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Keep it Open,
SyxxFox
Rogue Fox Armageddon Soul
Chapter XXV
The Agent for Change
"Want it, You got it,
You're sorry,
You bought it,
You're sliding,
Want it, You got it,
You're sorry,
You bought it,
Can't hide it,
Tell me who do you see,
'Cause you look a lot like me,"
THE OFFSPRING – "A Lot like Me"
"So… where do we start Sir?"
The young raccoon Sergeant stood perfectly straight in the office of the Commissioned Officer. The Colonel seemed to ignore him for a moment. He finished writing away on the numerous documents on his desk. The Sergeant waited in his place obediently, until Harper was finished what he was doing.
The orange feline paused for a moment and put down the pen. "What do you mean Sergeant?"
"Sir? I mean, what do you want me to do with the Slayers?"
The feline leaned forward in his seat, and placed both paws on the desk top, wrapping them around each other. "The Slayer's training is complete Sergeant."
"I understand Sir."
"So? Then what's the problem?"
"Slayers were… bred to kill Sir. This is two years in the making, and rebellious activity in and around the system has never been higher. When do we deploy the Slayers?"
"Slayers cannot be deployed Sergeant. Technically, they don't even exist."
"Sir... with all due... ugh… permission to speak freely?"
"Granted."
"Thank you. The Slayers are here, we might as well use them. Just the forty so of them can have this system cleaned up in no time."
Colon Harper leaned back into his large chair. "Each Slayer will be assigned a task as they come. It doesn't matter what Slayer gets sent to which assignment. Each one will complete it just as fine as the next."
"Yeah, but what about Starwolf? O'Donnell must have… maybe thousands of goons around the system. We can make quick work of that."
"Sergeant, you're no longer needed to run Slayer."
"But… it's been two years. I can't go back to training regular soldiers. Not after that."
"If you would like, I do need someone to help with assigning and finding the Slayer's tasks. You still get to work with the program and spend time with the Slayers."
"Sir, I don't have the rank to authorize-"
"You do now, congratulations Lieutenant."
The raccoon cocked his head sideways. Promotions didn't regularly happen like this. There was a formal way of doing it.
The feline went on. "I took care of the paper work."
"Uhh… Thank you… Sir."
"As for Starwolf and his rebellious forces… cut off the head of a snake, and the body will die."
"What if that doesn't work? Someone else will just take his spot."
"I don't think the rebels will have an easy time deciding that. It could cause their whole system to collapse."
"Then there's just a whole bunch of smaller groups."
"They will have wars within each other and will make it easier for us to clean up. A Slayer is the agent for change Ramirez."
"Sir?"
"Lieutenant, bring me Syxx."
X
It always seemed to be cloudy and miserable here. The palace in the sky never seemed to escape from the rainy and thundering weather of the planet Sauria, not since he had been here anyways. He had seen her here once before, when he had returned the first Krazoa Spirit from the face of the planet. It was hard for him to understand the magical force that the planet withheld, especially for the fact that his life, he had been surrounded by modern Cornerian technology. It didn't make any sense to him.
Fox McCloud walked to the very top of Krazoa Palace. He had seen this girl once before. It was the last time that he returned a spirit. He found it easy to get lost in her radiant blue fir. He wondered what she would think if she knew he was looking at her like this. She was more of a secondary objective, but it was his job to help.
Fox looked up at the blue vixen, surrounded in a crystalline casing. This wasn't even where he was supposed to return the Krazoa to; he just wanted to see her again.
"…Fox…"
"…Fox…"
X
"Fox."
The black vulpine shook his head hard. His eyes sprung open. He wasn't sure what woke him up. He looked out the windows of the Hook Echo's canopy. He saw nothing but hundreds of thousand of white, yellow, and blue speckles of stars. Syxx took a deep breath, and calmed himself. He read over the gauges of the fighter, ensuring that everything read to be green. All the charges were full, and the engines were idling, pushing him through space. The Hook Echo would have warned him if anything dangerous had come to view. He himself was invisible on the radar, but they could still visibly see him for the time being. But that was pretty slim. Space was big.
