folded it crisply before storing it safely in the top compartment along with his helmet. Reaching above the top of the cabinet, he pulled down a warm towel and stepped toward the empty bay of showers. \n\n Pressing the metallic button on the wall, a powerful jet of hot water gushed down on his head. Steady streams of the warm liquid flowed over his body; tiny rivulets cascaded through his sweaty, matted fur. The pelt around his sheath was still slightly sticky from that morning's surprise, and as he vigorously scrubbed the area with the soap bar his mind began racing over the previous night's events and the morning after.\n\n It wasn't unusual for Paul to have an after work drink with Colin; he typically popped in on his friend once a week or so. It started the same way as any other visit, a quick hello and a bullshit session about their respective shops on base. As they settled down for a finger of scotch and a game of cards, however, Paul brought up Colin's confession.\n\n \"So,\" Paul said as he lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before continuing. \"about the other day. Were ya serious about the whole-wha'dija call it-'gay' thing?\"\n\n Colin swirled his glass, staring thoughtfully into the liquor as he spoke, \"Yes. I like males. I have ever since I was young,\" he said simply. \"I've just kept it to myself. And now you dude, I guess.\" Colin shrugged then knocked back the tumbler in a single gulp. Paul cocked his eyebrow slightly; Colin was typically a slow drinker. \"As for the word 'gay', I read it in a book once, and decided it described my feelings perfectly.\"\n\n \"What book had THAT written in it?\" Paul said, downing his own glass and refilling both cups. He had never read anything outside of his curriculum at the academy, but he was fairly certain he'd remember hearing about a story discussing a forbidden act. The Arceusian government had a very stringent literary policy, and all written documents had to be pre-approved by the Committee of Literary Integrity before publication. And guys having sex with other males would be a pretty massive oversight.\n\n \"I have my sources,\" Colin said, the corner of his muzzle curving upward in a grin. \"Why so interested dude? You're not curious are you?\" He teased.\n\n \"Curious? About that stuff? Hell nah, bro! It's just different is all.\" Paul slammed another drink and toasted a third at Colin. \"Whelp, I'm weird too, buddy. Here's to bein' strange!\"\n\n As Paul remembered what he had Colin had done when the bottle had been emptied, his stomach began to do small flips; a parade of winged beats flooded his chest, a new feeling, but not unpleasant. Still, he had left while Colin was still in the shower less than an hour ago, a wave of guilt sweeping over him after the rush of his orgasm had ended. It was illegal. He had always been told such thoughts were wrong; in need of swift correction. But yet, this fluttering feeling seemed so... So... \n\n \"No,\" he said silently to himself, shaking his head beneath the geyser of water. \"I'm just confused is all.\" Unbidden by his distracted conscious, Paul's sheath parted as his cock began to swell. The patter of the heated shower massaging his pink flesh, his mind returned to the warm moisture of Colin's mouth when Paul had relented to giving him a try, 'just to prove he wasn't kidding', and that it was possible for two males to make love. \"No, damn it. It was sex,\" he told himself.\" He's my friend, I don't love him. Well, I do but that's different...\" \n \n Despite his protests his member throbbed beneath him, his knot straining against the tight pocket of flesh which held its base. Scanning the tiled compartment and finding it empty, Paul allowed his hand to wrap gently around his thick shaft. Rings of pleasure traveled from the angry red tip in widening circles through his body, forcing his chin up and his toes to curl. Instead of pin-up bitches and his female comrades, his mind pictured Colin's eyes, like pools of blue plasma sucking him in. In place of supple breasts, he saw only the husky's smile and the curve of his back and tail. \n\n Pumping his fist faster, he could feel the heat of Colin's body overpowering the water which had begun to cool. Beyond the smell of chalky government issued soap, Paul's nose bathed instead in the scent of his buddy's fur as they held each other in bed. The very air was thick with steam, but also the taste of Colin's muzzle as they kissed, drops of scotch still hanging to the fine hairs. Overwhelmed by his imagination, Paul gasped as he fired shot after shot of thin cum, draining his body of anything not already spent in that small apartment in Resident Block Charlie. Slowly recuperating from the exertion, Paul rested his muzzle against the cool tile as his cock sank back within him.\n\n His head more muddled than ever, Paul finished rinsing off in the now icy water. Shaking his body vigorously, he sent the majority of the liquid flying in all directions, using the towel to absorb the excess trapped within his dark fur. Returning to his locker, Paul slowly slipped back on his gear, attempting to focus on the long day of training ahead.\n\n He exited the locker room quickly, starting a light jog as he headed down the stairs toward the practice hall to begin formation. Just as Paul's hand gripped the handle to the stairwell, a klaxon alarm began howling throughout the facility. Tail and ears erect, he looked up at the flashing hazard lights along the walls.\n\n \"Damn it, where the hell are they at now,\" Paul thought, pulling open the door. Breaking into a run and taking the steps two at a time, he passed the practice hall platform and descended three additional floors to the mission briefing room.\n\n Dozens of wolves of every size had already packed themselves into the small amphitheater as the klaxon continued to blare. The hollow screech ricocheting off the walls and the babble of a hundred conversations assaulted Paul's ears. He watched as the Barracks commander, flanked as always by his stoic aide, strode on stage and lifted a hand. Instantly the conversations stopped, and even the siren was silenced, as if even the facility itself did not dare to interrupt the commander.\n \n \"Comrades,\" he said briskly, his voice carrying throughout the room without the need of a vocalizer pin. \"As of 0515, there has been a breach of the security boundary. A Shahirizan patrol has been located in the Eastern side of the district. The Halatitian District is sending seasoned veterans to control the situation, but they are an hour out; in the interim we must protect our own. Sections Charlie and Delta, as the two senior squads you will be tasked with subduing the threat until reinforcements arrive. These orders are to be carried out effective immediately.\n\n Despite his solid expression, Paul felt his heart stop in disbelief. His section would be one of the squads sent on the mission. Having never seen actual combat, and to have this responsibility thrust upon him so suddenly, he was floored by the announcement. The shock must have been readily apparent on his face, because the commander continued, looking straight in his direction:\n\n \"As you are all still in training, I'm sure that some of you may be apprehensive. However, you need not defeat the patrol, merely hold out until the Halatitian District can dispose of the enemy. Remember, this is what you have been training for, Soldiers. That is all.\" The commander stepped back, but did not leave the stage. Moving with enough grace that his paws failed to make a sound in their heavy boots, the Commander's assistant stepped up into the center spotlight. \n\n \"Squads Charlie and Delta,\" He said, his voice as loud as his superior's but much more smooth; like a silk scarf. \"You will now board a carrier drone and depart in five minutes for the breach zone. You will receive your combat gear upon take-off.\"\n\n Before he could step back into his position, a single hand shot up, the wolf's actual body outside of Paul's line of view.\n\n \"Yes, Soldier?\"\n\n \"Sir, where is the location, Sir?\" The young sounding voice was low, almost broken as he addressed the dark officer on stage. The officer touched the perfectly round glasses on his face, pushing them up to rest higher on the bridge of his muzzle. Looking in the direction of the speaker, he said:\n\n \"On the outskirts of Resident Block Charlie and the Lorian Academy, near the Sky Rail line 2.