A/N: Back by popular demand, and put emphasis on demand.

So, first scene here was actually a request by quite a few others, and I won't point fingers at who. I figured with all of the tense scenes that have complied themselves over these last couple updates, I decided to add this scene just for lols. No plot significance, but it is adorable and heartwarming and I highly suggest you do not skip it. The rest of it kicks off after that scene, so if you are a cruel, heartless person that doesn't care for a bit of heartwarming fluff, you can skip the first third of this chapter.

I'll leave it at that, but I'll be back at the end of the chapter. Take care fellas, and I hope you enjoy this update.

I get so lonely lately; nothing turns me on
Shoot the noise inside you, downtown, everybody knows
Just don't want you breaking; sell your shoes for sole
Shoot the noise behind you, downtown, everybody knows

Shoot the noise, man
Shoot the noise, man
Shoot the noise, man
'Cause downtown, everybody knows

*Battleme – Shoot the Noise, Man*

CMD Fichina – Cornerian Military Destroyer 8

"There ya go," a feline doctor smiled, gently pawing at the bandaging covering the recent stitching the black shepherd hybrid had just received on her arm. "Good as new."

"Thanks doc," DJ said happily, sitting up on the small medical bed.

"Just make sure to take good care of it," the doctor reminded, grabbing a small tablet off of the hybrid's table near the bed. "No strenuous physical activity for a while so that you avoid the risk of accidently aggravating the wound again or possibly causing an infection."

"Will do," she replied, standing up off the bed.

"If it's still hurting you in a few hours, come back down here and I'll give you some professional grade painkillers, m'kay?"

"Sure thing," she answered. "Thanks again doc."

"Anytime," he said with a grin, then turned his attention back to the tablet and began poking a few settings.

DJ had since ridded herself of her singed and ruined flight suit, now only wearing a small dark gray tank top that did an amazing job of showing off her toned muscles from the bottom of her ribcage down to her waistline, and a pair of similarly colored cargo pants. She did one last check of her bandage around the entirety of her forearm as she trotted towards the door, but stopped as she felt someone reach out and brush her leg.

"Hey, DJ," Brendan spoke up, startling the tall shepherd momentarily. The red furred vulpine was awake and somewhat mobile which was the reason DJ was caught by surprise. His entire torso for the most part was covered in bandaging underneath a thin forest green t-shirt, and his right leg was completely cloaked in a giant black boot, which confined the tod to a wheelchair. He glanced at the giant wheels of his chair and gave a sheepish chuckle.

"Uh, could you give me a little help with this?" he asked, shaking one of the wheels. DJ giggled and nodded, then slipped behind the vulpine's chair and grabbed the handles.

"You don't mind if we stop to see the others real quick, no?" she asked as she effortlessly pushed the fox out of the medical bay.

"That's actually where I wanted to go," Brendan answered. "Doc said I needed rest, but I've got more important things to take care of."

DJ instantly caught his tone of voice and smirked to herself. "So I've heard."

"And I've heard about you," Brendan cooed with a grin. "I heard that you and Captain Reeves are a couple now… is that true?"

DJ giggled and started faintly wagging her tail as she continued to wheel the crippled vulpine down the hall. "Yeah… It caught me by surprise too."

"Congrats," Brendan said with a smile. "So, you two have any plans for tonight?"

"I will dump you out of this wheelchair," she growled with a smirk, jokingly shaking the wheelchair for good measure.

"What? I'm just curious?"

"I'll give you an answer if you tell me if you and Christina have anything planned," she taunted.

"Soon as I can move on my own without this wheelchair, you'd bet your tail I do."

"You boys are so gross," DJ snickered. Brendan shrugged his shoulders, and before he knew it they were wheeling up to a door with the words "Break Room" stamped to the front. Brendan leaned forward and opened the door, and without a moment's hesitation DJ wheeled him in.

