Vive Le Starlis

By Nikkitrina Feral

Prologue: 1984
****************************************************

	  The tiny she-kitten wriggled and purred in her mother's arms,
oblivious to any care in the world.  She knew her parents and the
other three adults were restless, but she thought that was simply
because of her, and her tendency to 'want', like any other kitten, of
any species.  So she went on purring and squeaking, and taking in the
peaceful world around her.
****************************************************

	  The adults were restless.  But, unlike the kitten thought,
they had a more logical, and life threatening, reason to worry.  Ever
since their species' fall from the hierarchy of the food chain,
Tabbies, an egotistical and selfish species, second only to them, had
taken over. The Tabbies took over not only the food chain, but also
civilized life, and the government, military, and business carriers
that went with the running of huge spread out cities, swallowing all
lesser life in their path.  Before, life could spread equally, with no
other species 'swallowing' another, and Tabbies were pushed down to
their rightful spots at the bottom of society, down to the slums,
doing their jobs of making the slums even 'slummier'.  And now
stupidity reigned in society, which even shouldn't be called social,
or civil, in fact, chaos summed it up very nicely.
	  The worse came when the final strong hold, of the merely 6
adults was found.  Because of the species' slightly different
appearance from Tabbies, the idiots who found them promptly declared
them 'Aliens', (which actually wasn't far from the truth, and wasn't a
problem except the 'idiots' found them a threat) and became determined
to kill them and sell their bodies to science for, as one put it,
	  "Nuff dough ta' choke a cow!"  They didn't get a chance to
achieve their original goal, because while they went back out to
their truck to get their guns, the 6 adults made a hasty escape into
the woods.  The hicks wouldn't give up though, and decided to track
them the next day.
	  During the night, tragedy and a final triumph occurred.  One
of the females died from the Great Disease, which caused the fall of
the species 150 years ago, and was still killing.  The Great Disease
was almost the only thing that could single out that specific species,
and kill one in less than a month.  The only way the species could
survive, was if the last adults' kittens were immune to the Disease.
This was the single thing Tabbies were good for.  The 1860-70's were a
social and sexual boost for Tabbies.  In the craze to 'shag' as many
of the opposite sex as possible, they spelled their own doom, with
the development of AIDS.  Luckily, the adults' species had so many
'killer T-cells' (they were in fact nothing like the t-cells in
Tabbies, but more like little germs with brains, to put it simply)
that they were able to infect their kittens with. AIDS, and chemically
boost the reaction of the T-cells, so that they didn't totally
destroy the virus, but harness it to fight the Great Disease.
Luckily, the Great Disease was not immune to AIDS used in that
fashion, and was easily killed off if it entered the body. This was
proven successful with the last three kittens.  The final triumph for
the adults came with the newest and final kitten.  She was named
Starlis.  Her mother, oddly enough, was her sister at the same time.
Her father's mate died of the Great Disease, and his only option to
increase the number of surviving kittens, was to mate with his only
daughter, and kitten.  She was old enough, and not infected with AIDS,
therefore not immune to the Great Disease.  She also knew the outcome.
The kitten would be female, and would be the new Supreme Being.  The
closest any creature would get to a God while still 'alive'.  Their
species was the Supreme Species, because they were the oldest, they
were the most powerful, and they were the most adaptive of any other
species in their space-time-dimension.  The Supreme Being was called
Starlis Mageto, after the name of the planet, and its moon, which the
species originated from.

****************************************************

	  Now, in the peaceful forest, Starlis was oblivious of any
cares.  She suddenly decided she was hungry, and tugged on her
mother's fur, reaching up as far as she could and squeaking loudly.
But her mother ignored her, and put her paw over Starlis's mouth to
silence her.
	  "Honey," her mother whispered, "You make me proud.  You get a
job in the government and get our place in life back.  You survive and
do that for me.  You find your cousin, she'll help you.  Use all the
skills from our ancestors to survive, you survive for me now, don't
you dare die on me." Ears and eyes directed forwards sharply, intent
on the now silent forest before them, her mother slowly crouched
down, and put Starlis on the forest floor, between a rock and a tree
root, motioned for her to be perfectly quiet, and covered her with
leaves and twigs.  The birds had stopped singing, the crickets
stopped strumming, and the only sound that loudly echoed through the
forest, was the casual click of a shot gun's safety latch being
pushed away.  The adults dashed in the opposite direction.  Starlis,
dazed and confused, instinctively froze in her spot as her parents
charged like a whisper away, and three strange kats stomped after
them, long shiny sticks in their paws.

****************************************************

	  Starlis never saw her parents or any of the adults again.
Unbeknown to her, they were all killed, and taken to a place called
MASA Space Labs for UFO Studies. Strangely enough, three tom-kats were
charged with mass Murder in the 1st degree, and given the death
sentence, the exact same week.

****************************************************

	  For many days and nights, (a day old kitten can't tell time
very well) Starlis stayed alive on odd bugs that crawled into her
hiding place, and dew that formed on her fur during the cool morning
hours.  When she decided it was safe, almost weeks after her parent's
disappearance, she crawled out of her hole, and explored the area
around the tree and rock.  Before long though, she decided to go back
to her hiding place and take a nap. Once again, it was weeks before
she emerged.  Her shiny white fur was now dull and grey.  Her soft
black wisps of head fur were knotted and dirty.  Her little muzzle was
stained with the blood of her larger meals of reptiles and bigger
bugs.  She felt helpless, and alone.  The ache the loss of her family
caused made the ache for companionship, for love, worse.  She cried
out in the only way she knew.  She squeaked, loud and mournfully.
	  Merely yards away, a camping family of Tabbies heard the
noise.  The younger ones went to investigate, while the mother yelled
after them, insisting that it was just a bird.  The oldest of the
kittens, about twelve years old, arrived at Starlis's little hole
first.  She pulled away the rotting leaves and twigs, and jumped back
when the thing decided to hiss at her.
	  The other kitten, an eight year old, hollered, "Oh yea! A
snake!"  He rushed up to the hole.
	  "It's not a snake Jeremy, it's a kitten," his sister informed
him.  They peered down at Starlis, curled up in her hole, shivering
and doing her best to growl.  The she-kitten picked Starlis up, and
carried her towards the camp.  Starlis didn't know what to do to
defend herself, so she froze, and went dead limp, to, she hoped,
deter the predator.  The she-kitten showed her mother her discovery.
	  "Ahhhh! Tammy! Drop that filthy thing! It might give you
rabies!" the she-kat shrieked.  Tammy looked annoyed.
	  "Oh mother! It's not a filthy animal, it's a kitten.  We
should help it," Tammy insisted.  Starlis kept a weary eye on the
large tom-kat that was approaching.
	  "Glen, let Tammy take care of it, how much trouble could it
be?" the tom-kat reasoned.
	  "More trouble than Tammy and Jeremy were, times two! It's a
wild thing," the mother complained.  Tammy was determined to help in
some way.
	  "How about we put it in that orphanage thing on Wayview Lane,
they'll take care of him," Tammy suggested, while she petted Starlis
on the head, a bit too hard.
	  "Fine," the she-kat quickly settled it, "Now go put it in the
camper till we get home tomorrow."
	  Starlis was placed in a stuffy little box with a blanket and
some cat food.  The lid was closed and Starlis could hear the muffled
voice of the she-kitten outside.
	  "It's the best I could do, but it's better than the cold
woods."  Footsteps leading away, then silence.  Starlis took her little
claws and tried her best to cut a way out of the box.  The best she
could do was small holes.  They let in light and fresh air though,
which would save her from suffocation in the end.  With nothing else
to do, and the rancid cat food bothering her senses, Starlis decided
to take a long nap.  She curled up in the blanket, and buried her nose
between it, and her tail.  During her nap, Starlis had vague dreams of
loving kats, hushed promised, lonely futures, and three large kats
with long, shiny sticks.

