Who's afraid of the big bad wolf?
Morgentha laughed manically as she watched everyone flee in terror before her. Her pistol had long ago run dry so she had been forced to resort to using anything that came to hand with which to slay her victims. The command centre dripped with blood and gore from most of its surfaces whilst bodies lay scattered around in various states of wholeness. Two of her victims, a squirrel and a fox, jigged as high voltage mains current coursed through their veins. Morgentha was particularly proud of her ingenuity of having used power cables to murder them both.
Her onslaught in the command room had been so quick and so violent that the staff had even forgotten to sound the alarm to warn the rest of the garrison. The fact that the base remained silent annoyed her furiously because she always liked to weave her dance to the rhythmic sounds of a klaxon call. The steady wailing of an alarm was a good beat to kill to and reminded her of the endless hours of combat training in the fighting pits where the sword masters used a continuous drum beat to hone their pupil's basic skills.
On the giant main screen of the command centre she could see a picture of the parade ground and the hundreds of soldiers who stood to attention in their ranks.
What they couldn't see though, was the twenty two red dots on the radar screen before her, flashing and getting ever closer. Each indicated a transport filled with wolves that the archon of the seventh was brining to the party. It was going to be so much fun and she almost clapped in excitement.
The soft sound of a footstep behind her indicated that someone had decided to be a hero. And as she turned to face her assailant a lone trooper entered the command room and fired a long burst of shots with his rifle at where she was stood. Before he had even pulled the trigger though, Morgentha was moving. She closed the distance to him faster than he could register, jumping from desk to desk, and his shots ricocheted off the command terminals shattering the main screen in a shower of thick glass.
Morgentha grabbed the soldier's rifle, twisted it out of his hands and threw it away. Before he could fight back she hoisted him from his feet by his throat, crushing his larynx between her powerful fingers. "I have a use for you before you die" she smiled wickedly to his face as she drew a dagger and opened his stomach in a wide slash. The soldier's internals spilled out and he screamed in agony as she threw him to the floor. "Pick yourself up and get out" she growled nodding to the nearby exit. "If you can make it outside, someone might be able to save you"
The soldier, still numb in shock, clutched at his spilt intestines trying to stuff them back in place. He staggered to his feet and half ran half fell down the corridor screaming for help.
Morgentha smiled wickedly and left to find new playthings.
Parade ground etiquette meant that what should be only the simple three minute ceremony of raising a flag, always took ten times that long.
He was desperate for the toilet and was hungry due to missing breakfast. On arrival at the parade square he gave the parade commander a note from the physician saying that he couldn't stand for more than ten minutes due to weak knees but the bastard had torn it up and literally ate it.
That annoyed him as it had taken nearly three weeks to forge the doctor's signature to a high enough standard for it to be of any use and he didn't know if he could do it again.
A lone bugler pierced the stillness of the cold morning air with a fanfare and the flag started to ascend slowly.
The parade commander stepped forward smartly and prepared to shout an order but stopped short as a half dead soldier ran out onto the square, writhed for a few moments in agony and then expired noisily whilst clutching his intestines.
Even Sprot had to admit that it was pretty damn unusual.
When Knuckles opened the storage compartment door he was met with the two crouched forms of the queen and her handmaiden. The sudden rush of light must have taken them by surprise because they both had to blink a few times to get accustomed it. He took one look at them both and the cramped area into which they had hid and immediately started to anger. "Drake, you have a few seconds to explain yourself before I kill you" he shouted.
"I think you will find that he doesn't need to explain anything guardian" Sally interrupted as she stepped out and stretched her back painfully. "And you won't be killing anyone. I asked him to show me around your aircraft and it was all going nicely until the commotion started. In a panic, and fearing an attack, we both hid in here and Drake closed the door to protect us, isn't that right sergeant?"
Knuckles glared at Sally, the compartment and then at Drake. "You locked the queen in there?"
Drake waved his hands in reply. "Sort of" he squirmed, dumfounded that the queen was covering for him.
"Guardian, four minutes to target" Finn broadcasted over the loudspeaker.
"We need to get you back to the palace" Knuckles said flatly to the queen.
"No you don't" Sally replied whilst helping Bunny exit the compartment somewhat ungracefully. "What is going on?"
The guardian crossed his arms and scowled, as if deciding to answer her question. He eventually complied. "Your western outpost is about to come under attack. We are on route to assist them and we will be there in less than four minutes. I am not taking you into a warzone" he moved to step past her and enter the cockpit to tell Finn to turn around.
