Sonic Forces: Squad 13

~1: Rivals~

"Here," spoke a beige-furred Tibetan sand fox with messy silver hair held back with a black head bandanna, his yellow eyes glancing back at the group of other foxes behind him. "Our employer gave us the coordinates to this old factory. Our target is in here." The fox turned around to fully face his squad. "You know our orders, Fox Squad: apprehend the target and bring him back alive. A dead thylacine is no use to anybody." Once more he turned around, before kicking the door as hard as he could to bust it open. Immediately he and his squad prepared for a fight, only to be met with a dark interior.

The squad leader gestured silently, directing a pale fox, with a white tuft of head hair and goggles upon his head, to scout ahead. The younger fox nodded and wandered inside, eyeing his surroundings before looking back at the fox in command, shrugging his shoulders to suggest that there was nothing. Just before the group could drop their guard, however, the brown thylacine in tattered brown pants, shoes and gloves suddenly tackled the pale fox to the ground.

"Dune!" yelled another small fox accompanying the group, with an orange tuft of hair as opposed to white along with smaller fox ears. His light blue eyes filled with worry.

"Darn it," cursed the group leader. "Blizzard, engage! Everyone else, surround the perimeter so that our bounty can't escape!"

The other foxes spread out, making sure that the thylacine had no way of escaping in case he decided to flee. As the foxes got into formation, the white Arctic fox swiftly made his way behind the target and immediately wrestled him to the ground, managing to pull him away from Dune with ease.

"Thorn! Crimson! Let's take this guy out together!" Blizzard called to two more foxes, one being light brown with black hair upon his head between his large ears while the other fox was red with spiked tufts of hair of the same shade, his accessories, shoes and gloves consisting of spikes. The two foxes instantly obeyed the white-furred associate as Dune stepped back to guard one of the now-empty spaces to prevent the thylacine from escaping.

Blizzard, Thorn and Crimson all worked together to physically fight the thylacine, with their opponent putting up a surprisingly good fight, though that was expected. Nobody had managed to capture this guy in the past, but Fox Squad had strength in numbers.

At some point the thylacine chose to bite Thorn in the shoulder, then grabbing Crimson and throwing him into the Bengal fox. Blizzard bared his teeth and kicked the thylacine across the face, knocking him to the ground before straddling his back. "Got him," the Arctic fox announced proudly.

River, the Tibetan sand fox and leader of the group, nodded his head with approval and stepped forward, gesturing for the others to remain where they were. As he approached Blizzard and the apprehended thylacine, however, a throwing knife zipped past his head. River immediately assumed a defensive stance, with the other foxes also looking prepared to fight as they knew what was coming.

Out of the darkness, from the higher level of the factory, a group of jackals jumped down. One of the jackals wore a red bandanna, light brown shoes and gloves and a belt of throwing knives across his chest. Another jackal wore a red hat and bandages. The third jackal wore a green cloth around his head and had a scar across his nose. A female jackal jumped down wearing a green vest and brown pants. Two more male jackals jumped down, one wielding a large knife-like sword, but River had his eyes out for the final jackal who had not yet shown himself.

Nippy, the swift fox with the tuft of orange hair, stood warily in front of a window. He was staring with wide eyes, also aware that the last jackal wasn't present, but he had completely forgotten that he was standing in front of a window. That was where the final jackal came from, swooping in and breaking the glass with his black-shod feet, taking Nippy out in the process. The other foxes all quickly turned their heads as they watched the scar-faced jackal pounce forward suddenly, his mismatched eyes locked onto River. Luckily River flipped out of the way, watching as the jackal landed in a crouching position.

"Zero," River growled, narrowing his yellow eyes as the black-furred jackal arose to his feet. "I was wondering when you and your squad would get in our way again."

"As usual, River, you forgot to cover your tracks," the jackal, Zero, responded quietly. "Rang has been a target of ours for some time. Unlike you, we didn't have the leisure of following specific coordinates, but we were lucky to discover that such an incompetent squad such as yours was tracking him down."

"It's too late," Blizzard spoke up, still holding Rang down. "We've already got him."

"We never established a rule where we couldn't steal bounty from each other's squads," Zero responded smugly, but a smile never appeared on his muzzle. "I suggest you hand him over, unless you wish to turn this factory into a fox graveyard."