The break room they trotted into was filled with members from both Captain Reeves' bomber crew and the heavily crippled Husky Squadron, as well as a few other familiar faces. At the large table just outside the kitchen area sat four of the pilots, those being Mark, Alex, Austin, and Kassian; all playing a game of cards. On one of the couches towards the main door sat Derrick, shirtless, with a large white bandage covering his sandy brown furred ribcage, and Sabrina who was trying her best to soothe his upper body pain. The other couch sat Christina, along with the little human girl Emily, and the husky was smiling as she braided the young girl's blonde hair. Kurt, who was sprawled out on the third couch in the room, smiled and waved a wing at the duo entering the room.

"Hey fellas," he announced, grimacing as he tried to readjust himself. "Come on in; we're just chillin' out."

DJ wheeled the vulpine alongside the couch Christina was sitting on, and at the recognition of his wheelchair approaching Christina grinned even larger and rubbed at his uninjured leg.

"How's it going, cripple?" Christina taunted sarcastically. Brendan nearly snorted and shook his head.

"You're lucky I'm stuck here," he grumbled with a smirk. Emily turned her head to the sound of the unfamiliar voice, then as soon as she saw the fox's head her eyes shot wide open.

"Wow!" she gapped excitedly. "Big foxy!"

Brendan chuckled and cocked his large ears, making the girl smile even larger. "Do you like foxes?" he asked happily.

"They're my favorite!" she exclaimed ecstatically, studying the vulpine in the wheelchair intently, then frowned once she saw his large boot over his leg. "Oh, did you get an ouchie?"

The vulpine chuckled again and combed his hair back. "This kid's hilarious," he whispered to the husky, than transitioned his focus back to the blonde girl. "Yeah I got hurt a while ago. I'll be okay though."

"Yay!" Emily giggled, shifting in her seat. "What's your name?"

"Brendan."

"When you're all better will you play with me?"

Brendan grinned and winked at the light gray husky, then nodded his head. "Sure thing kid."

"Making new friends, eh Brendan?" Kurt questioned with a smirk.

"What else would I be doing?" he asked right back with his own sly grin.

"I don't know, I'm not your mother," Kurt blurted out, making the pilots gathered at the table burst into laughter. Brendan heard the unmistakable laughter from the white fox at the table and transitioned his glance to him.

"Yo, Xander," he yipped, waving his paw at him. "Someone wants to meet you."

"Who? Emily?" Alex asked, shifting in his seat. "We've already talked a bit."

"Xander's funny," Emily giggled, fingering her recently braided hair. "So is Ax. They're gonna play with us too."

"Better watch out Em," Brendan warned with a smile. "Xander's a big meanie."

"I heard that!" the white vulpine snapped, making the rest of the room erupt into laughter again.

"Nuh-uh," Emily shook her head. "He's really nice. You're the big meanie Brendan."

"Yeah, tell 'em Emily," Christina smirked, giving a wink to Brendan.

It was nice to see that so many of the other pilots were so good with children, especially a human one considering everything they were forced to deal with in regards to the race. Emily seemed to love her company too, especially the vulpines. She giggled lightheartedly when Brendan lowered his ears in an attempt to draw sympathy.

"You started it," Emily said in between outbursts of laughter.

"You're lucky I'm hurt," Brendan said with a smile. "I'd have to tickle you if you keep that up."

Emily glanced down at the red vulpine's clawed digits, then instantly closed her mouth and curled up onto the couch. "I'm sorry foxy," she squeaked.

"It's okay, I was just teasing," Brendan chuckled.

"Told ya he was mean," Alex remarked.

"Can you go two seconds without harassin' someone?" Mark chuckled, elbowing the smaller vulpine playfully.

"No I can't Ax," Alex grunted with a smirk, laying his cards face-down on the table. "No I cannot."

"I'm surprised you put up with him for so long," Kassian remarked, mimicking the vulpine's action with his own cards.

"You'd be amazed, Kass," Mark responded, pulling in the rather large mass of poker chips from the center of the table into his mound of earnings. "We've been best friends for longer than I can even remember."

"I still don't know how," Austin remarked, dealing the cards yet again.

"Hey, be nice to the foxes," Emily whined.

"Do you like Austin too?" Christina asked.

