Rogue Fox Spare Your Soul
SyxxFox
Chapter XIII
Ashes
Slowly the swells of light seep through,
As we breathe in the darkened sky,
And in times of grace,
Replace my distaste,
See the flare as they all fade away,
White water won't wash away,
Don't let it confuse,
The road to soul is lonely at best,
And I've arrived at empty.
36 CrazyFists – "White Water"
This was Corneria. For some reason Syxx couldn't get it through his head. It didn't look like it. It Looked like Titania. More like a baron wasteland than anything else; blood red sky, black clouds, ash… and corpses of the dead. Every time his boot hit the pavement, a ring of dust would shoot out from under him, leaving a small cloud at his feet. It no longer rained white flakes, and much of it had been swept away by the wind, leaving the ground in cinders, and death. They roamed the residential streets of the city. Syxx gripped the SMG Mapaw tightly, and Max led. They mostly kept silent, surveying the damage, and scanning for threats. Until Max took knee, and put his paw up. Syxx immediately hunched over, and lifted the weapon to his shoulder. He stared down the iron sights.
Max was frozen. He didn't move an inch until he jumped up. "Keep low. Follow me." He ran.
Syxx followed right behind him, running with his eye to the gun's sights. Max crouched at a truck. It had no windows, and it had been torched by someone. Max peeked up over the hood. "There."
Syxx looked through the broken windows. Out in the street, past the corner, there were over a dozen figures. They were all wrapped heavily in clothing, goggles, and some kind of homemade suits. Syxx knew what they wore wasn't tough enough to save them from radiation, but it might be enough to slow exposure, and sickness. They were just using what they had. They all stood in the middle of an intersection, almost motionless, but they were alive. Some had old hunting weapons, others had pistols, but most just had bat's or chunks of wood; a militia, or part of one.
Syxx lowered himself, sitting on his tail, and his back to the truck. "It's not our problem. Let's bypass them." With a touch of his pad, he turned invisible, sneaking by the scout militia. Rings danced around his feet, the only part that would be visible.
X
It was a long way to the North of the city. Max led him to a small commercial area of the city. Dozens of small businesses stretched along the streets, on either side. It was easy to get jumped here. All were dark. Some were boarded up. Syxx wondered if there was any that had survived on the other side. If there were, it wouldn't be much longer before their supplies ran out. The thought perished.
Max motioned his helmet forward. "There it is. That's it."
Syxx pushed his chest back, and took point. He saw a silver and blue drop pod. It landed on the sidewalk. The pavement was crushed beneath it. The hatch was closed. Syxx flipped his paw. He pointed the weapon right at the door of the craft, usually you could see through the window, but it was covered by the blackness of plasma vapour. Syxx put his left paw on the front of the weapon. Max swung by him, putting aside his gun. His gloves locked on the pod, and he stopped. Syxx nodded. Max pulled the door off the pod. The fox stuck his weapon inside the chamber. Where he had expected to see a body, there was nothing. It was empty. He spun around on one knee, pointing his weapon down the road.
"It's clear." He said.
"Shit." Max growled. "Captured?"
"I don't know. Maybe. If that's the case, he's probably dead. I don't think these are the kind'a people who take prisoners. If they can I.D. him as a Slayer, he's finished."
Max nodded. "Grab weapons and ammo. We need it more than he does."
Syxx turned back to the inside. He looked around in the pod. He spotted one back rifle on the wall. He grabbed it from off the wall. When the rifle left the wall, there was a subtle, but swift click. A pin fell to Syxx's boots.
Syxx pulled the rifle out of the pod, and ran. "Grenade." He said calmly but loudly.
Max followed tightly behind Syxx. They ran down the road. After Syxx had counted to four, he jumped to the ground, and covered his head. Max did the same thing. As soon as his body came to a stop after the slide, the cement rumbled, and a huge detonation went off behind them, lighting up the ground, and the entire block. Smoke consumed them both, but quickly cleared, and blew over. Rocks and chips of gravel showered the ground around them.