****************************************************

	  The box top opened.  Starlis jumped and hissed, clawing madly
into the blinding light.
	  "Argh!" a tom-kat cursed, dropping the box, and spilling
Starlis out onto hard, rough ground.  The cat food flew everywhere and
the blanket fell on top of her as she struggled to run.  As her sight
came back, and her senses began to function, she caught sight of the
tom-kat from the other day walking hurriedly towards a strange shiny
animal.  He called back as he got in the animal.
	  "I don't care what happens, just you be careful, it's a wild
animal."  Starlis looked behind her.  A wrinkled and crabby looking
she-kat stood over her.  She bent over and roughly picked Starlis up.
The old she-kat untangled the blanket from Starlis's legs, and carried
her into a huge, funny looking cave.  The cave entrance shut behind
them and the old she-kat put Starlis in a little cave inside the big
one.  It had a bed, some funny looking trees, and some fur that was
supposed to go over Starlis's fur.  The old she-kat put some of the
other fur on Starlis and set her on the bed.
	  "This is your new home," she wheezed, "You be a good little
kitten or auntie Belice will beat your cute little ass!" She stormed
out of the cave cursing the whole way, even after the cave entrance
closed.
	  "Not another one.  You'd think they could grow a bit faster so
they'd be useful sooner.  But no! They have to be little and helpless
and waste my time and not show anything for it but a nice little
shitty mess.  What the hell's wrong with this one anyway, never seen a
funnier looking one in my life, even the retard ones look nicer..."
Her wretched, grating voice finally faded.  Starlis looked around.
She then realized that she wasn't in a cave because the walls looked
like wood, and she could see through a hole, which were rare in caves.
She must be in a hollowed out tree.  Yes, that's it.  With that
settled, she looked for some food.  A dead cockroach next to the hole
in the wall looked appetizing.  She scooted over and picked it up.
	  'Hmmm, a little dead too long,' she concluded, after chewing
it up a bit.  She swallowed anyway.  'A little dead too long' food
was better than none.

****************************************************

Chapter One; A New Beginning: 1992

	  "You make me proud.  You get a job in the government and get
our place in life back. You survive...survive...don't you die on me..."
	  "Nikki!!" Belice screamed through the hallway, "Nikki! Get out
of that bed and get your lazy ass in here now! How the hell is
breakfast going to get done if just sits in the cupboards and grows
dust!" Nikki jumped, the hellish voice bringing her back to reality.
She rolled her eyes as she pulled her ragged pants on.
	  "You could make it yourself, you old bat," she cursed Belice
to herself.  She glanced at an old beaten clock.
	  'It's 5:42 AM, and the bitch wants breakfast.  I suppose
that'll be poached eggs, ham, and bagels with honey for your royal
hine-ass, and mushy shit for your loyal servants who deserve more than
you,' Nikki walked unhurried down the hall to the kitchen, her
unspoken thoughts floating carelessly through her conscious mind.
Other kittens made their way more speedily, in case Belice decided to
vent her rage on them.  Enough kittens were making breakfast so Belice
decided to go around and make an odd little snot do a useless chore
till a good one could be found.  She saw Nikki watching an older
kitten stir oatmeal in a pot.
	  "Nikki!" Belice hollered, even though she was smiling inside.
She hated that smart mouthed she-kitten from the start.  Her funny
looks caused her to despise her more.
	  "What do you think you are doing?" she scolded, "You do
something useful!" Belice thought of a perfect way to bother her, "You
go get a job so we can have more money for food and clothes! Don't you
look at me like that! Go out there and get a job!  Just lie and
they'll let you work. No go on!" Nikki didn't feel like arguing.  She
obediently walked out the Orphanage doors and down the walk.  She
decided to head left down Wayview Lane, where a little store was
located.  Maybe they would hire a poor orphan she-kitten.  Most
likely not.

****************************************************

	  The store clerk saw the she-kitten coming and quickly pushed
over a small sign on the desk.  He could tell that she was from the
orphanage down the street, 'they should bulldoze that place', he
thought. She was wearing ragged and stained jeans that were much too
big for her, and a large, baggy, moth-eaten sweater, which too, almost
swallowed her whole.  She was a dirty greyish-brownish color, and her
long, matted hair was a dusty charcoal color.  She wore no shoes, her
feet looked too long for that anyway, and she walked on the balls of
her feet, up so high she was almost doing point (ballet).  Her tiny
little paws were scared with labor, and her fingers were long and
skinny.  Her tail topped off her strange appearance nicely. It was so
long that she had to carry it in the same fashion as a squirrel
carries his tail when he's sitting down, curled over her head as if to
use it for shade.  The little she-kat walked slowly into the store.
She approached the clerk at the desk and gave him her best set of
puppy eyes.
	  "How may I help you," the clerk said, more demanding than
questioning.
	  "I need to get a job.  Belice told me that if I didn't get a
job today, she'd beat me."  Nikki was half lying.  Belice never said
anything about a beating, but she probably would bring one up if Nikki
came home without a job.  The clerk said nothing for a good while, he
just stared down at Nikki, his curiosity getting the better of him.
	  "And you are how old?" he finally asked.  Nikki swallowed hard.
	  'Great, am I eight, or am I eighteen,' she questioned herself.
She looked up at the clerk, who by now was looking impatient.
	  "I'm, I'm, eight, sir," she whispered.  The clerk nodded.
	  "Well, I'm sorry.  We're not looking for work right now, and
if we were, you would need a job license, an education, and be
sixteen or older.  Thank you for stopping by anyway," he gave Nikki a
sleazy smile.  Nikki walked out of the store, heart-broken.
	  'Well, that place isn't the only store, or only place to get
a job around here.  I'll just try again, and again, if necessary,' she
encouraged herself, and it helped.  Nikki caught sight of a row of
stores and ran across the busy street.  The clerk watched her go.  He
waited till she was out of sight across the street and down the
sidewalk till he lifted the sign back up.  He scooted it around till
it was in the right position on the counter.  The sign said, in big
bold letters 'Help Wanted'.
	  The clerk sniggered to himself, 'What a joke.  An ugly
little orphan trying to get a job in my nice clean store.'

