First month inside Inverted Space.

Admiral Rodriguez and three of his officers stand inside one of the Bloodbearer's many minor gathering rooms to hold a quick, informal meeting.

José flips through a datapad for several minutes. He revises a set of recommendations passed onto him by his senior officers, presses a button, then nods.

"Excellent work, Disciplinary Officer Baaru. Inter-species infractions have plummeted to a marginal fraction of their levels from five years ago. The issues you've uncovered up to now fall within the margin of error. No vessel can go forever with zero infractions, so a few minor scuffles are fine."

"Meow! Thank you, Admiral!" Baaru says, as her kitty-ears flicker three times in a row. "I couldn't do it without Nyoor's help! Even the Kraktol like to listen to his war stories, but don't tell anyone he makes them all up!"

"Haha, tall tales are a good way for people to bond," José says. "However, just because we don't have many infractions doesn't mean there isn't any pressure building. I want you to schedule sanctioned fights on the holodeck every Thursday. Any crew members who have bones to pick with one another can square off in fights and competitions. If the combatants are a Kraktol and a Kessu, I'll leave it to you to figure out how to even the size imbalance."

"Okay!" Baaru meows.

Next, José turns his attention to Science Officer Lele. He frowns as he taps the datapad in his hand. "I've taken your request for materials under consideration. However, given our exit from Inverted Space in eleven months, I'd prefer not to spend any time on personal projects. Right now, your number one priority should be to build more Titan battle-suits and other infantry-support weapons. Why do you need all these materials? Hadrium isn't exactly rare, but we won't be able to mine any for the foreseeable future."

Lele crosses her paws over her chest. "Admiral! I would not waste my time pursuing some mundane, silly kid's project. This is serious Science Officer work! I want to increase our sensor ranges by at least a factor of two! We'll be able to detect other ships coming out of warp much sooner, we'll be able to scan the inner depths of planets for exotic minerals, and we can even detect cloaked vessels before they breach the Bloodbearer's shield berth."

"Your drive to improve our vessel is commendable," José says, "but don't you think these numerical estimates are a little... ambitious? If it were so easy to double the range of the Bloodbearer's sensors, Terran techs would have done so during my era."

"Those guys were big dummies!" Lele pouts, stamping her paws against the deck. "I keep finding all sorts of inefficiencies in the Bloodbearer's primary systems. It's like the people who designed her didn't know the first thing about starship design!"

"...And you do?" José seriously asks, raising an eyebrow. "You only have a few years of experience working with the Bloodbearer's internals. Compared to augmented Terrans with hundreds of years of practical and theoretical knowledge, I find it hard to believe you know better than them."

"Well, I just do," Lele mutters, averting her eyes. "But never mind. I'm a dumb kitten. I don't know anything."

José winces. He glances at Baaru, then at the final remaining officer in the room, Soren. The Admiral drops down to Lele's level and smiles. "Now, hold on, Lele. I didn't say that. Look, if you think you can pull off a miracle, then go ahead. If you succeed, I'll even, uh... I'll admit you were right and promote you to... to some new position!"

This time, it's Lele who raises an eyebrow. "You're such a weirdo, Admiral. I don't want some silly promotion. It's not like anyone else is smarter than me when it comes to the Bloodbearer's internals."

"We do have your aunt Lorrie and Officer Soren," José retorts, gesturing with his head at the red-scaled Kraktol.

"Soren is a general technician, while my Aunt Lorrie is super smart, but more of a software engineer. I specialize in hardware!" Lele counters. "I'm irreplaceable!"

Lele sticks out her tongue, revealing her childish self. She waits for José's retort, but instead, the Admiral merely smiles, looking at her warmly.

"That's right, Lele. You are irreplaceable. Never forget that."

He pets the Kessu girl's head, making her nose turn pink. She quickly pulls away, then retreats to the door. "A-anyway! I have some Titan suits to construct! I'm going!"

After Lele hurries out the door, José sighs. He stands up and gazes into the distance.

"Man. I miss when she was a cute little kitten wanting to ride piggyback on my shoulders."

Soren chuckles. "José, you sound like an old geezer."

"Sometimes, I feel that way," José replies.

...

Third month inside Inverted Space.