When that had stopped, Syxx clipped the Mapaw to his leg, and sauntered up with the assault rifle at his arm. Syxx now had four large weapons on his body; two rifles crossed over his back, the Mapaw at his side, and the AR in his right paw. He coughed and tried to regain the wind that had been knocked out of him. "Booby-trap."
Max had his pistol out now. "No shit."
Syxx walked back to the smouldered pod. There was only the bottom half left. It had been completely destroyed. He kicked the rubble, and watched a rock roll and bounce down the road.
"What the h-ll you kids doing here!"
Syxx spun, crouching to the ground, and pointing the weapon up toward the roof of the building, his claw tip touched the trigger of the black rifle, as he stared through the low powered scope. There was only a dim silhouette in the red sky. He made out a figure, against a banner on top of a building. There he was; it was Pyro.
The vulpine got to his feet. "Sh-t Pyro. You could'a gotten us both killed."
The coon leaped from the top of a building. He landed on a car. The windows all shattered as he landed, and his boots dented the roof in. From there he jumped to the ground. He stepped up to Syxx, and pulled the rifle out of his hands. "I figured you guys would be the only ones to survive something like that." He pulled back the action on the M28 Assault Rifle, and slung it over his shoulder. "I've had some problems with the guerrillas around here. As soon as I landed, they were crawling all over me. Almost didn't make it out. I figured if any more came, that little grenade trick would take care of anyone who was trying to track me."
"Why didn't you check in?" Syxx asked.
Pyro just pointed at the side of his helmet. On the left side, there was an incredible tare across the steel, exposing insulations, and wires. His visor was also cracked, as it spider webbed from left to right, and silver cracks tore through it.
Syxx brushed the metal wound. "Damn."
Pyro rubbed it too. "I still got a seal, but the nano-bots can't repair the electrical systems, and the gash in the armour is too jagged. Not clean, like plasma scoring. My HUD still works, but the helmets optics got baked. The speakers and mic are blown out in the helmet I think."
"No complaints?" Syxx laughed.
He shrugged. "Let's get this mission underway."
"What happened?" Max asked.
Pyro spoke through grit teeth. "I let someone get to close. Almost took my head off. A f-ck-ng big guy. Twice my size."
Max touched Syxx's shoulder with his own. "We gotta' get moving. If there are any militia's around here, they are going to be crawling all over us in no time. You must'a been able to see that cloud of smoke across the city."
"Agreed." The vulpine said simply. "Pyro, you good?"
The raccoon coughed. "As good as ever."
X
It was going to take them all day to pass back across the city. Every once and while Pyro would stop, and try to get a vehicle running, but most were too new, and had fried electronics during the EMP. He entered one, and a body fell out. He grabbed the body by the belt, and tossed it across the pavement. He got the lights of the car to turn on, but that was as far as it went. He forced the door shut to the old car, but the framing was bent, and it just bounced off.
They all walked the downtown of the city. They carried over the rubble of the once mighty structures. The streets were still filled with bodies, all rotting in the sun, and the radiation. Syxx had no intensions to take off his helmet to see what the air smelled like. He imagined it would smell burnt, and stale, but he didn't want to find out. The streets were dead. He pictured the avenue filled with people, going to work, and walking up and down the road which was always filled with cars, busses, and taxis.
They made it through the downtown core, and toward the military complex, on the west side of the city. Large steel bared fences surrounded the structure.
Syxx stopped at the edge of a street. He looked toward the complex. The actual building was in about a kilometer from the gates. He could see it in the distance. Lamp posts had been knocked over onto the fences. There were bodies that lay across the posts, and hanging over the fence as they died in hopes of finding as escape. The vulpine pulled up his SMG, holding it across his chest. His back was against the last building that would protect them from whatever lay ahead. Ahead, there was a single large two-way road, with deep ditches on either side.
Syxx peaked around the corner, seeing the complex in the distance. He stared at the building for a while, before pulling himself back around the corner. "Snipers."
Pyro, and Max were right beside him against the building.
The raccoon, peaked out, just to see how far away the building was. "How do you know?"
