It really is an amazing thing to think that a little over four years ago, I was in a tiny apartment back in Earth working a boring job single and alone in my life and here I am now with four beautiful mates who have all given me wonderful children; four children to be exact. None of which would have occurred if a human by the name of Robert, with his machinations, hadn't have befriended me and put me in the situation to where I believed I wasn't worth the air I breathed anymore. Some would say that I should hate him for everything he did to me, but sitting in the den, surrounded by family and friends, that idea seems ridiculous. Would I be here if not for him? No. I would probably either still be sitting in that tiny apartment alone, or dead. I've been a morph now for almost three years and while I still have a few weird dreams about who I used to be, and occasionally curse all of this blasted fur, I wouldn't go back to who or what I was for anything. My children wouldn't be alive; all of these wonderful people in my life would never have met each other. People like Dr. Sands, who was just as lonely as I had been would still be lonely. I've been there; I would never wish that utter emptiness that lingers in the heart of a person who is utterly alone, on anyone ever. I choose to believe that all things happen for a reason. Maybe I wasn't born into this body or this lifestyle, but I would by DAMN accept it and embrace it with both hands and NEVER let it go. I had put the past behind me; I had settled all of those fears and angers for people like Robert. They were not people to fear any longer, but to pity really. So, you'll understand, when I say, that when Shylin's message came a short number of weeks from my 41st birthday, that I was disinclined to do much about it.

>>>

Max was lounging on the couch in the den with the youngest of his brood asleep in his lap while hy worked on paperwork. The joys of command never said anything about the mounds of paperwork that bred like... well, bred like his mates, hy thought with a whimsical smile as hys other eye watched the two eldest cubs streak through the house like hyperactive cannon balls. "BRIGHT! ARCTYC! If you break anything, your moms are going to tan your pelt!" hy called out.

"Awwwwww, DAD!" they said in semi-unison. Those two had been close since birth and they did everything together, including mischief.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, and NO CLIMBING THE CURTAINS!" hy said with a grin as they took off again like lightning.

Max's PADD beeped relaying an incoming communication. Max authenticated the message with a thumb scan and Shylin appeared on hys screen. "Commander, to what do I owe this surprise?" Max asked warily.

"I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done during the Amistad assignment. You quietly took down 13 members of an anti-human movement who had somehow managed to get their hands on Federation grade phaser rifles. We are looking over the documents you managed to recover, and we think there is a LNAW supplier trying to cause problems on Chakona," hy said.

"Well that's just great, I'm sure they are still upset about the loss of their raiders on Starbase 241. They sunk a lot of money and resources into that operation and lost it all. I'm just glad we managed to get those rifles out of their hands before they were able to cause any serious damage with them. I'll pass along your congratulations, Sir. The troops are just happy for the time off. We've been boots on the ground for almost 8 weeks straight; they needed the R&R," Max said fervently.

Shylin nodded. "I can well imagine. I also had some news for you," hy said hesitantly.

Max took a sip of hys coffee with a raised eyebrow looking at the screen. "Yes?"

"We found Robert, Max," Shylin said watching hym closely.

Max stopped almost mid swallow as hys eyes went distant for a minute staring at nothing at all before speaking. "Get me his address and I'll send him a thank you card," Max said.

Shylin looked surprised.

"You expected me to be a bit more vengeful?" Max said with a chuckle. "If not for Robert, I wouldn't be where I am now with who I am with now. I wouldn't have children or family at all. I have no hate for Robert anymore," Max said honestly.

Shylin looked thoughtful and then said, "Max, he's doing it again. We've found the bodies of half transformed test subjects; mainly runaways and other people who wouldn't be missed. He's experimenting again and the last time he did this, he made living time bombs out of you and everyone else he sent out," Shylin stated. "I'm assigning your team to Earth to find Robert, track down his operations, and shut it down once and for all," Shylin ordered.