He sighed, resting his cheek in his palm, which led down to his forearm witch was in turn, propped up on his armrest. His eyes wondered around the cab of the fighter, looking at the once empty hooks and latches which now held items like, parts for the Mapaw, his helmet and spare parts for the Vortec, which he was currently wearing.
He could feel butterflies in his stomach. He knew his mission well. The dark Slayer didn't even bother to read the intelligence report on the foe he was about the fight. He knew him well. The fox knew him as Wolf O'Donnell, a man that has been trying to kill him his whole life time. Team Starwolf also took what he had cherished most. Krystal.
He was more then happy to oblige, and go after Wolf. But, the downside to this mission was, that he would probably see Krystal, but Krystal wouldn't see him. It made him smile, he never wanted to see or hear of her again, and he knew that unlike him, she lived with regret. He saw her at his own funeral, and how she acted. It made him happy. But before they all knew it, Wolf would be dead… and to them, it would be for no apparent reason. Someone in the hideout would take the fall.
"Fox."
Syxx felt his heart give one hard beet before his training slowed it. His listened closely again. The cockpit was completely silent, but he had patients. It would still be another few hours until he neared Wolf's hideout. He minimized his movements, only listening to the lightness of his breath. He waited for a long time, and thought it was just his mind screwing with him. He never got pre-battle jitters anymore. Not since he had become a Slayer.
"Fox."
The vulpine's black ears perked. He paused for a moment, without removing his head from the propped forearm, and opened all the comm. channels.
He took a shallow breath, stroked his gold tooth with his tongue and spoke. "Who's there?"
It took a moment for the answer to come. "I know who you are."
The fox lifted his head from his propped paw, now taking the matter a little more seriously. "Who is this?"
"Don't you recognize me? My son?"
Fox wrapped his paws into tight fists. The gloves of the Vortec multiplied his strength. "You." He growled. "I should have known."
"Fox McCloud… my son… what has become of you?"
The dark fox panted and laughed. "I'm not Fox McCloud. Fox died over two years ago. I'm all that's left over."
"You should be ashamed of yourself Fox. The people you hurt, the ones you left behind. You're acting completely selfish."
Syxx could still recall the days that he did care. A solitary contact with his father would have meant the world to him. But that didn't matter these days. There was no mental war within. He didn't care for James McCloud, his own father. Syxx never felt ashamed for what he had done, and this wasn't about to change it. Not over this.
The vulpine started to get angry with the voice over the system, knowing that he had been found out for the first time. "I'm acting selfish am I? Not the ones that left me, the ones that expected me to be a hero and to be strong while I was ignored?"
"I understand that-"
"Hey pal. I don't give a f-ck, if you understand or not. You're telling me, that I'm acting selfish? Where have you been my whole life old man? Where are you today? Are you that much different then me? I'm still doing my job, so you just wanna' f-ck off and leave me alone?"
"There's no escaping who you are."
"I don't care much for your philosophies, you're too late. It's too late for Fox. Now how did you find me here? How did you know?"
"You're my son."
"No. I'm not. I'm Syxx."
"That's just a label. You're still the same person. Your name changes nothing."
Syxx glanced over the radar, but it was completely empty. "Where are you?"
The voice of the older vulpine went silent for a moment. "You're a disgrace to the McCloud name."
"I'm no disgrace. Fox McCloud died a hero, and that's how everyone will remember him. I'm best off forgotten. Now, how'd you find me?"
"I know everything all about-"
The black fox finished his father's thought. "Then you should know that you're too late, and about what happened to me to make me who I am, and if you know everything about me, then you know that I've moved on. I'd suggest you do the same."
"Don't you know what you put people through? What about Peppy?"
"Peppy was too busy for me. He had an army to run, he didn't care about me."
"That's not true. What about Falco? Bill? Slippy? Fox… what about Krystal?"
The black vulpine laughed, closing his eyes. "You read the headlines, she is responsible for my… Fox's death."
"You have no idea what you have put her through, what you are putting her through, do you?"
Syxx looked down at the radar as it blipped. A small object appeared on it, trailing a distance behind him. The Slayer was bred to kill. To him, it was second nature, just as natural as breathing. His father meant nothing to him. All Syxx needed was himself. He took the safeties off his weapons. "Don't think I'm above killing you."
