He closed his hand over the rat's muzzle, successfully muffling his victim's short squeal of alarm, and drove his knife upwards towards his captive's heart. The rat struggled against its attacker's grip, tearing at scaled arms with its sharp claws and lashing its naked tail like a whip, but its efforts were futile; its captor held strong, and a trickle of hot blood steadily oozed from the stab wound in the rat's back. The rat's limbs slowly began to lose their strength, each swing of a thin, furred arm weaker than the last, and each kick of a leg far more harmless than the one before it. The rat gave a final shudder as the last of its life bled out, and then the body became a limp deadweight in its attacker's arms. The assailant lowered the corpse to the ship's metallic deck, alone now but for the wind rippling his clothes.

Ivan did not enjoy killing, but sometimes it was a necessary evil. In this case, the fate of his people was far more important than the fate of an enemy soldier.

The frilled lizard knelt down beside the body and began to rifle through the contents of the dead guard's black and gold uniform. A few coins, a brass cigarette lighter, a glossy photo of an attractive she-rat that Ivan immediately tried to forget seeing - damn. Where were his keys? The guard had to have keys. There was no way inside the ship without them.

Just as the first flutters of fear were worming their way into his gut, he found the ring of keys clipped to the rat's belt alongside a holstered pistol, which he scoffed up as well. Ivan wasn't much of a gunman, but who knew what he'd need once he entered the enemy airship. He briefly considered stripping the body of its uniform and donning that over his current get up of a leather vest and tattered cargo pants, but he decided against it. Though the disguise was appealing and would easily fool the eye from afar, it was far too saturated with blood to be of any use to him. If there were any canines on board the ship, and Ivan was certain there were, they'd smell it on him as soon as he stepped over the threshold. It was far safer to leave the clothes where they were.

When Ivan was done looting the body, he hefted the corpse up and over the balcony of the deck, letting it plummet to the earth thousands of feet below. There was nothing he could do about the fresh pool of blood, but he hoped to be long gone by the time it was discovered.
There was a doorway several meters ahead, and Ivan scurried over to it and pressed his face to its iron exterior, straining to hear any signs of movement above the combined roar of the wind and the ship's engines. He heard nothing, although that didn't necessarily guarantee that no one was on the other side. Unfortunately, such was a risk he knew he must take. Ivan fumbled with the guard's keys until he found the one that fit the lock, then he slowly pushed the door inward and slipped inside.

The door opened into a long, dimly-lit corridor that stretched into the darkness at one end and concluded at another metallic door at the other. A thick rug with the standard black and gold color scheme favored by the Mammalian air militia extended its entire length, and the walls, tall panels of metal riveted together at their seams, reached high over Ivan's head towards a latticework of pipes. The hallway was eerily silent; the keening of the wind and groans of the engine completely inaudible from inside. Ivan seemed to be alone. Excellent. He hoped things would stay silent and solitary for just a little longer. Being inside the ship was one thing, but knowing exactly where he was inside it was another.

Preparing to bolt for cover at a moment's notice, Ivan moved under one of the gas-lit sconces illuminating the corridor and unfurled the map his partner, Cornelia, had supplied him with prior to embarking on their mission. It was a crudely drawn thing, scribed by the python herself (and she was no master cartographer) but what it lacked in artistry it made up for in accuracy. Cornelia had studied the structures of the various Mammalian warships since the dawn of the Revolution, and just from giving the thing a quick once-over, Ivan managed to pinpoint where he was in the ship. His ultimate goal of the evening was to locate the ship's power source and retrieve it, and such would not be an easy task. Ivan needed to navigate the labyrinthine bowels of the ship to reach its core, and if the map was as correct as it seemed to be, he was far from his destination.

Steady now, he silently mused as he rolled the map up and returned it to its hiding place inside his vest. Cornelia planned for this. You've got time, Ivan, but you must stay calm. Worrying will get you nowhere.
There was a sudden click at one end of the hall, followed by the sharp squeaking of hinges. Ivan's heart leapt into his throat. Someone was coming. He would have to think fast or die.