Max's expression went a little blank as hy ran through everything in hys mind. "Give me and my team a week to finish recovery and we'll get to Earth," Max stated. "My squad needs a break before we dive in again, if you want us fresh and on our best game."

Shylin looked as if hy were about to protest, but hy had learned a good bit about Max's personality over the time they had been working together and hy knew that when it came to the well-being of hys crew, hy wouldn't budge one centimeter so instead of arguing, hy just nodded. "I'll have transportation waiting for you in one week, Commander. I'll send you the information we have found in a day or two. Send me a requisition list of everything you'll think you and your team will need to get the job done. Shylin out." And with that the screen went dark.

Max sat back on the couch absently stroking hys fingers through the fur of the youngest asleep on hys lap while hy thought about going back to Earth. Hy hadn't stepped foot on Earth in what...five years? Of course, hy'd kept up on news reports about hys old home, and a lot of them weren't the greatest news. Human on morph violence was up; morph on human violence was up...It was starting to look like the Gene Wars all over again. When would people learn to live together in peace? Neither species was going anywhere and the number of morphs now was, if not dead even in population, maybe even higher than humans. It was a war no one would be able to win.

'I can hear you worrying all the way in here,' Swytch sent while hy was grumbling in hys head.

'Sorry, love!' Max apologized. 'I never thought I'd be going back to Earth for any reason and now I'm going back to stop the person who started all of this. I'm not sure how to feel about everything just yet,' hy sent with mixed emotions.

'Well, this may be a way to put the past completely behind you once and for all love. You and I both know that Robert has always been there, in the back of your head. Intellectually, you may not hate him, but there is a part of you deep down that resents what he did to you even if the outcome resulted in a family and loved ones. I don't fault you for that, after all you're only human,' hy sent with an affectionate caress of hys mind.

'Dream is on Earth right now I believe. I guess I could always use this as a social call as well. I love you Swytch,' hy sent suddenly. 'No matter what has happened in my life or will happen in my life, I will always love you my first and true Lifemate,' hy sent with such feeling that Swytch could feel hys mind flooded with the truth of everything hy felt for hym.

'And I love you as well my beautiful Max. You've been, and are, everything I have always wanted in my life and I will love you for the rest of our lives and far after that,' hy sent with just as much love and emotion as Max had.

'When I get back from Earth, I want to have your kit,' hy sent determinedly.

Swytch sent the equivalent of a mental blink and said, 'You do?'

'Yes, I've thought about this long and hard and I want to give you what you have given me, fatherhood and everything that comes with it. Although, I don't know if being a biped, I can carry a taur child to term,' hy sent.

'We can cross that road when we get to it, normally the child adapts to the mother's form for skunktaurs. It is entirely possible that you may have a healthy baby bipedal skunk morph.' Hy sent comfortingly. 'And if not, then lots of bed rest and a C-section for birth. You won't be the first female to have to have one love. If its what you want, then it would fill my heart with joy for you to have my kit,' hy send with love and adoration.

'When I get home then,' Max sent with feeling. 'I'll be a mother.'

On the last day of the week-long R&R, Max called the squad in for a meeting and cookout at hys house. Everyone showed up in regular clothes, some brought drinks, some brought side dishes, and Max cooked steaks on the grill in the back yard. The weather was starting to cool off on Chakona as the seasons marched towards winter and everyone was in high spirits and having a great time. Once everyone had eaten, Max motioned to the squad to follow hym back into the woods a bit for a talk. Hy had set out lounge chairs and a cooler with drinks beforehand and everyone took a seat and a drink and waited expectantly for hym to speak.

