A few hours before that...
Crab leaned up against the doorway, wondering when Will was going to get back. "Where the hell is that boy?" He muttered, kicking at a small plastic piece of trash on the ground. His eyes scanned across the wide loading dock, it was a mess of different crafts and species. It was a wonder that it seemed to run so smoothly. By now Crab was used to being on the tiny side, as someone who was not born on earth it wasn't all too strange to be living among creatures that towered over you.
A large, cracking boom echoed through the city. Crabs thick brow narrowed as he turned towards the opening of the loading dock that served as a window into the main city below. A dark shadow flowed through the vertical openings of the docking bay, a black ship gliding slowly over head.
"Now what the hell is this about?" He grumbled. He turned back towards the ship, seeing as how a line of the much larger creatures had decided to block his view to the outside city. He made his way up towards the highly elevated cockpit through a series of long platforms and stairways.
Finally he was able to peer into the outside world, to his surprise a line of tall pillars of black smoke rose from a nearby street. "The hell-" His verbal musing were cut short as the sky itself seemed to erupt into a firestorm. The crowd that had gathered before the wide windows of the bay quickly scattered. He watched as the first wafts of bodily mist floated down towards the ground, a stream of bullets coming dangerously close to his ship. A line of bodies lay in the gunfires wake.
Crab took hold of his radio, his heart feeling a very rare sense of worry towards someone else, "Will?" He called, "Will where the fuck are ya'?"
There was a long, painful moment of silence.
"I-I'm trying to get back." Wills nervous voice called back through the radio.
~ ~ ~ ~
"So they just started attacking the city?" Kikata asked.
"Yup." Crab stated; "And as far I could tell."
Kikata nodded, "I wonder if it has anything to do with it being a Hybrid city?"
"Now why the hell would anyone attack a place over that! If you ask me those goons are prob' sittin' there scoopin' up all the product just lyin' around that place."
Kikata glanced towards Richard, obviously having trouble understanding what Crab was saying. Richard laughed lightly, "I'll explain that one." He said with a nod towards Kikata, "You see there is a new group of anti-government mercenaries that want to change how things are run. First of all they hate us humans, they want to tax the hell out of us at the very least, though if they get their way we'd probably be devoid of rights."
"So they're nutzo?"
"Yeah, basically. Egotistical big fella's who don't think us small people deserve the light of day."
Kikata ran her hands through her hair, "Could you two please speak in a dialect I can follow?"
Richard laughed, "Sorry."
Kikata rolled her eyes, "So. Crab, what sort of name is that?"
"That'd be a nick name ma'am. I feel like it gives me a sort of swashbucklin' appearance. You see, me and Will here like to think of ourselves as Pirates of the skies, aint' that right Will?"
Will covered his face with his hands, "Crab..." He muttered.
"What?" Crab laughed, he glanced up towards Kikata who had raised her brow at his last comment.
"Pirate?" Kikata asked.
"Oh..." Crab cleared his throat, "I didn't mean it like that, y'know? You see we run a transport business, all legal I assure you."
"Oh I'm sure." Kikata muttered.
"Just a term is all. Travelin' the vast space like, well, sea men used to float upon the seven seas!" He explained holding his hands out in front of him and gliding them through the air.
Kikata sighed, "Richard, can we speak a moment?"
Richard looked towards the other two men and shrugged, "Uh, sure." He climbed up onto her hand.
Crab and Will watched as the Neko carried the human up towards the cockpit.
"Pirates? Crab? You're going to call us pirates in front of two Nova Guards?"
"Hey how was I supposed to know the broad would take it so literally?"
~ ~ ~ ~
"I don't like this guy." Kikata muttered quietly.
"Oh come on Kikata..." Richard replied.
"No. He is foul, rude...did he think I didn't hear that, what was it, mountain of a babe comment?" She shook her head, "And besides, I think he might be a fugitive."
"From just meeting him you come to that conclusion huh?"
"You saw how his friend reacted when he called himself a Pirate! I want to go check their cargo."
"There are more pressing matters at hand, cut him a break."
"But what if-"
"No. We will not be investigating them." Richard insisted.
"But-"
"Just drop it okay? He's just got a certain way about him, trust me he's no pirate. They wouldn't have called for help if they were, you heard the man he just runs a transport service."
Kikata took a deep breath, "Fine."
~ ~ ~ ~
"What if they've figured out that we do more than just carry cargo?" Will whispered in a worried tone.
"Nonsense. They're just discussing...neko stuff probably I don't know. Besides I bet half of that, uh, dirty shipment got blown out the bottom. We're in the clear."