"Yeah. He's a cool wolfy."

Austin bit his tongue with a grin and shook his balled up right paw near his face in success, causing the table's occupants to start snickering and begin exchanging cards. DJ smiled at the group and decided to join in on their game.

"I like all of you guys," Emily blurted out with a smile. "You too," she said as she poked at Christina. "You're my favorite. You're really nice and super cool. You remind me of my mommy."

Christina smiled as the human girl inched closer and snuggled up to her. "Aww, thanks sweetie."

The next couple moments went rather uneventful. The five at the table continued to harass each other as they kept dealing round after round of cards, while everyone else around the three couches just enjoyed each other's company. It was a very soothing moment for all of the people involved considering all of the trouble they went through to get to this point.

Just thinking about their respective incidents and what resulted from them still felt surreal. It only took a few days of high tensioned warfare to make them realize they may not have another day to live. It could end so suddenly and so abruptly. Finally coming to that realization was what most of these pilots and soldiers needed. There was a total of four different instances between the soldiers where they finally confessed their love interest – something they normally wouldn't be comfortable in admitting in ordinary circumstances. They all came to the sudden realization that they may not have another day to live their life, so the least they could do was express it while they still could.

It might end without a moment's notice, so why try and wait another moment?

Maybe that moment could be gone just like that.

For some, that moment is a long ways away, but for others…

That moment could be closely approaching.

USS Sheppard

Admiral Gionta stared out of the window of the massive Navy Destroyer, gazing out at four different alien warships with eyes wide and mouth gapping even wider.

Four different warships. One facing towards the other three, almost as if it was a standoff. The one on its own looked exactly like the one they launched the nuclear warhead at, but instead of having the blue stripes converging at the bridge it had a dark gray color. Other than that, it was exactly the same in terms of size and construction.

On the other side of the presumed standoff was another ship exactly like that one, but instead of the same color scheme as the others it was painted in a sandy brown color with much darker brown stripes converging at the tip. The ship behind that was entirely silver, but was a bit smaller in size, but that didn't take away from its potentially dangerous capabilities.

The one in the very back was the strangest looking ship of them all. It was silver like the one preceding it, but this one had four large protruding wings on the hull, with another wing sticking straight up near the back where three large thrusters were located. On the vertical wing was a red insignia of what looked to be a fox with a large wing sprouting from its back, and below that, painted on the main hull were the words "Star Fox" in forest green letters. Towards the front of the ship was a long protrusion for the main bridge, and underneath that were two absolutely colossal energy cannons.

The Admiral shuddered and turned back to face his crew. "This is our chance. We can take them down right here. This ends today."

"Sir, there's just too many," one controller spoke up. "We won't be able to take all of them."

"We can try," he responded confidently. "This is the most fortified naval battleship on the planet after all. I have confidence that she'll hold her own against these ships."

Gionta looked at the window again, pulling his model car out of his pocket. "We need to be in position. We need to be about fifty meters in to get a clear shot, or at least the clearest shot we can manage."

"What's you plans, sir?" a different officer asked.

"If we can mount a normal projectile in the railgun, and with proper location and circumstances, we can hit those three ships that are sitting all in a row at least. It's our best option since we don't have the resources to nuke them anymore after that first strike."

"Setting course now," another controller stated sternly.

"Shall we warm up the railgun, sir?"

"Not just yet," Gionta answered. "I'm assuming they'll be able to track such a high power source. We need to wait until everything is in optimal conditions before we start diverting our power to the railgun."

Most of the controllers in the room had already commenced battle-time procedures. People on the main deck were loading up their weapon, and in no time flat they had positioned themselves in the water so that they could line up all three of those warships that were hovering comfortably in the air. He stared at the sandy brown warship that was the first in line, then turned to another controller.

"Target the… green glowing portions towards the center of the first cruiser," he commanded hesitantly. "Those things look important and highly reactive."

Within moments, a loud hum stemming from the adjusting railgun became audible to the room. After the humming subsided, another controller spoke up.

"Target acquired."