****************************************************

	  The whole day went by without a single bit of luck to show for
it.  It was beginning to get dark, so Nikki headed back towards
Wayview Lane.  The only thing she had to show for her hard day, was 75
cents that she had found on sidewalks, in gutters, and on streets.
It was an assorted pawful of money, with two quarters, one dime, two
nickels, and five pennies.  Nikki began to have fun with the money in
her paws.
	  'Hmmm, two quarters, two's an even number.  One dime, ten's an
even number, and one is the mother of all numbers, it's the beginning.
Five is a logical middle, it's the middle of all multiples of ten.
Like ten, middle is 15, 20, middle is 25, 100, middle is 150, or it
could be 105, because it has one, and the one's middle is five because
it's the beginning of the first set of ten.  This looks almost like a
pay you'd get in a store.  Very logical and all that stuff.' Then it
hit her.  She could lie to Belice, and say that she did get a job.
The 75 cents she held in her paws would be her first pay.  All she had
to worry about was finding enough money to show as pay and giving an
excuse when she couldn't find any.
	  'Today's the best day of my life!' she sniggered.

****************************************************

	  She got back to the orphanage at 9:00.  Belice was a little
mad when Nikki got in, because she was late.  She couldn't wait to
hear the pitiful excuse to cover the reason Nikki couldn't get a job.
	  "Well, how'd it go!" she demanded.
	  "Wonderful!" Nikki answered in an excited whisper.  Belice was
confused.
	  "Did you get a job?" she asked, more quietly.  Nikki nodded
happily.
	  "Oh yes, and I got it early in the day, so they let me work
some.  I got my first pay today, too."  By now the little corridor
leading to the entrance was jam packed with kittens, wanting to see
the action, and hear about Nikki's new job.
	  "So what do you do then!" Belice pushed on.
	  "I work at a little convince store, a while away, and I get to
put the supplies on the shelves, and put the little price stickers on
the merchandise," Nikki heard gasps of wonder from the crowd, but
continued, "But someone more experienced works there too, and he's
faster than me.  We get paid for how much we can do.  Today I did 75
items, so I got paid 75 cents."  Gasps went up in full again. Nikki
held out her paws full with the precious coins.  Belice quickly
snatched them away.
	  "Well, good job Nikki.  But I want to see more money!  Get
more than 75 cents tomorrow!" Belice waited for the response.
	  "But sometimes they don't get any new supplies in.  So there's
nothing for me to do, or get paid for," Nikki was calm and persuasive.
Belice thought it over, then got a mean streak.
	  "That's no excuse for laziness!" and she stormed off.
	  'Laziness? That makes no sense at all.  What does that have to
do with 'no supplies'? Oh well, off to bed.'  Nikki walked down the
hall towards her room.  She opened the door, shut it behind her, and
pulled her bed covers back.  A spider greeted her at her pillow.  It
dashed, frightened, in the wrong direction.  Nikki, luckily for it,
was a smart kitten, and knew better the laws of big and small in the
wild.  She laid her paw down in front of the tiny creature.  With her
other paw, she led it onto her out stretched one.  She put it on the
window seal above her bed.  She then stripped down, and climbed onto
the covers.  She reached for the small lamp on her bed-side table and
turned it off.  Darkness enveloped the room, but Nikki's eyes adjusted
quickly to the dark.  She looked around the room, her head still on
the pillow.  The ancient, dusty room, seemed to be alive with
movement.  The little spider and Nikki weren't the only life forms
sharing the room.  The floor teemed with cockroaches, and the leaky
window let in moths, flies and mosquitoes.  Nikki was used to it, and
knew that none of them could, or would hurt her.  She didn't know why,
but when the kittens would play outside, and Nikki would play along
with them, the others were covered in bug bites, but Nikki had none.
It was like every bug, every life form respected her, except for those
who were above her.  And almost everyone else was above her in her
eyes.  She was ugly, and useless in her eyes and theirs.  But this
didn't discourage her from living.  She would fulfil her dream
someday, she would get a good job, in the government, and find her
real family.  She knew she was an orphan, what's more, she knew that
she wasn't always like that.  She had a family somewhere, all she had
to do was look, hard.  With her future floating in her little mind,
Nikki drifted off to join it in a restful sleep.

****************************************************

	  The next few days were basically the same.  She would go out
and wander the streets, picking up change along the way.  Eventually,
she developed a method to steal some if she was having trouble finding
some herself.  She would bump into people and quickly tear a small
hole with her claws in their jeans where the change pockets were.
She would apologize greatly, and then the person would walk away, with
change leaking out onto the sidewalk.  When the person rounded the
corner, Nikki would collect her winnings, (which reached almost two
dollars at one time) and wander some more till it got dark and she
had to go home.
	  Everything was perfect for her.  So long as the cash flow
remained, Nikki had a home. But the next week, there was no change on
the streets, and everyone she 'bumped' into had no change either.  It
was like some other force had sucked it all up before she could get
the little she needed.  Had she been older, and more able to keep
from panicking, she would have noticed all of the large jars filled
with change in store windows, and the small message that went with
them.
	  "Give change to help build a new home for justice, Enforcer
Headquarters."
	  The first few days it happened, Nikki was saved by her excuse
that there were no new supplies.  But the third day was hopeless.  She
walked towards the orphanage, and then it hit her.
	  'Why even go back there?  If you do, you'll get beaten, then
thrown out.  Why not just never return?  That would work just fine.'
With that matter setteled, she turned around, and looked for a place
to sleep for the night.  She found an empty alley a few blocks down
the street and sheltered behind a stack of bricks, infested with
spiders and beetles.
	  'What fortune!' she realized, 'A brick house for me to sleep
in, and my own little pets to guard it for me.'  Once again her
conscious mind floated off to join her dreams, and Nikki fell asleep.