Rags, one of the many young Kessu boys who have slowly matured into adults, stops in front of a mirror to clean his fur. After licking several patches back into the perfect position, he adjusts his standard-issue mechanic uniform, then trots out of his room at a brisk pace.

As Rags walks down the hall, he nods at several Kraktol and Kessu. "Morning, Skeever. Heya, Buggie."

He trots into one of the many makeshift armor and weapon assembly bays scattered around the Bloodbearer, where he spots his old friend, Skippy. The fat chonker cat bends over to pick up a fallen hypo-spanner, wheezing as his breath catches.

"Huff, huff. Mraww! Geez, now I've got grease all over my fur. I can't lick it out. I'll have to take a bath later. Not again!"

"Morning, Skip," Rags says, as he walks up behind his friend and pats his back. "You doing okay?"

"Oh, you know how it goes," Skippy says, glancing at Rags with a look of envy. I'm fat, I'm ugly, none of the girls like me, and I'm a terrible, no good, lousy mechanic! I miss sitting around the old village eating scraps all day."

"You eat plenty of food here," Rags counters. "I've seen you pile on the steaks in the mess hall. What are you even talking about, Skip?"

"It's not the same." Skippy confidently states. "All the meat here tastes fake. I bet the Precursor is putting gumbo in the meat! That's the only explanation that makes sense!"

"...Gumbo?" Rags mutters. "Look, Skip, the food is synthesized. I know you've seen the biomatter tanks. They, uh... they turn that green goop into normal food... with the Admiral's technological... stuff!"

Skippy snorts condescendingly. "Hmph. See? You don't even know how it works. That green glop is mind-control paste! It's all there just to make us fall for the Admiral's tricks! Mark my words, one day he'll have us eating from his paws!"

Rags rolls his eyes. "Right. You and your conspiracies. Anyway, I wanted to tell you first, since you're my best friend. Lele's probably going into heat in the next few months. We're gonna try for a litter!"

Skippy's envy becomes even more palpable. "Oh, sure. Rub it in my whiskers! You've got a nice body, a nice girl, and you're having a jolly good time. The girls these days just don't know how good I am! They're missing out!"

"Sounds like you have an attitude problem," Rags says. The Kessu sighs. "Man, I used to look up to you, but you can't even say anything nice. This is a big deal, you know? I'm gonna become a dad!"

"But I never will!" Skippy meows, as he cries into his paws. "I'm no good! Just a big, dumb, fatso!"

Rags glances around the technician area, where several other Kessu avert their eyes, though their ears flick in his direction to listen. No doubt, they'll gossip later about what they've heard.

"Well... I hope you can work off the pounds in the future, bro..." Rags says, as his ears fall flat. "I've... gotta go. I need to tune up some gravimetric balancers on Deck Two. I'll see you around."

Skippy waves his paws. "Yeah, yeah!"

As Rags leaves, he heaves a sigh and grumbles to himself. "Man, Skippy has been acting like such a douche. I think it's time I look for better friends. Don't know what I ever saw in the guy."

...

Sixth month inside Inverted Space.

Big Ruuki and his wife, Precious, sit in their upgraded crew-room with their litter of kittens, all except for one, teaching them a basic education.

"And these are Warp Conduits," Precious says, as the half-dozen kittens sit next to her, their big, watery eyes locked onto a holographic image floating in the air. "They transfer energized Dilithium from the Warp Drive to the Warp Engines. Can any of you tell me what Dilithium is?"

Precious waits expectantly for an answer. None of the kittens speak up. At only three years old, they've only just started learning about the ship they live on.

Finally, one boy meows. "Is... is it wike juice, mama?"

"Sort of!" Precious meows, while pinching his cheek-fur. "It's... ship-juice! The more the ship drinks, the faster it can fly!"

"I want drink ship juice!" A little girl says. "Juice tasty!"

Ruuki sips some milk from a mug while leaning back in an easy chair. "Lulu would know the answer. She takes after her big sister."

"Yes, well, Lulu isn't here right now," Precious says, smiling. Her pretty orange fur and Siamese eyes give her a seductive appearance. "We do have other smart kittens, you know. I like 'Ruuki Junior' because he looks just like daddy! He also knows all about the internals of spacecraft."