"Why?" Sally asked, stepping in front of him and blocking his route with her own body.
"Because you're the queen"
"And you're a guardian, in essence a king to your own people. So do tell me why it is justifiable for you to risk your life and not me?" the queen crossed her arms as well in defiance.
Drake whistled and backed off. Bunny did the same. Both knew when to stay well clear of an argument.
"Because…because…"
"Because what guardian... because I'm a woman... because I'm a liability… what?"
Knuckles grunted in defeat. He couldn't be bothered arguing with her and the target was, by now, a few minutes away. "Fine, if you want to put yourself in danger then so be it. Stay on board and under no circumstances take any stupid risks which might get yourself hurt or killed. Drake is going to take personal responsibility for you both and as soon as the rest of my men get to the target you are going back to the palace on the fastest gunship I can find"
This clearly still wasn't what Sally wanted to hear but she let him feel like he had won at least some small victory. "Very well but how can we help until then?"
"By staying out of sight"
Sally harrumphed indignantly, turned around on the spot and sat down on the nearest folding seat muttering curses to herself under her breath. Bunny joined her.
"Drake…vials…now"
"On it" Drake said as he grabbed a small reinforced box out of the cabinet and placed it near Knuckles feet. The guardian knelt down and shifted the spines at the back of his neck aside to reveal a small black plate on the back of his armour in-between his shoulder blades.
"What is that?" Sally asked, suddenly interested.
Ignoring her, Drake popped open the lid of the flight box and carefully produced a small rack of five vials, each no more than a centimetre long. The five vials were completely black except for a small slit in each one revealed the different colour of its contents. Blue, red, green, yellow and white, each seemed to throb with a dangerous looking energy that was clearly only barely contained within them. "Ready?" Drake asked.
"Do it" the guardian ordered.
Drake slipped the vials into position between his shoulders and they locked in place with an audible click. The guardian immediately started to shake violently as the contents rapidly merged with his body, muscles tensing and untensing at a staggering rate. Eventually, after what seemed like minutes but could only have been seconds, the shakes ceased abruptly. "All good?" Drake asked.
Knuckles stood up, breathed deeply and nodded. "All good"
"One minute to target guardian" Finn announced.
Sally watched on as Drake took both of the large calibre pistols from the wall mount inside the cupboard and passed them to Knuckles. The guardian loaded them and placed them in the holsters he had attached to his thigh armour plates. "You are going down there alone?" she asked, suddenly realising his intention.
"Yes" he replied woodenly and began to walk to the rear of the bay and slammed the open controls. The ramp started to descend.
"Thirty seconds"
The guardian braced himself as the gunship rapidly disengaged out of supersonic flight. "Rex, I need a clear drop zone. If there is anything in my way that looks hostile, kill it and make me an entrance" he shouted.
"Understood guardian" Rex's gruff voice replied as weapon pods and armament engaged from internal bays all-round the aircraft. Moments later tell-tale streaks of missiles could be seen behind the gunship accompanied by the drone of multiple chain guns firing.
"Ten seconds guardian. By Edmund it looks like a free for all down there" Finn broadcasted.
"Good…" he replied and stepped out into the sky.
Everyone was taken by surprise as the large armoured transports barrelled through the outer defences, smashed down the guard towers and came to a halt only a few hundred metres away from the still parading troops. A few quick individuals, who were clearly quicker on the mark than their colleagues, broke ranks and immediately started to run in the opposite direction but it took precious seconds for the rest of the soldiers to wake up and consider that they should probably do the same.
The ramps on the transports dropped to the concrete with a loud clang, unleashing the wolves upon the facility. They charged towards the fleeing unarmed troops screaming bloodthirsty cries at the top of their voices, all of them armed with brutal close combat weapons and prepared to messily butcher anything that got in range.
Sprot noticed with some interest that the parade commander was the first to die, literally sliced in half by particularly massive individual wearing blood red armour. Even before the officer's body had hit the floor the monstrosity that killed him was looking for more targets to pursue.
For the briefest of seconds, Sprot's eyes locked with the wolf.
It roared in fury and began to run towards him.
Sprot pissed himself.
Halkon opened the top hatch of his transport and took a deep breath of fresh oxygen. The wolves were running amok, weapons flashing sending blood and body parts flying through the air. He racked his vehicles heavy cannon charging handle and took aim at the back of the wolves as they set about their work, completely unaware of the double-cross he was about to perform.