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Chapter Two; To Achieve Your Dreams
Nikkitrina Feral

1995
****************************************************

	  For three years, Nikki planned for her move into civilized
life.  She formulated night and day, going to public libraries to read
up on encyclopedias.   When she finished them, she read things that
interested her, or things she needed to read in order to successfully
operate her plan.  She read about computers, hospitals, law
enforcement, colleges, schools, and most of all, dictionaries.  She
knew as much as a college grad, even more, when the third year rolled
around.  That was exactly how she planned it.  During her time on the
streets, she got chances to clean herself off, and discovered that she
was actually pure white, with shiny jet-black hair.  She was also
maturing.  Hints of gold started appearing on her paws, her chest and
down her long tail. When she turned eleven, her gold coloration was
complete.  She had stripes on her chest, her tail and her arms; and her
paws, ears and tear marks were gold.  She also became less lanky, and
more filled out.  Anyone from the orphanage would never be able to
guess it was her.  She also came up with a new name for herself.
Nikkitrina, a spin off on Nikki.

	  With her ID changed in her mind, she had to change it for real.
She had no time for school, so she decided to pretend that she had
gone to school.  She was too young for a job, so she pretended she was
26.  She had no Degrees or Majors, so she made some fake ones.

	  She became an expert at secrecy.  She could sneak in and out of
any building with ease, and use whatever was in that building for her
own purposes.  For example, she found a printing shop.  They printed
Majors and Degrees for the three local colleges, (which just happened
to be the ones Nikki 'went' to), so she booted up the computers after
dark, and made her own.

	  Now she was ready.  The final strike was all she required.  She
had to get into a small hospital, and make herself a birth
certificate, and personal information.  She had the perfect hospital in
her sights.  It was a small, locally owned hole in the wall that
operated only 18 hours a day.  Its expertise was kitten birth,
therefore it had a link into the files Nikki needed to get to.  They no
doubt had it under a password, but cameras were a stretch.  It was too
small to have something like that, and it even had to 'rent' enforcers
as guards, because it couldn't afford to hire one itself.  When Nikki
went in through the air ducts to survey the situation one night, she
found that she was correct.  No cameras, and one guard, who made one
hour rounds.  Nikki decided to stay and carry out her operation the
following day and night.  She curled up in the duct, and waited till
morning.

****************************************************
	  Morning came loud and angry.  A new born kitten screamed and
wailed, its high pitched voice echoing through the building.
	  'This is it,' Nikki thought excitedly, 'Now all I have to do is
watch and try and figure out what the password is.'  A nurse came in
and sat at the computer.  She quickly typed in six keys, which made a
squeaky sound when she hit them.  Nikki watched as she made a new file
for the certificate, and printed it out for the parents.  When she left
and closed the door behind her, Nikki jumped down, out of the duct, to
find the squeaky keys.  She tested a letter, dull thud sound.  She
tried a number on the pad, dull thud.  She tried a number on the strip
above the letters, squeak.  Nikki smiled.
	  'Six numbers or symbols, now, which ones?' she made a mental
note.  She crawled back into the duct at an angle so she could see the
keyboard.  Just in time, another nurse came in as Nikki was getting
comfortable.  Nikki watched her sit at the computer.  The first thing
she typed was  two.  No shift, so it was the number two.  After a few
more nurses came in, Nikki saw the next number was five, then eleven,
which was two numbers.  Nikki thought it over for a second.
	  '2,5,11...Of course! Every other prime!  How stupid, I could
have come up with that myself without all this silly spying.  251117.
That's the code.'

****************************************************

	  Finally the hospital closed and the guard went around and
locked all of the doors.  Nikki jumped down from the duct.  She had one
hour to get it all done.  She booted up the computer and made a new
file.
	  'Name: Nikkitrina, Current Age: 26, Birthdate: 2/17/69,Weight:
1 lb 8oz' Nikki went on changing all of her past. She finished with 20
minutes to spare.  She left the Hospital through the vent ducts and
headed towards a clothing store.  She needed something nice to wear for
her interview tomorrow.

****************************************************

	  "Hello?" Commander Feral's voice buzzed through the phone.
Nikki listened, and could tell he was not in a good mood.  She was
standing decked in her new finery at a phone booth not far from the old
Enforcer Building, the phone to her ear.
	  "Hello, Commander Feral?" Nikki asked, even though she knew it
was him.
	  "Yes, what do you want?" his voice giving hint to his dwindling
patience.
	  "You know of me I'm sure, I'm Nikkitrina.  Enforcer Academy's
Highest Honor Graduating Student.  Then again, you might not know of
me, I tend to keep to myself," Nikki calmly laid it on thick.
	  "Go on, what do you want," a slightly more interested Feral
insisted.
	  "I heard that you have an opening in the MechSquad.  I was
wondering if I could apply for that job?"
	  "Commander of the MechSquad? You want to be a Commander?"
	  "Yes, that is what I said."
	  "You're going to have to talk to some of my superiors too."
	  "I know, but I was told that I had to talk to you first."
	  "Fine, what time is good for you?"
	  "Any time today.  I'm busy the rest of the week."
	  "Lunch, at Merimals. Is one ok?"
	  "That's just perfect Commander.  See you at one."  The phone
clicked.  Nikki smiled a smile of pure triumph and put the phone back
on the hook.  Nothing could spoil her mood now.
	  "Off to Merimals to meet my destiny!" Nikki skipped down the
street at the fastest pace her new high heels would allow.

****************************************************

	  Nikki sat at her table in Merimals, anxiously watching the
clock on the other side of the restaurant.  At one o' clock, she began
to watch the door.  Finally, a TALL tom-kat in a grey coat with the
enforcer emblim on the shoulder walked in the door way, a tall dark
haired female enforcer following him.
	  'That has got to be the Commander,' Nikki thought.  She waved
at him and stood up.  The Commander spotted her and walked over.
	  "I suppose you are Nikkitrina," he held his paw out.  He
looked her over quickly, taking in her slightly strange appearance,
and tight black dress.
	  "And you are Commander Feral, nice to meet you," Nikki
responded, taking his huge paw and giving it one firm shake, "Who's
this?" Nikki pointed to the tall she-kat.
	  "I'm Lieutenant Felina Feral," Felina met eyes with Nikki.
	  "Felina is my niece," Commander Feral added as he took his
seat.  Nikki followed suit, and not long after, a waiter introduced
himself.  After they ordered, Feral started the conversation.
	  "What do you have in your folder there," he pointed to a
green folder on the floor, "Your Majors I hope."
	  "Yes sir I have them with me," Nikki leaned over and picked
the folder up, and handed it across the table to the Commander.  He
opened it up and scanned it quickly.
	  "Impressive, Nikkitrina," he complemented her, but he noticed
something strange, "None of these have a last name for you on them,
and you never mentioned one.  Why not?"
	  "I'm an orphan, technically.  I did have a home, but I'm
selling it now that I'm going to be an Enforcer.  It's just no one
adopted me.  My parents did leave me a good bit of money, although I
preferred not to keep the name.  I simply forget it now, and that's
how I planned it."
	  The food arrived, and silence prevailed as the three ate.
After they finished, Feral handed Nikki an address on a sheet of paper.
	  "This is where you go to sign up for the tests.  To become a
MechCommander, you have to compete against every other kat on the
squad.  Keep in mind that you are starting late and more than half of
the squad will easily be able to beat you.  The simulators at Enforcer
Academy are nothing like the real thing, so you can basically drop
everything you learned up to this point."
	  Nikki nodded and took the paper.
	  "Oh, and whatever was on your schedule for the next three
months will have to be dropped.  You need to start tomorrow, it's the
last day for sign up."
	  "That's OK, there's nothing going on.  My time being full was
just an excuse, I didn't feel like waiting any longer."
	  Feral smiled as Nikki left.  He was beginning to like her
already.
	  "Felina, the penthouse apartment has three bedrooms right?" he
asked his niece.
	  "No, it has four," she responded.
	  "Even better.  I want you to offer her to stay with you
there."
	  "That's fine with me."  Felina had a few questions for Nikki
anyway.