"Slipsteem goes supa-fast!" The kitten meows, cooing for his mother's attention. "Can hide fwum anyone, sneaky like daddy when mommy angwy!"

Ruuki's whiskers twitch. "Hey, kid, you keep those thoughts to yourself. Don't go telling people daddy's scared of mommy. I'm not scared of anyone! Mraww!"

Precious rolls her eyes. "You didn't look so confident when you broke my condenser realignment kit two days ago."

Ruuki's tail stiffens. "Mreowww! That was an accident! An accident, I say!"

"Of course it was, but you still looked like a kitten caught with the yarn!" Precious laughs.

Ruuki releases a strained chuckle. A minute later, his quarters' intercom beeps, and Umi's voice plays.

"Attention, Infantry Officer Ruuki. The next practice-round of anti-Buzor squad training begins in T-minus thirty minutes. Please meet up with your partner, Infantry Commander Grundle, inside Holodeck Four."

Ruuki's expression brightens. "Finally! I've been waiting for hours!" He meows, as he jumps out of his chair.

"You are such a child, sometimes," Precious meows. "Give me and the kittens a nuzzle before you go."

Ruuki nods. He walks over and presses the side of his face lovingly against each of his children's before spending twice as long nuzzling his wife.

"Me-owww, love you, sexy girl!" Ruuki says, before turning to walk out the door. "I'll see you in five hours!"

"Bye-bye!" Precious waves, before gesturing to the kittens. "Say goodbye to daddy!"

"Bye, daddy!" All of the kittens meow.

Ruuki waves one last time before stepping out the door. After he disappears, Precious returns to her lessons.

"Now, then. Who can remember the Bloodbearer's primary method of interstellar warp travel?"

...

Ninth month inside Inverted Space.

A trio of Kraktol females sit together in one of the Bloodbearer's recreation areas. Unlike the Holodeck, the Mess Hall, or the other limited-use areas, this one sits packed with makeshift VR simulation-pods. The three Kraktol women lay back inside of three adjacent pods while adjusting their settings to the optimal levels.

Sapphire, one of the three present, crows excitedly to the other two ladies. "Kyargh! I'm telling you, Soren's simulation of the Felthian Prison Colony is intense. You're gonna love it. She made this cool heist escape game where you break out of a Code Gamma Containment Facility, and it's always tons of fun. Let's see who can get the highest score!"

The second Kraktol female, a pink-scale named Pollie, attaches an upside-down U-shaped band to the side of her head, allowing it to come into contact with the spots just behind her ears. "Hmph. You'll have it easy because you've played already."

"Nope!" Sapphire declares, raising her right hand. "I'll play on Level 3 Difficulty. You and Ravel can start at Level 1. My difficulty will not only be higher, but I'll get fewer points, too!"

A black-scaled Kraktol on Sapphire's right shrugs. "I don't care about points, kyargh! I just want to have fun!~"

"Soren's game is based on a Terran prison simulation my Darling made some time back," Sapphire explains, while batting her eyes lovingly. "That's how you know it will be fun! Now, let's dive under!"

"You and the Admiral..." Pollie says, sighing in mock sympathy. "You're chuffing up the wrong tree, sister. He doesn't seem interested."

"Psh. He will be!" Sapphire confidently declares. "It just takes some work getting Darling warmed up to the idea of mating with me. I know he'll come around eventually!"

She presses a button on her pod and falls under the pull of the simulated worldspace. Pollie and Ravel shrug at each other, knowing any attempt to dissuade Sapphire will fail. They both go under right afterward.

Ravel frowns subconsciously as the Bloodbearer's cramped Recreational Simulations center disappears. The world around her shifts, transforming into a cold, sterile, silver-walled prison system. She finds herself strapped to a table, while Mallali prison guards stand a short distance away. These weak-looking fellows stand casually, looking bored as all heck.

In the blink of an eye, a series of explanations beam into her skull, explaining the game's premise to her.

You are the infamous Rodak prisoner, the Furslayer. The Mallali have captured you and placed you in a high-level stasis-containment field. You are not allowed to move, speak, or do anything else until the duration of your prison sentence wears out. Too bad for them, a malfunction with the electrical system momentarily allows your containment unit to fizzle out. Use your wits, use your strength, and escape!