"All stations get ready, fire on my command".
The other transports hatches opened and their guns were immediately manned by more legionnaires. He steadied himself and started to squeeze the trigger.
"Sir, a gunship!" one of the other gunners cried out in warning, pointing at a solitary black aircraft that had arrived from nowhere and was now almost upon them.
"New target!" Halkon shouted. "Target the aircraft and bring it down!" he span the cannon to aim and pressed the trigger sending high calibre pulse shots towards it. The rest of the legionnaires opened up with him.
He watched in horror as the gunship sprouted new appendages that looked a lot like missile pods. It fired.
He was still roaring with rage as the whole of his world turned white.
The explosion which blossomed in front of him was so immense he could see nothing else. A wall of heat the likes of which he had never known hit him so hard it lifted him from his feet and propelled him through the air. Sprot was only dimly aware of the feeling of weightlessness followed by a hard thump and agony as his body realised that gravity actually still existed and reapplied it with vengeance. Then, thankfully, he passed out.
Knuckles rolled as he hit the ground and used the momentum he had gained to spring to his feet and come up ready. He immediately realised that Rex had done a sterling job but the ground in front of him was a mess. Concrete of what might have been a parade ground had been torn to pieces, massive smoking holes which glowed white hot were dotted around where the ordnance had detonated and a haze of heat distorted everything he could see.
The few seconds the initial shock provided gave him time to assess the situation.
Wolves, lots of big and pissed off wolves.
Some were in the stages of picking themselves up after having been thrown through the air by the shockwave but there were a lot more that had already got to their feet and were beginning to move towards him with malicious purpose.
Attack. Kill as many as I can before they gain momentum.
He grabbed his pistols and began to dual wield them, snatching at the triggers as quickly as he could. At such close range accuracy was of little importance and the heavy calibre shells punched holes clean through his enemy's thin metal armour and straight through their flesh, some even killing the wolves behind. Dozens dropped to the floor dead in the initial salvo and when his sidearm's ran dry he quickly reloaded them and continued with his onslaught. Even though he had fired over eighty shots it still wasn't enough to halt their advance and those that were dead or in the process of dying were simply stepped over by more wolves eager to close with the new threat.
His pistols quickly flashed empty a second time and with no further time to reload he let them fall to the ground and concentrated on calling up the power that was stored inside the vials between his shoulder blades. Even though he could access potent levels of emerald energy without them, the vials contained undiluted shards of the precious stones which magnified his abilities a hundredfold.
He was going to need a great deal of it to survive the frenzy that was to come in the next few moments.
The wolves broke into a run, closing the gulf incredibly quickly. They began to howl and scream with barely controlled fury ready to tear him limb from limb.
Knuckles concentrated, trying to ignore the incoming wall of flesh. He closed his eyes.
Red emerald. Strength. Anger. Fury.
Green emerald. Healing. Regeneration.
Yellow emerald. Clarity.
He tapped into the powers within, utilising them to increase his potency and finally, reacting to his subconscious request, a pair of solid and lethal spikes jutted from the bones on each of his hands.
He crashed his fists together, opened his eyes and by the time the wolves were close enough to strike, the guardian was a different beast entirely.
Drake cocked the charging handle of his rifle and leant out of the back of the gunship to take aimed shots at the wolves below who were currently engaging the guardian.
"Can't we do something to help?" Sally shouted at him.
Drake emptied the last of his magazine in a controlled burst and quickly reloaded. "Rex, open the side hatches and lower the guns!" he screamed at the AI.
Sally's hair whipped uncontrollably as the hatches opened and the air rushed in. Once they had slid away, multiple barrelled cannons dropped into place from the ceiling and began cycling, ready to fire.
"Get on the guns" he shouted at the queen and her friend. All you have to do is point and pull the trigger. Aim at the wolves on the outsides and for Edmunds sake please don't shoot at Knuckles!"
Sally and Bunny grabbed the handles on the cannons and took up their places behind them. "Just like shooting apples in a barrel!" Bunny shouted before she pressed the trigger, sending hundreds of high calibre pulses into the midst of the wolves below. Sally looked down the sight of her weapon trying to find suitable targets but all she could focus on was the brutal melee taking place in the centre of the parade ground. Hundreds of wolves were concentrated in a press of close combat and she could just about make out Knuckles in the centre of it all as he set about the wolves, landing blow after blow when they came too close.
