Two months had swept by and Tarin and Silver had joined Ghost Squadron. The learning curve had been a steep one. The two had been given quarters together and they where eating breakfast. The squadron was made of twelve people of various species. The group had soon got to know each other. For the moment the squadron had no mission. Each was guessing what the mission would be. There was a betting pool and whoever got it right would collect quite few credits. Tarin looked to Silver and smiled as he colleted the plates and put them into the sonic washer.

"We might as well get changed and go to town there doesn't seem to be much going on" said Tarin as he closed the door to the sonic washer.

The com system of the base came on as he said this and Silver chuckled softly.

"Ghost and Reaper Squadron's to mission planning. Repeat Ghost and Reaper Squadron's to mission planning"

Mission planning room was circular in design with a tiered seating down to a flat area where a holoprojector sat in the middle of the room. Next to it stood General Anyo and the new commander of Ghost squadron. They waited till everyone was seated and quiet.

"Three days ago a Empire Heavy cruiser entered and crossed the Neutral zone. It then destroyed several installations on our side of the zone. We know many of you are wondering why the Star Confederation doesn't declare war. The Empire has played right into our hands. To be sure there will be substantial punishment for this act of aggression. This plan has two parts part one will be handled by Reaper Squadron. They will be going to the Empire ships yards in the Andin system. The second part is for Ghost squadron. They will be going to the Toran system. The star confederation is going to force a change of government on Toran II. The planet has two major exports that we are going to cut off, they are slaves and Borite ore. The ore is used as a gas in the coolant in the warp drives of Empire ships. We have been waiting for this for a while. Agents have been in place for the last three standard years. Ghost squadron will go in their own ship to the systems edge and there meet up with a carrier. They will then change to a cargo/passenger ship. Reaper Squadron will hit the ship yards few hours after the cargo ship is launched. Ghost and Reaper Squadrons to your ships. Launch is in thirty minutes" finished Anyo.

As the group broke up and went their sperate ways Tarin approached Anyo.

"General I thought the Star Confederation had outlawed slavery?" Tarin asked.

Anyo turned to face Tarin and smiled a little. The older male was looking tired. Perhaps Tarin thought Anyo was nearing retirement. From reading his service record Tarin believed he deserved it after all he had done more than enough.

"Slavery is outlawed within the Confederation. The Confederation starfleet is charged to end slavery where they find it. It's not just exploration Tarin, you best get to your ship" replied Anyo.

"Sir, permission to speak freely?" asked Tarin.

"Granted" answered Anyo with a smile.

"Will you be retiring after this mission?" questioned Tarin as he looked to the older male.

"Will I be retiring... no, there's nothing to go home for Tarin. My mate was in charge of the Museum of culture on Tau Varon III. That's my homeworld, she..... was well... she was killed by seditionists who took over the museum and held everyone in there as hostages. She and a group of children where released and they shot her in the back. She died in my arms. So I won't be retiring, I'll continue till either I die in my sleep on in my ship" Anyo turned as he finished speaking and walked away.

"Launch Control to Ghost Squadron, launch when ready"

"Ghost Leader to Launch Control thank you, Ghost Squadron Immediate launch"

Tarin listened and pressed the control on his instruments. The Ship blasted forwards and up and out of a launch tunnel. In space above the planet the twelve ships took up formation. The distant sun shone off the off egg white ship's hulls. Ghost Squadron used the StarCom T45 Lancer Interceptor Starfighter. Over the squadron's com came chatter as the group talked with each other. Far off some ten million miles and few degrees off the elliptic there was a sudden bright white flash.

"There goes Reaper Squadron" commented Tarin.

"Ghost Leader to Ghost Squadron can the chatter"

The ships took up their positions for entry into warp drive. The twelve ships shone as the passed through the solar winds.

"Ghost Leader to section three standby, on my mark you will have go for warp insertion. Section's One and Two standby and check you nav-comps for warp entry and exit vectors. Section Three Mark"

Silver was thinking while she checked over nav-comp, the new leader of Ghost Squadron was James Barry Hercules. He was a tall lion afraid of little and from what Silver could make out a very cool and laid back person.

The twelve ships exited warp drive as they neared the systems edge. The stars turned back to pink pricks of light from the multi-coloured rainbow effect of stars seen in warp drive. Behind Tarin section two dropped back to sub-light speed. A head section one was making for the large carrier that sat waiting for them out of sensor range. The carriers hanger deck doors opened and one by on the twelve ships where tractor beamed inside. The space doors closed and the deck stared to refill with air. After this had been completed the pilots left their ships. Nearby James Hercules was waiting next to the cargo/passenger ship.

"Lets board as quickly as possible. Further instructions will be given once we're under way" he commented as the others boarded the ship.