There was nothing in the hallway that could conceal him save for a decorative metal bench, but even that would do little to hide his entire frame. Hearing the echoes of footsteps drawing closer, he felt the first murky tinges of panic settle in, and then, taking a reckless gamble with gravity, leapt from the bench to one of the sconces jutting from the wall. It sputtered and winked out as it began to bend under Ivan's weight, and just before the light came loose from the wall, the lizard sprung off of it and caught hold of one of the myriad pipes lining the ceiling overhead. Limbs thrashing frantically, Ivan nearly lost his grip on the pipe, but he miraculously succeeded in scrambling up and out of sight. He pressed himself belly-down upon the length of the cold, metal structure and watched in silence, an unseen spectator lurking from above.

Several heartbeats later, he saw a uniformed lynx pass by beneath him. The fellow was clad in the same black and gold outfit as the rat from earlier. Another guard on patrol.

Ivan kept silent, barely breathing as he watched the lynx from his perch. He did not want another fight, and he prayed he could avoid it by waiting for the guard to leave. It felt, however, as though it were taking the other man an eternity to walk the entire length of the hallway, as though he were walking through a viscous sea of molasses, slowing every stride. The gentle thump of Ivan's heart sounded deafening in the silence, and now he held his breath, fearing that even the slightest of sounds might alert the guard of his presence.

Then he felt the gentle weight of his radio begin to lessen, and chills of dread marched down his back from neck to tail. Gravity's gentle fingers were coaxing the small transmitting device from the pocket of his pants, slowly drawing it towards the opening, where it would then plummet into the middle of the hallway, a mere handful of paces away from the guard. Ivan twisted his lithe frame and moved to grab the radio, but the motion only slipped it further out of his pocket, and he swore quietly under his breath as it became totally dislodged and fell to the floor with a loud thump.

No use hiding now.

Ivan dropped from the ceiling like a bat taking flight, and dove for the radio. If he intended to get back to Cornelia, the radio was an absolute necessity. It was one of the few things he could not afford to lose.

He retrieved the radio, but not without suffering a blow to the temples from the butt of the guard's pistol. Stars shone and black splotches bloomed in his vision, but Ivan fought through the sharp pain and made a grab for the guard's wrist. Ivan's claws sank into furred flesh, but the grip was awkward, leaving the lizard no way to gain the upper hand. The two briefly wrestled over the gun, at one point accidentally firing off a shot, which ricocheted off the pipes overhead and passed mere centimeters away from Ivan's head, until they both lost their grip and the pistol clattered to the floor. Ivan's foot shot out, sending the gun skittering far out of the guard's reach, and then made for the door on the far end of the hallway. He felt feline claws rake the end of his tail as he fled, but he ignored it, gritting his teeth as the trio of oozing gashes burned.

According to the map, this level of the ship contained a vast network of hallways, and Ivan hoped he could lose the guard and, with a little luck, avoid any future altercations if he immersed himself in their chaotic depths.

When he reached the door, however, he had only time enough to close it before a rag bearing a sharp, chemical stench was pressed to his nostrils. He inhaled in alarm, drawing more of the acrid chemical into his nose. Ivan's world grew fuzzy, the colors of the walls becoming uncertain, bleeding into each other as though they were made of liquid, until finally the world winked out of existence.

---

Ivan woke to the metallic clashing of heavy machinery accompanied by a gentle electric hum. He opened his eyes, the dim light blinding to his drug-enhanced senses, and slowly sat up. His head felt like a block of lead precariously attached to his thin neck, and it took every ounce of his strength to fight the urge to flop back down onto the floor and surrender to sleep. Rubbing the back of his sore head, he blinked his dry, itchy eyes and looked around.

Wherever he was, he was certain it was far from the colorful hallways of the ship's upper decks. He was surrounded on all sides by a maze of pipes that stretched upwards to staggering heights, disappearing into a haze of rust-colored gloom. The floor beneath him was a simple metal grid that hung over a murky darkness. From somewhere down the corridor, Ivan could hear the ugly groaning and clanking of the machine that had roused him from his slumber.

"Ah, so you're finally awake." The voice possessed a soft, smoky accent and sounded alarmingly kind, perhaps even concerned.

Kind or not, Ivan knew he was the only Reptile on this ship and that the newcomer's tone could easily be a facade. He tried to stand, but his legs buckled beneath him like two strips of rubber. He reached for the gun he had stolen off the guard, but it was no longer on his belt.