She watched on astonished as one wolf was quite literally propelled through the air by an inhumanly powerful uppercut and another was launched into a group of his own troops, knocking them flat.
But it was clear from her vantage point that regardless how well he was fighting; the wolves were slowly gaining the upper hand through sheer weight of numbers.
Sally suddenly spotted one of them behind Knuckles. He was raising a dreadful looking axe clearly ready to strike him a lethal blow.
"No you don't" Sally whispered, took aim and depressed the trigger.
Knuckles ducked a blow from a wolf directly in front of him and replied with a scything roundhouse to the head that broke its neck and sent the body careening into some of its nearby friends, knocking them over. Another wolf stepped in from his right and swept at him with a crude axe. He shifted out of the swing, waited for the wolf to overbalance himself and punched him in the lower back, breaking the creature's spine with a loud crack. The wolf folded to the floor with a whimper.
Two of them then charged him at the same time. The left of the pair tried to skewer him with a long sword whilst the other attempted to dash his brains with a crude club. Knuckles sidestepped the sword lunge and used his right shoulder plate to take the blow from the club. Despite its stunning effect he recovered, grabbed the wolf with the club by the neck and punched him square in the face. The wolfs whole cranium imploded messily.
The other wolf with the sword swiped at his head and he ducked just quickly enough to avoid being decapitated. Rising up he kneed the creature in the stomach causing it to bend over. He double handed it between the shoulders, knocking it to the floor and as it lay there stunned he stamped on its neck, crushing its windpipe.
Suddenly a stream of plasma shots screamed over him and vaporised a wolf that he hadn't seen creeping up behind. The extreme heat of the close range firepower singed some of his fur so badly that he could immediately smell it burning. Briefly looking up for the gunner to give them a piece of his mind, and fully expecting to see Drake's smirking face, he was gobsmacked to see the queen.
"I said don't shoot at the fucking guardian!" Drake bellowed. "What part of don't does your royal highness not under-fucking-stand!"
Sally looked over at the sergeant who was still firing out the back of the viper. "I just saved his life actually!" she shouted back at him.
Drake shook his head. "Whatever, just keep shooting. But, and let me make this perfectly clear again, not at the guardian!"
Sally bit down the urge to walk over and kick him out the back of aircraft. "Men…" she simply grunted in disgust and returned to her task.
Jacob sat patiently and tried to ignore the shaking which rattled his bones. Like all of the other troopers in the aircraft he was locked into his seat via an intricate harness which prevented most movement. However the flight was still particularly violent.
The standard gunships that the echidna military used were not as well built or as well designed as the guardian's personal aircraft so at high speed and low level they shook violently as turbulence pummelled them from every direction.
He looked around into the faces of the men who sat around him, subconsciously judging their worth. Many were young but some were older, veterans who had been part of the outfit for a long time and new all the tricks and procedures. Age, though, mattered very little in this outfit as every one of the men that were now flying into combat with him was an highly capable soldier and the very best that their own regiments had to offer. They knew that it was a great honour to be chosen to serve in the guardians own hand-picked squads and all of them would gladly give their life for him if he asked for it.
So far he hadn't and Jacob hoped he never would.
Suddenly the pilots hatch swung open and broke his melancholy. "Sir…" the co-pilot shouted as loud as he could "you should probably come take a look at this…"
It was painfully clear to Thrax that the wolves were now getting much more than they had bargained for.
The attack had started out exactly as planned, but suddenly a solitary demon and his flying bird of death had dropped in their midst to spoil the party. Until now, he had deliberately held back from the fight in order to get the measure of his prey but he was very aware that it he didn't strike soon there was a chance that the rest of the packs might break and then there would be no stopping them.
There was nothing else for it. He would have to swat this fly personally and then get on with the killing.
Thrax stepped forward out of the throng, drew his second blade and squared up to the echidna in front of him. "Now it's Thrax's turn" he roared.
Knuckles backtracked a good few paces in order to size up his new enemy. "What the hell do they feed you?" he asked, more to himself than to the wolf. The creature carried two vicious looking swords and was literally drooling with frenzy. "I suppose you are the leader then?" he asked.
"Thrax will smash you puny ekidna" the wolf howled. "Eat your heart and take your skull as trophy"
The guardian took a deep breath to calm his overbeating heart and glanced for a moment at the mill the wolves behind the monster. They held a respectful distance clearly realising that this was a one on one combat. That was good. Kill this leader and it will kill their will to continue the fight.