Boarding took far shorter than the time given. The groups took their seats and James looked around and smiled a little. The ship soon left the carrier and was in the system within a few moments.

"Alright everyone sat down I see. For the moment the mission has a few parts, already part one of the mission is nearing completion. That was to find out and locate the strength of police and military installations. Other instructions will be given to you by your handler the information on who that is, is in the foot locker at your feet. Please break the security seal now." commented James as he looked at a padd in his hand and then back to the group.

Next to Tarin and Silver sat a young rabbit morph named Amberleigh Miller. She was aged twenty three solar years old. Her father was a Rabbit and her mother a hare. The most notable things was she looked like a rabbit except for a little longer ears. The three bent over and broke the security seals on the lockers in front of them. Inside each where mostly a few changes of cloths, a large amount of gold credits. Silver found a metallic gold collar and she sat upright and looked to Tarin. Tarin gave her a questioning look and shrugged his shoulders. James came over and sat down in the spare seat.

"Alright I know what your about to ask. There are many species that are slaves, but the most common are Feline, Skunks, Equines and few of the pouched species. I'm afraid Lt. you'll have to wear the collar. Fore everything in this mission to completed you must fit in with the local population. We have four groups, each group will be owner, girlfriend, slave. This just doesn't include Ghost Squadron but others as well. The less you know about others and their identities the better for us all. That way if you are captured there's not much information you can give. If we are captured the Confederation will deny all knowledge of our group" James said as he looked to Silver.

"For the record, I don't like this one bit" replied Silver.

"So noted" answered James.

Tarin was watching Amberleigh, she was reading the I.D's and file that where in her locker. Silver sat back down and slipped the collar around her neck. The was entering the planets atmosphere the others finished changing from their duty uniforms into civilian clothing. The uniforms where stuffed into a atomizer unit. Not long afterwards they felt the ships anti-grav's come on-line . From a small viewport Silver could see they where about to land at a large spaceport.

"Well you two ready?" questioned Silver.

Amberleigh smiled and looked to Tarin.

"Seems we're married according to the background file. The files are pretty clear about that" Amber said as she passed the file to Tarin.

Tarin scanned through the file and took in the information quickly.

"Seems I sell starship parts, I've done quite well out of it. I and Amber have been married three years. Silver is a personal pleasure slave. Both Amber and Silver are Bisexual. That seems to be normal for this planet" advised Tarin.

"It seems we meet over a business transaction. I had a good business in buying and selling starship interiors. We formed the two companies into one after we married. It's called Tanyanic Parts and Interiors" replied Amber.

Tarin took the file over to the atomizer and put it in. The file turned into atoms in a bright flash of light. As it did so the ship settled onto the pad. Tarin, Silver and Amber made their way to the boarding ramp. The ramp was soon lowered to the pad.

"We're to meet our handler at the Blue Surf Tavern. He'll make his presence know to us by asking if we're been to Alton Bridge. We're to reply that we've not been there yet but the lake is supposed to excellent" commented Silver.

"I've memorised the map, we should get going" said Amber.

The trio made their way down the boarding ramp. The sun of the system was about half way to it's noon position. The space port looked like any that could be found on any of the planets in Star Confederation.

The street that contained the Blue Surf Tavern was busy with traffic. The where several different species along the main area. Not far off there was a highway for a ground vehicles. Tarin, Amber and Silver made tier way to the tavern, as tradition dictated Silver walked behind Tarin and Amber. The tavern it's self was painted a light sea blue colour. There where a few rooms upstairs and the large main bar room. The bar tender was a large fox, he was bigger than Tarin. He eyed the collar around Silver's. He came over to Tarin and coughed.

"What can I get you?" he asked.

"A ale and two light beers, please" replied Tarin.

"Alright if you'll go to a table the drinks will be brought over" commented the tender.

"Thank you" replied Tarin.

The three went over to table in the corner and sat down. After a few moments a young raccoon girl brought over on tray and set them down. Around her neck was a green collar. The collar denoted that she was a service slave and that she was not to be molested in any way. The trio sipped at their drinks while they looked around. A youngish black panther came into the tavern and looked around. He came over to Tarin and the others.

"Have you been to Alton Bridge?" asked the panther gently so only they could hear them.

"We've not been there yet but the lake is supposed to excellent" replied Tarin gently.

"Come with me, we'll have to go now. We'll be just a few moments though not to get gain attention to much. This isn't a good place to talk, we'll go elsewhere. My name is Ancell" commented the Pather.