"First off, I want to pass along congratulations from Commander Shylin on our last mission. We kept a lot of weapons off the street and according to Intel, it looks like it was a LNAW broker who smuggled the weapons into the anti-human hate group. So that's another one for our side," hy said which was followed by a round of cheers from the groups. "Next, we have been asked to spearhead another mission. This one has personal implications for me in particular. You all remember me when I showed up as a human the first time you all met me?" hy asked and was met by a round of nods. "Well, the person who is responsible for the body you see before you is also the leader of a major H1 cell on Earth. From Intel reports, he has been experimenting on humans again, doing the same thing he did to me to them and the results are mutated half breeds that die during the change. So far, they have found 37 bodies, all his handiwork. I got lucky, if it weren't for a certain group of Doctors on the station I'd probably be dead as well. It is time to put this monster down for good before he can kick off another Gene War on Earth with programed suicide morph bombers. That is what I was meant to be. I'm just lucky that I had already bonded with Swytch and was able to break through the programming. So...We are going to Earth and we are going to find his facility, free any slaves in captivity, and take him down once and for all," hy growled and was met with growls of agreement from everyone else.

"Sergeant, I want a list of needed equipment from the crew by 0900 tomorrow morning on my desk. Everyone get ready to blend in, we are going to Earth to put an end to this once and for all. And heaven help whoever gets in our way," hy said with finality.

>>>

The requisitions had been placed and filled. Equipment was loaded in storage drop containers and the big equipment would be waiting on Earth for when they arrived. The squad found themselves aboard a Federation starship at 0'dark 30 in the morning local. The squad was shown to a military dorm style area where everyone chose a bunk and stowed their gear. They were asked to not mingle with the crew, since technically their mission was classified and the less people that knew, the better. Max let everyone get a little rack time since they had a little over a week of travel to Earth and it was still early local time Chakona.

While the squad slept, Max reviewed the mission overview and the Intel reports once again. Max pulled out a little gift that Jynxy had given hym before hy left. It was a small sheath holster that would attach to hys tail, deep in the fur, and be hidden from anyone who wasn't looking for it. Max examined the sheath and curling his tail up between hys legs, attached it deep in the fur around the actual tail muscles. Hy then placed hys Type I phaser and hys fighting knife in the sheath. Moving the fur around, the sheath disappeared into the depths of dark, black, fur and was a comfortable weight. Hy'd have to see about scheduling some workout time with the Captain of the ship so hys crew wouldn't go stir crazy sitting in their room the entire time.

Max sent off a request to the ship's Captain and then laid back on hys rack and sent mental love to Swytch and received a 'BE CAREFUL!' as well as hys love in return. Might as well get some shuteye hymself. It was going to be a long trip and one never knew how long one would have to go without sleep during a mission, best to get it now while the getting was still good.

Well, for a group of warbeasts, everyone managed to stay out of trouble the entire trip. Max kept them busy with training scenarios in the holosuite tailored to what the Intel reports were telling him. Once they were about 16 hours out, Max called a meeting in the barracks they were living in and handed out PADDs to everyone. "OK everyone, this is our objective. The H1 group is working out of an abandoned nuclear missile silo on the west coast. The area is comprised of 137 acres of wilderness land with a single access road leading to the complex. Up top, there is a guard station and guard barracks. There is a secure communications bunker that contains the only access for the underground site inside. We will be working out of a foxtaur clan community a few miles from the site itself. They have reported that several ranger scouts have gone missing and it is assumed that they have either been captured or killed by the H1 group there. From what Intel has been able to gather, the site is protected by an energy fence that surrounds the majority of the land with sensor suites every half mile. They have transport scramblers up so there will be no transporting in. The upside is that the scramblers and the sensor suites are all controlled from the main guard shack at the entrance to the compound. If we can infiltrate that location, we can disable the transporters."

"From all reports, the closest town is known as Skyrock. It is located 8 miles away and most of the guards go there to blow off steam. We are going to recon the town and the site. We are going to memorize the guard schedules and the comings and goings of everything on that site. Then, once everything is lined up, we are going to take down one of the guards before he goes on shift and I am going to take his place. Once I get there and on shift, I'll incapacitate the other guard in the main shack and shut down the transporter scramblers without setting off the alarms."