"Let's go then puppy, if you think you have what it takes" he goaded.
Thrax roared with anger and lunged at him, blades descending in a sweeping motion to try and cut off his legs at the thighs. Knuckles back flipped to dodge the blades and stepped to one side letting the beast lose his balance. Thrax fell over. Knuckles laughed, goading him.
The wolf roared again and stood up, running his swords down each other's blades causing sparks to fly. "Nice trick ekidna"
Knuckles smiled and ran at him, right fist raised. The wolf dodged low and slashed with his right sword, connecting with Knuckles armour plate which covered his left waist. The sheer force of the blow sent the guardian staggering sideways struggling to retain his balance. He quickly checked the plate and noticed with concern how it was buckled inwards. "Nice one" he seethed, knowing full well that there was probably a cracked rib or two behind the plate. "But is that all you have you piece of shit?"
Thrax laughed and came at him again, using his swords independently of each other in a windmill action, trying to chop him in half. Knuckles blocked all of the strikes with his gauntlets, fending them off safely to the sides and when the wolf tired he shoulder barged him backward and head-butted him on the maw.
Now it was Thrax's turn to be stunned. He hadn't expected the stinging blow to his face and he struggled to clear his pain clouded eyes.
Even as his enemy was recovering, Knuckles staggered back clutching his skull. The head-but, which had seemed a brilliant idea right up until it landed, had rattled his mind and he shook his head to try and clear the haze of agony, readying himself for the next assault.
Thrax recovered first. He launched himself again at his opponent attempting to knock him over so he could overpower him but just before making contact, Knuckles grabbed the wolf by the throat and threw him to the ground. The floor literally shook with the impact.
The guardian stepped over his prone enemy and struck him with a strong bone cracking left hand blow to the upper spine. Thrax howled in pain but the Knuckles didn't give him a moment of respite as he gripped Thrax's right sword hand and twisted it until the wrist joint snapped with a sickening crunch.
The wolf dropped his blade and Knuckles lifted him from the floor. He kicked Thrax's legs out from under him and wrapped his right arm around the wolf's neck in attempt to squeeze the life out of him.
For the next minute or so Thrax fought like a madman, realising that he was close to losing the battle. Knuckles held on for dear life and later would recall those long seconds as one of the hardest pure strength to strength battles he had even known. But in the end, even Thrax's impressive stamina failed and he realised that he simply couldn't break the vice like choke hold Knuckles had placed on him.
"Any last words for your friends?" The guardian grunted in the wolf's ear.
Thrax bucked a few more times, legs kicking wildly as he clutched at the guardians wrist and arms. It was no use.
Knuckles roared and twisted his enemies head violently. Thrax's neck broke with a loud crack, killing him instantly. The guardian held his body for a moment until he stopped shaking and then let it drop to the floor.
"Who's next then?" he asked the assembled wolves.
They broke. Many of then dropped their weapons on the spot and ran back towards the transports which were still sitting immobile. The rest stood transfixed wondering if they should try to avenge their leader's death or run away with the others.
"Get down!" someone shouted behind him and Knuckles instantly obliged, throwing himself to the floor.
Rapid gunfire zipped over his head as the troops that had run for their lives only minutes before returned fully armed. They mercilessly cut down the fleeing wolves in volley after volley of controlled shots and none of those who started the assault made it back to the transports.
Jacob pressed the open button on his harness and the four straps immediately gave way. He stood up, gripped the hand rail in the centre of the bay and used it to unsteadily make his way to the front of the aircraft trying not to lose his balance. When he was close enough, the co-pilot grabbed his forearm and guided him in through the door.
"What is it?" he asked.
The co-pilot pointed towards the large sensor screen in front of him. In the very right hand segment he could see upwards of fifty white flashing dots rapidly exiting off the edge of the display. "There were more but they disappeared before you got here"
"Aircraft?"
The co-pilot nodded. "Bloody loads of them sir. They are at the very edge of our sensor range. They are moving at one hell of a speed sir"
Jacob let the man's words sink in for a moment, a feeling of dread creeping up into the pit of his stomach. Even though pound for pound they were complete bastards, you had to appreciate the legions cunning. "How fast?"
"Put it this way sir, I only know two types of aircraft which can move that quick and your flying in one of them"
Jacob understood immediacy what he was saying. Vipers.
