A/N: Hey there everyone. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, sorry if it cuts off a bit prematurely, but, the next chapter is nearly done so it should be finished and posted really soon. Thanks again to Mykll for his help, and a new friend Jamie for the addition of her personal character. Thanks for the tons of support, so R&R and take care...the next chappie should be up soon...Cya...

The Footsteps in the Darkness ~ SkullFox

Frag the weak, Hurdle the dead ~ Mykll

Back doors to problems lead to better results and hidden treasures ~ Jamie



Chapter 11: Vindication Part 1…

The pale furred vixen still stood there, she had her suspicions that it could be Falco that had done all of this. When she'd first met him, his mind was scattered, and his thoughts were only of himself, even then she knew that the bird had many unresolved issues in his life. It was as she stood there that he kept his gun poised on Kursed's face, as she was the only other animal there holding a weapon of any kind. The rain had worsened, slowly developing into a torrential downpour. It was as she looked into the bird's eyes that he chuckled to himself…

"I gotta hand it to you Blue…" He said, "…I was pretty sure that you were already dead. But, the Angel of Death, never saw that one coming. Fox was right you really are something."

The vixen stomped down, "DON'T YOU DARE SAY THEIR NAMES!" She screamed, "You don't have the right to say anything about them."

"Oh really?" The bird asked shrugging with his free hand, "I spent most of my life with those guys…"

"And you killed them…" She replied, "…why?"

"Why?" Falco chuckled, "You're the telepath you tell me. You tell me why it is that, as soon as you came around…everyone just stopped caring? You knew that Fox was about to drop the team? Just so he could run off with you and ignore everything we ever worked for. My only family, and he was gonna abandon me…for some bitch with her tail in the air. I know what females can do to you…he was better off dead. The old man, he would have fingered me as soon as you came up dead, Slippy…well that little fucker was a little more ballsy than I gave him credit for."

A tear trailed down the vixen's face, "You…because Fox wanted to be happy? You killed everyone because he didn't want to die the way his father did?"

"What's this all matter to you anyhow?" He asked, "As soon as it all happened…you fucking disappeared. Three god damned years, you left all your friends to just stay behind and defend themselves. Even right now I bet you're thinking about leaving Katt up here to die, to save your own ass."

"I'm not like you Falco." Kursed replied, "you're a coward…I'm not. All you've ever done is attack people from behind. You were always jealous of Fox because you could never beat him…that was the only reason you ever stuck around. That's what kept pulling you back, being second best…well I have news for you. Dead or alive, Fox will always be better than you. You'll never be better than the piece of shit you are right now."

A bolt of red shot from the barrel of Falco's weapon; Kursed had suspected that he was going to shoot. Her best chance was to make certain she was hit somewhere non-vital. As the shot tore into her shoulder, the vixen spun falling to the ground before rolling over the edge of the still unfinished floor. In that moment Katt rushed on the bird, her claws tore the feathers away from four smalls streaks in his cheek that caused him to yell in pain as he brought the handle of his weapon down on the feline's shoulder. The impact to the cluster of nerves he'd aimed for instantly caused the pink furred feline to go limp as she fell to the wet floor. Falco held a wing over his cheek as he walked to the ledge of the unfinished floor, where the vixen was hanging by her one arm. She wanted as her scythe slipped from her grip falling back to the ground far below. The avian rose his heavy boot to bring it down on her delicate fingers, only to quickly let out a surprised yell as he vixen's other paw swung up pulling him over the ledge. Kursed screamed out as the bird's weight was added to her own, as he quickly reached out catching her by the legs on his way down. Kursed was forced to reach up grasping at a metal stud that protruded from the building to keep her from falling. She looked back over her shoulder, and managed to wrench one of her legs free which she quickly brought up driving her heel between the bird's eyes. Falco let out a scream of pain as he released her leg…however, the vixen's sudden scream shot through the rooftops of the building as she felt the bird's weight jerk at the base of her tail. She instantly felt as if her entire body would give out as the crippling pain shot there up her spine. She tried to kick him off this time but, the avian had a much better grip than before; and he slowly began to drag himself up her body until he finally pulled himself back up onto the ledge of the building. Falco quickly reached for his blaster which had fallen to the ground as he was pulled over the ledge. As he turned to fire though, he noticed that the vixen was no longer there. Looking over the edge of the building the bird sighed…

"Dumb bitch…" He said looking back to Katt before reaching a communicator up to his face, "Everyone be on the lookout for a body down there. White fur, vixen, about five foot six maybe five seven. Dead or alive I want the body."