"Calm down before you hurt yourself." A thin raccoon emerged from the
gloom. He was small by raccoon standards - barely a head taller than Ivan - and clad in a white pea coat with gold trim and buttons. He regarded Ivan with amusement through his black-rimmed eyes. "You have a friend among your enemies. There is no need to fear me."

"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" Again, Ivan tried to stand, but his legs failed him once more.

"There would be no use in trying to trick you. If I possessed any ill will, I would have just killed you by now." He drew a corked beaker filled with a strange green liquid from his coat pocket and offered it to Ivan.

Ivan chuckled; a sound void of any actual humor. "Scratch that, you must think we Reptiles are really stupid."

The raccoon uncorked the vial with a hollow pop. "I know what you must think, but it's an antidote, not a poison. You'll have to take it if you want to walk any time soon." When Ivan responded with only an indignant stare, the raccoon rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'll take a sip of it myself, if that'll set you at ease."

He held the vial to his muzzle and took a swig, grimacing as the bitter potion assaulted his taste buds. A minute passed. Then another. Then several more. The raccoon remained unharmed, and Ivan still could not feel his legs.

"Fine," the lizard flicked his tongue angrily, "I'll take your stupid antidote."

The raccoon held it out to Ivan, and the lizard took it roughly from the other man's dainty fingers. He downed the potion in one swig and cringed at its awful flavor and how it settled in his stomach as though it were lava. It worked quickly despite his misgivings, and within minutes of consuming the noxious fluid the feeling had returned to his legs with a prickly quickness and he was able to stand without toppling over.

It seemed the raccoon hadn't been lying. But what kind of Mammal would want to help a Reptile, a member of the people with which they were at war? This raccoon was a peculiar fellow to be sure. Ivan would not let his guard down, however, he ached to know more about this strange individual.

The frilled lizard crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his golden eyes, the pupils turning to thin, black slits. "Alright, time to explain what the bloody hell is going on. Why do you seem to be helping me and where the hell is this?" He swiveled his head, looking around at their coppery surroundings to emphasize his point.

The raccoon folded his ears down against his skull and frowned. "I'm aiding you because I am a man with, ah, a touch of guilt, for lack of a better description."

"Guilt?" It could have meant any number of things, given the various occurrences of the war. Such a nebulous description was unsatisfactory to the curious, and equally as suspicious, lizard. Ivan leaned against a thick, vertical pipe and flicked a hand at the raccoon. "Go on. Explain."

For a moment the raccoon seemed to cringe, but his serious demeanor returned so quickly that Ivan couldn't be sure if the display of emotions was genuine, or merely a trick of his own imagination. "I am a scientist. Like many of my colleagues, I'm stationed on this ship to aid with the maintenance of its electrical core, but prior to my promotion, my job was to research and develop different types of cybernetics, both for civilian and military use." He paused to swallow thickly and a shadow of sorrow seemed to pass over his delicate features. "At first we carefully experimented on volunteers of our own kin, but once the war began and we started taking prisoners." He looked to the left, his gaze seemingly focused on some far and distant object. Closing his eyes with a sigh, he looked down as if in shame. "We had an endless supply of test subjects. Men. Women. Children. Young or old, it did not matter; if they had cold blood and scales, they were considered fair testing material and were used as such."

Hearing the words and knowing that the experiments the raccoon spoke of were nothing more than glorified torture, Ivan hissed and unfurled his frills. He'd heard the stories, seen the photos, grisly even in the black and white stills. This man was no scientist. He was a monster.
"No, wait, please!" The raccoon threw his hands up as if they might shield him from Ivan's wrath. He took a shaky step backwards, nearly tripping over his own bushy tail. "Please listen. I have to tell you the whole thing in order for you to understand."

Ivan didn't want to listen; he wanted to tear this evil creature limb from limb, wanted to feel the snap of his bones, the hot rush of blood. He wanted to kill him as a small favor to all those who he'd tortured in the name of `science.' But he didn't. His body grew rigid with fury and his fists clenched and unclenched in time with his lashing tail, but he held back the violent rage. Perhaps it was the way the raccoon's wide, brown eyes glistened with a sheen of what seemed to be genuine tears, or how the other man's voice quavered with convincing sadness as he recounted the horrors of his previous profession. Whatever it was, it caused the lizard to refrain from attacking, grit his teeth, and angrily grumble: "Go on."