"Your orders sir?"
"Get us back to the palace as quick as you can"
The co-pilot nodded in understanding and Jacob left him to his task. He turned around and proceeded to use the handrail to try and make it back to his seat but was nearly pitched over it as the pilot violently banked the gunship. He waited for a moment to get his balance and then continued.
"Are you okay sir?" he communications officer asked him as he sat back down and secured himself back in.
"Yes" he replied. "Contact the palace and tell them to get ready for an aerial assault. Tell them the legion is coming for the queen"
"But isn't the queen with the guardian?" the officer asked, puzzled.
"They don't know that" Jacob replied, the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.
Knuckles rolled onto his back and tried to force some deep breaths back into his aching lungs. Thrax's body lay beside him, head twisted at a sickening angle, tongue lolling out.
The pain in his side was lessening as the green emerald which controlled his healing rate dumped blockers into his blood stream but the cracked ribs were still exquisite agony. He might have the emeralds for assistance but broken bones still took days to heal properly.
Instinctively he checked for damage, patting himself down in a quick assessment. Doing so he found that he had lost two armour plates, one on his left bicep and the other on this right thigh. He was also surprised to find that he had taken more blows than he thought he had and could feel numerous cuts and grazes all over his thighs and arms. When he ran his hands over his face to clear the dust his gloves came back soaked with blood. "Hope that's not mine" he said to himself but then suddenly remembered the head-but. "Note to self, do not use head as a weapon on anything with large teeth"
"Guardian, come in…"
Knuckles lay dazed for a moment until he could figure out where the noise had come from. Eventually he realised someone was trying to contact him so he tapped a button on his gauntlet. "What is it?" he asked.
"We are nearly at your location but the pilots have picked up over fifty contacts on our sensor. They were at the very edge of range but I am confident they are heading for the palace"
Knuckles swore as he immediately grasped the deviousness of the legions plan. The wolves had been nothing more than a distraction and had fell for it hook, line and sinker. "Get back to the palace Jacob, contact Krauptman and tell him to get ready"
"Already on it. ETA ten minutes. Are you okay?"
Knuckles groaned a little as his head told him it wasn't. "Peachy. The palace is yours Jacob, I will keep the queen safe here. You know what needs to be done"
"Understood guardian. Glaive out"
The sound of sudden footsteps fast approaching focused his attention. "Thanks for giving me a warning" he exclaimed to no-one in particular.
"You're welcome!" a soldier replied. "Do you need a medic?"
Knuckles looked up into the face of a fox. Suddenly, more faces appeared around him, silhouetted against the clear morning sky. "No" he said.
"I can't believe you managed to fend them off on your own. How the hell did you do it…there were hundreds!" one of the other faces asked him.
Knuckles waved him off and sat up. "Where is the queen?" he asked.
The fox looked at him as if he was mad. "The queen? Why would she be here?"
"Long story"
His gunship suddenly filled the sky above them, pummelling them all with its furious down blast. After a few moments to steady the aircraft, Finn piloted it down onto the concrete a few metres away and cut the engines.
Sally came running down the ramp and over to the assembled clutching an assault rifle and Knuckles smiled at the priceless looks on the troops faces as they set eyes on their combat ready monarch. A few of them knelt whilst the others were too gobsmacked to respond.
Sally walked forward and beckoned them all to stand. "Thank you gentlemen but I fear that this isn't the right place or time for such formalities". Sally looked down at the sitting guardian and tidied away some wayward strands of hair that had fallen in front of her face. "That has to be the most stupid and dangerous thing I have ever seen anyone do. You could have been killed. Why in your right mind did you think dropping into the midst of hundreds of crazed wolves was a good idea?" she held out a hand.
Knuckles took it and stood up. "I thought I told you not to do anything stupid?"
"Your bleeding" she replied, ignoring his counter question. "You have a large gash on your head that needs medical attention.
"Its nothing that cant wait" he replied, waving her off. "Besides we have more pressing issues to deal with now."
Sally frowned. "Like what?"
"Jacob thinks that the palace is about to come under attack"
"From whom?" Sally shouted in distress.
"Based on the information I have, my initial guess is from an entire legion chapter. It looks like this attack was a distraction to keep your troops occupied and they clearly enticed these poor bastards to take the hit whilst the real assault bypassed us and headed on". He gestured to the dead Thrax and the wolves that lay next to his feet. "It worked like a charm and I never even saw it coming"
"We must go back" the queen protested and she turned towards the gunship which was sat nearby.