The house that Ancell took the three to was quite a nice place. They entered the house. The main room was furnished well with two large couches and a few over stuffed armchairs. There was two book cases as well, they lined one side of the panelled room. Ancell looked around and made sure was watching from outside. He reached out to a book entitled 'The Origin of the Universe' he pulled it out slightly at the top and as he did so there was a light audible click. Part of the panelled wall slid back to reveal a set of stairs leading downwards. The four went down the stairs and they found a large room furnished room. There was a table and few chairs. Waiting for them was male skunk and female tiger. The skunks face marred by a large scar that ran down the right side of his face.

"This is Janon and Eloise, please introduce yourselves" said Ancell softly.

Tarin made the instructions to the Janon Eloise he was careful not to tell where they from. At the moment he wasn't sure who to trust but for Ancell, Silver and Amber.

"Would you mind a slightly personal question?" asked Silver.

"No I don't mind at all" replied Janon as he a drink of water from the glass in front of him.

"How did you get that scar?" asked Silver.

"I stopped my former master from beating a child slave. She escaped and he turned on me a with a energy whip. He caught me across my face and muzzle with it. I escaped the town's infirmary a few days later" explained Janon.

Janon and Eloise were part of a group called the freedom network. The network numbered in thousands it was mostly made up of slaves and a few enlightened owners. Eloise explained this to the others.

"So that's how it all works, however there some ways our so called government discourages membership of the Freedom Network. It's gotten out of hand over the last ten years. Confirmed membership of the Freedom Network is a capital offence. Only a few members of the network have been executed. Mostly it's commuted to life imprisonment at a large penal colony. So far only the leaders of the Network have been executed or that what the official line is" commented Eloise.

"I don't believe that the government has executed them at all. I think they have been imprisoned somewhere. If the leaders had been killed the government would paraded their bodies" Janon said roughly.

"So what now?" asked Amber.

There was a noise upstairs and Ancell made a gesture for silence. There was a sound of a door breaking upstairs. There was then a loud crash from something.

"We best get out of here Janon can you get our guests out of here. I'll collapse the tunnel behind us. They will search the place but won't find anything of use. I suspect my neighbour has tipped them off or a informer. I guess this safe house is finished. I was going to move soon anyway things where starting to gain attention" commented Ancell.

The others left the room and Janon lead them down a long tunnel as the passed by Silver detected a very familiar smell to her. On the tunnel walls was two bright yellow packages with a digital timer.

"That C four plastic explosive isn't it?" asked Silver.

"Yes it is, it's just to collapse the tunnel that's all. We would sooner not have government agents following us" replied Ancell as he tapped in some numbers on the two key pads.

The group had moved quite some distance when they heard a double explosion. There was the sound of falling rocks and soil. As they walked further for a few seconds the couldn't see because of the dust that shot up the tunnel.

The group exited from the tunnel into what could only be described as a underground town. Above them was what seemed to be a clear large slab of glass. Through it sunshine flooded the town and surrounding area. The entire place was well light and as they looked around Eloise chuckled softly.

"It's your first time here Ancell, only those who live here and a few carefully selected people know of it's existence" she explained.

"We're sorry about the blindfolds but we do have to be very careful as you can see. Welcome all of you to Wolfendale" Janon said with a slight smile.

"How did you do all this?" asked Silver as her eyes adjusted to the light.

"We didn't do this alone, the Villages of Wolfendale, Vixendale and Rabbit Burrows have been here for over three hundred years. Slavery has existed on this world for over three hundred and fifty years" explained Janon.

"The three villages have grown somewhat, they where built one by one and we have started building a new village. There's a population of eight thousand ex-slaves here and it's still growing. This place is very secure an before you ask take a look at the cave walls. The green stone you see is call Doramite. It has a interesting property, it blocks life sign scans, the best bit is that it's found naturally all over the planet. There so much that the government has given up trying to find us" explained Eloise.

The group made their way down the street nearby, everything was very normal. The only strange thing was that no one was wearing a collar but for Silver. She quickly removed it with a slight sigh. The house that Janon took them to was carved out of the rock and here and there large sections of Doramite shone. The house was furnished very lightly out of mostly wood and few plastic things. The house belong to Janon and the group was soon invited to sit down.

Tarin brought out his communicator and it's blue and red casing shone a little in the light. He gently tapped it and the device opened a secure line.

"Silverjay to Raven's Nest, reporting in on orders. Everything going fine, mission going to plan" he commented.

"Raven's Nest to Silverjay, report understood. Report in again in eight hours, Raven's nest out" came from the communicator.

Tarin slipped the communicator back into his clothes. Janon had slipped out the room and returned with plates of food. He carried them over to a nearby table and set them down.

"Please help yourselves, it's not much I'm afraid but we can only grow so much crops" Janon explained as he sat back down.

"So what now?" asked Amber through a mouthful of food.