\" The officer faced the crowd again and began speaking some more, but Paul couldn't hear. He couldn't breathe. Sky Rail line 2.\n\n\"Colin.\"\n\nEND CHAPTER 2\n CHAPTER 3\t\n\n\n\tBlood trickling from his muzzle, Colin scrambled up from his seat as the grating sound of machinery outside became louder; the reverberation causing the entire cabin to shake. The compartment itself, lined with wide windows on both sides, offered a panoramic view of the wall of darkness sweeping toward him. A swarm of forest green sky ships blocked the dawning sun, engulfing the outskirts of the district like a plague of giant locusts. Colin watched as the dozen or so vessels whistled through the smog and opened their doors, a parade of winged figures pouring out of each and taking to the air.\n\n\tColin had heard stories of the Shahirizan forces before, of course, and he had even studied the anatomy of dead prisoners captured from previous raiding parties. But to see them descending upon the city, the only world he knew, frightened him gravely. Scanning the urban jungle before him, he saw that one of the Block Charlie apartment buildings was very close to the Sky rail's current position. If he could hop through the cabins, he had a chance to leap onto the barren roof. Putting on his air filter, he started to turn down the wide rows of seats toward the back exit. However, he only had time to take a single step before the ceiling in front of him collapsed as a tall black figure jumped down after the fallen tiles.\n\t\n\tThe Shahir soldier rose up to his full height, his massive tail resting on the chairs behind him, and the top of his hairless scalp almost brushing against the jagged edges of the hole he'd created. His sleek back scales glistened in the flickering light of the damaged fluorescent bulbs, unblemished except for the small, chalk-white spines protruding symmetrically on either side of his limbs and down his back. Colin saw that he had no weapons in his clawed hands, nor did he require an air filter to block the slits on his snout. In fact, he was naked, save for what looked to be a solid vest which covered his chest and lower torso, and a chain about his throat that draped beneath the garment. \n\t\n\tHis head was smooth with eyes of deep molten steel, and his pointed teeth were sharp daggers as he opened his maw to screech loudly. Colin backpedaled quickly and tripped, landing on his rump atop the ragged carpeting. The soldier bared his fangs as he approached the downed Husky, raising its hand in preparation to strike. Gritting his teeth, Colin steadied himself for the blow.\n\n\tThe sound of shattering glass echoed through the cabin as the window burst in, followed by a muffled \"boom\" as the Shahir was thrown against the wall. Colin looked up to see a ball of grey fur wrestling against the massive dragon, with a plasma blade knocked three feet to the left of the struggle.\n\n\t\"Paul?\" Colin said incredulously, his voice cracked and hoarse from shock.\n\n\t\"Colin! Get out of here! Run!\" Paul grunted as the Shahir thrashed beneath him.\n\n\tColin stumbled forward, but instead of going for the door, he grabbed the weapon and tossed it to Paul. The wolf felt the hilt of the blade bump into his side and grasped it before it could fall again. Taking advantage of Paul's lack of focus, the dragon heaved him off its chest, regaining its balance. Colin watched as the lumbering creature reached for his friend's throat, and screamed in warning from his crouched position.\n\n\t\"Paul!\"\n\n\tWithout hesitation, the wolf spun around, plunging the tip of the sword through the chain and into the Shahir's throat. Colin heard a raspy hiss escape the beast's mouth while the plasma-charged edge singed its way fluidly into the dragon's neck; its masters body crumpled to the ground. Paul withdrew the blade, clean of any blood since the weapon cauterized the wounds on contact. Just as he did so, Colin watched as two more Shahir jumped through the crater in the cabin's roof.\n\n\t\"What are you still doing there?\" Paul yelled fiercely, \"Get away from here, now!\" \n\n\tThe twin beasts, were near carbon-copies of their fallen brother; they marched toward the front of the room like a macabre set of toy soldiers, the only difference being in the size of their legs. Colin attempted to vault the seats to hide from them, but as the Shahir began to advance toward Paul, the taller of the two monsters stopped him short; unknowingly flinging its barbed tail into his path. Barely dodging the attack, Colin crouched hidden between the rows, the backdoor of the cabin barely 15 feet away. Suddenly, a howl echoed across the scene as a huge shape burst in through a second window. Colin stared as a massive wolf in full gear and darkened visor began slashing away at the dragons, squeezing himself further into the shadows.\n\n\tCaught off guard, the smaller creature reeled back in surprise, the wolf's attack barely missing the Shahir's forearm and striking the dark vest. A thundering clang rang through the cabin as the blade made contact with the reptile's armor, but the garment did not give. Colin should have been sprinting for the exit, but instead he froze, shocked. As one of the chief developers on staff in the complex, Colin had helped design the Pl-246 plasma blade himself; he knew the exact specifications and capabilities of nearly every piece of armor and weaponry which outfitted the district's battalion. The sword that the Arceus soldier was holding was crafted to form a high-yield atomic plasma arc, and by carefully managing the flow of energy along the edge of the blade, not even the most sturdy carbon-fiber test materials could withstand such force. But the vest did not break. It didn't even have a scratch.\n\n\tThe Shahir grinned, and lashed out with its claws in a powerful uppercut. Like the finest blades they rent clean through the armor clad soldier, shredding the enhanced diamond silk protection vest like moist paper. The force of the impact lifted the wolf high in the air, the visor falling off as the reptile’s arm fully extended through its victim. Pulling out his arm, the figure fell to the floor.\n\n\tBlood flowed dark, almost black, from the wolf’s maw, his grey fur matted with sweat. “You… bastard…” he panted hoarsely from one knee, causing the beast to smile wickedly. “I’ll see you in hell. Now!” he shouted, rolling to his left as Paul swung his blade toward the reptile’s face, striking his cheek. But again the sword stopped, the jarring halt of the weapon creating a force which knocked it painfully from the grey wolf's hand.\n\n\t“How the hell?”\n\n\tTurning around slowly the creature laughed, making a grating sound both metallic and horridly organic fill the cabin as he advanced toward the weaponless wolf. Paul grabbed the barely conscious soldier, unrecognizable due to the matted blood, and dragged him quickly toward the broken window. Looking back once more at the frightened husky in the middle of the cab, Paul jumped out the window taking with him the limp body of his fellow soldier.\n\n\tDistracted, the creatures moved to get closer to the window, leaving the aisle open once more. Colin leaped to his feet and sprinted toward the back door, breathing heavily against the toxic air that filled the compartment. Just as he grasped the cool copper handle, he could hear the cry of the dark reptile behind him. Not looking back, the panting husky threw the door open and hurled himself off the short platform that spanned half the ten foot gap from the rail to a nearby apartment roof. \n\n\tA splitting pain coursed through Colin's left-arm, and he felt himself being pulled short of his goal. He dangled in the gap between the two ledges, looking up into the blazing eyes of his captor; a dark silhouette against the rust colored expanse of sky above him. His arm was pierced by the claws of the beast, and as he hung suspended above a fatal drop, the Shahir began to squeeze. The husky heard both bone and tendon snap, and knew his time was over. In a moment of grim certainty, Colin used his shoulder to swing himself up and grasp the dragon's neck, fully intending on taking him to the grave as well. As his paw sought purchase on the leathery skin, however, he instead broke the chain around its neck, and slipped down again, the ornament tangling about his wrist.\n\n\t Suddenly the reptile cried out in pain, its eyes going wide with fear, and it tossed the husky down, down into the smoky abyss below.\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"
Acceptable Hazard