The raccoon chewed his thin bottom lip and nodded. "But then one day they brought this little girl in with a new catch of prisoners. She was a skink, I believe, and at first I thought nothing of her, as most people of my kind would be inclined to do." He looked away for a moment, clenching his eyes shut as if the memories caused him physical pain. Was that remorse Ivan saw shining in his dark eyes? "One night I heard her singing. It was a song my daughter used to love, before our town was bombed."

Ivan flinched at the mention of bombings. There were no angles in war. Everyone was a sinner.

"Perhaps it was for nostalgia's sake or perhaps I was merely bored and looking for something to do, but I decided to talk to her," the raccoon continued. "At first I took her as a mere curiosity, like an exceptionally bright lab animal that could be trained to do extra tricks, but soon, oh, Lord forgive me, I began to see her just as I had seen my daughter. After they promoted me to a shipboard assistant, I lost touch with her. I like to imagine she escaped somehow, but in my heart, I know her fate must have been - or will be - tragic." He looked up at Ivan, holding the lizard's gaze. He was smiling, although there was nothing happy about the expression and tears beaded in the corners of his eyes. "We are the same, you and I. Not superficially, no, not at all, but we are both creatures of flesh and blood, of intellect and dreams. We are equals. Our differences are very minor, indeed."
Ivan's ruby-hued frills fanned again and he snorted. "That's what we tried to tell you people from the beginning. All we ever wanted was equality. But you ignored out pleas. Treated us like cattle to be used and slaughtered."

"I know. And I am ashamed that I didn't realize these things sooner. But that is why I am here, my good sir." Brown eyes narrowed to slits and his gaze became deadly serious. "To help you end this senseless war. It is the core of the ship you wish to steal, is it not?"
"H-How did you know that?"

The raccoon's lips curled into a sly and barely-noticeable grin. "It's not hard to tap into your radio signals when one has studied various forms of machinery all his life. However, radios aside, it is quite obvious as to why you are here. Ships like this one," he tapped a booted foot on the metal floor, "are the only reason why we have given you Reptiles such a lashing in this war, and the electrical cores of out ships are the only real difference between ours and yours, yes?"
The raccoon was so correct in his assumptions that his words were chilling. The Mammals' ships were faster, quieter, and could stay airborne for far longer than anything the Reptiles had the capabilities of crafting, thanks to how the Mammals' unique ships were propelled by a hybridized system of internal combustion engines and the mysterious electrical cores. How the cores worked was a closely-guarded secret and, thus far, no one had been able to bring one back in-tact to be studied. If Ivan accomplished his mission, he would be the first to have ever done so. He could turn the tides of war, bring the wave of defeat crashing down upon the enemy, and, at last, give his people the liberty they deserved.

Stunned by the raccoon's precise assumption and intellect, Ivan could only nod.

"Good. Then perhaps you would care for a guide? Perhaps even a willing `prisoner' who possesses the knowledge of how the core works?" Ivan's knife was held out to him, handle-first. "What do you say, mister lizard?"

Ivan snarled and looked the man up and down, assessing his spit-shined boots, his white slacks and long jacket, his little, dainty hands, their long fingers curled gently around the blade of the knife, and, finally, at his furry face. Ivan did not like him, couldn't like him, but there was something oddly sincere about the stern expression that adorned his soft facial features. He knew it was foolish to think such things about this man, Ivan's sworn enemy, and that to place his trust in the raccoon's hands was a nigh-suicidal risk, but so was stealing the core to begin with. What was life without risks? A life without a single gamble; a life void of a dip into the foggy, uncertain depths of the unknown? Not much of a life at all, Ivan concluded.

Ivan strode forward, snatched the knife from the raccoon's hand, not caring if it cut the other man's palm, and returned it to its sheath on his belt. "Alright, mister -"

"Luther. Luther Meriwether." He smiled, exposing rows of teeth that reflected the room's dim, sallow light. "But, please, call me Luther."
"Ivan. Just Ivan."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir Ivan." Luther turned and, with a wave of a hand, motioned for Ivan to follow. "Now, come. We must make haste. I was able to spirit you away right from under that guard's nose, so they're still all over the upper decks in search of you. Won't be long until they think to check down here. Apologies for drugging you, by the way."