Syxx pulled him back in. "I can sense it. Good enough?"
Pyro was pushed back into the wall. "So, we'll cloak our way up to the bunker."
"They aren't dumb. They'll have thermals up again. These suites produce heat, they don't mask it." Syxx paused. "Move in quick short jumps. From open to cover. Don't get caught in the open. Or you are dead. We'll get across the street, and take it from there."
Pyro put the weapon on the hook over his leg. "Ok, let's do it."
Syxx peeked out around the corner again. "From here to the ditch. Got it? Stay low."
The vulpine pressed his back to the wall of the building. He put out his paw, and counted from three… two… one. At one, he rolled his shoulder around the corner at a full out sprint. He felt vulnerable. He hated it. He could feel cross hairs setting over him. The fox slide across the hood of a car. The Vortec screeched across it, ripping the paint off. He landed at his knee, and rolled across the dead grass, and into the ditch. He landed on his back with it propped up against the uphill slope on the covering side of the ditch, looking the direction he had come. He watched Pyro roll into the ditch, and Max hold his weapon into his chest, and dive into the grass. They all stopped, frozen, not a sound was heard. They waited, but there was nothing.
Syxx looked up over the trench, and across the road. He still couldn't see anything. "Move!" He barked.
The Slayers all hopped to their feet. They ran across the road, and all jumped into the ditch on the other side. There was still nothing, as they all hit the dirt. All was silent. The black clouds didn't even seem to move. Syxx could see the gate, where usually, people were let in. There was a car parked at the gates to the entrance.
Max was getting impatient. "Syxx there isn't anyone there. We would have had contact by now if they were scouting."
Syxx hissed. "Prove me wrong."
"They would have shot at us by now. They wouldn't wait for us to get this close."
Syxx looked at Pyro, as they all paused. The coon shrugged his shoulders. "Hey, I'm with you. You've kept me alive this long."
Max poked his head up over the ditch. "There's no one there. I'm telling you."
"Enough." The fox growled. "Let's get to that car. If we can push it forward, then we can use it as cover. We are not here to engage, we are here to survey. But either way, we have to enter the base and get a sense of what we are up against. Maybe we can find some intel on what they have left. Our ordinance can't puncture the fallout shelter."
"Right." Max said sarcastically.
The black vulpine growled. "Okay, ready? Let's go for it!"
The super soldiers jumped forward, running out of the ditch and up the road to the complex entrance. They all took cover behind the small car, pointing in toward the open gate. It was fairly clear that the gate had been smashed over, by something much larger. The gate lay in a heap of twisted metal, just beyond the entrance. They all now had their backs to the small car.
"Plan?" Pyro asked.
Syxx holstered the SMG on his leg. "Simple. Push."
With that, they all started pushing against the car. It didn't move at first, and then it would go forward slightly and stop, and come back ward. The Slayers continued rocking the car, until a satisfying ping was heard from the transmission of the car. The vehicle rolled back toward them. They lost ground slightly before they were able to push it forward again. Once they got it going, it rolled quite easily. It felt like they were making good ground. They put their backs into it, pushing, just fast enough so they could keep up with the truck, while still remaining under its cover. It was going well, until the vehicle came to a solid stop. The warriors piled into the bumper of the truck.
"Damn. We have hit something." Pyro stumbled to get behind the cover.
Syxx glanced under the truck, past the axels. "Can you see what it is?"
Max hissed at them both. "Oh come on! This is bullsh-t!" He stood up.
Syxx's jaw dropped. "Get down now!"
"You think there're people in there that are alive! The whole city is controlled by militias now! There is no Corneria Military left! Not here! You did it Syxx! You blew them up! It's-"
The truth was that Syxx had closed his eyes a long time ago, and determined Max's fate inside his head. Something was growing within his mind. He could hear the sound of a bolt, being pulled back as if it were right in front of him. He could hear the sound of it slamming forward in the chamber, and the pins moving within the weapon. The vulpine could visualize the glowing white mass at the center of the thermal sight. It was as if he himself could feel his paw resting on the trigger, and pulling it in, letting the battery fire.