Chapter 1

     Colin woke with a start. Cold sweat running down his muzzle and matting his fur, he temporarily forgot where he was. In that moment of blank panic his breath stilled as the reality of the waking world rushed in. As his eyes began to adjust to the cramped apartment's morning darkness, the dream evaporated like night sweat into the cool air. Exhausted, Colin let out his breath and fell back onto the thin pillow. Turning his head he glanced at a large bulge, wrapped in the majority of the bed's thick woven blankets.
     "Thank god he's still asleep," he sighed inwardly, relieved. " I thought I might have woken him again." Rolling back toward the worn nightstand, Colin lifted his friend's wallet out of the way of the small alarm clock. The numbers '3:16' glowed dully, barely visible even in the dim light.
     "Damn nightmares. At this rate, I'll start passing out in the lab again." He thought. Cringing against the thought of the long day ahead, Colin gently climbed off the Queen mattress in an attempt to let Paul sleep off the rest of the morning.
    " Slam!"
     Colin had fallen forward, smacking his jaw on the cold tile floor of the bedroom. Letting out a muffled grunt, he looked through dazed eyes to find his claws had caught in the sheet, which had been tossed to the foot of the bed during last night's escapades. The covers stirred, but the form beneath them made no sound.
"Well, at least I didn't wake him."  Picking himself up off the ground, Colin felt his way to the wall and into the bathroom, massaging his jaw as he went. Stumbling groggily to the sink, he felt along the wallpaper for the light switch. The bare bulb clicked on, temporarily dazzling him in the flash of the fluorescent light. As he blinked away the spots obscuring his vision, he leaned in toward the mirror and scanned his haggard appearance.  Dark circles pooled under his eyes, which stood out against the snow white fur covering his face but not the dark grey of the rest of his head. Checking his swollen cheek, he caught a glimpse of the fine silver roots coming out beneath his left ear. It was a stinging reminder that he had forgotten his nightly ritual. Pulling open the cabinet, Colin rummaged through the junk and pulled out a small vial of dark grey dye. Dabbing some onto a brush, he combed the fur along his ear, erasing the traces of his past.
     Colin was a mixed breed, his mother was a Husky, and his father was a grey wolf.  Although he mostly took after his father in body structure (according to his mother at least), the pattern in his fur and the electric blue of his irises were distinctly that of his Mom.  Unfortunately, he had also inherited her distinct birthmark; both his left ear and left eye were covered in a silver patch of fur. In Arceus, especially after the start of the battles, Huskies and other lower canines were considered an inferior race due to their more passive nature. Having been raised in the Lorine Military District, he had been the subject of hate and social stigma by his lupine peers, made worse by the damn patch of fur like a scarlet letter emblazoned on his face for all to see.
     Rinsing off the excess dye, Colin reached in to the cabinet once more.  Grabbing a bright blue bottle, he applied the electric blue gel to the tips of the fur on top of his head and ears. After fifteen minutes, he went back in to the bedroom to put on the less cumbersome parts of his uniform. As he sat on a simple wooden chair lacing his combat boots, he squinted through the blackness toward the bed. To his shock, the covers were tossed to the floor and the bed was empty. As he stood up to take a closer look, he was knocked face first into the bed as another body collapsed on top of him.
     "Mornin' buddy!" came a mischievous growl from above. His head still buried in the pillow, Colin turned his mouth slightly and grumbled at Paul to get off him. Laughing, the big grey wolf rolled around on him for a bit before jumping off the bed and going out the door.
     "Asshole," Colin yelled after him. "What the hell you scaring me like that for?"
     With laughter as the only reply, he finished suiting up and began to straighten the room. Pulling the sheets off the bed, he took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of the adventure the two had the night before. Tossing the stained bedspread into a hamper, Colin replaced the duvet and left the room.
     A savory smell wafted from the other end of the hall as Colin approached the kitchen, his friend standing at the stove stoking the coals as strips of bacon sizzled in the iron skillet. But it wasn't the impending meal making his mouth water. Paul was cooking buck naked, his sleek grey coat roughed up a bit from sleeping. He was tall enough that he had to crane his head down as the ceiling was low, and at six-foot-two he still towered over Colin by half a foot. His eyes were drawn to Paul's sheath, the fur slightly lighter in color to the rest of his body, and he fantasized about what he knew was hiding beneath.
     "Little cold there, man?" Colin said jokingly. Paul turned his head back and smiled.
     "I was hungry bro," he said, shrugging. "worked up an appetite. Besides, ain't you enjoyin' the show?" as he spoke he smiled and swished his tail back and forth teasingly.
     "Well, I'm not complaining. But you're being very flirty for a supposedly straight guy, don't you think?" That earned a bellow of laughter and a shake of the head as Paul returned to cooking the food.
     "Well a friend in need, buddy." His voice becoming a little more serious, he added, "And the way you've been acting lately, you seem to be in need alright. What's been goin' on? You've fallen asleep twice in the lab, I nearly had to shove my nose straight in Dink's ass to get you off on that one, and You've been havin' pretty bad nightmares from the looks of it." Caught off guard by his blunt statement, Colin stammered a bit in responding.
     "I thought you were asleep..."
     "A damn fire-breather in a coma would'a woke. Even before you got up you was tossin' like you were havin' a seizure."
     "That bad, huh?" Colin said, and looking down at his hands.
     Paul took the skillet off the stove and placed it atop an oven mitt on the counter. He sat down in the chair next to Colin and leaned forward, his features pulled tight in concern.
     "Out with it bud. What's up?"
     "I honestly don't know," Colin said, sweeping his arms out in an incredulous gesture. "I can't remember the damn dreams when I wake up, and I haven't gone a full night's sleep in weeks. Not that you finally coming over helped with that." he tried joking.
     "Cute, but seriously, bro. If you need me I'm here for ya; you know that."
     Colin reached out and pulled the wolf into an embrace, his emotions acting like a roller coaster pitching between the stress of his fatigue and the warmth of knowing Paul really cared for him. It was a new sensation, actually having someone to talk to who wouldn't judge him. He'd gone 23 years without the luxury of a good friend, and the rush of having a confidant he cared about overwhelmed him at times.
     "Now come on, we gotta get to base befo-" Colin pressed his muzzle against Paul's, cutting him off mid-sentence.
     "It's only four, man. We got a little bit." Colin said undoing his uniform blouse.
     "But," Paul protested, but then Colin wrapped a hand around his sheath. "Ah, hell..." He returned the kiss furiously, pressing his groin against the pads of Colin's eager hands. As his pink cock began to swell up and out of his warm sleeve, Paul took the uniform blouse in his teeth and pulled it the rest of the way off Colin's torso. Paul made his way, licking and biting gently from Colin's shoulders down toward his chest, as Colin nuzzled his ears.
     Paul's cock was large even for his height; the warm member pulsing with force made Colin's hand widen to accommodate his girth. The tight skin around his quivering cock still moved slightly over the bulging red veins crisscrossing his rod, and a small knot began to form right above the mouth of his sheath.
     Pushing Paul back slightly, Colin returned the favor by nuzzling his chest and using a finger to rub the dripping precum around on the tip of Paul's cock. The wolf began to moan as Colin teased just the tip of his dick with his tongue before licking the length of his shaft. He felt the knot expanding quickly, and with his free hand gripped the shaft just below the knot pushing the sheath low on his swollen balls.
     Paul began grunting and thrusting his hips against his buddy's mouth and hands, rubbing behind Colin's ears  with one paw, and snaking his fingers down his arched back to his inviting tail hole.  Licking his fingers, he rimmed the pink hole before slipping two fingers into Colin's ass. Colin moaned through the cock in his mouth and reached back to lift his tail to give Paul better access. He began thrusting faster, wriggling his fingers to search for the right spot.
     Pulling Paul's dick out of his mouth, Colin stood up and dropped his uniform pants and briefs down around his ankles.  Bending over, he laid himself flat across the kitchen table and gripped the sides of the battered wooden frame. Paul held Colin's waist in his paws and began to run his shaft along the tight ass crack, grazing against the hole teasingly. Still precumming, Paul pushed against the tight ring of muscle before sliding his cock in all the way until it stopped above the swollen knot. As Colin reached back to massage the ball of warm flesh sticking out of him, Paul groped down and began to jerk his stiffening dick.
     Colin's insides stretched with the continual plunge of hard wolf cock, filling him up inside and making him feel complete and warm. Paul picked up the pace, grunting louder and signaling that he was about to cum. Colin began to thrust back, pushing his ass up against him, feeling the tension rise as he approached climax. With a yelp and a grunt, respectively, both Colin and Paul released thick ropes of spunk, spattering the table and coating themselves in cum.
     Panting, they collapsed into each other, spent from the quick exertion.
     "So, you feelin' any better bud?" Paul asked, one arm relaxed across his face and the other gently holding Colin's head to his chest.
     "Im fine for now, really." Colin said reassuringly, even though he was even more tired than before their breakfast romp. "I'm going to take a shower if you want to join me; we'll finish a cold breakfast later."