…... …...

The white vixen fell rapidly giving her little time to think before she reached behind her back; as she reached back out in front of her a small object fired a wire with a weighted end around another beam protruding from the building. The cable instantly took her weight snapping taught swinging the vixen into a stone wall. This caused her to release the device in her paw, and Kursed managed to fall into a small pile of trash bins in the alleyway. She landed with a sudden yelp of pain. Had it been any higher she would have broken something, she was lucky at the moment she had only swung to about two stories off the ground. She noticed her scythe laying a short ways away, but as she lay there with her arm over her ribs she noticed an armored soldier standing over her with a rifle in her face. His helmet had been removed some time ago; the black furred wolf seemed stunned as his eyes washed over blue for a moment…

"She's not here…" Kursed whispered.

The wolf placed is paw over his ear, "I'm sorry sir. The alleyway's clear. I can't find her or the weapon."

Kursed winced in pain, "It looks like she escaped to the sewers."

"It looks like she escaped into the sewers, sir."

"Then get back and help get the prisoners back to HQ…" Falco's voice responded.

"Yes sir." The wolf replied walking over and picking up the scythe before laying it in Kursed's paw.

The wolf quickly rushed back to join the others, and soon enough, Kursed was the only one left in the alleyway…battered, bloody…and once again, completely alone. She hadn't even gotten the information that she'd needed from Reiko. Stumbling, and half conscious, the vixen slowly made her way to the small base; at the moment she couldn't sense anything inside at all. Everyone was gone. Reiko, Miyu and both teams were gone. She stumbled through the small base with her paw over the blaster wound in her shoulder, before the vixen finally fell to one knee. She shook her head attempting to clear her blurry vision but, with a few more breaths her eyes finally rolled into the back of her head, and the vixen fell to the floor…

... ...

A young light red furred vixen stepped under an awning covering a small portion of the sidewalk fighting to get her mangled umbrella to fold up. Growling in anger the vixen finally threw the thing down kicking it out into the streets…

"Piece of crap!" She half shouted, "Next time I steal a brand name."

With a sigh she reached behind her head to pull the hood of her coat up over her long sanguine hair. She pulled her coat tightly around her before heading back out. Luckily home was not a great distance from her current position, however, this part of Zoness was not exactly a safe environment for a young woman to travel at night. A raggedy looking rat stepped out of an alley wrapping an arm around her neck holding a blade to her throat…

"Gimme yer wallet." He hissed.

The vixen's eyes instantly came to a water, the smell of hard liquor from his breath was enough to kill. Suddenly however, there was a light click and the rat's eyes went wide causing him to pull his weapon away from her neck. She slowly turned to face him, and the rat swallowed hard as his eyes went to the large pistol pressed against his crotch…

"I have a better idea…" The vixen smiled, "…gimme your wallet."

The rat used his free paw to rummage through is pockets before passing the vixen a small folded bunch of leather which she quickly opened, "Credit card, credit card, social…" She paused as she examined it only to look at him for a moment, "…federal breast inspectors card? And…two, five…ten credits. You are pathetic." She said removing the knife from his other paw, "I'll take that…" As she did so her eyes went to something she'd not noticed yet, a golden watch around the animal's other wrist, "…hmmm. Nice watch. I'll take that too thanks." After removing his watch the vixen looked it over, "Hmm…too big for me. Kinda shiny though, might be worth something." She said looking to the rat, "The hell are you still doing here? Leave."

As the rat ran off stumbling over his own feet, the vixen placed the animal's knife and watch in her pocket. It seemed like every time she went out someone wanted to take advantage of the pretty little vixen. She reached under her long coat holstering her pistol before pulling her coat tightly around her again and continuing down the street. It was as she made her way through the seldom traveled alleyway that lead home that the vixen's nose twitched against the air, and she quickly flattened herself against the wall nearest to her; in an instant both paws were filled with a large pistol each; they were silver colored with squared barrels and pearl grips, they were her babies, both stolen of course but, that didn't make her love them any less. She took a moment to peak around the corner, she was familiar enough with the scent of blood to pick it up when it was this thick, and it was coming from her home. The fiery furred vixen rushed toward the stairs that led down to the large metal door housing a large pained V; the door was half way open. She slowly stuck her head inside…

"Miyu!" She called, "Chloe?"

When she wasn't answered the vixen stepped inside only to find the place in shambles, "Fay! Miyu! Chloe! Jane!" She shouted rushing through the ruined base, "Anyone! Wha…..AHHHH!" She cut herself off in a startled scream as her leg struck something sending her to the floor.