"Alright," Gionta nodded, then after a quick glance towards the warships, he clicked his car hood and gave a thumbs up to that same controller. "Get generators running full power. Prepare for railgun discharge."

Another humming sound was heard, that coming from the depths of the ship due to the generators increasing power output. Just like the last time the weapon was launched, controllers started speaking out; announcing what their screens displayed.

"Power level 56%"

"Engage power diffusion systems."

"Magnetic field charging."

"Power level 60%"

"Get emergency generators running to cut time, now."

"Target not responding. We've got a clear shot."

"Power level 68%"

Gionta transitioned his gaze to the window once again.

This was it. This was the deciding factor of the war. There were three heavily equipped and most likely heavily manned warships, all sitting in a row, just asking to be attacked. This one assault on those ships could turn the tide drastically in their favor. If they could bring down more than one ship with just one shot, it could redefine the effectiveness of strategy and warfare in general in Earth's favor. They could end this war if this one shot did what it was presumed to do.

One shot could end it all.

He clicked his car hood again, and waited for the energy to keep climbing.

"Power level 95%"

"Adjust electrical output."

"We've still got that clear shot."

"Full power achieved."

"Launch sequence initiated."

This was the second time this weapon was launched against their invaders, but it still put a slight grin on the Admiral's face when the countdown begun. It somehow gave him the sense of even more power, even though he was the officer with the most authority on the battleship.

"Five."

The humming returned once again.

"Four."

He shut the red model car's hood yet again with another audible click.

"Three."

His sly grin faded when he saw the last warship in line start to pivot.

"Oh fuck." he muttered. "They found us. THEY FOUND US!"

"Two."

His heart dropped when that last dreadnaught in line pointed those two colossal cannons directly towards the USS Sheppard. The tips of those cannons started to glow in a pale yellow glow, which made the Admiral lose all color in his face.

"FUCKING FIRE THE DAMN GUN!" Gionta barked.

"We're not ready yet!"

"One."

The glow of those cannons on the large silver warship became much brighter and more defined, and it was driving the Admiral insane the way he sat helpless like this.

"Fire."

Admiral Gionta let his car click one last time as soon as the cannons on the warship fired, launching twin energy beams directly at his ship. The railgun electrified and launched just in time, because as soon as the projectile left the rails the beams of the Great Fox impacted the USS Sheppard – instantly detonating the boat and essentially vaporizing it with the intense energy launched at it. The Cornerians were too late, however – the projectile launched by the Navy ship was hell bent on destruction.

The pointed metal projectile zooming at Mach 7 hit Destroyer 1's G-diffusers with so much force that it ripped through the ship like it was a piece of tracing paper. Sparks flew from the impact sight, instantly igniting the fuselage in a cataclysmic explosion, shaking the ground even though it was at least half a mile above the surface. There was practically nothing left after the smoke cleared around that cruiser, and with the lack of any functioning systems it sunk towards the surface like a rock in pure water.

Essentially losing no momentum whatsoever, the human projectile rammed into the main hull of Pepper's flagship. Considering the G-diffusers were in a different location towards the rear of the ship, there was no massive explosion, but the fact that his flagship was made of a much softer material made the projectile literally split the ship in half. It hit with enough force to tear the ship into two pieces, reminiscent of snapping a pencil in half. Just like Destroyer 1, that ship lost most, if not all of its systems, and that too dipped towards the surface of the planet.

Instead of impaling the Great Fox's hull like it was originally drawn up by the battleship's crew, the railgun projectile ripped through all three of the dreadnaught's thrusters because of its motion to attack the aforementioned boat. It instantly detonated all of the stabilizing thrusters, causing that ship to malfunction just like the others that had been struck and essentially destroyed in a matter of seconds. The Great Fox spiraled out of control with lack of stabilization, and just like the other ones it had no control until it hit the surface.