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     Colin and Paul took separate sky rails through the city; a large expanse of sprawling urban landscape. Towering buildings surrounded the old streets below, cracked and crumbling after ages of disuse.  As dawn broke, hazy with the smog of the machinery plants, the world was bathed in a soft red glow. Gazing out the window, Colin watched as the familiar superstructures zipped by: Karolis Textiles and Wear, the major clothes manufacturer for the district; the Caldwell Processing Co. HQ, the executive seat of Arceus' food distribution and hunger management companies; and Resident Housing Block Echo, featuring even lower income flats that made his Block Charlie apartment look like a mansion by comparison. However, even after years of taking this route, Colin still shuddered as they passed the largest building complex in Lorine: The Lorine Military and War Effort Academy.
     In the strict class system imposed in his country, Colin was doubly ostracized. He was neither full lupine nor canine, and suffered isolation by both groups. Lorine Academy was the main facility of education in the region, and from the start he knew exactly where he fell in society. The wolves had a separate course schedule, mostly pertaining to military strategy and training, as well as the higher academia. Their food halls, dorms, and class rooms were segregated, with the lower-class canine breeds learning trade-craft and labor intensive jobs early in support of the ongoing war effort. As a pariah, he was often bullied in his classes, and from primer school until specialization training in his 14th year, Colin relied on no one but himself.

     Faced with constant turmoil and polarization, Colin focused his efforts on survival by researching ways to escape and evade his tormentors. Once, in his 12th year, he stumbled upon an old library deep in the bowels of the complex that no one had used for years. There he was not only safe from attack, but he had access to thousands of old books from before and after the first Great War, some hundreds of years old. Although he had not been instructed how to read old-text (Canines were only allowed to study in New-text, the official language of Arceus), Colin taught himself over the next year to understand most of the information kept in the tomes.  

     He was especially fascinated with ancient technology and engineering, the wonders of an era long since turned dust. Colored illustrations (so different from the video pictures in their books in class) showed a world full of wonders, like metal machines that rolled on the ground for transportation, or ships that sailed under the water instead of through the air. He began to construct models of the devices he saw in the books, and by drawing on the current technology he learned in certain classes like metallic manufacturing, Colin quickly developed the ability to recreate and improve the ancient knowledge.

     He studied volumes of stories called fiction, much of which dealt with subjects strictly forbidden (such as magic) or stories with different morals than the Arceus Code, the rules the Arceurians must live by. One novel, the cover torn on the last letters so only 'Atlus Sh' could be read, was particularly moving to him. The ideas were so radically different from what he'd always been taught, Colin began to truly think about his world and how similar the two sounded. As he read and read, Colin found a new reason to live. He would live to find the truth, and to learn.

     As the skyrail came to an abrupt halt, Colin was thrown forward into the next seat, which snapped him out of his reverie and into the present.

"Really? Twice in one day?" he thought, rubbing his wounded muzzle. As he looked down to the smear of blood on the back of his hand, a loud grating noise began echoing from the outside. The Shahir had come.

END CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

     It was still dark in the district when Paul boarded the Route 3 sky rail, the air filter of the compartment kicking in immediately once the door clicked shut.  Between how far he went with Colin and his upcoming practical exam, his nerves were frayed and buzzing like the plasma wiring in the aging cabin that he buckled himself into. He hadn't expected to actually have sex that night, let alone a second time right before heading to formation. He'd known the husky since before graduating the academy, and had no clue that Colin felt any kind of attraction to him. In fact, Colin had only told him his feelings the week prior. Taking off his training helmet he'd changed into in preparation for Squad inspection, he leaned back against the dusty seat and let his memory wander back.

**************************************************************


     Paul had been in the practice zone, completing the last few courses of Delta Platoon's infantry exam work-ups. Acting as section leader, he had spent the last thirty minutes navigating and fighting his way through a maze, intent on getting to the rival team's base. Finally he and his pack had found a nearly abandoned path at the rear of the facility, away from the bulk of the other squad's troops. Having studied with Kojak since Junior year, Paul knew exactly how the brute operated. He'd keep one or two lackeys behind in the flag room, and try forcing the rest ahead of him to absorb attacks like a damn coward.

     After sending one of his wolves to distract the two main guards near the entrance to a small room in the passage, Paul ducked into the small enclosure and reached for the narrow strip of tattered red cloth. The next second, the wind was knocked out of him as he was thrown forcefully against the opposite wall. The impact caused him to buckle on the ground. Above him, he saw a large timber wolf wickedly grinning down, his bulky frame stretching the glowing leather training suit to make him look like a red, feral giant. The beast thundered a deep laugh, an ugly baritone devoid of humor.

     "Really, now. I knew you were dumb, but did ya really think I'd let you win today?" Kojak growled as he began kicking Paul in the chest, "You--" Phwump. "Are so--" Thunk. "Predictable!" Leaning back into the third strike, Kojak thrust him across the room as a crack resounded in Paul's suit. As he struggled to get up, Kojak let out a final bray of laughter, and lightly tapped him with his training plasma-cutter.
    The moment he did so, a loud buzzer sounded throughout the facility and a glowing slogan blazed across Paul's visor shield: 'RED TEAM WINS. BLUE LEADER KILLED.'
    A soft whir began to echo through the training area as the Labyrinth walls descended into the dark floor, and harsh artificial light flooded the expanse of the room. Swaying as he picked himself up, Paul started to growl. However, a sharp agony radiating from his ribs cut his threat short, and he collapsed to one knee.

     "You bastard." he muttered, panting shallow through the pain. "I'm going to k-"

     "Corporal Lyall! Corporal Adolphus! What in the HELL is going on here?"

