Chickadee

Advancing on Remus the bot had opened a chamber in the lower center of its torso to reveal not a knife or gun or bolt thrower or drill or stunner or flame thrower or even a lance, but a tool designed for a different kind of stabbing. Thrusting and vibrating from out of the little robot's crotch is a slender pink six inch dildo! With no time to ponder Remus deftly spins his hammer to bring the pepperbox shotgun side to bear and double clicks the hidden button in the shaft.

BOOM!

The hammer bucks as all five shots fire at once, a lesser wielder would have been sent spinning to their ass at the blast but the mighty wolf handles it with ease. Dust and smoke fly and sparks of ricocheting pellets careen out from the bot's body and the rear of the hauler as a hail of death is unleashed. Hit point blank the small bot's body is sent careening far back, right past the walker and beyond.

There is a long moment of silence as dust slowly drifts away with the arid breeze.

"I think it wanted to rape you." Jun quips with a smirk. "You don't see that everyday."

"Hrrf!" Remus snorts.

Before his buddy could finish the job Jun holsters his gun and springs to the unconscious body of the mouse. He kneels over her and strokes his hand along the oily fur of her cheek. Through the blackened soot there was a striking young woman, more cute than gorgeous but beautiful nonetheless. "She's still alive."

"Not for long."

"Remus! God damn it..."

The words die in his throat as all at once a creeping crimson shadow spreads across the badlands. Both fox and wolf snap their heads westward to see near the horizon a great bank of dark red clouds had blotted out the direct sunlight. Dusk had come early.

"That's not good."

"Blood storm. Fuck!" Remus curses. "We gotta go."

The sudden dimming of the light this close to natural dusk combined with the deafening racket they'd just made meant that the ravenous Critters would soon be emerging. Jun scoops up this Miss Posey into his arms.

"Leave her." Remus orders.

"We'll talk later." Jun says as he starts for the Chickadee.

"JUN!"

"We'll talk!" Jun yaps back. "We can always toss her from the hold later. She won't be any more or less dead in the end, might as well at least learn who she is first."

"Rrrr!" Remus snaps his teeth. The pair would have words about this later...followed by makeup sex of course, the very best kind. As his ear catches the distant chitter and clicks of the awakening insectoid horrors that would soon swarm this land he turns to the walker and thinks of what to do. They hadn't the time to properly search the walker to say nothing of a real salvage job. The quickest, riskiest, and most profitable option would be to take the whole damned thing and just hope the Dee could lift it. She'd never let them down yet. "Get the winch ready!" He calls after his pilot.

"On it."

Jun pads swiftly across scrubby ground, the woman cradled close to his chest.

"Are you an angel?" Comes a soft slurred voice. Looking down Jun sees the hazy eyed mouse smiling woozily up at him.

"Angel? That's a first." He chuckles, before he says more grimly. "I might just be your angel of death little lady." Hopping up onto the open cargo bay door/ramp that hovered just a couple of feet off of the ground he carries the woman inside and gently lays her down at the side of the bay. He rests a hand on her shoulder. "I don't have time to explain. Just...please, don't do anything stupid." He smiles his dashing smile. "Hmm?" With a rascally wink he is up and heading to back of the hold to ready the winch.

She blinks and brings a hand to her sore neck as the memory of where she was and who he was filter back into her cloudy mind.

Meanwhile outside Remus has his hammer in its harness across his back and was dealing with walker. He had the underhood closed up and was currently folding the folding down the swiveling taxiing wheels when he catches another click-clack sound, this one much closer. Baring his teeth he turns toward it, ready to go toe to toe with a crit if necessary, and watches in amazement as the robot he'd just blasted into oblivion with all five rounds of his hammer stands up! The dildo was a bit chewed up but the rest of it had barely a scratch! It was a tough little bastard.

It scans the landscape for its master and when it does not see her focuses back on her attacker. "Enemy! Enemy! Enemy!" It's speaker squeals at maximum volume, it's shrill voice ringing out across the land as good as a siren designed to let the crits know their precise location.

"Quiet you little fool!" Remus growls as his eyes scan for emerging Critters. In far the distance...he sees them! One, two, four, a dozen, a hundred, countless, all crawling up out of one of the nearer burrows. In every direction he could see the appearance of more the beasties coming up from other holes. "RRRR!"