****************************************************

	  "Hey Nikkitrina!" Felina hollered down the street at the
departing she-kat.  Nikki stopped and turned around.  Felina caught up
with her.
	  "You going back to that house your selling?" she asked.
	  "No, I was going to this address," she pointed to the sheet
the Commander had given her.
	  "Well it's not open today.  I have to go there tomorrow for
the tests, we can go together.  If you go get everything you need,
you can move in with me.  I live in the penthouse on top of the old
Enforcer Quarters building, it used to be Enforcer Headquarters.  It
used to be my Uncle's, but he gave it to me when he moved into the
new HQ," Felina explained, pointing to the skyline and a large
building with a runway sticking out of its side.  Next door was a
smaller building with a helicopter pad.
	  "We got jets so we needed a runway," Felina smiled as Nikki
surveyed the two buildings, nodding.
	  "Ok, I'll meet you at the steps in one hour, I have very
little material possessions," Nikki turned away and began to walk
down the street again.

****************************************************

	  Behind her stack of bricks, Nikki packed up her meager pile
of clothes, and her even smaller stack of books.  With it all tied
into a nice bundle and placed in a small duffel bag, Nikki got to her
feet and said good bye to the place which had been her home for the
past three years.  She was finally moving on, but it was still hard
to say good bye.

****************************************************

	  Felina waited patiently on the steps of the Enforcer Quarters
Building.  Finally, just as Nikki had said, she appeared one hour
later.  Together they walked through the lobby and towards the
elevator.  Kats stopped what they were doing and watched the strange
little she-kat trot behind the larger one.  When the pair entered the
elevator, the lobby returned to normal.  When the elevator car finally
stopped, and the doors opened, Nikki and Felina stepped into a small
hallway with two doors.  Felina pointed at the far doors.
	  "That's the stairs.  They have a lock, and only I have the key.
We could also prevent the elevator from coming up here with that
switch," Felina pointed back at the elevator and a small switch next
to it, under lock, "Only I have the key for that too."  Felina began
to walk to the other door.
	  "And this is out home," she took out a bundle of keys, selected
one, and put it in the key slot.  The lock clicked when she turned it
and a slot opened.  She took out a card from another pocket, and
placed the keys back.  She then swiped the card through the slot and
the door opened.  They walked in, and Felina closed the door.  It
clicked, automatically locking.
	  "You can stick your stuff there for now," Felina pointed to a
small chair, "Now let's go on a small tour." Felina led Nikki around
the right half apartment, flipping on lights as she went.  The whole
mood of things seemed to have a sense of homeliness to it, and Nikki
finally felt like she belonged. They eventually got back to the place
they started at, and Felina led Nikki down the hall to the immediate
left.  Even without the added hall, the apartment was the size of a
middle class home.
	  "Now the first thing you'll see here is the computer room
slash guest room to your right," Felina did a Vanna White impression
in front of the door, "No, your not sleeping here, this is where we
play on the computer.  And the next stop is one of the bathrooms, to
your left.  Opposite it, in the corner here," Felina pointed once
more, "is where you will be sleeping.  The next room on the right is
another guestroom, and at the end of the hall is my room. Any
questions?" Nikki shook her head and set to exploring her new home by
herself.
	  "I have to go on afternoon duty at three o'clock.  I'll be
back by nine.  Make yourself comfortable, eat, sleep, take a shower,
you know.  Bye." Felina waved as she snatched up her equipment and
swept out of the door.  Nikki waved absent-mindedly back and continued
her inspection of her room.  By eight, she was satisfied with the
arrangement, and got dressed for bed.

****************************************************

	  When Felina got home, the first thing she did, was check on
Nikki.  Like she suspected, she found her in bed.
	  "Well, little girl, you have some explaining to do, and so do
I.  I'll let you sleep though.  You can explain on the way to the Mech
Registration building."  Felina left the room silently and cracked the
door.  She walked to her own room and setteled in for bed.

****************************************************
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Chapter Three; Mech-in' It
Nikkitrina Feral

The next day.
****************************************************

	  "Hey, Nikki," Felina whispered.  The silent bundle in the bed
remained unmoving.  Felina evilly wound an alarm clock, and pulled out
the alarm button.  Felina tiptoed over to the bed and put the alarm
clock, ready to ring at any moment, right next to Nikki's ear. Just as
planned, the alarm went off, and a screaming Nikki jumped for the
ceiling, landing back on the bed at just the right spot to roll off of
it, and onto the floor.  Felina never laughed so much in her life.
	  "Come on, you have fifteen minuets to get ready, or you'll be
late," Felina tossed a bundle at the bed, "I got a uniform for you to
wear, I hope it fits. I got it cut at my proportions, just much
smaller."  Nikki, still dazed, got off of the floor and flopped on to
the bed.  She grunted in response.  Felina, satisfied her point had
been taken, walked off to the kitchen to get breakfast.  Nikki quickly
pulled the baggy uniform on over her boxers and tank top.
	  'What, no gun?' she asked herself jokingly. The uniform
basically fit, it was just a bit long in the legs, and shoulders.
	  'Oh well, it's just temporary,' she reasoned as she slowly
made her way to the kitchen.
	  "Do I need shoes?" she asked Felina when she entered the room.
	  "Why?" Felina looked up from her coffee.
	  "The ones you gave me were too short," to emphasize, Nikki
lifted up an elongated foot for Felina to see.
	  "Nah, I guess you don't need any right now.  We'll worry
about that later."  Nikki nodded and sat on the floor in front of
the cereal cabinet.  She pulled out a box of Cheerios and began
munching.
	  "Coffee?" Felina offered.
	  "No thanks, never drink the stuff," Nikki waved a paw.  Felina
gave her a funny look and put the pot back down after filling her own
mug, again.
	  "Well, better get going.  There's some stuff I need to ask you
on the way, and some stuff I need to tell you.  We're taking a taxi,
we'll have our privacy."  Nikki stopped chewing long enough to nod,
then swallow.
	  "Kay, let's go then," Nikki agreed, and put the box away.
	  Nikki watched Felina unlock the door, and they followed the
same path as the other day.  Amazingly, no one stopped and looked at
Nikki as she crossed the lobby.
	  'I guess I kinda blend in with the uniform,' she thought,
though it seemed a little silly.  They headed down the front steps and
Felina called a cab.  One of the yellow cars stopped in no time, and
Nikki and Felina climbed in.
	  "Where to?" the cabby asked.
	  "MechSquad Headquarters, Desert Drive," Felina ordered.
	  "It'll cost ya," the cabby warned.
	  "I brought a hundred, will that cover it?" she retorted.
	  The cabby snorted in approval, and the taxi pulled away from
the curb.