     From the far side of the room, two towering wolves in dark grey dress uniform strode toward them; the wider of the two bellowing as he marched. As they approached, Paul could hear the harsh jangle of their glittering medals clanging against each other, a rainbow of color stretching from their chests nearly to the top of their left shoulders. Despite the pain in his side, he hitched in his breath as the Assistant Battalion Commander and his aide came to a halt just feet from their position.

     "Is someone going to tell me what just happened? Lyall, Status report now! Why are you injured?"

     "He tripped and fell into me after the buzzer," Kojak said before Paul could speak. "I tried to catch him but he fell too fast and I think he hit himself on my knee."

     "Really. That's what happened, eh?" The commander turned toward Paul eyeing him closely. "Is that how it occurred Corporal Lyall?"

     Paul straightened, seething with rage behind a blank face as he stood at attention before speaking. He was no bitch, and certainly not a mewling pup anymore.

     "Yes, sir. I fell on my own. It was my fault, sir." He said, tightening his fists as he spoke.

     The Commander narrowed his eyes and waited a beat before sighing, "Very well then." Swinging his head toward Kojak, he spoke quickly before turning away. "Adolfus, good work today; I hope you can perform as well in front of the facility chief this month." As he began walking away, his silent advisor in-step beside him, he called, "And Corporal Lyall, get your blasted tail to the infirmary. We don't need soldiers like you failing their quals due to clumsy stupidity like today."

   The two officers' footsteps fading into the distance, Paul turned back to Kojak. "You and me. We gonna fight this out later. Mark my words ya scummy mutt." Glaring at the wolf before him, Paul stormed toward the exit of the training hall; the sharp jabs dulling into a heated throb as he walked into the expanse of the northern tunnel.

     Lorian Military Base contained a sprawling underground complex, serving both the main infantry regiments and the research facilities of Arceusian Western fleet. It took over fifteen minutes for Paul to climb out of the subterranean training center and into the bio-medical research tower which housed the facility's medical clinic on the 24th floor. By the time he had reached the 19th platform of the structure, Paul felt dizzy and disoriented from his injured chest. Breathing heavily, he fell back against a wall opposite the developments lab, and slid to the floor coughing.

     "Paul?" Colin had just entered the hallway from the workshop door and ran to the fallen wolf, his white laboratory coat fluttering around his dark blue engineering uniform. "Are you ok, dude? What's wrong?" he said, ears laid back against his scalp in concern. Without waiting for a response, he attempted to lift Paul and earned a sharp howl as he pressed his right side. Colin immediately released him, backing away slightly in confused panic. "Seriously, what happened to you?"

     "Bad side bro. Just... help me get ta the infirmary." Paul said between coughs, attempting to balance himself against the large water pipes lining the side of the hallway from floor to ceiling. Colin gingerly tossed Paul's left arm around his own shoulder, using one hand to secure his wrist to his bicep, and the other to gently lift the wolf by the rump until he was standing with the wounded soldier.

     "Oh no we don't," Colin said impatiently. "The elevation pod on this level's been deactivated for maintenance to prepare for inspection this month, and I don't think I can carry you up the stairs. Come on, I got supplies in my office, I'll take care of you." As the husky spoke he led Paul to the door, moving his hand across the scanner which read his pad-print. Ducking a bit (and making Paul wince inwardly from the slight motion), Colin placed his muzzle into an indentation on the wall as an iris scanner checked for secondary confirmation of ID before opening the thick metal panel.
 
     "I don't have access in here..." Paul started, his voice low and weak as he limped down the passage.

    "Shut up and close your eyes then. We gotta hurry, my cubicle is just around this next corner..." Kicking open his office door (ROOM 1903-B4. BIO MECHANICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT), Colin dragged Paul to one of the vacated desks nearest the entrance and set him down on the cold steel table.

     "We can't do this, you'll get reprimanded, bro. And why are we even in here? I need a Medi-bed."
    
     "Just relax and calm down, everyone's left for the day already."

     Out of sight, Paul heard his friend opening and slamming closed several filing cabinet drawers. He felt very tired, and the ache had swollen into a pulsing feeling that ran across his chest in time with every gulp of air. Colin rushed back into view carrying a dusty black case and told Paul to stay still.

     "What's that?" Paul panted, eyeing the box suspiciously.

     "It's called a first-aid kit, I made it myself for emergencies. I obviously can't afford nano-serum, so I make do. Now let me take off your clothes and take a look."

     "Wait, do you got any medical training?" Paul asked, his quiet voice becoming high pitched.

     "No, but have a little trust." Colin quickly unsnapped the upper training armor, tossing it to the side in a glowing blue pile of leather. Gently feeling the fur along Paul's torso, he found the source of the injury punctuated by a howl of pain. "Does that hurt there?"

     "What th' fuck you think, buddy? HELL YES it hurts!"

     "I think you've broken a rib, dude. We gotta get you into an infirmary chamber, but first we gotta make sure you make it upstairs..." Colin began to shift around the contents of the case until he pulled out a grey plastic bag, a bottle of water, and a roll of cloth which he began to unravel.

     "Arceus be damned! It's getting worse now! What in the blazing fires are you doing?" Paul stammered, the pain causing dots of colored light to begin dancing in his vision. Paul watched as Colin ran back to the rear of the room and started searching through packages on a shelf (EXPLOSIVES COMPONENTS: A-L), coming back a moment later with a jar of white powder marked 'DANGER'. Colin took the lid off the chemical and poured a bit into the grey bag, replacing the jar on the wall and adding half the bottle of water before sealing and shaking the container.

     "Here, stick this on it," Colin said, holding out the bag.

     "I dunno what that crap is!"

     "It's Ammonium Nitrate, just do it now!"

     Grumbling, Paul grabbed the offering and nearly dropped it out of shock. It was over eighty degrees in the building, but the small package was freezing to the touch. Placing it on his torso, the ice pack stung momentarily before causing the throbbing to begin to slow. Colin began wrapping the thin bandage around his chest and shoulders, fixing it firmly around the cold sac.

     "Wow, that's amazing. How the hell did ya do that?"

     "It's just chemistry," Colin said with a small shrug. "Our ancestors used things like this all the time to treat wounds."

     "Who told you that?"
  
     "Just some things I learned over the years. As for the rest of your pain..." Colin trailed off and went into a nearby room behind the desk Paul was sitting on. He came back a moment after with a large glass bottle and a cup. As he finished filling the glass, Paul apprehensively turned away.
 
     "What's that, another weird concoction of yours?"

     Colin looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed. "Nope. This is Whisky." He downed the cup in a couple of seconds and handed the bottle back to Paul. "Drink up buddy, we've got five flights of stairs to climb."

     After downing part of the liquor and honestly feeling a lot better than he had when he collapsed, Paul let Colin lead him to the clinic, where he was immediately rushed by a pair of busty timber wolf nurses into the recovery wing. The operation room was brightly lit, with a row of wide tubes jutting from the pristine white walls. In each tube there was a rolling platform with a mattress on top and limb restraints, with enough space to lie upon. They stripped Paul out of his clothes, removing ice pack which was still cold. The doctor that stopped by to supervise was completely baffled by the make-shift treatment, and as the nurses strapped him into the medi-bed he asked where Paul got the notion for it.