Knuckles grabbed her arm. "No"
Sally tried to wiggle free from his grasp. "I beg your pardon" she seethed. "That is my palace they are about to destroy, I will be going back to help"
"No you wont" he stated in a tone that brooked absolutely no argument. "Due to your insatiable curiosity we have actually outwitted them. Please think this through logically for a moment your highness. If you return to the palace now you will just be walking right into a trap that you narrowly managed to escape from. They think you are still there."
"I will not let them burn my home" she replied.
"Your grace, I am sorry but the guardian is right" Bunny interrupted.
"Thank you" Knuckles added. "Listen to me Sally. Jacob is on his way back to the palace as we speak and I am confident that the legion has no idea that he or his force is present on Mobius. They might very well attack the palace but they won't be getting out again. Jacob will trap them and destroy them"
Sally pulled away angrily, rubbing her arm to get some life back into it. "So you would just have me sit here do nothing whilst my palace and its people are slaughtered?"
"Not at all. Take a look around, what do you see?"
For the first time stepping off the gunship Sally did look and immediately wished she hadn't. Whilst it had seemed almost like a game to her as she flew around the battle shooting at the wolves as they attacked the guardian, the grim reality and aftermath of her actions were very real. In every direction lay the dead or dying that were covered in blood, spilt organs or excrement. The smell of the singed flesh and fur, caused by plasma shots from the gun she had using, was noxious and choking. Further out she could see the dead bodies of dozens of troops that had not managed to flee the initial massacre whilst those that still barely lived clutched their wounds and cried out for help or mercy.
The sight of such butchery caused bile to immediately rise in her throat but she managed to somehow keep it in check. Throwing up in front of hersubjects was not likely to be seen as regal.
Knuckles placed his hands on her shoulders to steady her. "This is war your grace, the dirty and disgusting side of it at least, and many of these men need medical assistance or they will die. They need your help"
Sally nodded. He was right of course but it didn't make it any easier to bear or deal with. "Who is the senior rank here now?" she asked.
"That honour would be mine your highness" the fox replied. "Captain Taylor at your service".
Sally looked him up and down. The captain was a fox in his mid-twenties and handsome in a rugged kind of way. He should have been full of life and vigour but his eyes told her clearly that he had already seen too much in the last four years of war and he was aged far beyond his years. "Captain, fan out and take those that are injured to the infirmary. Any beyond help will have to wait. Round up anyone you can find with medical experience and all of the supplies you can find"
The officer saluted and immediately started ordering his troops to do as his queen had commanded. As he did so the guardian searched around and found his pistols lying under a pair of dead wolves. He reloaded them and then proceeded to stalk through the piles of bodies as if hunting for something.
"What are you doing?" Bunny asked him.
Knuckles found a wolf that was still barely alive clutching at a smoking hole in its chest with weak paws. Blood covered the poor beast from head to toe and it was immediately clear that there was no way to save him. The guardian leant down and cradled its head in the crook of his left arm. He then placed the muzzle of his pistol against its temple and squeezed the trigger.
Both the queen and her handmaiden recoiled in shock at the sudden gunshot.
"I would suggest that you go and help the others" he told them both.
"Come on Sal, you don't need to see this" Bunny said as she took the queens arm in her own and walked her in the direction of the troops that were helping the wounded.
Before they had made it very far another shot echoed out in the crisp morning air and it wasn't the last.
Halkon woke up in a haze with the taste of blood in his mouth. After a few moments or orientation he realised that he was still sat behind the cannon and tried hard to recall what had happened. All he could remember was the descending gunship, firing the gun and then a blinding white light. "Janus, Lathor, where the hell are you, what's going on?" he shouted.
Silence.
"Janus, Lathor, you bastards, where are you!" he shouted again, this time louder.
"Sorry mate, I haven't seen either of them. But I did take a quick shufty around and couldn't find anyone else so it looks like they might have deserted you. Friends huh, what are they like…"
Halkon turned to see an unshaven brown echidna in green flak armour sitting on top of the transport next to him. He was smoking a cigarette and casually pointing an assault rifle in his direction. "Who the hell are you?" he asked.
Drake lazily puffed out a smoke ring. "No one you know at the moment mate, but just between you and me, I reckon we are going to become best friends pretty damn sharpish. Want a smoke?"