Ravel immediately finds herself excited by the premise. Oooh, the Furslayer! That's a badass name!

As she waits, the sense of frozen time engulfing her body suddenly weakens. The clamps attached to her wrists, legs, and neck, while easily capable of stopping an average Kraktol, prove as weak to her as tissue paper. She tears out of them and charges toward the nearest Dakkit guard, battering him aside with a brutal punch to the face. She grabs a huge flak-shotgun from his paws, swivels around, and blasts the other guard before he can react.

Whoa! I feel so fast! So strong! Kyargh! I bet this is how Grundle feels all the time!

Ravel rushes to the door. She kicks it down, ripping through it like a demolition crane chewing into a building.

"Hahaha! What great fun!" Ravel cheers, as she systematically begins shooting and blasting enemies everywhere she goes. Huge glowing symbols occasionally appear in her path, indicating loot, items, and ammo. She outfits herself with better weapons, armor, and gadgets, while killing hundreds of seemingly useless Mallali guards.

"Wow, the Furslayer is so strong! These mooks don't pose a threat to me!" Ravel declares.

At that moment, a giant Bulin with two horns on its head shows up before Ravel. A glowing greataxe hums and crackles with energy, making Ravel ooh and ahh.

"A boss enemy! He looks a little tough, but I can take him!"

Ravel begins swinging around the boss arena, relying on a newly acquired hookshot tool, upgraded shields to protect herself from the giant bull-Mallali's attacks, and grenades to soften him up. Five minutes later, she defeats the Bulin, breaks past him, and finds an escape shuttle.

Umi's voice speaks afterward. "Excellent work, Infantry Trooper, Ravel. After seventy-six minutes and forty-two seconds, you have accrued one thousand, six hundred and five points. Time Score: C-. Killing Score: A+. Exploration: A+. Efficiency Rating: B. Ending simulation now."

As the game finishes, Ravel returns to realspace, only to find Sapphire and Pollie standing outside her pod, tapping their feet impatiently.

"Geez, took you long enough," Pollie mutters. "Did you find some good-looking Dakkit officer and start smooching him? We finished twenty minutes ago."

"Ohhh, sorry!" Ravel apologizes. "I couldn't help exploring every nook and cranny of the level for items and collectibles. The chainsaw was super fun, and a great way to replenish my ammo!"

"You don't need all the items to successfully escape," Sapphire says, helping Ravel out of the pod. "In higher difficulties, it's better to conserve ammo and use stealth. I always try to go for a no-kill playthrough."

"I wanted to clear the game as quickly as possible," Pollie adds. "I bet if I play it a few dozen more times, I can win in under five minutes."

"Five minutes?" Ravel asks, wide-eyed. "But you'll have to play so fast that you won't have any fun! I just want to go pew-pew and blast all the bad guys!"

"Well, for me, setting an unbeatable record is really adrenaline pumping. Kyargh!" Pollie says. "Let's play again tomorrow!"

Ravel shakes her head. "Nah! I'm gonna play it... right now! I wanna try level 2! I bet I can make it to the highest difficulty if I keep trying!"

Pollie and Sapphire exchange glances.

"Alright, I'm in!" Sapphire says. "But why don't we try the three-player co-op mode next? The difficulty is higher, but you get to pick a starting class with cool weapons!"

"Kyargh! I'm in." Pollie says.

...

Final day inside Inverted Space.

Admiral Rodriguez wears a soldering helmet. He works outside the Bloodbearer along with half a dozen Kraktol and three dozen Kessu. They slowly weld a huge gauss cannon to the underside of the Bloodbearer's hull, one they made for anti-planet and anti-ship combat campaigns. Designed to deal moderate sustained damage and extremely high burst damage, the cannon's accuracy and ability to penetrate shields, armor, and hull at long-range makes it a versatile weapon.

The Terran finishes welding his section, then stops and waits for the others to catch up. They all finish within the next minute, then pull away and take several steps back to admire their handiwork.

"Mraww! What a huge gun!" One of the Kessu meows. "It's ten times bigger than me! I bet you could shoot anything down with this bad-boy!"

A Kraktol next to him shakes her head. "This Gauss Cannon is actually somewhat low-caliber as starship ordinance goes. It's suitable for taking out shuttles, fighters, interceptors, and corvettes, but not much beyond those."