****************************************************

	  After five minuets, the cabby closed off the back seats from
the front and Felina began her questions.
	  "Are you really 26, or are you eleven, almost twelve, or
something like that."
	  Nikki, startled that someone might know of her lie, quickly
responded, "Don't be ridiculous, I'm 26."
	  "But look at you, I know these things, you have to be a
Maylana!" Felina demanded.
	  "A what?"
	  "Not just a Maylana, but a Starlis Mageto.  You are!  You
look just like one!  The gold stripes, the long tail, the long feet,
your size, and your weight, they point right at it!"
	  "Hold on! Just explain how the hell you reasoned all this
shit!" Nikki yelled.
	  Felina took a deep breath, "I can summarize your past,
Nikki.  Your parents were killed, you became on orphan, you lived on
the streets or in a shelter.  You are smart, so you eventually came up
with this," she waved a paw in a circle around her, indicating the
city, "You found out a way to trick anyone you needed to in order to
get a job where you wanted.  Your real name isn't Nikkitrina, it's
Starlis.  You are not 26, you're eleven.  You are not strange at all,
you were supposed to look like this.  Maylanas are masters at genetic
engineering.  They know just how to manipulate genes to get what they
want out of a kitten.  I don't even understand the whole of it, but
your mom was also your sister through your dad.  Your dad and your
mom's mom weren't even related.  Some how the Maylana gene pool is
diverse enough to achieve this, but specific recessive genes caused
the mutations in you.  You were, well, are made of nothing but
recessive genes.  Our ancestors, before Maylanas even came to earth,
came up with this chain.  I'm surprised that all this inbreeding
hasn't been the downfall of our species, but its main strength, which
is why Maylanas are the Supreme Species, and you, Nikki, Starlis, are
the Supreme Being." Felina paused to take a breath, and would have
gone on, had she not seen the look in Nikki's eyes.  She knew now,
she remembered now.  Felina put her paw on Nikki's shoulder.  Nikki
smiled.
	  "I remember everything.  I understand. I think we're here,"
Nikki pointed out of the window.  A huge machine, running across a
field to their right, kicking up dirt in its path caught Nikki's
attention.  It was huge.  It must have been 30 feet high, at least,
with massive weapons adorning its shoulders and arms.
	  "That's a Kodiak, only instructors from the government can
use those during tests like this.  You'll most likely be in a
Timberwolf, it's smaller, but faster," Felina explained.  Nikki just
nodded still amazed.
	  "That'll be 96 dollars and 50 cents," the cabby reminded
Felina.
	  She handed him the hundred, "Keep the change."

****************************************************

	  Instead of heading into the main entrance to the building,
Felina led Nikki around the back.  They came to a small desk with a
plastic three ring binder on it.  Behind the desk was a grey tom-kat.
	  "Hullo there Felina," the tom-kat greeted them, "Who's your
little friend?"
	  "This is Nikkitrina.  She's shooting for the Commander's
chair," Felina introduced Nikki.
	  "Gimmie your full name, and I'll sign you up," he explained.
	  "Nikkitrina," Nikki said, "N, I, K, K, I, T, R, I, N, A."
There was a long pause.
	  "Last name too dearie," the tom-kat reminded.
	  "I don't have one," Nikki told him.
	  He nodded, but asked anyway, "Why not?"
	  "I'm an orphan, technically."  He left it at that and pointed
towards the MechHanger.  Felina and Nikki walked over and got assigned
their Mechs.  One of the engineers explained the controls to Nikki
when she finished fastening herself in.
	  "The stick effects your movement.  Side to side turns you, up
and down moves just the torso, so you can get better views.  Flip the
switch and the stick slides along the rail. That turns the torso left
and right.  Just so you know, the seat moves with it, and just a
little will do to turn you a lot.  The blue buttons effect your speed.
The percents start with zero, or stop.  It goes up by tens.  Fire
main weapon, like lasers, or machine guns is the little red button on
the stick.  Rockets and  other stuff is the big red button under the
speed toggle.  The rest is self explanatory, you can also give the
computer manual orders, which is best during a group fight.  Like if
you order the computer to 'fan out' the Mechs in your group will
scatter in a fan shape around the enemy.  Good luck, scream if you get
killed, but we'd much rather you use the ejection lever." The engineer
jumped down onto the ladder and the hatch to the cockpit closed.  Nikki
heard the ladder pull away from the Mech.
	  'Great, how do I turn it on? Oh, that would work,' Nikki
spotted a big green panel with a start-up button and instructions.
She read them over.
	  Suddenly, the radio crackled, "All ready? Good, start-up and
meet at Nav Alpha for warm ups.  For you green horns out there, that's
the little green button."
	  Nikki pushed the button and switched on and off whatever the
instructions told her to.  Not long after she heard the computer voice
chime, "Reactor online, Sensors online, Weapons online, all systems
nominal." Nikki pressed the 'Select Nav Point' button and selected
Nav Alpha, which was listed at the bottom left side of the HUD
display.  It took her just a few minuets to reach it, and she stopped
her Mech when she heard the Computer. "Nav Alpha reached." The rest
of the group reached the spot about the same time and the instructor
gave out orders.
	  "Travel your assigned Nav Sequence, destroying any enemies you
find along the way.  Remember, every time you stop at a repair station
costs you time and points.  Do not engage with friendly Mechs, and do
not help them.  You'll get to kill each other later.  Now get going,
you have thirty minutes to reach Nav Omega.  No bonus points for
getting there first, but you get disqualified if you are late, so
watch your time."  The radio silenced and Nikki punched full speed on
her Mech, auto piloting to the next Nav point.