    "Well," Paul said, the numbness of the alcohol slightly slurring his drawl, "it was my friend here, he-" But as Paul turned to look for Colin, he was gone.

     "Oh you mean the mixer brat?" one of the nurses said with a sneer. "We sent him back downstairs. I don't know how he got in this building in the first place." Appalled by her words, Paul's face twisted in disgust; however, the nurse must not have noticed because she went on talking as she grabbed a full syringe from the white counter top. "I still think he must have cheated on his exam papers. At any rate, we're going to give you two units of Nano, followed by a day or two of rest in the compartment."

     "Fine, let's get it over with," said Paul as Nurse Number Two jabbed his ribcage with the long thick needle. He watched as the plunger sank a viscous blue fluid into his body. The effects were immediate, and as a gentle tingling started to overcome the pain, the sedative properties of the drug began to overwhelm him. Nurse Number One took a sheet and draped it over him, folding it at his waist. Clicking a small lever on the exterior of the tube, there was a clicking sound as the contraption unlocked the fixed position of the mattress.

     "Night sweetie" said the nurses in unison as they slid his bed all the way into the infirmary chamber and shut the heavy glass lid.

     Two days later, the grey wolf opened his eyes groggily as the stasis afterglow faded away, his strength returning after the short hibernation. Flexing his arms and feeling his chest (his restraints had been removed as he slept he supposed), he found he could move freely without pain. The nano-serum had reset and mended his broken rib, likely in the first six hours of the hospital stay. The rest of the recovery time in the medi-bed was likely meant to burn through the worst of the side effects for such a large dose. Still, a queasy sense of nausea slowly sickened him, and his eyes remained sensitive to the blazing overhead lamps of the operation room he'd been wheeled back into. Staring at the blank wall and the curtain surrounding his bed, he felt frightened by the claustrophobia of the small space. Grabbing the sheet, Paul pulled the spread over his head and turned, letting out a small confidential whine into the pillow.

     "Wow, dude. You're really not a morning person are you?"

     Paul shot up on the mattress, startled. Colin was sitting in a chair on his left, and the wolf had completely missed his presence. Colin was smiling; the sides of his muzzle turned up in a lopsided grin.

     "Colin?"

     "The medical staff said you were out of stasis, so I've been waiting for you to wake up," he said, rubbing his hands lightly on his knees. Then he frowned a bit and continued, "of course, they weren't exactly inviting, so I told them I had important data to relay to you before you went back to work."

     Paul cringed, remembering how flippant the nurse was before knocking him out. At a loss of words, and slightly embarrassed, Paul lay back down and smiled in an effort to lighten the mood.

     "I like the intrigue bud. Very secret spy of you," Paul joked, clapping the husky on his shoulder. Colin brightened a little and locked his arm against Paul's in a traditional sign of friendship. As Paul shifted up on the bed, the sheet fell to his mid-thigh. Eyes wide, Colin looked away immediately and broke the connection. Confused, Paul looked down and saw the sheet had dropped below his sheath.

     "What's up? It's not like ya ain't seen one before bro," Paul said, an amused expression crossing his face. But Colin was still turned the other way, is ears cocked ashamedly.

     "Sorry," he said, reaching down blindly for the sheet and pulling it up two feet to the wolf's chest. "It's just awkward."

     "Why? We're both males, it's not like anythin's weird right?" Paul said, still smiling, although he felt very confused. He walked around naked in his barracks all the time, and none of his squad mates acted like this before. "Is there something wrong with it?" Paul gasped, taking inventory of his appendage and checking for damage, suddenly worried there was a complication during stasis or that it had shrunk because of the drug (a common barracks rumor).

     "No! Not at all," Paul stammered quickly. "There's nothing wrong with it! I mean, Your cock is fi--, I mean, its gre--, I mean..., ah damn it." Colin buried his face in his hands, leaving Paul baffled as to what his friend was trying to say.

     "Bro, calm down; Why are you actin' so strange all've a sudden?" There was genuine alarm in his voice now, and he reached out to lift the husky's chin. "come on bro, you can tell me. What's goin' on?"

     "Really?" Colin said slowly, a careful expression coming over his face. His paws shuffled beneath him as he took a deep breath. "Paul... I've never told this to anyone. I'm not sure how you'll react, so..." His voice trailed as he looked down at the floor while his claws dug into his pants.

     "And? Just say it!" Paul said, placing his hand on Colin's arm and shaking it gently.

     "I'm, I'm gay."

     Paul froze for a moment, unsure what he'd been told. "What do you mean you're gay? What's that?"

     Colin looked up now, into his eyes, and explained under his breath, "It means I'm homosexual. I'm attracted to other males."

     Paul inhaled deeply and held it. Homosexuality was forbidden under Arceusian law, strictly enforced under the code. Violating this tenet was a sure way to be delivered to the Ministry Board of Corrections, the very thought of which sent chills through his body. At the sight of his shock, Colin's tail bristled defensively and he backed away from Paul's hand. His fingers suspended as if by invisible wires, the wolf remained motionless as the impact of what he was hearing set in.

     "Are... Are you sure, bro?" Paul said, his voice rising slightly as he regained his bearing.

     "Yes I'm sure! Keep it down! There is staff in the next room!" Colin said with a finger to the tip of his muzzle.

     "But, isn't that forbidden? They could take you to the Board!" Paul said hoarsely. "If my father found out..." Paul's dad was Cobalt Lyall, chairman of the Judicial Support Clan, the managing directors of the Corrections Ministry. He was renown throughout the district for his strict and ruthless passions, but his son had years of experience with just how sinister his dark side could be. His blood ran cold as he thought about what his father would do to Colin, not just a Husky, but a half-blood wolf.

     "Well, I've never been one to abide by rules I don't like; you should know that by now. And besides, it's the way I am dude. I can't just switch it off." Colin's ears and tail dropped dejectedly. "I thought you'd understand..."

     Paul gaped for a moment, then shook his head as he cleared his mind. Resolve rising within him, he reached out again and firmly gripped his friend by the shoulder once more.

     "No, you're right. You've been my friend for years, bro, and I'll be damned if I turned my back on you now. Hell, you just saved my life. Besides, nothing's changed anyway."

     Colin stared at him, a hopeful uncertainty in his gaze. He returned the shoulder-lock, and smiled, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

     "Come on now, bud," Paul said awkwardly as he released Colin's arm and scratched the back of his own ear, "You know I ain't into that bitch stuff."

     "Thank you Paul."

*************************************************************
     Daylight had not yet broken when Paul attempted latching his air filter tight around his muzzle, starting the eighty yard trek from the sky rail station to the base entrance. The fit was becoming loose, he noticed, and he'd have to buy a new one soon. It was expensive, but what else could he do. In the last several years it was obvious that the atmospheric toxicity levels had risen, despite numerous news stories to the contrary. The pollution from the multiple war factories in the district had only increased since the Shahirizan forces had begun periodic raids in the outer sectors, and it was already a guaranteed week in stasis if one inhaled too much of the outside air.

     The only sound around him as he walked was the rushing wind, a foreboding shadow of future storms. Crossing into the gaping maw of the base's decontamination chamber, he shuddered against the cold fingers of the outside brushing against his fur. He hit a worn and chipped button on a nearby counter and the door closed firmly behind him, cutting the gusts like a puppet from its strings, and leaving the air still and silent in the dimly lit room. As a vacuum began to whir somewhere above him, he waited until the source of light above faded from red to green before opening the facility door.