"How can you say that?"
"LOOK!!" The black fox snapped. "Why are you being so tough on me!? What about you!? All my life, I've been wondering if you were dead or alive!! There's probably people wondering the same about me!! I don't give a f-ck!!" He calmed down with a few deep breaths and finished. "Tell me, who do you see? 'Cause, you look a lot like me."
He pressed a button on the Hook Echo's controls, cutting off the radio before there was a chance to reply.
He grit his teeth together, hard. His paws rolled into tight fists. He never thought this day would come, especially after his phase change. It was true what he said, it was much too late to save Fox. Part of him wished that his father came along before he "died." But the majority of him was angry that he ever showed himself again, and the time wasn't exactly opportune.
He took a deep breath calming his nerves. It wasn't good to get this tense before a mission. He had to cool himself. He was exited though. It was his first mission, and was such an honor to him. Even if another Slayer was sent, he wouldn't have let them go. He wanted to put an end to this man. He wanted to be the one that killed Wolf O'Donnell. And if anyone were to get in his way, then that would be too bad for them.
X
Syxx sat straight up in his seat. He looked on the radar. He knew now that he was here. He remembered Sargasso Hideout. It had been years since he had last been here, but he remembered it as if were yesterday. It brought back memories that he didn't want to see. The fox remembered defeating Wolf, and his team here. He remembered his team being there. He remembered Krystal being there, and he knew that she was still here. This would be closest he will have been to her in years.
He saw it before it came onto the radar. It still had the same shape, but many more compartments had been added onto it over time. Asteroids still surrounded it. The large meteor rocks spun around the hidden base. He guessed Wolf still thought he was being sneaky, but the Cornerian Military and Navy had known where the hideout was for many years now.
He let up on the engines. Since the last time he was here, there was much more activity around the base. Wolf sure did have a lot more forces since he last checked up on him. Maybe he was getting a little spooked of a naval attack on his base, and put out patrols.
How Syxx would have loved to hit the thrusters and fight all of them, but he wouldn't be able to go in there with the Echo. Not this time. He was invisible on radar, but to be visually invisible it meant he would have to cut out the engines of the silver ship. The F1 would have to sit this one out, but he still needed to get close enough to get into the base.
His trained mind worked fast. He watched the large passing meteors, easily ten times the size of his ship. He knew what to do now. He turned the silver and black fighter toward a rock. It had a slow rotation, so he had to ensure, that he did it right the first time to not damage any parts on the F1. Soon, it came to a halt on top of one of the rocks.
All became silent, after the landing gear latched the ship tightly to the spinning rock. He waited in the silence for a moment, just thinking.
He sighed, eyes drifting around and making sure the he was calm enough. The fox reached a paw to a latch. He grabbed the flat back helmet with a gleaming silver visor. He placed that on his lap, and put on the HUD. Syxx ensured that it communicated correctly with his armor before placing the helmet over it.
A hiss came from the sides of the seals of the helmet and the Vortec. The HUD verified that there was a successful seal and started providing him with oxygen and recycling his air. The fox tapped the touchpad of his Vortec, linking him to his ship, so he would always be able to find it.
Syxx unlatched the seatbelt coupling, now grabbing down toward the floor, where his Mapaw sat on a hook. The Vortec and his HUD recognized the weapon and showed its status. It was ready. With both paws, he pulled the Mapaw to his chest, and latched it to the armor plating on his front side. It was now out of his way, along with a rifle barrel and stock that attached to the outside of each of his thighs.
Without looking he moved a paw to the black knife that sat over the left side of his chest. He let go of the handle and smiled. "Let's do it."
He tapped at the controls of the Hook Echo, and engaged its camouflage. The canopy became a vacuum as he commanded. The canopy opened as he commanded. Now, everything was dead silent, the only thing that reverberated though the atmosphere of the Vortec was his own breath.
As left the Hook Echo, and closed the canopy it disappeared altogether. He hung onto an invisible panel, knowing he would just float away if he let go. Syxx looked above him, where the hideout now was. If he missed, he would be lost forever… well until they tracked him down by the chip in his neck. He might still survive if he missed and another Slayer was sent to pick him up.