At this Ivan could only grumble. He could not say he forgave Luther, but he did appreciate the apology enough to hold back a snarky retort.
Luther lead him through a coppery maze of pipes and machinery, occasionally stopping at a corner where one narrow passage intersected another to check for any other souls before leading the frilled lizard on. They encountered nothing but dust and the occasional jet of steam issued from the seams of the pipes, but if Luther was truly sincere, Ivan was thankful for his caution. The duo walked across swaying catwalks that hung over a seeming abyss, in front of valves that hissed angrily as they passed, and up a short flight of stairs before they finally reached a dead end. On the far end of the wall, there was a narrow metal ladder that stretched far up and out of sight.
"This is it," said Luther, nervously glancing over his shoulder. His bristling fur flattened and he seemed to relax a bit when he saw Ivan was the only one there.

Ivan craned his neck to gaze up at the gloom. He gave a soft whistle, impressed by the ladder's height. "Wow."

"Wow, indeed. But you have seen very little until you have seen the ship's core." He spoke this with a hint of pride in his tone and seemed to beam like a farmer showcasing his finest crops. "Ah, but enough of this chitter chatter." Luther put a boot on the first rung of the ladder and waved Ivan on with a flick of his voluminous tail. "We mustn't waste time. Come on now. Oh! And I almost forgot." He drew Ivan's stolen pistol from the inside of his coat and handed it to the lizard. "You will be needing this."

Grateful to have the firearm back, Ivan eagerly received it and stashed it alongside his knife. "Might I ask why I'll be needing it?"
"Just a precaution, in case we encounter any difficulties." The raccoon's tone was low, ominous.

The answer was not satisfying in the slightest, but the raccoon quickly began to ascend, leaving Ivan no time to voice another question. They climbed to dizzying heights, and Ivan had to fight back the urge to look down at the ground far below. He might survive the fall were he to lose his footing on the ladder's thin, metal rungs, but he certainly wouldn't land without suffering a broken limb or two, and that was the last thing he needed aboard an enemy vessel. It would surely mark a grim end to his mission, raccoon ally or not.

Just as Ivan was growing restless and beginning to feel the sickly swirl of vertigo churn through his body, the ladder ended at the lip of a sharp ledge. Luther clambered onto it and disappeared from sight only to reappear seconds later to thrust a hand towards Ivan. Ivan didn't need the help, but he gladly took it, allowing for the taller man to pull him up onto the ledge with ease.

"Here we are at last," said Luther.

The raccoon's words barely registered in Ivan's ears. He was too busy staring at what he saw before him.

Suspended in the air between two horizontal prongs, the sea-green ball of light seemed to float as if by magic. White fingers of energy gripped the globe in glowing displays before flickering out as swiftly as they appeared. The core emitted a tantalizing hum that was felt - like a static heaviness saturating the air - more than it was heard, and with his eyes drawn wide, Ivan couldn't help but walk up to the dais over which it hovered.

It was ironic that something so ethereal was the source of all the Reptiles' troubles, was the very thing that granted the enemy ships their unstoppable prowess. Ivan could scarcely believe this crystalline bubble, no larger than his own head, was the enemy's greatest instrument of destruction. It was so peaceful. So serene.

Ivan didn't hear the raccoon's warning shout until it was too late.
Mesmerized by the core's deadly, electrical beauty, Ivan had, without thinking, carelessly grabbed it and removed it from its place. There was little resistance, and it came away freely to sit heavily in the lizard's claws. There was no deadly explosion, nor was he engulfed in a crackling web of electricity. The core merely ceased to glow save for a calm ember of blue light flickering deep in its center.

"What?" Ivan frowned as he looked at the raccoon's horror-stricken visage. "All I did was-shit!"

The mighty ship gave a deep groan like the death cry of a massive beast, and then the floor beneath them lurched, nearly causing the core to slip from Ivan's grasp. He thought he could hear voices shouting on the landing above.