For Destroyer 1, that poor ship was entirely gone, and there was no arguments disproving it. It was completely engulfed in flames, and if there was a survivor on the remnants of that ship it would have been considered a miracle. The pointed tip of the warship impaled the ground, causing a huge tremor in the earth as the rest of the obliterated body followed suit. The ship practically imbedded itself into the ground almost fifty feet deep, and the blazing inferno ignited nearby trees and grasslands as well, making a genuinely believable apocalyptic scene in the surrounding radius of the ship's compromised remnants.

Pepper's flagship was next to hit the ground. The front part impacted first, but luckily it didn't hit with very much force. It did dig into the soft earth quite a bit however, but at least it didn't detonate like the rear portion of the flagship did. The fuselages exploded almost instantly after that segment of the cruiser hit the ground, but since there was much less fuel than what was in Destroyer 1, the explosion was much less devastating than that Destroyer. It did cause a bit of forestry fire as well, as well as creating a massive plume of ink black smoke, but it wasn't as extravagant as Destroyer 1's inadvertent pyrotechnics showing.

The spiraling Great Fox took its sweet time in slowly inching closer to the ground. It looked like a helicopter that had lost the entire rear wing and was spiraling out of control with the thrusters on the back blazing with white hot flames. It was apparent that the dreadnaught was attempting to stabilize itself, but right as it looked like it would touch down calmly, one of the thrusters had a secondary detonation, causing it to roll slightly. That little roll was all the Great Fox needed to impale the ground with one of its stabilizing wings, and with the force and speed it was carrying, the wing ripped off and sent the remnants of the ship barreling into the earth. The other wings were sheared off and were sent soaring like oversized helicopter blades, some imbedding themselves into the ground hundreds of feet away as the ship continued to carve out a trench in the soft earth. The compromised warship barreled over tens of trees before finally rolling to a rocky stop only feet away from a giant cliff drop.

There was a distinct path in the earth where the Great Fox rolled over and over and over again. There were also flames lighting a few patches of grass and bushes in the area around the warship and the warship's trench it carved into the surface as well. Destroyer 1 was essentially starting a forest fire with the insane inferno stemming out of the obliterated fuselages. The rear of Pepper's flagship was the start of another fire, but the front of it – luckily – was almost perfectly fine. That was the best looking piece of all the compromised Cornerian engineering that had hit ground involuntarily after being impaled by the human's railgun, not including the other Destroyer that had watched helplessly as those three ships were reduced to falling to the surface.

CMD Fichina – Cornerian Military Destroyer 8

The entire bridge was deathly silent.

In a matter of minutes, they had gone from tense and emotional negotiations, to finally deciphering the outcome of the war, to watching helplessly with gapping mouths and even wider eyes as all three of those cruisers were completely destroyed right before their eyes. There was no warning; one minute they had finally figured out the outcome of the war, and the next they had been taken advantage of by a surprise human attack.

Danny was staring intently at the wreckage of Destroyer 1. It was completely shrouded in flames, and the ink black smoke pouring out of the wreckage put a sour taste in the collie's mouth. He lowered his head and folded his paws over his midsection as he let all of the air out of his nose.

Wolf open-mouth-gasped when Pepper's flagship split in half. He had never seen such a fortified Cornerian ship get torn apart so violently and so effortlessly before. Although he finally prayed for the first time in his life that the crew of that ship made it out of that brutal impact okay, he still had his doubts. After all, he still firmly believed deep down it was what they deserved. They were adamant about keeping their attack for far too long, and they were far too late when it came to their decision to retract. They were slow on the realization of their faults, and that incompetence and reluctance to accept the truth turned out to be a terrible blow to the warship.

Fox's eyes filled with more and more tears after every roll the Great Fox executed. He counted how many times it had completely rolled over, but after the seventh complete rollover he couldn't count anymore. He watched with an absolutely terrified expression as the wings were sheared off, then after it had come to a complete stop he whimpered and let the buildup of tears flow down his cheeks. The bridge had been severed from the main hull right at the base of the body, and luckily that protrusion was still intact. He just prayed the people in there were intact as well.

Wolf transitioned his gaze to Fox, and after his heart split at the kit's emotions, he spun around and attempted to leave the bridge.