He waited, using the zoom on his HUD, trying to tell when the right moment to jump was. He knew it was nearing, and he had done longer jumps before. He knew he could make it; it was only a kilometer away. It was a short jump.
Syxx bent at the knees, glancing down at the invisible structure he stood upon. He looked up one more time and jumped.
He grunted as he left the huge rock. It was silent as he flew though space. The Slayer flew like a missile, straight and true. He pressed a button on his armor, and he became invisible.
A trio of dark grey ships flew at him, but turned off. Syxx activated the heat vision on his armor. He liked being able to see his arms and legs. The hideout neared him fast. He wondered what velocity he was traveling at.
He was just about to hit the steel wall of the space base and he sighed calmly to himself. "Ahhh sh-t."
He reached across his chest and gripped the blade of his knife. His body slammed into the side of the hideout. Before his bounced off, the fox wedged his blade between two panels of the smooth surfaces, and drew himself into the wall. He shook his head and snapped out of it. All the air had been pushed out of his stomach, he breathed hard to get it back.
The cloaking had discharged, and he deactivated the heat vision. He feared looking down at the Mapaw on his chest. It had taken most of the blow, but when he did look it at, it remained completely intact, and the Vortec claimed it still worked.
Syxx remained motionless on the side of the wall until he could reactivate his cloak. The Slayer crawled along the side of the base. He looked for the plasma gate that let ships in and out of the base while still keeping the atmosphere in. He had used it with his Arwing when attacking the base years ago.
There was one on each side of the base. It didn't take long to find one of the two. Syxx stuck his head through the blue watery wall, and instantly because confused. Everything was upside down, when all of a sudden; his arms couldn't touch the walling anymore.
He moaned again. "Ah, f-ck." He knew what the problem was.
He began tumbling through the atmosphere of the hideout as the artificial gravity took effect. He had been on the ceiling, and before long, hit the floor. The amore thumped loudly as his back hit the flooring of the hanger.
Syxx scrambled to his feet. He spun around. Five apes stared directly at him. His heart raced. He bared his teeth behind the visor and wielded the Mapaw pistol form in his paw. He held his fire, wondering why they were looking at him, and not firing their Blasters in return. The reason was that they couldn't see him, but they had heard him. His HUD still said that his cloaking was activated.
His heart calmed, and he placed the weapon back over his chest, while taking out his knife. Without making a single tap of his boots, he disappeared into the shadows of Sargasso Hideout.
X
Wolf sat in front of the TV. His life had become pretty boring the past few months. Though he had been doing a lot of recruiting, they were all just scum, mostly in it for the money, or the spite.
Leon was still his normal arrogant self, and Panther sill hung around to. Krystal, had left their team years ago, and to this day, they all still wondered where she had gone. When the day that announced that she had been responsible for Fox McCloud's death had rolled around, he became jealous of her. Though, he knew that she had little if nothing to do with it, he wanted his tag on Fox's death. Not Krystal's
There was nothing he could do about it now though. Fox was dead, and Krystal was as good to him as dead. It had taken a lot of the excitement out of his life. He still wanted his revenge on Fox.
The wolf soon grew tired of watching TV and retired to his chambers. As he came to his large room on the top of the hideout, the silvery doors opening as he commanded. The room was dark.
"Lights on." The large Lylatian stated.
The bright semi-blue lights faded in, marking the perimeter of the room. As he walked in, the door shut behind him. He sighed, making his way toward the bathroom. He paused. Something was out of place. Something was not right. It was probably Leon steeling stuff from his room again. But after a quick glance nothing seemed to be missing. In fact, there was something extra.
The wolf stepped toward his nightstand. He looked at the object. "What's this?"
He picked up the black and silver item. He spun it in his paws. A bright silvery visor took up the front. He could see a diluted reflection of himself in it. He spun it around again. On the back, was a small white star on a panel that dipped into the back of the helmet.
"What the…" He slowly turned around, tossing the helmet in one paw, when he froze. A man stood five meters away from him. Black armor covered his body, with a few select armor plates that were in fact silver, like the shoulder pads.
"Who the h-ll are you?"