They watched as Kikata and Richard returned after a few antagonizing minutes of waiting. Richard nodded towards them with a reassuring smile.
"So uh, business as usual?" Crab blurted with a grin.
"Sure." Kikata stated, "Your friend here will fill you in on the situation since he is a little more...capable for communicating it seems."
Richard gave Kikata a sharp glare before turning back towards Crab and Will. "Alright, so here is whats up." Richard started, "Those three ships undoubtably belong to a group who now called themselves the New Order. At least thats the english translation."
"Right yeah, nutzo's."
"Right. So we know a small bit about them. One, they are into the prisoner taking business. Me and Kikata, along with the Guards who will be arriving here shortly will be going in after them. We should out number them if not we'll sure as hell out gun them. You two will wait here."
"I-I want to go." Will sputtered.
The entire party turned towards him, surprised that his second full sentence had been a rather bold one.
"Will. Now why the fuck would you want to take your skinny ass back into that city where just about every dick gropin' space monkey with a gun could mistake you for a toothpick?"
Will's eyes nervously darted between the two men and the Neko, "I-I uh. I've um..."
"It a girl? Aint it?" Crab laughed. "Hot damn I knew it! So that's why you've been sneakin' off, tellin' me you left some paperwork at the processing center or some bullshit like that!"
Will blushed, clearly not the type who wanted to be put on the spot for something like this. "Well you always tell me that I need to uh, get laid..."
Crab laughed again, "That I do, that I do! Just about every time we stop at one of these ports I tell the boy that he's a man now and if he doesn't get his dick wet soon it might just go and shrivel back up between his legs and I'd be stuck with a first lady!"
Kikata leaned towards Richard, "Is he even speaking english?" She whispered.
"Best you don't understand." Richard assured her. "Well. If he's hard pressed on going I've got a few extra guns, and we might need a few extra eyes out there."
"A few?" Kikata laughed.
~ ~ ~ ~
That morning
Will walked along the rather empty human sized walkway that had been elevated from the much larger sidewalk. He and Crab had been running their shipments further and further from the planets where humans were more regular. It was a surprise to find a city that had been equipped with hybrid architecture. Back in the solar systems close to earth the hybrid cities were really starting to boom on the newly terraformed planets. Each and every building would be designed with all species in mind. Sidewalks would be built with multiple tiers of walkways. Apartment buildings would be built with multiple scales of housing. Restaurants would have tables for the larger species on the floor with balconies and even combined seating. The design was meant to start socializing races are a more regular level.
He rounded the corner and pushed his way into his destination. He had been coming to this place for three days now to register their shipments. It was a task that could be done electronically but he could never trust the worn old computers on the ship.
Another driving force for his returning was a neko girl that worked there. He had a brief and awkward meeting with her the very first day they arrived, but everything about her seemed to have been burned into his mind. Her uniquely vibrant red hair that hung down just far enough to tickle the tops of her shoulders. Her tall, pointed furred ears went from a dark shade of black at the base which slowly gave way to that same color of red. Her eyes shone a beautiful dark green, they seemed to carry a sense of pleasantness while masking just a hint of deviance, reinforced by her thick, darkly painted lashes. The way she chewed her brightly painted red lip as she worked had made him weak at the knees.
To his relief she was there, this time working the station at the far end of the walkway. Okay Will just as for her name, no big deal. Then ask when her shift ends. You can do this. He told himself, prepping himself mentally for the encounter.
However his thoughts Froze as her green eyes locked with his, a small smile creasing her lips.
"You again?" She asked, her voice was so youthful and energetic.
"Yup. Me again." He said with a laugh.
"I must have great service, seeing as you just walked past five other checkers."
"Oh did I?" He asked, his cheeks reddening, "Huh."
She giggled, "Okay same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before." She said pointing towards the little slot that he would insert his paperwork for their computers to process.
Will slipped his papers in and stepped back, having trouble looking towards her face as he rocked back and forth. He kept feeling the sentences forming in his throat but he just couldn't spill them out. He would look up at her only to be caught in her playful gaze. She would giggle, making him feel nervous and forcing his eyes elsewhere.
"My shift ends in about two minutes." She finally spoke.
"Oh, cool." He sputtered, "I uh, I'm pretty much free always!"
She laughed, "Yes?"
A loud beep sounded, alerting Will that his papers had been processed. He stepped back over towards the machine and gathered his papers.
"Well I was thinking of eating grabbing an early lunch over at that new Earth based restaurant."
"Oh yeah, what's that like?" Will continued, in a somewhat nervous and jagged manner.
"I don't know." She laughed, "You want to check it out?"