****************************************************

	  "Did you see her go?" the grey tom-kat commented to the
Commander pointing out of the window in the control tower at Nikki's
dissappearing Mech.
	  "Yes, she was out of sight while many Mechs were still cycling
through the Nav Point sequence."
	  "She'll get Commander's Chair easy if she fights as fast as she
runs."  They both began to laugh a little.
	  "I had no doubt she would grasp this easily.  She'll move up
in rank fast."
	  The grey kat snorted good-naturedly, "As fast as the water
level in a river during Monsoon season."

****************************************************

	  Nikki was almost to the Nav point, but she didn't see any
enemies yet.  500 meters to go, and still no bogies.  Finally the
computer interrupted the silence, "Enemy Power-up Detected".  The
computer repeated this two more times.
	  'Three turrets, nothing but medium lasers,' she realized, as
green bolts of light shot out of the immobile enemies.  Nikki slowly
backed her Mech out of the laser's range, and destroyed one after the
other with her large laser.  She took her time, making sure her heat
levels stayed in the green range.  In a little over a minute, the
turrets were destroyed, and Nikki moved on to the next Nav point.
	  The same thing happened for the next five stops.  The only
difference being the number of turrets rose by one each time.  On the
sixth Nav point Nikki spotted only one bogey on her radar, and the
Mech detected only one power-up.  Nikki used her zoom option and saw
another Mech patrolling the area. It was a Kodiak.
	  'That isn't right.  Only instructors are allowed in Kodiaks.
Maybe I'm just done and he's meeting me there.  The radar's just
screwed up, that's all.' Nikki reasoned, and decided to report it over
the radio band.  She put it on the open frequency, because she didn't
know the one for HQ.
	  "Headquarters, this is Nikkitrina, I'm at my last Nav Point
and have identified the enemy as a Kodiak.  So far he has not made any
attempts to attack, but I'm pretty sure he knows I'm here, he looks
like he's watching me."
	  The radio crackled, "This is the Kodiak in front of you
Nikkitrina.  I'm damaged a bit aren't I?"
	  Nikki looked at the small screen displaying the stats for the
Mech, "Yea," she responded.
	  "Well, the other 'test-ees' did that, and you are supposed to
kill me.  Not literally, but the last three Mechs to come through here
have had their pilots ejected out of them.  It's a rush really." The
radio went silent.  Nikki wasted no time and ran.  She flipped the
little switch the engineer showed her, and sharply turned her Mech's
torso to face the enemy again.  She flipped the switch back, locking
the torso at a 90-degree angle to its original position.  She ran
circles around the larger, but slower mech. It managed to hit her
very little.  The even more confusing thing she did was stop and go.
Every now and then, lasers would fly behind, and in front of her, but
almost never hit her.  At the same time, she hit the Kodiak with
everything she had.  Still watching her heat.  The last thing she
needed to do was shut down.  After five minutes, Nikki's ammo was
running low, but lasers never run out of ammo, so long as she stayed
in one piece.
	  Nikki's entire Mech was damaged in some way and every part of
it showed up yellow on the stats skeleton on the HUD.  Luckily, the
same thing was true to the Kodiak. Suddenly, Nikki got a burst of
inspiration.
	  'Go for the legs, if he looses one, he'll fall over flat on
his face.'  She lowered the scope till it was even with the Kodiak's
left leg.  She opened fire.  The leg turned red on the display, and
when the smoke cleared, Nikki could see the hole she made in the leg,
and the charred wires inside.  Nikki fired a single medium laser, and
the entire Mech began to light up red.  The left leg bent, and buckled
and the Mech went down.
	  "Can you get out of there?" she asked the radio.
	  "Working on it!" the radio crackled.  The canopy popped open
and the ejector seat flew out, with the MechInstructor in it.  Nikki
headed for the final Nav Point, with ten minutes to spare.

****************************************************

	  Nikki got back later than everyone else.  Most of them passed
up the last Nav point, and got their score cut up a bit.  Nikki went
to the little desk where she met the grey tom-kat, and picked up her
score.  They listed the competitors in order of score.  Nikki was
second.  The name above hers was Kris Faska.  He got 20 points more
than her, because he destroyed the turrets faster, and actually engaged
the Kodiak.  He didn't kill the Kodiak though, but it didn't loose him
points, it just didn't give him any more. Nikki scanned the list again.

NAME --- POINTS --- POINTS MISSED
Faska, Kris --- 3453456 --- 46544
Nikkitrina --- 3453436 --- 46564
Feral, Felina --- 3453398 --- 46602
Crathe, Stacey --- 3443320 --- 56680
Crat, Mathew --- 3441328 --- 58672
Stevinson, Eric --- 3421890 ---78110
Macke, Michelle --- 2439190 ---1060810
Steele, David --- -456 --- 3500456*

Total Possible Points: 3500000
* - still on course

	  Nikki looked at the time.
	  'If this Steele guy is going to stay on the team, he has to
make it back in 5 min.' Just as she was thinking this, a horribly
damaged Mech came into view.  It was going extremely slow and had both
of its arms blown off at the seams.  Commander Feral, whom Nikki just
noticed surveying the scene from the corner, walked up to the Mech to
join its pilot on the ladder.  Nikki watched who she thought must be
Steele half crawl, half stumble out of his smoldering Mech.  Feral,
not so gently helped him to his feet, then promptly threw him down the
ladder.  Steele grappled for the railing but still ended up landing in
a heap, snorting dusty dirt out of his nose.
	  "Steele! What the hell happened!" the Commander thundered.
	  "I'm s-sorry sir," the weasely tom-kat sniveled, "My Mech ran
into some, uh, technical difficulties," he stopped when he realized
that he had already used that excuse too many times before.
	  "That's not going to work this time.  You have one more chance
to prove to me you might be some worth to the Squad, as a decoy if
nothing else.  Did turrets do this to your Mech, by the way?" Feral
hissed down his throat.
	  Steele scrambled, "Well, uh, no, of course not sir," then he
spotted a funny little she-kat watching with delight from a distance.
He pointed at her, "She attacked my Mech when my guidance systems went
crazy and I got off course and I must have stumbled upon one of her
Nav Points."  He smiled inwardly, that had to work. Nikki pointed at
herself and mouthed 'me?', looking behind herself afterwards.
	  "Steele, she's a newbie.  We always keep newbies under watch
on their first mission.  The only Mech she came close to was the
Kodiak at Nav Sigma."  Steele swallowed hard.
	  "It must have been someone else?" he tried.
	  "Get out of my sight," the Commander hissed again.  Steele ran
off towards the main building.  Nikki snapped at him when he ran by.
He gave her a frightened stare, and Nikki showed her fangs, sending
him running again.