"Wolf, where are you going?" Danny asked.

"I'm going down there," he responded almost instantly.

"Wolf, wait, it's too dangerous!" Danny cried. "There could still be more soldiers down there."

"I need to save him!"

"Nobody could survive something like that!" the collie explained.

"James would," Wolf responded. "He's a tough son of a bitch, and I'm saving him."

"Wolf, please," Danny pleaded, but Wolf instantly cut him off.

"My father is down there!" he snapped. "I know he survived, and I'm getting him out of there."

Without another word, Wolf bolted out of the bridge and dashed towards the hangar. Sheila groaned and knelt down near Fox.

"Stay here Fox," she commanded calmly. "I'm gonna follow him."

She too dashed out into the hallway after Fox nodded in acknowledgement, still with tears streaming from his face. After the husky ran through the winding hallways and finally burst through the doors of the hangar, she just managed to see Wolf's Arwing shoot out of the hangar and instantly dip towards the surface. She groaned again, letting her near three feet of hair interlock itself with her ears and muzzle as she lowered her head, then after brushing it back into place she located another vacated Arwing and prepped it for launch.

Wolf landed only minutes after he had launched, touching down in a small clearing very close to the Great Fox's blazing remnants. He shot out of the cockpit and took step after hesitant step towards the huge blazing fire stemming from the Great Fox's thrusters, all the while dodging small and copious amounts of small grass fires flaring up near the dreadnaught's trench it had dug.

Although the lupine had his doubts and was half expecting not a single lifeform to escape from the wreckage, he was still pleasantly surprised and amazed at the sight of James crawling out of the shattered windshield of the main bridge. His arms and face were cut up, as well as his flight suit, and some of the cuts in his fur were oozing blood, staining his fur and suit. He managed to stagger to his feet, and at the sight of Wolf he bared his teeth slightly, still panting heavily with blood dripping from the tip of his nose.

"Dad!" Wolf shouted over the sound of Sheila's Arwing touching down a few feet behind his. He started to run towards him, and after he was within inches of the injured tod he stopped and held out his arms.

"Dad, thank the gods you're ok," he announced with a smile, then as soon as he tried to embrace the vulpine he felt himself get pushed away by him. He instantly raised an eyebrow at James' angered expression and contracted muzzle.

"Dad?" he called out confusedly, and before he could process his next move James had inched closer and pushed him harshly again.

"I TRUSTED YOU!" he barked irately, clenching his paws and letting his bushy and bloodied tail flick wildly as the lupine staggered backwards. "I decided to believe in your story, and it turns out I NEVER SHOULD HAVE!"

"Dad…" Wolf said hoarsely, letting a bit of water well up in his eyes.

"I'm not your fucking father!" James snarled, again pushing him even farther backwards. "You never were my son! You've always been the fuckin' outcast – the one no one cares about! Why should I care about you when you tried to make up that story to defend those aliens that just tried to kill me?!"

Right when Wolf opened his muzzle to answer, all that came out was a forced breathy grunt as James pushed him with much more force, making him fall backwards onto the ground. James pulled back his arm to continue his attack, but coming to the wolf's rescue was Sheila, hopping in and pushing the angered fox away. As James staggered backwards, he clamped his paw around Sheila's wrist before she could pull back her arms, and in a matter of seconds James had harshly forced the husky to her knees, all the while wrapping his arm around her neck. She struggled to break his hold, then instantly froze when she heard a click resound from right under her ear.

Wolf sat up, then felt his muzzle unhinge as he saw James holding a gun to Sheila's head. His eyes were blazing, and the expression that had found its home on the vulpine's contorted muzzle was that of sheer hatred – an expression Wolf hadn't seen since the day after the satellite, and even at that this particular face had much more visible seething rage than that day.

"James…" Wolf squeaked as he slowly slid to his feet. "Let her go. Please."

"Shut it!" he barked, fighting to keep the taller husky under control. He harshly pulled her up to her feet, but still kept the handgun lodged under her ear.

"Please, leave her out of this," he pleaded shakily. "You're mad at me, not her. Let her go; I'm begging you."

