Starfox Evil

Book III

Chapter One: Launch

The feline mother coughed and pushed herself upright. Feeling someone grab her arm she jerked away and pressed her back against the wall.

"Easy now. I ain't aimin' ta hurt'cha", said the human who'd let her and her daughter in.

She coughed again, "Where's my daughter?"

There was a scuffling from across the severely damaged room, followed by a quiet moan. The still naked woman scrambled thru the dark in the direction of the sound, whispering, "Melody? Where are you?"

There was a pair of snaps followed by a wet sloshing sound as a pale yellow glow filled the room. She saw her daughter crumpled in the corner, what had been a large recliner laying on top of her were it had fallen thru the floor above. Both the mother and the human moved over and heaved the chair off the teenager, who groaned after she was freed.

"Thanks mom."

The human coughed as the two embraced and tossed each of them a long coat, "Here. T'ain't much but it'll do 'til we get y'all some proper clothes", he stepped over to the small window and pulled the debris blocking it aside. When light streamed thru the hole again the three survivors shielded their eyes for a moment, "That is if their's anyplace left out there."

The woman stood up, buttoning up the trench coat as she did so, saying, "Thank you very much Sir."

The human turned and smiled, "Please. I'm William Walker. You can call me Bill."

The woman shook his hand and said, "Miranda. And this is my daughter Melody."

The teenager gave a small wave after she'd pulled the rain poncho on. Bill nodded to her then moved over to a footlocker that was mostly undamaged. When he stood up he was feeding a pistol charge into a CEB-8. Turning to Miranda he held the weapon out and said, "Do ya know how at use it?"

Miranda grasped the weapon and Bill knew from the expression on her face that she didn't. he pointed at a small switch on the side, "This is the safety. The red dot means it's ready to fire. Just pull back on this to prime it and you're ready to go."

The woman swallowed and looked at the weapon as Bill turned back to the locker. He pulled on a large duffle bag, then drew a large hunting rifle. Hitting the primer her nodded with satisfaction as it let off a quiet whine, signaling it's activation. He turned to the women and said, "Let's get goin'."

"Go? Go where? We should stay here and wait for someone to come get us."

Bill turned to Melody and shook his head, "Ya don't get it do ya? This here is a quarentine, nothing gets in or out. That means that we are on our own, nobody is coming to save us."

Miranda gently pulled her daughter to her feet, "Please listen sweetie."

Bill moved over to the wrecked stairs and carefully climbed up. He turned the manual knob and jumped back when the door fell out into what was left of the house. The side nearest to the explosion had collapsed in on itself, leaving only a narrow, cramped space for them to exit the basement from. As the three of them scrambled out of the wreckage and stepped out onto the rubble filled street, upturned and burning ground cars littering the area as if they'd been left around by some giant child. Walking a ways into town they came to the ledge of a large crater, at least a hundred yards across.

Bill whistled and said, "Ain't nothing I've ever seen that could do this kinda damage without leavin' fallout behind."

Miranda shook her head, "I don't know. But whatever it was I'm grateful. There's no way in hell any of those bastards that… that hurt us survived it."

Bill nodded as The older woman hugged her daughter and they turned toward the edge of town as Bill said, "C'mon. The noise alone's probly attracted evry zombie on the continent. We need to get outta the city."

Those three spent the afternoon picking their way thru the abandoned city, finding the once busy streets eerie in their silence, the only sounds those of the three survivor's feet on the pavement, and the unmistakable groaning and shuffling of the undead. As they passed the mall they heard one of the zombies scream and the pounding of a hoard of feet, moving in their direction.

Bill grabbed Miranda and shoved her and her daughter thru the front door, grateful that it was open. As he ran in behind them they heard the feet drawing closer. Slamming the doors shut he saw Miranda start punching numbers into the security keypad nearby. The system beeped and there was a quiet latching noise as the doors locked. Then a gate dropped down from the ceiling, further protecting them from the dead outside.

As Bill backed away from the doors the first zombie reached them at a full sprint. The infected human hit with such force that he killed himself, his neck braking as he dove into the transparasteel plate. Others followed suit. Some died, most didn't. They just beat uselessly against the panel, smearing it with congealing blood as their relentless hunger drove them.

Bill let out a sigh of relief and turned to Miranda, "How'd ya know the code?"

Miranda swallowed, her eyes big as saucers as she watched the dead try and reach them, "I work here. I manage the hardware store upstairs. Every manager is given the code in case they're the first ones here in the morning."