The vixen instantly shot around aiming her weapon, whatever she'd tripped over it was something living. As she saw the white furred vixen laying face down on the floor she noticed the small hole in her shoulder, and the large golden shafted scythe laying next to her. The sanguine haired vixen's eyes instantly fixed on the scythe…

"Wait a minute…" She said looking back to the vixen, "…white fur, scythe. Holy shit this is Kursed!" She shouted rolling the vixen over on her back causing Kursed to cry out in pain, "Hey what happened here?"

"They took everyone…" The pale vixen replied with a hiss of pain.

"God dammit." The red furred vixen swore tossing her coat off, "Hang on. I'll be right back."

The vixen rushed off before returning with a small white box, she lightly slapped Krused's face a bit to get her attention, "Hey. Come on don't pass out. You go into shock there's not much I can do to help."

"I'm not going into shock…" Kursed replied, "…I'm just…in a lot of pain. Who are you anyhow?"

"Me?" The red furred vixen asked flicking the end of a syringe, "I live here."

Kursed hissed at the sting of a needle near her wound, "I came here with a man…named Akuba…"

"Reiko?" The young vixen asked, "The hell did he want?"

Kursed leaned her head back, "Long story. His buddy Seven got messed up pretty bad, his other friend Creed came to get him. Andrew's men tracked 'em down. Reiko asked me to come and help. We were attacked not long after we got here though…"

Suddenly the vixen held up a small green tablet between her black furred fingers, "Know what this is?"

Kursed only nodded…

"Good cuz these things hurt like hell."

Kursed suddenly let out a scream of pain as the red vixen jammed a the small thing into her wound followed by her finger forcing it down as far into the hole as she could. There was a light crack sound, and Kursed continued to cry out in pain as a green film began to seep out of the wound, quickly hardening sealing off any still bleeding areas…

"You're Kursed aren't you?" The young vixen asked.

Kursed was still breathing hard from the application of the small capsule, "Yeah." She said sitting up slowly, she took a moment to poke the hardened green material, "it's been forever since I needed a 'Puss Pack'…I've forgotten how helpful they can be."

The red furred vixen sighed, "Well…I guess it's nice to meet you." She said extending her paw, "name's Jamie DeDarma…and I'm a member of Miyu's little resistance group."

Kursed slowly climbed to her feet using her scythe to keep her balanced, "Well…everyone's been captured now." She replied walking off.

"Then where are you going?" Jamie asked.

Kursed sighed, "I guess I'm going to pull Reiko's ass out of the fire. After all they have Katt…she's the only friend I have left, I'm not gonna let them kill her."

Jamie sighed, "Then you know where Andrew's men took them?"

"No…" Kursed replied.

"Good thing for you I happen to gather information for a living…" She paused, "…amongst other things." She said, "There's no real Headquarters here for the Emperor's military but…I do know that there's an old military compound outside of the city that they use for meetings. I have to go save my friends too you know; they're the only family I have. I even know how I can get into the base."

The pale furred vixen turned to Jamie, "How?"

"I have my secrets." Jamie replied, "My question is…can I trust you? You are a Bounty Hunter after all."

Kursed sighed, "If I were here to collect on your friend or Reiko's….do you think I'd be laying here with blaster hole in my shoulder?" She replied, "No. I'd be dead…or we'd all be gone cuz I would have already turned 'em all in. Not to mention the fact that I would have already arrested you…I've got my own personal issues about all of this."

Kursed looked over her shoulder into the young vixen's emerald green eyes for a moment; it took her no time at all to learn that Jamie was telling her the truth. In fact if she didn't know any better she'd have sworn the vixen knew what it was she was doing at that moment. She hadn't bothered to look before, but, Kursed noticed that the young vixen was not very well built in comparison to the others; her upper body was very petite, though her arms did seem to carry a bit of tone to them. Her legs were however rather impressive, it was clear that a good kick from her could possibly ruin someone's day. She carried herself like a lady, but, she wore a white tee shirt and slightly tight fitting black pants, and a pair of black boots that reached halfway up her thighs. A thick leather belt around her waist held a pair of archaic pistols at her sides; and thought most didn't notice, Kursed was instantly aware of the daggers hidden in her boots…

Kursed sighed, "Alright. Then what's your plan?"

Jamie sighed as she picked up a black coat before cinching it around her waist, "Well first off we need to get to the compound."