Deciding a three foot tall bot with mismatched limbs and a dildo as a 'weapon' was no threat Remus hurries to lower the last two wheels. The bot slams into his leg, punching and scratching and thrusting its vibrating tool against his fur and doing absolutely zero damage. He kicks the damn thing off about ten meters and moves to the front to lean his shoulder into the nose. His muscles heave and wheels squeak and soon the hauler begins to slowly roll its way toward the Chickadee, thankfully beyond a few rocks and shrubs the hard baked earth was flat here. At his leg the robot had returned though proves to be nothing more than a nuisance to the huge wolf. The bot could take a lickin but it was piss poor for offense.

Down from the bay hops Jun with the hooked end of the winch cable in his hand. He lets out a laugh when he sees the robot flailing impotently against his shipmate's shaggy leg but that laugh quickly dies. His green eyes go wide as he sees dark scurrying shapes pouring up onto the flat blood hued landscape. They were lucky that the nearest burrow was a ways away but the crits were closing that distance fast.

"Shoot! We're actually taking it still?" Jun calls, the worry coming out in his high effeminate voice.

"Ya said ya wanted to."

"Err." Jun looks across the eerie scarlet soaked landscape to the spreading inky blackness of certain death. "You said it was too risky."

"I changed my mind. We ain't leavin empty pawed. We got time if we hurry." Remus huffs, his powerful legs pumping as the rolling walker picks up speed. "Get Dee ready."

Jun nods and springs into practiced efficient action, this was hardly the first close call the pair had tried. High risk-high reward chances like this made the hours and days and weeks of slow cruising and searching worth it. He drops the hook to the dirt where he stood. As he pulls the ramp extender down to ground level he says into the bay. "If you could call off your bot Ma'am. Things just got hairy and we don't have time for distraction." Without waiting for a response he springs back into the ship and leaps up onto the ladder to take him up through the hatch to the main deck level where his cockpit was.

Peeking out around the side of the bay Posey gasps as she sees the dire seriousness of their situation. "Oh my God! Scraps!" She croaks. "Stop attacking that man." Instantly Scraps discontinues his assault, his combat form folding back up into the more humanoid normal form. Catching sight of her pistol in the dirt she points. "Bring me my gun!"

"Oh no ya don't" Remus tries to kick the robot away but he was far too occupied pushing over a thousand kilos of hauler to connect. Jogging back Scraps scoops up the pistol and spins back to rush toward his master as quick as his clanking legs would take him. "GRMM!" Remus grunts as he watches it run back past him and onto the Dee. The woman he nearly killed, the stranger that he did not trust, was now inside of their ship with her gun back. He'd have to deal with that later. Surely she wouldn't be fool enough to try something with the crits bearing down. The far off din of a thousand chitinous legs and hissing maws could now be heard and was rapidly growing louder, getting the fuck off the ground was their only priority now.

After what seemed an eternity he rolls the walker in behind the ramp and clips on the hook that had been left for him onto the steel tow shackle at the front of the vehicle. He turns and lopes into the ship to find the mouse huddled back in the far corner with her robot at her side and her pistol held out in front of her. She glares, both frightened and furious at the huge wolf that nearly ended her.

He had no time for this. "You shoot, you die." He says as he gets to the winch. With a pull of the lever the motor whines and the steel cable begins to slowly pull into the spool. Remus points at her and gives her a hard stare. "You stay! Don't fuckin move a whisker."

With that he hurries back to hauler to help guide it up the ramp. The moment the front wheels start up the ramp the Chickadee lurches and the hard chugging engine begins to shake the whole ship.

"She's breathing heavy big man." Jun calls from above.

"Dee'll take it." Remus shouts back, before adding beneath his breath. "She's got to." Pulling the front of the hauler to help it along he spares a moment to shoot a piercing stare back to their unwelcome passenger. He could see her mind working frantically as her eyes dart back and forth between himself, the winch, and the walker being hauled into the bay. Releasing one hand from the pistol she lays it flat on the floor and feels the shudder rattling through the old bird. She looks back to him, her eyes narrow...before she darts for the ladder. "Hey!" His anger builds and his regret at not finishing her off grows as he watches her scurry up and disappear through the ceiling. "She's loose!" He warns his partner.

Jun however was far too busy keeping the Chickadee afloat to worry about Miss Posey. Using every trick he knew to wring the most out of the ship his hand are a blur across the controls. He spares a glance out the window and calls back. "They're close!"