The blast came as no surprise to him. He could hear the sound of a heavy round echo around him. After the sound of the report, the fox slide his eyes open. The first thing he saw was Max standing there, completely stunned. A hole had been pierced through the armour, going in one side and out the other. Max didn't say anything. He stood motionless. He dropped the SMG. The weapon bounced off the ground, landing at Max's boot. Syxx now noticed the blood splatter on his own visor. The vulpine's heart bounced as two more shots were fired in quick succession of each other. They both came from different directions. The breast plat of the Vortec was ripped off, and blood splashed the ground, as the two battery rounds punched their way through the insignificant plating. Max stumbled backward one step, and fell to the ground. It shook as the Vortec landed. Blood pooled around the wound quickly seeping into the cracks of the cement. The Slayer hit the dirt for the last time.
Syxx and Pyro each watched the body fall to the ground. They both remained emotionless. Not moving. They just stared at the body… falling.
Pyro raised an eyebrow. "Tough to kill."
Syxx took a breath after a short time. "We're not invincible Pyro." He looked at him. "We can die."
"Slowly the swells of light seep through." He replied.
Syxx leaned out, and grabbed the dead Slayer by the boot. They felt no pity for the Slayer, just as they were trained. It was just another death in their books. He pulled the body toward him, and turned it around, laying it before him. "Grab his helmet Pyro."
Pyro cocked his head. "Huh?"
Syxx spoke again. "It's not doing him any good now, is it?"
Pyro touched the cracked across his visor. "That's right."
"Make it quick. I don't know how much exposure it takes to kill a guy."
Pyro shook his head. "F-ck me."
Syxx smiled. "Breath in the darkened sky, white water won't wash away."
Pyro sat down on his tail like a kit. "And in times of grace-" he went for it.
Pyro pulled the helmet off Max's head. It revealed the grey cat. His eyes were closed, and his glasses were both cracked, blood dripped down his whiskers. He then opened his helmet, put it down beside him, slipped on his old HUD. "Replace my distaste." He spoke in the burnt air, outside his helmet before he lowered the new one over his head. Syxx saw dried blood covering the left lower side of his muzzle, where he had taken the blow. Pyro took his old ripped helmet, and put it back over the dead Slayer's head.
"Wait." Syxx said. "I'm going to crawl under the truck, and see what's in the way." The vulpine got down on his chest, and slowly crawled his way to the front of the vehicle. He saw glass on the ground. The light had been smashed out on the truck. He still couldn't see what it was that was stopped them though.
"Shit." Syxx slid black to the rear of the truck.
"Any good?"
"We're SOL."
"F-ck." Pyro barked. He paused. "So what's the plan? The way I see it is, if we run, were toast. How are even going to get off this planet? I doubt any shuttle on the surface even works."
Syxx slid down the tailgate, now sitting on his tail. "F-ck." He whispered. He put his head down, leaning the visor on the rifle. "F-ck."
Syxx started at the dead Slayer. "Rig him up." The Slayer took his Mapaw SMG, and held it in his other paw, now duel wielding both weapons.
"Got it." Pyro pulled the body closer. He grabbed an explosive charge from off his belt, and placed it on Max's chest; he then turned over the body. To them this was training, and in reality, the Vortec was still operational. Even in training, this was typical. If a Slayer could not be retrieved, it was up to the job of another to go in and either kill the Slayer, or destroy the armour, and in some cases, it would be both.
Pyro held the detonator. "We're set."
"Let's get moving then. Keep low, and move fast."
"Ready. Let's get on with it." Pyro smiled.
"Move out!" Syxx leaped out from behind the truck. There was another larger military vehicle parked beside them. The fox ran up the over the tailgate, over the floodlights, and rolled over the hood, finding cover behind it the engine block. The explosion quickly followed, dust and rocks rained down on him. Pyro's body soon followed. Syxx heard the hard thump of a body land on the hood, and roll past him. The windshield got cracked from the Slayer
The coon bounced off the hood, and his body hit the ground. "Wooo! There's one for the highlight real!" He cheered. He pointed his rifle around the front tire of the truck. He blind fired the SMG around the corner toward the base, as fire came their way. They were still a good distance away, over a half click.