****************************************************

	  "Your next mission is to kill as many of your opponents as
possible in ten minutes.  No playing allies, no ganging up on one
Mech.  If someone is already engaged, go after someone else.  You will
have three opponents.  You will be given points based on your hit
percentage, and theirs.  The less hits you take, the better." Nikki
listened to the radio.  She reviewed her new Mech's controls. There
were no start up instructions, so she was lucky that she remembered
them.  On the cue, she started her Mech, and scanned her radar.  The
combatants were in a square shaped field.  A few trees, even fewer
hills mostly flat dirt separated her from the enemies.  Nikki had a
plan already.  She ran out of her corner of the one-kilometer
enclosure and right in front of all three Mechs.  They all opened
fire at the same time, breaking a rule and costing them points.
Nikki sniggered as they all cursed at her over the radio.  She then
shot forward at full speed, acting like she was going to ram the
opposite Mech and one of the others followed her.  At the last second
she switched to jets, lifted off, and flew backwards all at the same
time. Cleared the enemy Mech's head, and watched the idiot behind her
ram into the other.  They began to focus on just each other, so Nikki
had to go after the other Mech, circling the fight.  He didn't notice
her chasing him because he was focusing on the other fight, sure that
the third Mech was behind the fighting Mechs, after all, that was
where he last saw her.  Nikki wasted no time and aimed for an already
yellow leg.  She toggled group fire on, and blasted the leg away.  It
crumbled under the force of the close impact and the stress of
running.  He cursed at her as explosions ran up his Mech and he was
forced to eject.  Nikki then waited for the winner of the fight.  She
sat on top of a hill, and aimed for the red leg of the least damaged
Mech.  Finally, one Mech fell, showing that Nikki had chosen the right
Mech, and he turned to look for her.  As the red leg came into view,
Nikki let loose with a volley of rockets, ripping the leg out from
under the Mech, and flipping the wounded machine on to its head.  The
pilot ejected, and Nikki heard a voice over the radio.
	  "Well, done Nikkitrina," it was the grey kat from that
morning, "You earned yourself a place at the top of the final list.
There's only four kats there, you, Kris, Felina, and Mat.  The final
trial will be in four weeks, till then, you get to try out different
Mechs on each other.  Dock at the Hangar and meet the rest of them in
the lunch room on the fifteenth floor."  The radio faded to silence
and Nikki dumbly steered her Mech towards her starting point.

****************************************************

	  The lunchroom didn't look like your average lunchroom.  It had
a richly atmosphere about it, with cushioned seats, couches, a
television with remote control and VCR in each corner, a stack of
personal CD players, a CD library, and a row of shelves filled with
books. You could see the kitchen doors, and smell the fine foods
being cooked there.  There were even menus, complete with a waitress.
Nikki walked cautiously over to a table for four where the waitress
was serving three other kats.  Only when Nikki recognized one of them
as Felina, did she dare sit down.  Felina spotted her and waved her
towards the seat across from her.  Nikki slowly sat down, eyeing the
other two kats.
	  "You sure took your sweet time getting up here," Felina told
her.
	  "I guess I took a while to suit down, that's all," Nikki said,
then buried her nose in a menu.
	  "You're a newbie aren't you," one of the tom-kats ventured.
He had dark brown fur, with black ears.  His nose was small and his
muzzle was long, all in all, giving him the appearance of a fox.
Nikki just nodded, and went back behind the menu.  He quickly plucked
the menu from her paws, folded it, and placed it in front of himself.
	  "Shy?" he asked her, grinning.  Nikki growled at him, snatched
her menu back, and buried her nose in it again.
	  "Was that a yes?" the same tom-kat pressed.  Nikki was getting
annoyed.  It's bad enough to feel like you don't belong, it's even
worse when the kats you don't belong with, keep trying to squeeze a
conversation out of you.
	  "Just leave me alone," she whispered.  The tom-kat leaned over
to her some.
	  "Kris, just leave her alone," the other tom-kat mouthed across
the table.  Kris didn't care and he went on anyway.
	  "What was that?  It's kinda hard to hear a whisper," he tugged
at the menu again.  Felina winced, she knew what was going to happen.
Nikki slammed the helpless booklet on the table, slugged Kris in the
face, knocking him out of his seat, and growled through her fangs at
him,
	  "Leave me the hell alone!"  Kris recovered easily, sat in his
chair again, and wiped the blood off of his nose.  By now Nikki had
gone off to sit by herself on a couch.  She had a set of earphones on,
with a CD player next to her.  Felina grabbed Kris by the shoulder as
he tried to rise.
	  "She'll knock your brains out next time," she warned him.
Kris waved her off and went and sat next to Nikki.
	  "He is asking for trouble!" Mat whispered loudly to Felina.
	  "And he's gonna get it too," Felina watched Nikki's expression.
	  Kris picked up the CD jewel case next to Nikki and pretended
to read.  He watched her carefully, weary of her fists.  He looked
down at the CD case for a second.
	  'Hmm, never heard of this band before,' he thought, turning
the case on the back.  When he looked back up, he met eyes with
Nikki's.  She was glaring at him.
	  "What the hell do you want!?" she demanded hitting him across
the head with the earphones.
	  "Idunno," he responded.
	  "Then leave me alone," she told him, her tone stressed with
the attempt to calm down.
	  "Don't you wanna talk or anything?" he asked.
	  "No!"
	  "Why not?  You not like kats or something?"
	  "No, it's not that.  I just want to be left alone."
	  "But ya see, that's not exactly easy for me," he told her,
smiling.
	  "Ok, I had a rough day, a hell of a lot has happened, and I
don't feel like I deserve one bit of the reward," she held up her
finger in front of his nose to emphasize 'one'.  He grabbed her
finger and pulled her paw into his.
	  "You beat that Kodiak today.  I was one of the three before
you who tried, and so were they," he thumbed towards Felina and Mat,
"That is one of the main reasons we're here now.  We were willing to
try against all odds, and with our combined, though scattered efforts,
we brought the enemy down.  Though it was more like 'you' brought the
enemy down."  Nikki smiled a little.  Kris grinned back at her.
	  "That helped a bit, thanks," Nikki whispered, then yanked her
paw away from his, and sat back at the table.  Kris followed her.
The drinks they ordered had arrived and the waitress was taking food
orders.
	  Kris was getting a hilariously evil idea, as he looked Nikki
over, 'A little bet never hurt friendly competition.'
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Some legalities:

Mech, MechWarrior, BattleMech, and all other Mech related material are
copyright 1996 Activision Inc.  All Rights
Reserved.