"Lift off!" Remus shouts as the back wheels at last roll up onto the ramp. He slams his fist into a nearby button to retract the anchor. Outside he could see the red of the dying light glimmering off of globular compound eyes. "GO!"

Jun punches it and a deafening POP quakes the ship. "What in the hells was that!?" The Chickadee begins to slowly glide forward...but fails to gain any altitude!

"GO!" Remus roars.

"I'm trying!" Jun yips.

Remus folds out the steel knuckles from his bracers and moves in behind the crawling hauler to protect the open cargo bay. In the knick of time too as the closest Critter, a five foot long monstrosity that looked part ant and part spiny cricket, leaps forward. Remus sends it back out as fast as it came in with a well place punch square in the center of hits head. It lands on the dirt, the exoskeleton of its forehead shattered and stone dead. But there were countless more where that one came from.

"She's acting funny." Jun yells and he heaves back on the wheel as more popping noises ring out and rattling wheeze emanates from the engines. Despite his best efforts they were now losing altitude as well, and they only had a few feet to play with. "This isn't normal! She's never done this. Come on baby, what's wrong with you?"

"The woman!" Shouts Remus as he boots one Critter off the ramp and crushes the head of another between his bare hands, it's yellow-black ichor spattering across his snarling face. "Crazy bitch has sabotaged us! Get her!"

"I let go of Dee and her beak is in the dirt."

"RRRRR!" The swarming bugs were coming at a rate of one every couple seconds. At his feet a line skittering along the ground snapped at the end of the ramp. Crack, crunch, splortch, Remus kills another and another and another. It was all he could do to keep them out now, he couldn't even spare a second to close the bay doors never mind hunt down a suicidal mouse. That fucking mouse! She was going to be the end of them. CRUNCH! He tears the mandible of one in his powerful jaws, his sharp teeth crushing through the shell. "Rahhh!" He barks as one clamps onto his calf. He kicks it out into the rushing throng chasing the Dee. More came, and more, and more. He slays them as fast as his feral rage could slay them but still they came with relentless numbers. The time for regrets or plans or contingencies were past. He would soon be overwhelmed. All he could do now was buy time. And so he fights! He fights for himself and his ship and, most of all, his hot foxy lover and best friend.

Just then a coughing sputter shakes the Chickadee...followed by a sudden surge of power.

"Wahoooo!" Jun howls as the airship picks up speed and begins to climb, the shuddering that had been shaking his bones soon smoothing out.

The battling wolf staggers at the unexpected upward tilt and burst of speed and nearly tumbles out the door, only just catching himself by clutching the rearmost roof cargo anchor. Holding himself with one hand his feet momentarily leave the deck as the Dee climbs at full throttle and he watches the mass of crawling death pull away beneath them. The next thing he knew he had a robot clinging to his tail for dear life. "Get offa me!" He bellows and tries to wag it away. The stubborn bot held on tight though.

Up in the cockpit Jun was stroking his controls. "I never doubted you Dee baby. Ha ha haaa! You've never let us down." His jubilation is short-lived as he feels the two-barreled muzzle of a pistol press against his temple.

"Alright flyboy." Comes a soft squeaky voice. "Let's talk."

***

Chapter 3

Without moving his head Jun slowly turns his eyes to look to his right, his mind racing to assess his options. He considered a hard bank to throw her off balance but by the way she had her tail anchored to the seat beside him he realized that wasn't going to do a thing. "Well hello there little..."

"You keep your hands on the wheel." She interrupts. "Try anything and your head's going to have some extra ventilation."

"Okay, okay. I'm just flying here."

"Level us off. Everything nice and smooth. No sudden motions." Keeping her gun against his skull she shifts in between the seats to climb into the copilot side. She settles down, her knees up at her chest and sitting sideways, she pulls the pistol back but keeps it trained squarely on him. "We're going to have a nice conversation you and me."

"Fine by me." He says as he pushes the control forward to bring the Dee horizontal. Out of the windows the blood red sky deepens an even darker shade as down below the inky fractal shapes of the swarms appear like slowly shifting continents on a crimson sea. Down below he could hear the big cargo door closing along with the clatter of something metal being thrown across the bay.

"Find the woman!" Comes Remus' voice.

"I found her." Jun calls back.

"He touches me and you die!" Posey's grip tightens on her weapon.