James smiled sadistically and started quietly chuckling maniacally, caressing the trigger of the weapon. "And to think I believed you," he muttered almost inaudibly in a terribly broken voice, shaking his head in the process. "I thought I had a genuine apparition. I believed your story. I thought I finally knew what the real reason why this war started was, but in reality… I didn't… In fact… I knew since day one. I knew the humans had it out for us."

"James, that's not true," Wolf said in a fake calm voice, because in reality his emotions were running haywire. His father was mere inches from blowing her head off, and from the looks of it nothing was going to break his mentality behind it.

"Explain to me why it isn't, Wolf, before you have to start looking for a new mate."

Sheila flushed as the barrel of the weapon dug deeper into her fur. She whimpered and let a few tears well in her eyes as James snickered to himself coldly, almost as if the whole conversion before the humans' attack hadn't even happened.

"They were just defending themselves," Wolf replied slowly, making sure one of his words wouldn't inadvertently set off James' trigger. "They were just as upset that we attacked as we were, and they were just doing what we would do in a situation like this."

"They tried to kill me!" James snarled.

"They tried to kill everyone!" Wolf shot back. "They didn't target you! We waited too long to leave, and now they're going after us to make us leave! We were too late!"

"No, you're too late," James replied stoically, tightening his arm on Sheila's neck. "You're gonna feel what it's like to have your lover taken away by someone who can't and won't apologize for it."

"Please!" Wolf screamed, tears starting to flow from his eyes and streak down his gray furred cheeks.

"What'll it be?" the vulpine questioned acidicly. "We get regrouped with more ships and troops, and continue wiping this planet clean, and you and your girl get a nice little room locked up for turning on your own home world… or you get relegated to cleaning up her blood off the ground, and you still get sent to prison."

"James, please… Don't do this."

"What will it be?" he repeated with pauses and irate inflections, keeping his tight hold on the husky. Sheila by now was crying audibly, tears streaming down her cheeks and onto the vulpine's cut up and bloodied arms, intermixing with his dark crimson blood. She started squeaking as she tightly clamped her paws down on his arms to try and ease the pressure he was unknowingly putting on her airways. Wolf stared at James with a helpless and defeated expression, making the tod's pleasure in torturing the lupine increase.

"I didn't have a choice," James continued. "My wife was taken away from me by those humans, and right when I was going to accept their mistaken wrongdoings, they go and try and kill me too. Vixy tried to change my view, and it worked for a little bit, but as soon as those humans tried to kill me too I knew I couldn't believe anyone! Not even my own wife! I knew what I had to do from the start, and people like you are gonna get in the way of me getting my revenge for the hell they put me through!"

Wolf fell to his knees in confliction, still not able to try and console him. He was inconsolable. Even after his wife spoke to him as he kept saying before, he still would not accept the truth. His pain caused him to do crazy things, and continue doing crazy things. He was going to cause even more pain to himself and everyone else if he kept his actions up. Wolf had one last chance to try and snap him out.

"Dad… I'm… I'm so sorry," Wolf choked shakily, lowering his head to the dirt.

"It's too late for sorry!" James snapped again. "You and your furless ape friends have done too much to me and my family to just come out and say you're sorry. I almost lost everything because of this war! I'm not going to accept a piddly apology for that!"

Wolf let his arms fall to his sides limply. "I'm… sorry."

"I told you I'm not accepting your damn apology!" James barked, tightening his hold on his weapon. "Give me a fucking answer to my question or I will fucking kill her! I'm not fuckin' around here!"

Wolf picked his muzzle up, revealing his heavily watered violet eyes and his visibly conflicted expression. He let out an agonized sigh, then gazed into the tod's burning emerald green eyes and spoke in a heavily broken and shaky voice.

"I'm sorry dad, but if anyone's gonna tan your hide… It's me."