Kursed headed out of the building with Jamie following directly behind her; Jamie wondered why it was that the bounty hunter would walk around in the freezing rain without so much as a coat to keep her warm but, didn't really bother. Their walk forced them to stick to the alleys, most of the time it was the easiest way to stay hidden, completely out of sight. The two vixens kept their path only stopping every so often, until Kursed snatched Jamie by the arm yanking her back into an alley and hiding the both of them behind a nearby Dumpster, only to have three soldiers walk by…

"They're still looking for me." Kursed sighed.

Jamie looked to her, "What did you do to them?"

Kursed sighed, "A few days ago I…might have killed one of Andrew's generals."

"Wow…" Jamie replied, "…what made 'em let their guard down?"

Kursed chuckled, "Seven…"

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Jamie said, "Why is it that every time someone dies somewhere that guy isn't far behind?"

Kursed shrugged, "Not sure…maybe he's just that unlucky." He said, "Alright come on."

The two continued their path, which seemed to get much easier as they left the city, traveling along a small stretch of road leading to a large building in the distance. Now that they were safe enough, Jamie looked to Kursed…

"So…" She said, "…where you from?"

The white furred vixen sighed, "It doesn't exist anymore."

"Oh…" Jamie replied, "…sorry."

"Don't be…" Kursed said pushing a branch out of her way, "…I don't really remember much about home. I just remember the forests. Most recently I just lived in my ship, but, before that I lived on Corneria."

Jamie chuckled, "Hmmm…you know your voice sounds familiar…only really ever heard a voice like yours from that girl Star Fox picked up about four years ago."

Kursed stopped for a moment looking to the ground, "Yeah, well that was a long time ago." She said, "I didn't know a whole lot when they found me. Apparently my planet was pretty underdeveloped compared to Lylat."

"So you were Fox McCloud's sweetheart?"

Kursed scoffed, "Fucking tabloids…there was never anything between me and Fox. I guess we were both just too shy to say anything. I wish I had." She finished.

"So you never even flirted with him?"

Kursed chuckled, "Back then I didn't even know what that meant…but, now that I look back on it, I probably did without realizing it."

"That sux," Jamie replied, "I've never really bothered with relationships myself…always seemed like it'd just get in my way. I don't even remember where I was born, far as I know Zoness is the only home I've ever had. The girls in Valkyrie have always been there for me…I figure, for now at least, that's all I really need."

Even though she knew the vixen was lying about her past, Kursed decided not to pry, everyone needed their privacy, and this was imply Jamie's way of preserving hers. After so long wondering through the thick countryside, Jamie and Kursed stopped on one side of an old back road across from a large structure. It looked a lot like the military compound back on Corneria. Star Fox had plenty of meetings there to discuss strategy and missions with the commanding General of the army at the time. She doubted that this place was much different after all they were both build by the same military. It was as she stood there that Jamie knelt down with a stick in her paw…

"Okay…" She said drawing a squared figure in the dirt, "…I've been inside the fences before. There's an electrified defense wire around the perimeter. It's hidden so that if you try going over the wall, you won't see it until you've already touched it." She said pointing out a small section, "Over here in the eastern quarter of the place…this is where a bunch of guards like to gather to shirk their duties and gamble."

"Good help is really hard to find when they're underpaid." Kursed replied shaking her head.

"Tell me about it…" Jamie chuckled pointing to the southwest corner of the figure, "…every time I've been here there's been a guard sleeping against that tree." She said pointing to a tall tree peaking over the wall, "…he's a lazy SOB but, I don't blame him they don't trade posts until early morning. Now after that I've never been inside the actual building but, I've seen some blueprints of the place though, and if I'm right there should be an old shaft of some kind that leads out to the far side of the building. I think it's an old part of the ventilation system they don't use anymore."

"So why are you so sure they're in there?" Kursed asked.

Jamie sighed, "Look I've lived on this planet as long as I can remember, and all that time's been spent in this city. This is the only place within a hundred and fifty miles that has a prison cell. There's very little chance that they're gonna expend those kind of resources to move them that far when they're just gonna move them back into the city to transport them to Venom as soon as possible anyhow."

Kursed nodded, "Okay…I'm convinced. So…all we have to do now is get in there and get our friend out." She sighed extending her paw to Jamie, "Just do me a favor will ya?"

"And what might that be?" Jamie replied shaking the white vixen's paw.

Kursed turned back to the base, "Don't make me regret this…I'd really hate to have to kill you."

Jamie chuckled, "Don't worry about it. If I wanted to turn on you…" She said holding up a gun, "…I would have already shot you."

Kursed shrugged, it was true, she had plenty of opportunities to shoot her in the back, "Fair enough…let's go…"