The vulpine peaked around the corner of the vehicle. "Let's do this like how we were taught! Don't keep your head out too long, and don't come over cover at the same position." The black fox hugged his gloves around each pistol grip of the SMGs. "Covering fire!" He put his fingers on each of the double triggers that each weapon had to offer. He stood up, and turned himself toward the building. He held in the trigger of each weapon. They flashed furiously, and rumbled in each of his paws. Each Mapaw rattled as the hot cylinders flew toward the far off complex. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Pyro run ahead. He let off on the triggers, firing them in quick bursts. Syxx got down behind the military truck once more. Plasma rounds riddled the ground around him, and over his shoulders.
Pyro spoke through the microphone calmly. "In position. Stand by for fire support Syxxie."
Syxx waited. He watched each of the temperature meters on the weapons slowly fall back to normal levels.
Before he knew it Pyro was back on the radio. "Covering. Green light."
Syxx leaped, over the hood of the truck, and ran through the box. He still couldn't see any sharpshooters from here. As he ran, he would put out one paw, and aim it toward the rooftops of the complex, and fire. He tried to run in a zigzag, making it hard for them to hit him. Syxx could see all the dead bodies, and how far they had made it, he struggled not to trip over any. There were a lot, possibly hundreds scattered throughout the complex surroundings. There was defiantly a force to be reckoned with, within these walls.
The vulpine heard the sound of a shot. The ground in front of him lifted at his feet. He saw the small crater that the projectile made right at his feet. Bits of pavement smashed into his helmet, and he heard the ricochet of the battery round. Syxx fell to his side after that, his shoulder pad scraped across the cement. He found himself once again behind a vehicle. This one was extremely small, and pointed toward the complex.
He stayed low, putting one paw over the trunk of the vehicle. He pulled in the trigger, and sprayed the entire area. "On me." He said swiftly.
He watched from where he had come from, Pyro bolted up, and slid on his side. He ran into the trunk of the vehicle, smashing it in. "Owww." He fell to the cement.
Just as fast, he put his back to it, and they started pushing together. The car was light and it went fast. Pyro spun and pushed it with his chest, and arms.
Syxx came off from the car. "Keep pushing!" He poked up from the over the car, and fired both SMGs. He could hear the shots coming at them. He saw one blast through the windshield of the car, and another smash the trunk, and pass right through it to where Pyro was pushing, just missing him. The vents on the Mapaws both opened, and vapour radiated out.
Syxx ducked again, behind the fast moving car. "Hot!" The vulpine then pushed, and Pyro covered. The sniper rounds narrowly missed him. A rocket flew over the car, and hit the ground behind them, sending shards and smoke their way, and making their ears ring. Syxx could now hear more than just snipers fire, he could hear rifles. He watched the plasma bolts riddle of the ground behind him, and listened to them slap the car.
Pyro crouched beside him. "Problem!"
"What! What is it!" around the side of the car, he could now see silhouettes on the building, against the roof on the second story. When he glanced down, he saw the car heading right for another vehicle. They were going to crash. "When the car hits, don't stop moving! Dash for it!"
Seconds later, the car crashed into the parked tank. The sound of glass smashing was nothing but white noise in the hot air. When it hit, the Slayers both rolled out from opposite sides of the car. Syxx activating his cloaking, the building was within reach. The cloaking helped, but didn't solve his problem. He turned on his own thermals, but they weren't as advanced as knew ones, and the detail was low. He saw Pyro running right beside him, and the other silhouettes on the rooftop. A tracer of plasma rounds bolted toward Pyro. They washed across him. Syxx heard him yip through the armour, and he kept running. The cloaking discharged, and Pyro was once again visible.