"What the hell was that?" Ivan was beginning to regret what he'd done.
Luther's ears folded against his head and his bushy tail retreated to the space between his legs. "Nothing good. I didn't have a chance to power it down before you took it, so it won't be long before -"
The lights dimmed to a bloody crimson and a cacophony of blaring klaxons began to sound all around them.

"That," said Luther, his tone grim. He grabbed Ivan's wrist with a clammy paw and pulled harder than it seemed his thin arms should be capable of. "Come, hurry. There is a service lift that will take us to the upper decks." He paused, and Ivan could hear his panicked breathing. "Please tell me you have a ride out of here."

"Yeah." Ivan had to yell over the wailing alarm. "My partner, Cornelia, has an evac ship that will take us out."

He would have to explain the presence of the raccoon, but he was sure Cornelia would understand. He wasn't sure what he'd do if she didn't. Luther didn't seem to require any repayment for his services, but Ivan felt like he owed him. He was certain he wouldn't be here if not for this peculiar raccoon, and he knew that the raccoon's own people would put him to death for such a betrayal if Luther were left on this ship.
With Ivan in tow, Luther reached the service lift, bolted inside, and slammed the glowing button indicating the ship's uppermost deck. There was a click, then a groan as the pulleys came to life, and then they were in motion.

"Good. You might want to signal her sometime soon. And prepare your gun." Luther flicked his muzzle towards Ivan's pistol. "Thing may grow.unpleasant."

The lift ground to a halt and the doors split open, revealing the silvery expanse of the ship's decks accompanied by a backdrop of blue sky. Ivan and Luther crept out, looking this way and that, fearing what might await them. The wind whipped clothing and fur, and wisps of clouds whisked past their boots. Things were eerily silent. The guards must have headed down to the lower decks on the assumption that they were still in the core room.

"I just gave Cornelia my signal," Ivan said after hitting the bright red button on the side of his radio. "The plan is for her to meet me at the port bow. Let's go."

"No." Luther's scrawny arm shot out, barring Ivan from moving any further. "I think I can smell something. Something not right."
There was a black and brown flash. It leapt upon Luther, a snarling whirlwind of vicious teeth and claws.

"Traitor!" It was the lynx guard from earlier, the one who had nearly captured Ivan in the hallway. The cat's voice was barely more than an enraged howl. "I knew you were trouble from the beginning, I just knew it!" He lunged to bite Luther's neck, but the raccoon twisted away, narrowly missing the deadly blow, though he remained trapped beneath the lynx's muscular body. "Now you'll pay for your treachery, vermin."
Ivan drew his gun and aimed it at the back of the lynx's furry head. When his finger pressed upon the trigger, rather than a deafening roar, there was only a sickly, crunching click. Jammed.

The cat was raising his paw now, the deadly claws reflecting sparkles of sunlight as they extended from their sheaths, preparing to rend flesh and draw blood. Luther stared up in terror as he beheld the face of death looming over him. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the end when it finally came, but almost as soon as they closed they were immediately forced open by a shrill, feline scream.

Ivan's jammed gun made for a very useful club.

"Come on!" Ivan shouted to Luther as he dashed towards the bow. He could see Cornelia's small craft spewing black fumes from its exhaust pipes as it hovered over the ship's deck.

With the lynx now clutching his head in agony, Luther slithered out from under him and bolted after Ivan. His boots made heavy thuds as they pounded against the metal deck, and Ivan didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that the raccoon was close behind. They were almost there, almost to the sanctity of Cornelia's ship. Ivan wasn't sure how well Luther's presence would go over with the python, but he'd deal with her griping later.

A boom like thunder shook Ivan from his thoughts, followed by a ping as a bullet glanced off the deck, narrowly missing its reptilian target. A shot rang out again, once, twice, thrice; each time missing its mark as the enraged lynx fired at the duo point-blank. Ivan hoped such was the product of truly bad aim and not just luck. If it was luck, he prayed it would last a little longer. His feet thudded against the metal, muscles burning and tendons crying out for mercy as their owner pushed them to the limit.

Another crash rang through the air. Another ping as the bullet failed to meet its target. But this time, instead of hearing only the roar of the wind as it rushed past his ears, Ivan heard a high-pitched yelp.
"Shit." The word was barely a hiss as his oxygen-starved lungs fought for breath amidst the thin air. Luther had been hit.