"There are twelve of us and seven of you," River reminded him. "We have guns, you have blades."

"Yet we've beaten you before," Zero countered.

"Why are we just standing here talking?" asked Thorn, who now stood up with Crimson beside him. "Let's send these jackrabbits back into the burrow!"

"I can agree with your associate, River," Zero said coldly, pointing his red sword. "Let's settle this with actions, not words."

"Hmph," grunted River. "Blizzard, Sandy, Nippy, Dune. I want the four of you to keep our target guarded. Eight against seven seems like a fairer fight."

"Now that's just insulting," Zero scoffed, suddenly dashing forward with his sword ready to strike. River knew Zero would make such a swift move and quickly whipped out his gun, which looked a lot like a type of Wispon but perhaps not running on the same power. He was able to block the strike just by holding the weapon, then shooting Zero in the chest with the least fatal blast he could muster. Still, Zero was sent back into one of his fellow squad mates, prompting the female jackal to leap onto River, baring her teeth.

Thorn took out two small guns which looked much weaker than River's, shooting various pulse shots at the jackal. She flinched and hopped back, now beside Zero, but as she did that her knife-throwing companion threw three knives in Thorn's direction, with one knife catching him across his side.

Two female foxes then jumped out, one being relatively small, swift and tomboyish with the primary colour of brown (in both fur and clothing), while the other was white and feminine, wearing a black dress while her yellow-coloured hair was kept pinned behind her head. Together the foxes tackled the other the two jackals, both parties engaging in one-on-one wrestling.

Crimson chose to tackle the jackal with the green head bandanna, showing a level of aggression which his opponent wasn't quite reflecting.

"Not in the best of moods, I see," the jackal mocked, almost sounding playful.

"Not now, Striker," Crimson spat fiercely, aiming to punch his foe across the face. The jackal, Striker, ducked swiftly in order to avoid the attack.

Zero bared his sharp teeth before glaring at the female jackal beside him. "Kali, take out the Kit fox," he commanded. "Null and Blank will keep Silk and Mini occupied, and I trust Anubis and Barrett to keep the rest at bay."

"You have a plan?" Kali asked her leader, her eyes locking onto the orange Kit fox with floppy white hair. He was going to be an easy target for her.

"I always have a plan," Zero told her simply. "Now go!" Kali nodded her head once before zipping towards her target, bringing him to the ground in the blink of an eye. As she did that, River attempted to shoot her in order to protect his own squad mate, but Zero used his red sword to strike his gun from his grasp. River's yellow eyes narrowed as he cautiously began to step back.

"You never listen, you old fool," Zero hissed, raising his sword again, but before he could even bring his weapon down, he found that he was no longer even holding it, seeing that it had been shot out of his hand. The blue and yellow-eyed jackal scowled upon seeing Blizzard standing with his hands pointed in his direction, having fired lasers from his wrist gauntlets.

"Go and stand guard with the other three," the Arctic fox commanded, his blue eyes never once leaving Zero. "I'll keep Zero distracted and get your weapon back, then we can switch back."

River couldn't help but look worried for the younger fox, but nodded his head. "Don't fall for his tricks," he warned before sprinting back to the three foxes guarding Rang. Zero actually had the decency to let River leave first before continuing the fight, but before making a move he let out a quiet chuckle.

"I like your courage, child," he said in a condescending manner, "but I remembered how foolish you were the moment you explained your entire plan right before me." Blizzard glowered.

"Then I'll speak no more," he mumbled loud enough for the Jackal Squad leader to hear, firing some more laser pulses straight from his gauntlets. Zero barely even moved his head to avoid the energy bullets, then opening his arms out calmly as if challenging the white fox.

"I'm unarmed," he reminded before smirking slightly, "yet you cannot even hit me."

"Shut up!" Blizzard snapped, dashing forward and aiming another shot towards Zero's chest, only to have his wrist grabbed and aimed in another direction. At first Blizzard assumed that Zero had just pointed his hand in any random direction before he heard River let out a painful snarl. Blizzard's ears perked as he stared in shock, seeing that his own attack had wounded his leader.