Bill nodded solemnly and patted her on the shoulder. Then he looked around at the various stores. Spotting an Old Navy he said, "Are there alarms on the store fronts?"

Miranda nodded, "Yes but they're a different code. And they have to be activated in each store's office."

Bill walked up to the clothes store and tried the door. It swung open easily, the only sound a small digital chime announcing customers. Immediately a zombie, dressed as a janitor came rushing out from the back. Bill stepped to the side and smashed the undead raven in the face with the butt of his rifle, crushing it's beak and sending it crashing to the tiled floor. The human immediately jumped on top of him and twisted his head to the side, breaking his neck with a violent crunch.

Looking around the human saw no more zombies rushing them, so he let out the breath he'd been holding and sad, "Get yerself some real clothes. Holler if ya need me."

The human walked away, a limp starting to show in his step. Keeping his rifle at the ready he moved thru and checked each of the stores on that level, all empty. As he moved to the last one in line he heard movement behind him. Whirling around he let out an exasperated breath as he found himself aiming at Miranda and Melody.

"God! Damnit woman! I coulda blown your head off!"

From behind her mother Melody muttered, "S-sorry Bill."

The human sighed and turned back to the store, "C'mon. This here's the last one I need to check."

He turned back to the store and smirked, "I used to love Cabelas."

Will sat quietly inside the eight foot metal box given to him by the military. The OEP, or Orbital Entry Pod, was what he would be riding down to the surface on this top secret mission. Shuffling a bit to try and settle a bit further into the padded seat he muttered into his COM, "You'd think they'd at least make the damn things more comfortable. It's a long way down."

Even though his partner was only six feet in front of him, the scarred mouse only heard his response over the COM, thanks to their sealed pods.

"I guess it wasn't in the budget."

This roused a chuckle from the other soldier who set about making a final check of his gear…

One emergency transponder beacon. Check.

One Lance-Rock model eight sniper rifle with plasma disrupter modification for maximum stopping power. Check.

One Glock model eight Compact Energy Blaster. Check.

Five charges for each firearm. Check.

Food and water for three days. Check.

Ghillie suit. Check.

A knock on the transpara-steel plate in front of him got his attention and the mouse looked up. The Drop Technician held up two fingers then tapped his wrist once.

Two minutes.

Will nodded and fastened his crash harness. As it automatically sinched up he tapped the window, bringing up the keyboard and began to type, running the final checks on his pod.

As he finished a clock popped up his HUD.

0:10

0:09

He heard his COM crackle gently as the voice of the Drop Technician come in, "Good luck gentlemen, and Godspeed.

0:07

0:06

Will felt the frigate Gillihan shift into position, it's keel at roughly a fortyfive degree angle to the surface below. This would give them the slowest entry possible, avoiding the sonic booms that usually follow orbital entries like this.

0:04

0:03

Then he felt the ship shudder and give a hard turn to port, shuddering even more as it did so.

0:02

0:01

0:00 LAUNCH

As his pod dropped away, firing small chemical thrusters to keep it in a stable decent, Will watched as a small group of fighters and bombers, each as black as night, except for the red and white octagons painted on their wings.

Will heard one of the marines yell over the COM, "Umbrella? What the fuck!"

Another said, "Why the hell would they wait almost a month to counterstrike?"

Will growled, "To let us get complacent again, to think that they were no longer a threat without Wesker."

As those words left his mouth they watched one of the bombers score a mortal hit, the nova punching thru the Gillian's hull and inside. There was a flash and then the frigate was torn asunder, her two halves gliding apart, the fore out into space while the aft plummeted down into the atmosphere.

Then the automated computer in his OEP beeped and the clock reset, the bland automated voice saying, "Warning! Pod has deviated from designated flight path. Preparing alternative landing zone and decent track. Estimated time of arrival 16:25 hours Zulu."

16:18:25

16:18:26

16:18:27

End Chapter One

Hey everybody! So whaddya think? How does the first chapter of Book three stack up? Now for you people who didn't get the reference in the end of book two, I'm gonna throw in a bit more Left 4 Dead with the infected, since they came up with some of the best zombies I've ever seen.

Also I'm going to be ripping off Halo Reach pretty hardcore with the Starfox armor.

If you've played Reach and have any suggestions for the armor configurations for Will and Gunner send me a PM and let me know.

As Always, Enjoy and please review

Undead Fox