The man stood there. His head was slightly lowered. The fox stood in a wide stance. His arms slightly out from his sides, his gloves open, and his fingers were bent a little to. An expressionless and emotionless look covered his face. His black fur gleamed while a white strip of head fur jetted backward. A small glass screen covered his left eye. He looked like a true warrior.
"How'd you get in here!?" Wolf said, becoming aggressive.
"You're Wolf O'Donnell."
"These are private quarters, and I don't call security. I'm my own."
"That will work fine for both of us then."
"What do you want?"
"Do you know who I am?"
"Would I have asked?"
"I suppose not."
Wolf got angrier. He wanted to pull out his Blaster and just shoot the fox, but there was something familiar about him. It didn't matter. He was a trespasser, and obviously smaller, therefore he was going to be weaker. Wolf growled and stepped toward the man. He drew his paw back, and swung in anger.
He was sure it would be a dead on hit, but it wasn't. The man still stood there, now a little more to his left. Wolf tried again. He swung. He felt a paw grabbing his flying wrist, pulling it toward the ground, as the mysterious man's elbow cracked the side of his head.
Wolf stumbled forward and away from the smaller fox. He was getting mad now. "I want you out!"
"I can't do that."
"Why!?"
"I can't leave with you still being alive."
Wolf laughed. There was no way that someone this small was going to take him down. The wolf crouched and lunged. He piled into the chest of the fox, but before he could grab him, he the vulpine was already to his feet and plucked him from the ground.
"Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard?"
Wolf struggled.
"I guess that's the hard." Syxx smiled. He grabbed the larger wolf harder and tossed him through the air. Wolf slide across the table, taking everything that was on it, with him. He jumped to his feat, now becoming worried of his attacker's strength.
Syxx walked around the room. He paced, looking at the wolf, intimidating him. His smile slowly faded and he became serious once again. "Where's Krystal?"
"What?"
"I said, where's Krystal?" he repeated himself with the exact same tone.
"She fled Starwolf years ago."
Syxx sighed, and nodded. He made his way to the edge of the room. "Run."
Wolf growled at him. Knowing it was a trap.
Syxx laughed from the back of his throat. He knew what his long time enemy was thinking. He tossed the Mapaw to the floor, and kicked it away from him. "Go."
Wolf thought hard. There was no way he was going to be upstaged by this comparable runt. He had no idea where he had come from or who he was, but he couldn't let him win, even if it meant that he had to fight dirty. He thought about the Blaster in his holster. The fox now had no weapon; there was no way that he could win now.
"What are you waiting for?" Syxx grinned. "Go."
"What did I ever do to you?"
"You have no idea."
The wolf roared. He reached a paw down to his Blaster and pulled it upward. Before he could fire, he felt an incredible pressure on his chest. He stared in horror as his paw started to shake, and the pistol fell and clattered to the floor. His eyes changed their focus from his shuddering paw to the black fox. The man stood, one foot in front of the other, a fisted paw pointing at him, holding his follow through.
Wolf could feel his breath begin to shorten. He slowly looked down at the wound in his chest. A black handle stuck out of his the clothes over his chest. His grey shirt soon filled with red. The knife had lodged itself between two ribs, on his left side. He stood completely still, as the vulpine walked over.
Syxx placed a paw on the handle. Wolf looked up with an open jaw. The fox smiled at him, showing a golden tooth. He wasn't sure if he screamed, when the vulpine quickly slid the knife out of his torso, and at the same time kicked his frozen body to the hard, cold floor.
Syxx watched his old enemy's body tip to the floor. He was still alive, and still had the chance, and if help came fast enough, he just might survive. But that was a long shot. He sighed, and collected his helmet and Mapaw. Syxx made his way to the door and paused, looking at the grey body on the floor.
His turned away from the door and stepped back toward the wolf. He put the helmet on the floor next to Wolf and mounted the Mapaw to his chest. Syxx took knee, looking over the dying body of Wolf O'Donnell.
He met the wolf eye to eye. He was speechless.
Syxx laughed over him. "I gave you you're chance. Have fun."
Syxx activated his cloaking, disappearing right before the wolf's eyes, which were wide. It seamed like an invisible force picked up the helmet and as it made it higher in the air, it disappeared as well.