Zero threw Blizzard to the floor and began walking towards the group which surrounded his thylacine target, but Blizzard was not done yet. He remembered River's gun and chose to run for it – a move predicted by Zero. The Arctic fox grabbed the gun and threw it towards River, but the weapon was instead caught by the approaching jackal. Zero turned his head slowly, grinning very slightly as he gazed upon Blizzard's face of horror.

"How predictable," Zero mocked, turning the weapon on the four foxes now at his mercy. Dune jumped up and attempted to take Zero on in physical combat, but Zero brought a knee to the pale fox's stomach to knock the air out of his system, thus easily bringing the young fox to the ground. Both Zero and River locked eyes, with River glaring painfully and Zero staring triumphantly, in what looked like a scene which may result in the end of River's life, but Zero then held his hand down, offering it to River. River's glare remained and he didn't move for a few moments before he chose to push Zero's hand aside, staggering to his feet without his aid.

"Again?" came Sandy's voice of disbelief. "I don't get it! It feels like we're letting them win every single time!"

"In a fight to the death I would be dead by now," River told the fennec. "Our other squad mates are injured or in combat, I'm disarmed and Zero has the four of us at his mercy. They've won."

"We win again?" Striker grinned from where he stood, with Crimson a few feet away from him with a deadly glare on his face. "Awesome!"

"Stop rubbing it in our faces," Crimson snarled through his teeth.

"We keep winning because we're all fighters," Zero informed River, hoisting Rang up to his feet harshly. "Your squad consists of inexperienced children, River, and many of them are not fighters at all." He gestured to Nippy, the swift fox with the orange tuft of fur upon his head and scarf around his neck, and said, "Take him, for example. He looks like he should be in a Chao garden." The Jackal Squad leader then gestured towards the light-brown Blanford's fox who stood at the mercy of Null and said, "Or Cliff. Not once have I seen him come out victorious in a fight, and by appearance alone one can easily tell that he specializes in intelligence." Zero's fact was backed up by the fact that Cliff wore an earpiece and didn't have any fighting equipment. Not even his red gloves made him appear threatening. "If your squad contained experienced fighters, then maybe you'd stand a chance."

River dusted himself off, tending to the wound on his arm caused by Blizzard's gauntlet. "So, who are you working for this time?" he asked, dismissing the lecture he had just been given. "Another group looking to sell this guy?"

"No," Zero answered, untying Rang. "We work for him."

"Indeed," spoke Barrett, the jackal wearing the red hat, as he walked closer. "Rang's a long-term client of ours. Any time he needs us, we come to his aid."

"That's awfully proud, coming from the squad responsible for holding a rich man's daughter hostage until he payed a good enough sum of money for her safe return," Thorn called out as he tended to his own knife wound. Anubis pat his back, causing the fox to grimace in pain.

"Don't talk like you foxes are anymore innocent than we are," he warned. "At least we returned that girl in one-piece." Thorn shrugged his shoulders, managing to contain a chuckle.

"We still returned our hostage alive," he defended.

"We'll be leaving now," Zero spoke up, his tail swishing from side to side slowly as he spoke. "We'll likely meet again in the near future, but by then I expect more of a challenge."

"Farewell to you, too," River grumbled sarcastically. Zero didn't look back at him again as he left the factory, with his squad following close behind with Rang also walking with them.

Blizzard sat himself up, shaking his head quickly. "Darn it all…" he cursed. "That was all my fault…"

Thorn was the one who helped Blizzard back up to his feet. "I mean, we all did kinda hear you announce your plan," he pointed out, "but we wouldn't have done much better."

"You made the correct move," River added, "but Zero was right; if you hadn't discussed your plans like that, we could have stood a chance."

"I know," Blizzard sighed irritably. "I should've just told you to fall back and continue from there. You would've seen what I was up to without me telling you."

"And Zero would have, too," River mentioned. "He's strong and experienced and he gets better every time. He can read us all like books. We should be thankful that he goes easy on us; I feel nothing but sympathy for those who have to face him as a true enemy."

"Let's just hope that he never becomes ours," Blizzard hoped quietly. It was something he did think about frequently: what would happen if one day Jackal Squad was hired to annihilate Fox Squad?

~End of Chapter~