PotH: Revolution (NSFW)

"Nat!" The hedgefox's mother came running out, scooped the boy into her arms. "Hey, how'd you get out here? You okay?"

The echidna stepped out , gazed at the obviously human figure-she stood at least a foot over him. "I take it Shadow Squad's back in this corner of the galaxy?" he asked her.

Trip was with her in an instant, frowning. He hadn't even noticed the boy run off. He definitely sympathized with Sol and Mani when Yue had been a child.

"Mama," the child whined, "I wanted to see it!"

Yue sympathized. After all, she'd gone through the same thing as a child. "I know, sweetie, but you have to be a little more careful, okay?"

The ODST nodded. "Yep, it's been a wild ride, but we're back, and several more times better than ever, at least, that's what the old man's saying" The visor depolerized, "Akira Jackson at your service." She had that same cocky smirk that her father had. She even threw in a mock two-fingered salute.

"Akira, huh?" Cross smiled proudly. "Well, it's good to know, twenty years down the line, my integrating a working reproductive system into Katherine's new body actually worked."

Nat pouted. "Please?"

Star bounded out, purring. "Hi!" she greeted.

"Hmm... Okay. Just try to watch yourself a little better, okay?" She set the boy back down.

He grinned, getting back into the hatch. How, he wondered, did it work? She musta fallen far, too... Or she was heavy... How heavy were humans anyway?

She was still grinning, "Nice to meet the fella that serves as the sole reason why I'm here."

He nodded. "The name's Cross. My wife, Star." He indicated the hedgecat next to him. "My son, Trip, and his wife, Yue." ...Then the fox and hedgehog. "The little guy is my grandson-their son-Nat." ...Then the little hedgefox. "And there's plenty more to meet inside."

She nodded, "Good to meet you all, Dad says that we're going to be dusting off and upgrading the bases so that we can open up shop here." She grinned, "Now I can't say much, but last twenty years have been real exciting for us. We've seen so much of existence, and yet, the novelty of the fact that we've barely scratched the surface of it has yet to wear off!" She laughed, "So many worlds, so many civilizations, just...damn. Existence is fucking huge."

Nat was behind her, in the pod she'd landed in. How come it hadn't gotten hurt?

The hedgecat purred, paused just as she was going to ask a question when she saw her grandson. "Nat, what are you doing?"

He only grinned back over his shoulder. "Mama said I could."

Yue shrugged sheepishly. "I sympathize with him. And he's in our sight, so no worries."

Cross smirked. "Glad to hear you guys having so much fun. Now, where's your dad so I can give him a good smack upside the head for leaving so abruptly?"

"Old man's back home right now. Give him some slack, man. The reasons were sound, even if they are classified."

"What? He was ordered to go into space and explore?"

"Whatever was going on must've been really important, if it's classified." The echidna shrugged. "We'll let it go this time."

"Good. Sorry 'bout the yard, though it should be easier to fix than the house was twenty years ago." She chuckled.

"You got no idea, girl." A brown wolf stepped out, arms folded. "Fixin' the mess you guys left was easy, at all!"

"Let it go, Nova," Cross said, sighed.

She smirked, it was always interesting meeting new people.

A collie walked out, smiling. "It only took 'im and Sunny two weeks for the basic structure."

"Hey, when we want the only thing left of something to be a smoldering crater, we don't beat around the bush." She said with a laugh.

Aurélie laughed. "So we noticed."

"Yeah, well ya'll oughta learn how to change it back from a 'smorderin' crater!'" Nova turned his annoyed gaze on Cross. "And you oughta consider downsizin'. Next time ain't gonna be so damn cheap."

He chuckled. "I'll keep that in mind. Akira, this is Nova, our local constructor, and his wife, Aurélie."

"He's a whiny one, ain't 'e?" She glanced over at Nat, "Uhh, kid, please stay out of the HEV, you could knock something loose..."

"I'll be... Uh-oh," Nat suddenly whispered and scrambled out of the thingy.

He hid behind his father, who just sighed, watching a rocket shoot straight into the air. "Great," Trip muttered.