     Walking down the corridors, he made his way to the locker room to rinse off the smell of the outside. The room was quite large, with dozens of uniform rows of metallic cabinets to store the battalion's uniforms and clothing. Turning down the farthest aisle, Paul stopped midway through and placed his hand on a pad-scanner. Clicking open the locker, Paul grabbed a large stick of soap and began to strip out of his training gear. With practiced skill, he folded it crisply before storing it safely in the top compartment along with his helmet. Reaching above the top of the cabinet, he pulled down a warm towel and stepped toward the empty bay of showers.

     Pressing the metallic button on the wall, a powerful jet of hot water gushed down on his head. Steady streams of the warm liquid flowed over his body; tiny rivulets cascaded through his sweaty, matted fur. The pelt around his sheath was still slightly sticky from that morning's surprise, and as he vigorously scrubbed the area with the soap bar his mind began racing over the previous night's events and the morning after.

    It wasn't unusual for Paul to have an after work drink with Colin; he typically popped in on his friend once a week or so. It started the same way as any other visit, a quick hello and a bullshit session about their respective shops on base. As they settled down for a finger of scotch and a game of cards, however, Paul brought up Colin's confession.

     "So," Paul said as he lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before continuing. "about the other day. Were ya serious about the whole-wha'dija call it-'gay' thing?"

     Colin swirled his glass, staring thoughtfully into the liquor as he spoke, "Yes. I like males. I have ever since I was young," he said simply. "I've just kept it to myself. And now you dude, I guess." Colin shrugged then knocked back the tumbler in a single gulp. Paul cocked his eyebrow slightly; Colin was typically a slow drinker. "As for the word 'gay', I read it in a book once, and decided it described my feelings perfectly."

     "What book had THAT written in it?" Paul said, downing his own glass and refilling both cups. He had never read anything outside of his curriculum at the academy, but he was fairly certain he'd remember hearing about a story discussing a forbidden act. The Arceusian government had a very stringent literary policy, and all written documents had to be pre-approved by the Committee of Literary Integrity before publication. And guys having sex with other males would be a pretty massive oversight.

     "I have my sources," Colin said, the corner of his muzzle curving upward in a grin. "Why so interested dude? You're not curious are you?"  He teased.

     "Curious? About that stuff? Hell nah, bro! It's just different is all." Paul slammed another drink and toasted a third at Colin. "Whelp, I'm weird too, buddy. Here's to bein' strange!"

     As Paul remembered what he had Colin had done when the bottle had been emptied, his stomach began to do small flips; a parade of winged beats flooded his chest, a new feeling, but not unpleasant. Still, he had left while Colin was still in the shower less than an hour ago, a wave of guilt sweeping over him after the rush of his orgasm had ended. It was illegal. He had always been told such thoughts were wrong; in need of swift correction. But yet, this fluttering feeling seemed so... So...

     "No," he said silently to himself, shaking his head beneath the geyser of water. "I'm just confused is all." Unbidden by his distracted conscious, Paul's sheath parted as his cock began to swell. The patter of the heated shower massaging his pink flesh, his mind returned to the warm moisture of Colin's mouth when Paul had relented to giving him a try, 'just to prove he wasn't kidding', and that it was possible for two males to make love. "No, damn it. It was sex," he told himself." He's my friend, I don't love him. Well, I do but that's different..."
    
     Despite his protests his member throbbed beneath him, his knot straining against the tight pocket of flesh which held its base. Scanning the tiled compartment and finding it empty, Paul allowed his hand to wrap gently around his thick shaft. Rings of pleasure traveled from the angry red tip in widening circles through his body, forcing his chin up and his toes to curl. Instead of pin-up bitches and his female comrades, his mind pictured Colin's eyes, like pools of blue plasma sucking him in. In place of supple breasts, he saw only the husky's smile and the curve of his back and tail.

     Pumping his fist faster, he could feel the heat of Colin's body overpowering the water which had begun to cool. Beyond the smell of chalky government issued soap, Paul's nose bathed instead in the scent of his buddy's fur as they held each other in bed. The very air was thick with steam, but also the taste of Colin's muzzle as they kissed, drops of scotch still hanging to the fine hairs. Overwhelmed by his imagination, Paul gasped as he fired shot after shot of thin cum, draining his body of anything not already spent in that small apartment in Resident Block Charlie. Slowly recuperating from the exertion, Paul rested his muzzle against the cool tile as his cock sank back within him.

     His head more muddled than ever, Paul finished rinsing off in the now icy water. Shaking his body vigorously, he sent the majority of the liquid flying in all directions, using the towel to absorb the excess trapped within his dark fur. Returning to his locker, Paul slowly slipped back on his gear, attempting to focus on the long day of training ahead.

    He exited the locker room quickly, starting a light jog as he headed down the stairs toward the practice hall to begin formation. Just as Paul's hand gripped the handle to the stairwell, a klaxon alarm began howling throughout the facility. Tail and ears erect, he looked up at the flashing hazard lights along the walls.

     "Damn it, where the hell are they at now," Paul thought, pulling open the door. Breaking into a run and taking the steps two at a time, he passed the practice hall platform and descended three additional floors to the mission briefing room.

     Dozens of wolves of every size had already packed themselves into the small amphitheater as the klaxon continued to blare. The hollow screech ricocheting off the walls and the babble of a hundred conversations assaulted Paul's ears. He watched as the Barracks commander, flanked as always by his stoic aide, strode on stage and lifted a hand. Instantly the conversations stopped, and even the siren was silenced, as if even the facility itself did not dare to interrupt the commander.
    
     "Comrades," he said briskly, his voice carrying throughout the room without the need of a vocalizer pin. "As of 0515, there has been a breach of the security boundary. A Shahirizan patrol has been located in the Eastern side of the district. The Halatitian District is sending seasoned veterans to control the situation, but they are an hour out; in the interim we must protect our own. Sections Charlie and Delta, as the two senior squads you will be tasked with subduing the threat until reinforcements arrive. These orders are to be carried out effective immediately.

     Despite his solid expression, Paul felt his heart stop in disbelief. His section would be one of the squads sent on the mission. Having never seen actual combat, and to have this responsibility thrust upon him so suddenly, he was floored by the announcement. The shock must have been readily apparent on his face, because the commander continued, looking straight in his direction:

     "As you are all still in training, I'm sure that some of you may be apprehensive. However, you need not defeat the patrol, merely hold out until the Halatitian District can dispose of the enemy. Remember, this is what you have been training for, Soldiers. That is all." The commander stepped back, but did not leave the stage. Moving with enough grace that his paws failed to make a sound in their heavy boots, the Commander's assistant stepped up into the center spotlight.

     "Squads Charlie and Delta," He said, his voice as loud as his superior's but much more smooth; like a silk scarf. "You will now board a carrier drone and depart in five minutes for the breach zone. You will receive your combat gear upon take-off."

     Before he could step back into his position, a single hand shot up, the wolf's actual body outside of Paul's line of view.

     "Yes, Soldier?"

     "Sir, where is the location, Sir?" The young sounding voice was low, almost broken as he addressed the dark officer on stage. The officer touched the perfectly round glasses on his face, pushing them up to rest higher on the bridge of his muzzle. Looking in the direction of the speaker, he said:

     "On the outskirts of Resident Block Charlie and the Lorian Academy, near the Sky Rail line 2." The officer faced the crowd again and began speaking some more, but Paul couldn't hear. He couldn't breathe. Sky Rail line 2.