BANG

Sheila screamed loudly as she heard a gun discharge, but instead of feeling her world go dark, she felt the vulpine's arm go limp around her neck and slide off. The next sound she heard after her screaming subsided was a heavy thud from the ground near her. She hesitantly opened her eyes and glanced over to the source of the thud, then gasped at the sight of James' wide open, but unresponsive emerald eyes.

She turned her glance to Wolf, who had just released his grip on a small concealed handgun and stared at the body of James with even larger eyes. As the gun clattered to the ground, he stood up off the ground and started crying loudly.

"GOD DAMMIT JAMES!" the lupine shouted in a voice shattered like glass. "WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST LISTEN?! WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THE TRUTH?!"

He bent down and picked up the handgun, then spun and hurled it over the toppled trees. He sobbed loudly and turned to face the corpse once again.

"This is your fault! YOURS!" he continued, snarling with an intensity that was almost feral. "You wouldn't accept the fucking truth, and look what god damn happened! DAMMIT! Why wouldn't you just fucking listen James? Why didn't you just let her go?!"

Wolf broke down after his last outburst, flopping into the dirt face first and cried with an intensity the husky had never seen before. She took another quick glance at the tiny hole ripped over James' right eye, then rushed to the sobbing lupine.

Wolf heard the husky's footsteps coming, then before Sheila could even react the lupine had sprang up and embraced her frame tightly, letting his tears flow onto her shoulder.

"Are you ok Sheila?" he whispered questioningly, breathing heavily into her neck as his paws cradled her head.

"I'm fine," she replied in her own shaky voice, herself embracing the lupine tightly. Wolf let out another grief filled sob again as he buried his muzzle into her hair.

"I killed him," Wolf gasped breathily and disbelievingly. Sheila continued her consoling embrace as she rubbed both of her paws on his back.

"I had to," he continued, tightly grasping the husky's head. "He was going to kill you. He was going to slaughter you like an animal because he wanted to get back at me. This is all my fault."

"No it's not," she replied with watery eyes. "He just wanted to pin the blame on someone. Wolf, he wasn't going to change. Even when he saw his wife like he said he did, he wasn't going to change. I hate to say it, but… you did the right thing. He was gonna make things even worse if he stayed alive."

"He was my father," he interrupted. "He sacrificed so much for me, and I did that to him."

Sheila lifted his head up and held in in both of her paws. She wiped away a few of his tears with her fingers, then pressed her nose against his.

"His flaws just came back to bite him," she stated, making Wolf's muzzle open slightly in realization. "Just like Nathan said. He refused to believe the truth, and… it… got him killed. You didn't kill him Wolf… his flaws did."

Wolf sniffed and buried his muzzle deep into the husky's hair again. "Sheila… I'm… I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry too," she responded, continuing her tight embrace on the lupine. She happened to look over towards the trees, then almost gasped at the sight of a bloodied arctic fox leaning against the tree.

Vince narrowly survived the impact, judging by his appearance. His clothing was tattered and covered in blood, much like his fur, and he was panting heavily as he propped his weight against a tree. His mouth was gapped, signifying he had saw the entire ordeal as it unfolded. James' meltdown, the talks, and the gunshot; he saw everything.

Transitioning his gaze from the Great Fox's remnants, James' corpse, and the couple embracing each other wholeheartedly, he slowly pulled up his transmitter and spoke into it breathily.

"This is Stazac," he said stoically, then after letting a long breath of air through his nose, he continued in that same voice. "Bring Destroyer three to our coordinates for picking up survivors immediately. We're picking up whoever's left, and getting off this planet immediately."

He sighed once again and stared at the chaos that had ensued over the last couple minutes, then continued his message with a slight grin.

"The war is over."

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The war may be over, Vince, but this story isn't. Stay tuned for a few more resolving updates, hopefully very soon. As usual, please tell me what you guys think of this chapter, because I'd be lying if I said this chapter didn't matter, obviously. I wanna hear from everyone on this chapter, so please, make use of that little text box down there \/ (if you're on mobile... whatever you do on there to leave feedback is greatly encouraged).

I hope to hear from you guys soon, and I hope you enjoyed this update. Take care fellas, and stay tuned for a bit more from me.