LombaxLabs: We… "acquired" some of the owl drones & the two of us are disassembling what's left. This is GNARLY, guys. How did they make these?
LombaxLabs: C (always the wiser one) reminds me they're probably monitoring this website. I remind HIM we can always use more scrap metal. Bring it on.
Murray grabbed the drone and threw it to the floor, and before it could stand Fox sank two clean shots into it. It crumpled.
"Alright!" Murray hefted his armoured fists. "Who else wants to…?!"
He trailed off. That was the last one.
"Sound off!" Carmelita stood atop a smoking drone. "Is everyone alright?"
They were. Their strategies for containing and destroying the drones seemed to be working. Nick leaned against the jet, shooting Fox an apologetic smile. It was met with a grin.
"Good." Carmelita kept her tone brisk. Commanding. It was mostly out of habit. They'd listen either way. "Let me remind you that we can't leave this station except on our own terms. Retreat is literally not an option." She jabbed a thumb over her shoulder, towards the airlock. "So since we can't go that way…"
She nodded to the huge doors across from them.
"It's time we went deeper."
"On it!" Sly flashed her a grin, already heading for the door. "It's what I'm here for…"
Judy regrouped with the foxes, watching with interest as Sly worked. He moved with such confidence, breezily backed by years of painful experience. He needed access to a panel, and Murray tore it open. He needed guidance with a wire, and Bentley's answer was instant. Sly's hands were steady, and quick. And the door opened.
"Voilá."
"Excellent." As they pressed forward, Carmelita gave him a smile, which he returned. So much nicer than days gone by. She could get used to this.
But she couldn't relax. Not now. She took point, pistol at the ready. The others fell in behind her, and they tackled the first of several long, white corridors.
At first, it was quiet. Bentley had little patience for the clichés of action movie dialogue, but he did, in fact, consider it to be too quiet. He kept between Sly and Murray and just tried to stay sharp.
And then his earpiece crackled.
He was instantly on edge, even before the voice came through. Faux-polite and all too familiar. "Heya, Bentley."
"Penelope."
Sly and Murray stopped immediately, watching Bentley with concern.
He wasn't in the mood. "Let me just remove my earpiece-"
"And make me use the speakers? You might not want to include your friends in this conversation…"
"Ugh. Fine." He kept wheeling himself forward - reluctantly, Sly and Murray followed, sticking closer. "Just get it over with."
"Hey, lookit that. For once we're on the same page. Andross has been on my tail for being 'unproductive', but I reckon I can win back some points by getting all of you over with."
This corridor was as uniform as all the others. Cramped and featureless. Lacking anything better to look at, Bentley's eyes settled on the natural swing of Wilde's long tail.
"Decent showing so far," conceded Penelope. "Although force-starting the accelerator has kinda destabilised it… Whatever. I'm guessing you cracked into the computer data back at Titania Airbase?"
"The obvious conclusion."
"Knew it. Warned him it'd happen, but I was ignored, of course. Tell me - what else did you find? Aside from the accelerator, which of Andross' weird toys do you know about?"
Her tone was casual. His wasn't. "Surely you realize that divulging any amount of tactical information, no matter how seemingly trivial, would be-"
"Oh my god. Stop talking. I was doing a bit."
He heard her sigh.
"Well, if you're too paranoid to give me the setup, I guess I'll do it myself. There's this station, the Clockwerk Jet, the accelerator. There's the Global Nullifier. But what about the drones? Didn't you wonder where they all came from?"
"Obviously."
"Heh. Tetchy. Doesn't add up, right? Well, fact is, there's one last device up here in that weight class. One you apparently didn't learn about."
Bentley tried to ignore the chill that went down his shell. They did not need a change in the variables. Not now.
She was clearly enjoying this. "Andross - being Andross - called it 'the MacBeth engine', because a machine is only as good as its dumb, dramatic name. But I gotta admit, it's an interesting concept. You might've seen it when you flung yourselves up here; it's the round thing suspended in the centre of the station, out of the artificial gravity. It's able to use the zero-g conditions to put together blueprints with stunning efficiency. Hard to get it into space, of course, but once you're here anyway…"
"Oh," said Bentley, "like the Nova Crucible in the first Paladins of the Ancient Commonwealth game?"
"Yes! Exactly like-!" Penelope suddenly cut herself off with a cough. "I mean, whatever. Dumb analogy, but sure."
Ahead of them, Carmelita held up a fist. An open door. They waited as she peered around the corner.
"There's only one path to Andross, y'know," Penelope was saying. "This is a space station, not a city block. No sneaking around this time - you have to take the direct approach. And we both know I am so much better at that than you. Especially when I have the right… tools."
Carmelita signalled them closer. It looked like a backup airlock, built deeper into the station for safety. A small room with two parallel doors. Their side was open. The other was sealed.