"I wanted to install weapons like these for the sake of fighting the Buzor," José explains. "We know they possess advanced technology. It won't be out of the question for them to deploy advanced vehicles and flying craft on Veter's surface. They could also steal whatever the Varot have lying around. Low-caliber Gauss Cannons are excellent for sniping exocraft from orbit, provided we have troops on the ground to transmit targeting coordinates."

The Admiral circles around his newly-installed defense platform. He points out several poorly-welded areas, most of them made by his less-experienced Kraktol technicians, then unleashes a series of test-firing salvos to stress the weapon.

"Excellent work. Lele's modifications make this cannon perform thirteen percent better than its original designers intended," José praises. "I tell you... that kitten is something else."

One of the male Kessu nearby raises his head. Still wearing a space-suit, he transmits his words over the local area intercomm. "Mraww! Speaking of my cute girlfriend, did you hear the good news? She's pregnant! We're going to have a litter in a few months!"

José turns to the muscular little Kessu teenager, Rags. "Oh, yeah? Is that so? Congratulations, kid. You'll make for a great dad."

"Hehe! She came into heat a little late," Rags says, blushing in embarrassment. "But we made do. After this campaign is over, I'm hoping Lele and me can travel to some remote, safe, backwater world to raise our first litter. Err, after that though, we'll definitely come back in a few years!"

"You don't need to make plans on my account," The Admiral says, lightly patting the cat's back with his space-suit's glove. "Hopefully, I won't be around much longer after this mission's over. Well, assuming everything goes well, of course."

Rags' proud smile falters. "Mraww... so it's true? You really are planning to leave and find your people if we kill Yama?"

"Naturally," José replies. "I don't belong here. I've said that many times. I'm glad for the friends I've made. Maybe I'll be able to visit sometimes. But... in the grand scheme of things, it's pretty lonely being the only Terran in the whole galaxy. How would you feel if you were the only Kessu left in a galaxy of Rodaks?"

Rags hesitates.

He pauses for several seconds, deeply reflecting on the Admiral's question.

"Hmm. Meow! I can't say. I guess I never really thought about such a possibility..."

"Well, don't." The Admiral grunts. "It's depressing. Don't stress out to try and empathize with me. If my plans succeed, I'll find some way to return to my people. I might even see the ones I love most."

José smiles. He raises his helmet to gaze at the pitch-black void above him, one lacking stars in every direction.

Evelyn. Nicky-boy. Admiral Baruchen.

I just want to see them again. Even if only for a minute.

The Terran's face slowly shifts, becoming a facsimile of impassiveness.

A sense of despair weighs on the Admiral's shoulders, one that nobody present can understand.

Soren doesn't know. Sapphire doesn't either, nor does Grundle. I might die trying to travel to the past. Rip-Gates are dangerous beyond belief. The last time I used one, my body almost exploded. Nick's, too. I've never forgotten the terror of navigating Temporal Tears.

He shakes his head, then returns his thoughts to the present.

Before I can get my hopes up... I must first kill Yama. I have to confirm the Rip-Gate still functions. Only then will I be able to make the journey.

The Admiral shrugs.

If time-travel fails... should I resort to cloning? Perhaps I should ignore ethical restraints and try cloning the Bloodbearer's crew.

I don't know. Clones won't have the memories of their original bodies. Admiral Baruchen won't be the same as I knew him. Not at all. He'll start out as a kid, just like all the others. Then again, that could be fun. Raising a whole generation of Terrans by myself.

...No. I just want to go home. Save the cloning for geneticists.

The Admiral shakes his head. He returns his thoughts to Rags and the other technicians.

"Alright, everyone. Let's wrap this up. I want to complete all the pre-arrival checks three hours before we arrive in Veter's system. There might be Buzor ships waiting for us on arrival."

"Okay, Great Precursor!" The Kessu meow.

"Yes, Admiral," The Kraktol reply.

The technicians pack up their gear, while José strides away. His feet gravitically clamp to the Bloodbearer's hull, allowing him to easily walk to the turbolift leading inside the ship.

José's expression darkens.

"You're going down, Yama. Tomorrow will mark the end of your heresy, if the Gods have any sense of justice."