Ivan could not turn back now no matter how much he wanted to help his unlikely ally, so he kept on running, kept on pushing his legs, which now burned as though on fire, to bring him closer to Cornelia's ship, its entrance hatch wide open like a gateway to salvation. When he was but a meter away, he kicked off from the deck, launching his thin body through the air and landing in a tangled heap of limbs and tail inside the safety of the aircraft.

"It's about time." Sitting in the pilot's seat, the brown and black python glared at him expectantly. "Well, do you really have it?"
Ivan swallowed, nodded, and pulled the core out from its place in his jacket. He handed it over to her, eager to rid himself of the responsibility.

A shiver seemed to wrack her entire sinuous frame and she offered him an elusive smile. "I could kiss you right now." She did not, as he expected, and instead began adjusting levers and hitting buttons on her console at a blinding speed, preparing the craft for lift off.
"Wait, don't!" The words came out as a chocking wheeze. Ivan's lungs felt numb. "I can't leave him."

The craft's motors came to life with a dusty cough. Exhaust belched from the array of pipes jutting out from its stern, and the sharp stench of burning fuel filled the air. Its trio of propellers whirred to life, causing it to rise.

"Who?" Cornelia's voice was sharp with exasperation.

Ivan looked down at the deck of the ship to see the shrinking form of his ally. A ribbon of blood, vibrant against the white fabric of his trousers, wound down Luther's leg, which dragged uselessly behind him as he fled. He was limping towards the massive ship's bow with the lynx slowly closing in behind him, a predator ready for the kill. The cat seemed to have expended all of his bullets and intended to tear the raccoon apart with only the weapons nature granted him at birth. Soon the raccoon would have nowhere to go except over the ship's balcony to his death, or into the barbaric and bloody embrace of the lynx's dagger-like claws.

"That man," Ivan said, jabbing a finger in the direction of the distressed raccoon. "H-He saved me."

"The raccoon?" Cornelia's eyes goggled in astonishment. "A Mammal?"
Ivan swallowed and nodded. "Yes. Without him, I wouldn't have the core. And he said he'd help teach us how to work it. So we can end this war faster. We aren't the only ones who are tired of all this fighting." Ivan's pleas sounded pathetic to his own ears, and he could only hope that Cornelia could put aside her prejudices and take his word for what it was. "Please, Cornelia."

The python hissed, sounding not unlike the angry lynx, but her strong hands gripped the control wheel and turned the ship around. "Fine, but you'd better be right about this one."

"I am. I promise." Ivan moved to the hatch and stood in the doorway, the wind rippling his clothes as the ship banked to the right, closing in on the raccoon and his adversary.

"You owe me so much for this, you know that?"

They were close now. Very close.

"Okay then, how about I pay your tab next time we're at the Leviathan Tavern?"

"Deal." Cornelia's voice lost its playful edge, becoming steely and serious. "Alright, Ivan, get ready to grab him."

"Luther!" Ivan screamed so loudly his throat felt raw. He knelt down, clutching the doorframe of the hatch with one hand and extending the other towards Luther. "Grab on!"

Thin fingers laced tightly with scaled claws and the momentum of the small aircraft hoisted the raccoon off the deck. His legs scrambled and kicked wildly when they found themselves suddenly hanging over open air, and his free hand shot upwards in a desperate attempt to grab onto something solid.

Ivan wanted to give the raccoon some words of encouragement, a hint of verbal reassurance that he would not let him fall, that he would hold on long enough for the raccoon to pull himself on-deck, but all he could manage was a terrified scream as the lynx pounced from the other ship to cling to Luther's legs. Lizard and raccoon screamed in unified terror as the added weight began to pull them out of the cockpit. They were at the mercy of gravity now, and she was not known amongst pilots for her kindness.

"I've got you now, you piece of shit." The lynx's yellow eyes were alive with a murderous fire. Spittle frothed at his muzzle, staining his fur with white foam. "If I have to die, I'm taking you down with me. Without you, they'll never figure out how to work that thing in time before we kill them. We'll kill them all before they can make us stop! We'll wipe their scaly asses off the planet if we have to!"
He began to laugh, a crazed and wild cackle, but it transformed into a snarl when Luther freed one leg and thrust his boot towards the lynx's face. Despite the raccoon's efforts, the cat clung steadfastly to his trousers, his claws digging into Luther's flesh, drawing fresh trickles of blood.