"We continue our mission of course" replied Ancell.

"What is next?" questioned Silver.

"Well for now we'll stay here then make for the city of Arned. The government troops won't be looking for us there. Arned is some distance from here, we'll continue there from the reports I'm getting we are now holding nine cities. The slaves there are being freed in them all. The government has sent in troops but from what I've heard they have been beat back" Ancell replied as he finished eating.

"Is Arned one of the captured cities?" questioned Tarin.

"I'm afraid not, Arned is the local capital city. We're expecting a great deal of resistance there. There's a lot of slavers in the city and a large military presence. That's where you and Silver come in. You will disable the military machine. Amber will stay with me and we'll jam communications systems. They won't be able to send for help and it will help our forces considerably" commented Ancell.

Eloise smiled and yawned a little as she shifted in her chair.

"Six cities is a good start and we finally hold the Tigan province" said Eloise as she passed a file to Ancell.

"The Tigan province has been a goal for us and the Freedom Network for a long while. This is a very good day for us and for the peoples of Tigan province. The government will have to take us seriously now. We've show we're not just a few rag tag bunches of rebels" answered Janon.

"Alright from what you've told me and what I've just read there's only three cities left on the continent of Tavelan. If Arned falls to the Freedom Network then Deneon and Halon will follow in short order. That will mean a whole continent will be free. This is a big turning point for this world. With Tavelan in out hands there will be only four continents left to take, what do you know of them Janon?" queried Ancell.

"There's four continents left they are called Detran, Enadane, Kalen and Oganus" replied Janon.

"Anything we should know?" asked Tarin

"Not really, there is only two other major cities on the other continents. The rest are mostly towns and villages. They are spread out over a large area" answered Janon.

"Perhaps we should go to bed we do have a large distance to cover tomorrow" announced Ancell.

"Will Janon and Eloise be coming with us?" asked Amber.

"For a time but we will be checking in with the network groups in the area" replied Janon.

"We have a separate room for Tarin and Silver" announced Eloise.

"Thank you" replied Silver.

Silver and Tarin got up from their seats and made their way to the room Eloise showed them. The rooms next door to it where for Ancell and Amber. They slipped into the room and closed the door. Amber let a long yawn escape her lips and she stretched a little.

"I'm going to be myself, good night all" she commented as she made her way to her room.

The next morning found Silver, Tarin and the others getting ready. They had left the villages again blindfolded and found themselves standing next to a ground car. The car had been donated by a individual who wanted to remain unknown. The group knew it would take a while to get to Arned as it was the furthest point west on the continent. The journey there took over four hours and it was a little before noon as they arrived.

The city of Arned shone in the late morning sunshine. The large tower blocks reflected the light down into the city. There where several large domed buildings. Here and there intermixed with the buildings where large open squares, there where a few stretches of open water and park land. Most of the city outer area was building of one or two levels. The much higher apartment blocks and business district where ruled over by large skyscrapers. The ground car made it's way past a large open park. The streets where busy with people and here and there Silver could see the glint of a slave collar. The car came to a halt outside a grocery shop in a more less attractive area.

The shop was run by a female hare, her name was Isobel Graff. She was wearing a small shirt and over that was a apron. Her hair fell down one side of her face. She didn't look that unusual but for the purple hair. She was free and looked around to see Ancell as he entered the shop with the others.

"What can I get you?" asked Isobel.

"Do you have any tullberry's?" asked Ancell.

"Tullberry's they are out of season" answered Isobel.

"Oh I thought you had Tullberry's from Sikar province" commented Ancell.

"Alright, go on through. The switch is in the second oh in home. Operations will start tonight" replied Isobel.

The group passed through the shop and on into the small rooms behind where Isobel lived. She went and put up the closed sign and then followed the others. Another agent of the freedom network slipped into the ground car and took it away out of sight. Silver looked around and couldn't find anything the others did the same and Isobel watched till Amber spotted a embroidered picture saying 'home sweet home' on the far wall. She walked up to it and pressed the oh in the second home and the wall next to the picture slid back to reveal a lift. The group entered it and Tarin looked up and spotted a security camera.

"That's to make sure we don't get any unwanted visitors" explained Isobel.

When the lift came to the bottom of the shaft the doors opened onto a anti-room they passed thought it and found what looked like a small barracks. There where also several rooms attached and a radio room. The others selected beds and went to sleep soon only Tarin and Silver were awake.

"You think it's all going to work out, it's still a little risky" commented Silver.

"It's bound to work out, everything you do works out for the best Silver. It's not often we get to make history. We best get some sleep, it's going to be a long night I feel. Good sleep Silver" answered Tarin.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, for our first mission it seems to be working out fine. Good sleep Tarin" replied Silver.