"Y-You mean like go with you?"
She rolled her eyes, "Yes. Do I need to make it more clear?"
"Oh, no. Not at all."
"Good." She said with a smile, "Stay right there then I need to gather up my things."
"Okay." Will watched as she rose up from her seat, her tail springing up from her rear. Its fur had a similar pattern to her ears, dark black at the base and turning red about three quarters of the way up. The tail poked out from over a puny black skirt that just barely hid the flesh of her rear end. She wore a white tank top like shirt that was made from a thin, almost elastic type material, cut down the chest in a narrow "V" shape.
She turned towards him with a smile and placed her hand down next to him, "Alright, let's go."
"Y-You want me to climb into your hand?"
She rolled her eyes, "Yes silly. If I waited for you to walk it'd take us like an hour."
Will nodded, trying to subtly wipe his nervous hands dry as he climbed onto her soft and warm palm.
About ten minutes later Will found himself on a balcony that hung almost directly over the girls shoulder, whose name he discovered to be Fillana, Fill for short. The restaurant was rather empty being that it was still pretty early in the day. It was adorned with pictures and sculptures from Earth. The food was very vaguely based off of earth cousine, however it was hard to copy meals made from ingredients so small. Though neither Will nor Fill would have noticed the difference being that neither had ever actually visited earth.
Will was still acting somewhat jittery and nervous around her. He couldn't hammer the idea into his head that she had actually asked him to accompany her to lunch and seemed vaguely interested in him.
"Relax." She finally said, in a soft and comforting voice.
Will nodded, "Sorry. It's just I sort of suck at uh, doing this."
Fill laughed softly, "No I understand, I could tell from the first time you came to my station. But don't worry yourself you have already sparked my interest this far."
"That obvious huh?" He asked, feeling as though a little weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
She nodded, "I find it cute though, so consider it a bonus quality." She forked another large chunk from her salad, revealing her long canines as she bit into it. "So." She said between chews, "How long are you in town for?"
"Another week while we wait for our orders to arrive."
"Oh, so not long." She nodded, "Well then I guess there isn't much time for us to get to know each other."
"I guess not." Will admitted, starting to remember the reason why it was near impossible for him to meet girls in the first place.
"No worries i guess. I mean a weeklong fling is a start I suppose."
Will nearly choked as she spoke, a fling? Did this mean he was in? This fast? "That would be great." Was all he could manage to sputter.
A wide smile crossed her lips "I said relax Will!"
"Sorry..." He apologized worrying that he was ruining his chances already, "So um. You speak pretty good english for someone who lives so far out...erm I mean so far from where..."
"Yeah I know what you mean. And thank you. I actually spend quite a bit of my free time on language software, and in school I made it into advanced languages classes. Hopefully one day it will be my ticket out of here."
"Yeah. I'm sure you are smart enough to do what ever you want. Not me though, I'm stuck on my ship."
"Aw thank you!" She cooed. She set her fork down, "Excuse me though, I have to run to the ladies room."
"Okay."
"Don't run away on me now!" She giggled rising from her seat.
Never in a million years! He thought to himself. He was shocked by how smoothly this was going, and he was hardly succeeding at improving his awkwardness. He watched as her knee crumbling figure walked towards the woman's room. Did she really find him cute? He didn't really care at this point. If he even got to touch that body his life would be compete.
A few minutes past before a loud crash interrupted the otherwise quiet morning. The crash was followed by a series of screams and commotion outside of the restaurant. A second and third crash followed, this time much closer, a wave of air flowed through the restaurant, the screams started to escalate. To his shock the ominous sound of gunfire exploded in the street outside.
The sound of ships landing and feet crushing along the pavement outside. Fill's figure appeared in the doorway, a panicked look on her face as well as everyone else in the restaurant. Suddenly the front doors exploded. A tall figure in black uniform rushed inside, a massive cannon hanging from his hands. The neko, whose face was covered by a black mask pointed the weapon towards Fill.
"No!" Will screamed, fearing that his new beloved would be shot dead. But the neko instead took her arm and pulled her to his chest, screaming at the other customers as he held her hostage. More of the black figures rushed inside, not all of them neko. It even seemed as if some smaller, almost human sized aliens rushed into the restaurant as they started to pull the frightened customers outside.
Will didn't know what to do, his eyes glued to Fill's as she was dragged out the door. He broke from his trance and rushed off the balcony. What choice did he have? He had to run.
"Will!" A voice crackled through his radio as he sped down a flight of wooden stairs. "Where the fuck are ya'?!"
Giantess World
Nova Force by Ginbug