Syxx's armour discharged too. Sparks washed across it. His was disabled because he fired the SMG in order to draw fire from Pyro. The thermals via his HUD, he could see red blobs on the roof. He pointed both guns at different ones, and fired. They both dropped, but Syxx couldn't be sure if he got them, or they covered. Never the less, it would give them the boost the make it to the building. Syxx had planned to jump through the window, but they were all boxed up with sheet metal. Instead he hit the side of the steel structure making it vibrate, Pyro was quickly behind. For a moment all was silent.
"Good?" Syxx asked.
"Just a graze. I think it actually did miss me."
The vulpine laughed, as they both hugged the building. He thought they were out of it, before a small yellow, and blue orb hit the ground in front of them. They both took off running immediately stopping the middle of their laugh. They hugged the side of the structure as they ran, and just as fast as they were out, they were back in. Syxx saw another land right beside him. Knowing that he would make it past, and not Pyro, he stopped, and picked up the orb, he didn't hesitate to throw it as soon as it was in his paw. He lobbed it straight upward, and didn't stop to watch it explode, he just ran. The world shook around him as what felt like dozens of grenades went off around them. Gravel smashed into his body, and smoke filled his vision. Rocks riddled his body, and punctured the suit. He could smell burnt air, as he in took the atmosphere of Corneria. He coughed hard as he felt the radiation against his body. The Aparoids and nano-bots quickly patched the hole though.
Syxx froze when he heard a pause in the chain of explosives. Pyro stepped quietly to catch up with him, and stuck to the wall beside him. They both looked up, but they could see nothing, just the red sky beyond the building. He heard another grenade drop; he looked to his right, noticing its distance. He turned away not moving, or breathing. He felt the blast shock his armour, but that was about the worst.
Pyro waited for a long while before saying anything. "That f-ck-ng sucked." He was rattled.
"Let's look for an entrance."
"Step lightly." Pyro added. "They'll be listening for us."
Syxx led, as they kept their backs to the wall. They circled the entire building, there was no entrance. All the windows were boarded up, and welded over with sheet metal. They wouldn't be able to get in from the bottom. Not without some tools.
The vulpine finally stopped walking, and knelt down. "I don't think they want any visitors."
Pyro picked the last D22 explosive charge from his kit. "I can get us in."
"Put that away!" The fox hissed. "I want them to think we are dead."
"I thought we were going to minimize engagement on this mission."
"Plans change." He simply said.
"So… we are… trying to… get in?"
"I've been to the fallout shelter in this base. If they have it locked down, not even that charge will get us through the doors."
"Why don't we just bomb the fuck out of them?" Pyro asked.
"Pyro?"
"What?"
Syxx spun and glared at him. "How are we going to get the ships to this planet if their entire navy is ready to blow us up? We could wait… but if they plan to rebuild and regroup, it might be too late before the Aparoids get to the planet's surface before we can take them out. They're completely self-sufficient down there. They don't need anything from the surface." Syxx sighed and pressed back against the wall. "What if we waited for a bombing run?"
Pyro shook his head. "Not gonna' work. I've seen the shell of the fallout structure. None of the bombs we have could pierce that." Pyro pushed his back against the wall. He felt the wall bend inward. He spun around, and pressed his paw into it. It was sheet metal that had been placed over an open window. It wasn't very thick; perhaps a half centimeter at the most. "I can get us through this though." He lightly tapped on it. "It's going to attract a lot of attention though… attention we don't want. I can't say what will happen on the other side. We'll be on the wrong side on the funnel."
Syxx motioned his head up toward the top of the building. He thought hard before he answered. "Do it. If the fire power on the other side is too strong… we'll have to fall back, and try to find a way off the surface."
Pyro smiled inside his helmet, excited to blow something up again. "Sounds good man!" He tilted his rifle up on the wall, and reached into the small pack on his back. He stuck a small yellow-green charge onto wall, and began programming it, while Syxx kept a watchful eye around them. Syxx and Pyro parted ways, each going on opposite sides of the charged wall.
Syxx tightened both paws around his SMGs. "Standing-by."
Pyro delivered the phrase smoothly, and clearly. "Fire in the hole."