"Colin."

END CHAPTER 2
     CHAPTER 3\t


\tBlood trickling from his muzzle, Colin scrambled up from his seat as the grating sound of machinery outside became louder; the reverberation causing the entire cabin to shake. The compartment itself, lined with wide windows on both sides, offered a panoramic view of the wall of darkness sweeping toward him. A swarm of forest green sky ships blocked the dawning sun, engulfing the outskirts of the district like a plague of giant locusts. Colin watched as the dozen or so vessels whistled through the smog and opened their doors, a parade of winged figures pouring out of each and taking to the air.

\tColin had heard stories of the Shahirizan forces before, of course, and he had even studied the anatomy of dead prisoners captured from previous raiding parties. But to see them descending upon the city, the only world he knew, frightened him gravely.  Scanning the urban jungle before him, he saw that one of the Block Charlie apartment buildings was very close to the Sky rail's current position. If he could hop through the cabins, he had a chance to leap onto the barren roof. Putting on his air filter, he started to turn down the wide rows of seats toward the back exit. However, he only had time to take a single step before the ceiling in front of him collapsed as a tall black figure jumped down after the fallen tiles.
\t
\tThe Shahir soldier rose up to his full height, his massive tail resting on the chairs behind him, and the top of his hairless scalp almost brushing against the jagged edges of the hole he'd created. His sleek back scales glistened in the flickering light of the damaged fluorescent bulbs, unblemished except for the small, chalk-white spines protruding symmetrically on either side of his limbs and down his back. Colin saw that he had no weapons in his clawed hands, nor did he require an air filter to block the slits on his snout. In fact, he was naked, save for what looked to be a solid vest which covered his chest and lower torso, and a chain about his throat that draped beneath the garment.
\t
\tHis head was smooth with eyes of deep molten steel, and his pointed teeth were sharp daggers as he opened his maw to screech loudly. Colin backpedaled quickly and tripped, landing on his rump atop the ragged carpeting. The soldier bared his fangs as he approached the downed Husky, raising its hand in preparation to strike. Gritting his teeth, Colin steadied himself for the blow.

\tThe sound of shattering glass echoed through the cabin as the window burst in, followed by a muffled "boom" as the Shahir was thrown against the wall. Colin looked up to see a ball of grey fur wrestling against the massive dragon, with a plasma blade knocked three feet to the left of the struggle.

\t"Paul?" Colin said incredulously, his voice cracked and hoarse from shock.

\t"Colin! Get out of here! Run!" Paul grunted as the Shahir thrashed beneath him.

\tColin stumbled forward, but instead of going for the door, he grabbed the weapon and tossed it to Paul. The wolf felt the hilt of the blade bump into his side and grasped it before it could fall again. Taking advantage of Paul's lack of focus, the dragon heaved him off its chest, regaining its balance. Colin watched as the lumbering creature reached for his friend's throat, and screamed in warning from his crouched position.

\t"Paul!"

\tWithout hesitation, the wolf spun around, plunging the tip of the sword through the chain and into the Shahir's throat. Colin heard a raspy hiss escape the beast's mouth while the plasma-charged edge singed its way fluidly into the dragon's neck; its masters body crumpled to the ground. Paul withdrew the blade, clean of any blood since the weapon cauterized the wounds on contact. Just as he did so, Colin watched as two more Shahir  jumped through the crater in the cabin's roof.

\t"What are you still doing there?" Paul yelled fiercely, "Get away from here, now!"

\tThe twin beasts, were near carbon-copies of their fallen brother; they marched toward the front of the room like a macabre set of toy soldiers, the only difference being in the size of their legs. Colin attempted to vault the seats to hide from them, but as the Shahir began to advance toward Paul, the taller of the two monsters stopped him short; unknowingly flinging its barbed tail into his path. Barely dodging the attack, Colin crouched hidden between the rows, the backdoor of the cabin barely 15 feet away. Suddenly, a howl echoed across the scene as a huge shape burst in through a second window. Colin stared as a massive wolf in full gear and darkened visor began slashing away at the dragons, squeezing himself further into the shadows.

\tCaught off guard, the smaller creature reeled back in surprise, the wolf's attack barely missing the Shahir's forearm and striking the dark vest. A thundering clang rang through the cabin as the blade made contact with the reptile's armor, but the garment did not give. Colin should have been sprinting for the exit, but instead he froze, shocked. As one of the chief developers on staff in the complex, Colin had helped design the Pl-246 plasma blade himself; he knew the exact specifications and capabilities of nearly every piece of armor and weaponry which outfitted the district's battalion. The sword that the Arceus soldier was holding was crafted to form a high-yield atomic plasma arc, and by carefully managing the flow of energy along the edge of the blade, not even the most sturdy carbon-fiber test materials could withstand such force. But the vest did not break. It didn't even have a scratch.

\tThe Shahir grinned, and lashed out with its claws in a powerful uppercut. Like the finest blades they rent clean through the armor clad soldier, shredding the enhanced diamond silk protection vest like moist paper. The force of the impact lifted the wolf high in the air, the visor falling off as the reptile’s arm fully extended through its victim. Pulling out his arm, the figure fell to the floor.

\tBlood flowed dark, almost black, from the wolf’s maw, his grey fur matted with sweat. “You… bastard…” he panted hoarsely from one knee,  causing the beast to smile wickedly. “I’ll see you in hell. Now!” he shouted, rolling to his left as Paul swung his blade toward the reptile’s face, striking his cheek. But again the sword stopped, the jarring halt of the weapon creating a force which knocked it painfully from the grey wolf's hand.

\t“How the hell?”

\tTurning around slowly the creature laughed, making a grating sound both metallic and horridly organic fill the cabin as he advanced toward the weaponless wolf. Paul grabbed the barely conscious soldier, unrecognizable due to the matted blood, and dragged him quickly toward the broken window. Looking back once more at the frightened husky in the middle of the cab, Paul jumped out the window taking with him the limp body of his fellow soldier.

\tDistracted, the creatures moved to get closer to the window, leaving the aisle open once more. Colin leaped to his feet and sprinted toward the back door, breathing heavily against the toxic air that filled the compartment. Just as he grasped the cool copper handle, he could hear the cry of the dark reptile behind him. Not looking back, the panting husky threw the door open and hurled himself off the short platform that spanned half the ten foot gap from the rail to a nearby apartment roof.

\tA splitting pain coursed through Colin's left-arm, and he felt himself being pulled short of his goal. He dangled in the gap between the two ledges, looking up into the blazing eyes of his captor; a dark silhouette against the rust colored expanse of sky above him. His arm was pierced by the claws of the beast, and as he hung suspended above a fatal drop, the Shahir began to squeeze. The husky heard both bone and tendon snap, and knew his time was over. In a moment of grim certainty, Colin used his shoulder to swing himself up and grasp the dragon's neck, fully intending on taking him to the grave as well. As his paw sought purchase on the leathery skin, however, he instead broke the chain around its neck, and slipped down again, the ornament tangling about his wrist.

\t Suddenly the reptile cried out in pain, its eyes going wide with fear, and it tossed the husky down, down into the smoky abyss below.
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