"Whoa there. He won't touch you." Jun assures her. At just that moment Remus was crawling his way up through the hatch from below. Dripping with Critter ichor and limping from his leg bite he starts toward the cockpit. "Stay back big man." Jun says in a serious tone. "Our new friend here just wants to talk."

The wolf sees the barrel poking out from the side of the copilot seat and pauses just beyond the door. His teeth bared and a low growl rumbling deep in his chest he waits for his moment.

"So, what shall we talk about?" Jun asks.

"Well, the way I see it, I'm looking for a job and you said you had a vacancy."

"Serendipity is it?"

"Opportunity more like. Consider this my application."

Jun smirks, despite the threat she posed. "At gunpoint? This is an unconventional interview."

"I didn't think you two would be the types to stand on convention."

"Fair observation." He replies. "You've got moxie, I'll give you that."

"Keep your moxie flyboy, it's a job I'm after."

"Put the gun down!" Remus' growls through sharp clenched teeth.

"Stay back you big shaggy bastard." Posey warns, keeping the pistol on Jun. She'd learned the hard way that Remus valued the fox's life more than his own.

"Alright little lady." Jun keeps the conversation rolling. "Say we were interested, what position are you after?"

"Engineer, obviously."

"Obviously." Jun says. "Qualifications?"

"I've been turning wrenches since I was a little pink squeaker." She brags. "Practically anyway. My dad was a militia mechanic. Followed in his paw prints."

"Base pup?"

"Yep." She nods. "I've worked on every damn thing under the sun, waves, and earth. Frankly I'm better than a Scav ship like this deserves."

"Please." Jun lifts his snout indignantly. "We are not 'Scavs'. We are salvage specialists."

"Whatever you say flyboy."

"Big talk." Remus interjects. "That dead walker down there tells me you ain't all that."

Her nose twitches at the slight at her professional pride. "That's not fair. I didn't have the parts I needed. Even I can't work miracles."

"What were you doing out here anyway?" Jun asks. "Its a long way from anywhere."

"None of your business."

"Evasive." He quips. "Not a good trait for a new employee."

"Not employee." She corrects him. "Partner. I want to earn an even share of this bird."

Jun glances back at Remus, surprised by mouse's gumption, but the wolf's yellow eyes were locked on the copilot's seat waiting for even a split second to pounce on her. "That's quite a commitment."

"Let's just say I've got no better prospects at the moment."

"You're on the run." Jun states as it clicks together in his mind. "You must have done something bad too if you're risking the badlands to get away."

Posey's whisker's twitch. After weighing up a lie she opts for the truth, and it somehow sounds even more false than the fib. "It's not like that. I can't go back but...I didn't do anything wrong." Her round ears droop as she sees the pilot's skepticism. "Really. Just a victim of fate. I didn't do nothing."

"Yeah right." Remus scoffs.

"We've heard that before." Jun says. "In the Hells it doesn't matter much anyway. Most of us are running from something out here. How do we know you're as good as you say?"

Posey snuffs and motions her twitching nose toward the panel. "How's the ship flying?"

Jun looks down at the controls and grips the wheel harder. "Actually...really good." He looks duly impressed. "She's flying smoother than she has in a long time."

The mouse perks up. "You're very welcome."

"That was you?"

"What do you think?"

"Huh." Jun flies a lazy S curve through the air just to feel the Dee's noticeably better responsiveness. "Yeah, it's definitely different." He looks back to his shipmate. "If she can do that in just a few minutes..."

"Don't even think about it." Remus warns.

"Your bird isn't what she appears. Not much to look at but she's got it where it counts." Posey says, her eyes drifting upward where the engine thrummed away a deck above. "Where on this blasted Earth did you two Scavs find an Overture engine? And how'd you fit to a ship this small?"

"Who knows." Jun shrugs. "It was there when we found her."

"You found this ship?"

"We find a lot of stuff." He says. "If you're demon enough to survive it the Hells have their treasures."

"Hmm." The gun lowers from Jun's head to his chest as Posey's shoulders relax just a little. "This whole damned ship is a fucking disaster though. You got a slow leak in a gas cell, you got corroded valves, you're fuel mixture is piss poor, you got loose bolts everywhere, you got tubes patched with plumbers tape, you got jury-rigs holding together other jury-rigs. And that's just at a glance. I'm afraid what I'm going to find once I really take a look. It's amazing this thing even flies. Have you guys even heard of basic maintenance?"