"Once that is done, the rest of the team will beam into these locations," Max said and then send each PADD the locations he had chosen for each person. "PFC Petrov, you are going to set up your toys at the guard station. I want full 360-degree coverage, Private Abelev, you are going to back him up." They both nodded making notes on their PADDS. "Corporal Bixby, you are going to set up on this hill on the Southwest corner. That should give you the best advantage to cover anyone that needs it. I want 0 visibility from you, you're our ace in the hole." She nodded making notes on her PADD as well. "Private Dougan, I want you in the guard shack tied into their security system. I want the video surveillance looped and you will be giving the rest of the team live time play by play of what's going on. You're our eye in the sky. Zyndil will be our onsite scout. I've already briefed hym on what's happening. Once we decide our time tables, hy'll be in the loop and anchored to me. Teeshan and Neeshan, you are going to be our infiltration forward and rear guard. If anyone unexpected pops up, take them out, I don't care how." They both nodded in understanding. "The rest of you will make up the infiltration team with me. We are going to get in, free any prisoners, set demolitions charges, and blow the complex to hell. Any questions?" Max asked looking at the group around him.

When no one replied, Max nodded. "OK, everyone catch some shuteye. We will be on site in a little over 14 hours. As soon as we are beamed down, I want to coordinate with the foxtaur clan leaders and get a base camp set up. We have the Mk II PortaHab (Portable Habitat) with us, so I want a good site chosen and the PortaHab set up and active camouflage engaged as quickly as possible, coordinate with the ranger scouts. I want to be invisible people, as quickly as possible. Get some sleep; we might not be getting much in the next few days. Dismissed."

With that, the group all found their racks, and with the practice of long use, everyone was asleep inside 10 minutes. Max sent off all Intel reports and the action plan to Shylin before turning in hymself. Things were about to get exciting again. There was a large gap between training scenarios and the real thing; hopefully he wouldn't end up puking this time.

Thirteen hours later, the FSS Cartwright made orbit around Earth. Everyone grabbed their gear to be beamed over to the Gateway station orbiting Earth; everyone except eight people who technically didn't exist. Once the main group of people were beamed over to the Gateway station, Max and hys squad were in the cargo bay moving their gear on the mass transporter platform normally used for cargo transport. The transporter Chief didn't say a word to them and they didn't speak to her either. Fifteen minutes later, the team materialized deep in the mountains on the West coast of what had once been the United States of America. They were met at the landing site by two foxtaurs vixens. The elder of the two stepped forward and offered her hand to Max. "You must be Lieutenant Commander Pilumnus, pleasure to meet you Commander, my name is Sienna. I am the Chief of the council here at Bond Creek village."

Max took the offered hand and shook it gravely nodding to the elder. "Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am," hy responded. "We appreciate your cooperation in this endeavor," hy said earnestly.

Sienna nodded and said, "While we normally wouldn't interfere in things like this, we have three missing ranger scouts. We can't prove that the group is involved, but we have our suspicions, and if you can help get them back, we would greatly appreciate it." She motioned to the vixen beside her and said, "This is Veronica, part of our Justice and Enforcement team. She will be responsible for making sure that you get the help you need as well as keeping the nosiest of our clan from bothering you too much."

Veronica held out her hand and Max shook it with a solemn nod to her. "Pleasure, Ma'am."

"No Mr. Pilumnus, if you can get our rangers back, then the pleasure is all mine," she said gravely.

Max nodded in reply and then asked, "Where can we set up camp? We have our own supplies and everything, we just need a decent sized area to set out our PortaHab and once we engage the camouflage, you won't even know we are here. We intend to be as small of a burden as we can be to you and your clan. Again, thank you for the opportunity to work with the clan," hy said earnestly.

Veronica spoke up. "If you will follow me, I will show you the area we picked out for you and your team." And with that she turned.