The combined struggles of the two made it harder for Ivan to keep his grip, and he felt his hold on the door and on Luther's hand beginning to slip. At this rate they were all going over.

Just as he was about to give up, to make his peace with death, a duo of impossibly strong arms wrapped around Ivan's waist and pulled him firmly onto the deck. Cornelia's muscles rippled under her scaled skin as she held him, using all of her strength to keep the living chain from going overboard. If they made it out of this, Ivan would be paying her tab for life, and he wouldn't complain for a single instant.
"Unhand me!" Luther was practically sobbing now as he kicked down at the lynx's snarling visage, though if he was sobbing out of fear or anger, Ivan couldn't tell. Most likely, it was both.

"Never." The lynx was grinning madly. One tooth had been knocked out, leaving a gaping hole that oozed red. "I'm going to kill you. Kill you all. Every last one of you, just like the scum that you-"
The lynx screeched as the heel of Luther's boot collided with his open eye. His paws instinctively shot to the site of the injury as pain lanced through the delicate organ, and in his haste, he let gravity take its hold, dragging him down faster, and faster. His screams were high-pitched and chilling, a sound no living thing should have ever made, but soon his cries were drowned out by the keening of the wind. Then all was quiet. It was as though he had never existed.

Cornelia gave a mighty pull and dragged both Ivan and Luther inside before closing the hatch behind them. The two men sprawled out on the floor, panting and weak, but thankful to be alive.

Ivan sat up and retched, expelling a pool of pale vomit onto the deck. He wiped his face with the back of his sleeve, scowling down at the mess. "Sorry."

"You'd better clean that up once you get ahold of yourself. As for you," Cornelia looked at Luther, who was now sitting up and staring wide-eyed about the small cabin, "don't try anything funny. I'll feel your vibrations before I see you, so there is no use trying to sneak up on me or something. Unless you actually do have a death wish. Although," she looked at his leg, the flesh raw and shredded, "it doesn't look like you'll be going anywhere for a while with that leg."

Entire body quivering in shock, the raccoon shook his head, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. "N-No, ma'am, I wouldn't d-dream of it. You s-saved my life, so I am f-forever in your debt." He swallowed noisily, his Addams apple bobbing, and took a deep breath as he tried to compose himself. He managed, although his whiskers still twitched on occasion.

"Forever, huh? I like the sound of that." She held out a beefy hand for him to shake. "Name's Cornelia."

Luther's tiny hand could barely wrap around one of the python's massive fingers, but he took her hand anyway, and Ivan saw her take care not to shake him too hard. "And I am Luther."

Satisfied by the raccoon's introduction, Cornelia turned back to the console and pushed up on the throttle, causing the ship to speed up its retreat. When it seemed like the craft was a safe distance from the enormous warship, she turned back to her companions, a slight smile lighting up her usually stoic face. "Well, Luther, you aren't half-bad looking. For a Mammal." She flicked her long, forked tongue, its tip nearly brushing the end of Luther's black nose. "You smell funny, though. But I guess we can look past that one little detail."

"Oh, uh." Luther scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to make of her comment, both a compliment and an insult rolled into one. "Thank you, I guess?"

She winked at him, and then turned back to the console to engage the ship's autopilot function before coiling comfortably in front of the two males. "So, boys, tell me about your little adventure and how you two grew to be so buddy-buddy in such a short while."

So they did, with Ivan beginning with his encounters with the guards. He talked about meeting the lynx in the hallway, about the peculiar way in which he met Luther, how he nearly blew the mission by triggering the alarm, and everything in-between.

Luther began his side of the tale by recounting his experiences as a scientist and how he befriended the young skink girl who opened his heart to the true nature of the so-called `enemy'. And then, gripped in the throes of intellectual passion, Luther ventured off on a tangent and took the liberty of explaining the mechanisms of the core. All Ivan heard was a long spiel of technobabble, but Ivan could not have appreciated it more than even the most wondrous of campfire tales. Though he barely understood Luther's animated, scientific rambling, it sounded like one of the most beautiful, most elegant speeches Ivan had ever heard.

It sounded like victory.