They wouldn't be able to turn back.
But that had never been an option. After the briefest hesitation, they filed into the chamber. Ready for whatever came next.
"I can't wait for you to see my work!" chirped Penelope. "So don't keep a gal waiting. Oh, and Bentley?"
Low. Flat. "What."
"Try to put on a show."
The first door sealed, tightly. The second opened. They stepped out into a wide, circular room. And stopped.
Penelope had recreated some familiar faces.
There was the Black Baron, with his black aviator's garb and red scarf and opaque goggles - an outfit one might only realize in retrospect showed no skin or fur at all. There was the Black Knight, with its hulking suit of black armour and its huge, daunting axe. And there was the Black Phantasm, hovering in mid-air, its dark and tattered robes drawing attention to the gleaming silver of its mask, of its bladed hand.
This would have already been a problem, had there not been thirty of them. Each.
They were arranged in formation, thirty Barons before thirty Knights under thirty Phantasms. And with perfect, robotic unison, every Baron caught his left fist with his right hand, cracked his neck with a whirr of gears, and spoke.
"You have no idea what kind of trouble you are in."
This was a shock.
Drones had been one thing. They were almost used to those thin, feral owls. But these looked tougher. Nick stared at the Phantasms. Judy frowned at the Knights. Even Sly's breezy confidence faltered as he recalled, very vividly, just how hard the Baron had once punched him in the face.
Before anyone else could react, Carmelita strode forward. Calmly - boots solid - she raised her pistol.
"Alright. Me first."
She fired.
That first blast shattered the tension - and caught a Baron in the face. It seized up, mechanical limbs juddering, but its eighty-nine brothers were already charging.
They were met with a counter-charge.
The seven stuck close, with Carmelita and Fox and Bentley firing into the oncoming black tide as Sly and Murray readied their weapons. As ever, Judy was the fastest, and as ever, faced this deadly challenge with bright eyes and a grin.
A Baron saw her coming and readied a metal fist. She just shot past. Deeper and deeper, robots halting their charge to awkwardly watch her. Robots that became easy targets for her friends.
She was wondering if she'd even need to kick anything when a hand shot out and grabbed her.
The Baron could move faster than it looked. This one had a tight grip on her leg. Getting tighter. Judy had a brief moment of panic, but one sharp breath and she was back.
She leapt onto its face.
She wrestled with it, dodging its free hand, and waited for her moment. It came when she felt a huge shadow fall on them both. She pried her leg free, she waited…
And when the big, stupid Knight's big, stupid axe came down, it caught the Baron, not her. She leapt free in time to admire the swing.
Judy landed in the midst of absolute chaos. The others had crashed into the robots, and the battle raged around her. She began to catch her breath - and her ears shot up.
Judy threw herself backwards just in time to dodge a Phantasm's bladed hand. Even without its invisibility, the design was unnervingly silent; her only warning had been the subtle whoosh of the blade. But her balance was off now, and that gleaming silver mask stared into her soul as it prepared a killing blow-
An orange blur tackled it.
Judy watched Nick, his eyes wild, force the Phantasm down with every thread of power in his wiry body. With a snarl, he grabbed its bladed arm and wrenched and wrenched and wrenched until the whole thing tore off. The Phantasm could only judder pathetically under his knee as he shoved the blade under its mask and popped it clean off. Then he stabbed it, over and over, with its own limb.
"Uh, Nick?" Judy had to raise her voice. "Nick! Stop! It's already broken!"
His strikes slowed, eventually, and he left the blade stabbed into its sparkling head. He knelt there for a moment, catching his breath.
She drew in. "You alright…?"
"That," said Nick, chest still heaving, "was very cathartic."
"I'm not sure your therapist would approve."
"Oh, me neither."
"Nick!"
They both looked up in time to see Carmelita neatly sidestep the axe-swing of a Knight. She blasted it in the helmet until crisp smoke began to trickle out and it collapsed.
"Take this." She threw her pistol over - Nick was still kneeling, but Judy caught it for him. "You're a better shot than me, and we need to clear the air of those things." She smirked. "Work out some aggression."
"Gladly." He glanced over the pistol quickly, refamiliarising himself with the powerful weapon. "What about you, though?"
"I've got broader combat training."
They watched her bend down and, with difficulty, pull the axe out of the Knight's cold, steel hands. She hefted it over her shoulder.
"I'll make do."
"What a woman!" said Judy, watching Carmelita charge at a Baron.
"Yeah…" murmured Nick, as a Phantasm swooped behind him. He blew it out of the sky. Then another. And another.
It was a numbers game. Specifically, the number was thirty times three, and it was getting smaller. The Knights were huge and heavy, but the Phantasms were small and light. Their main advantage had been stealth, and without their expensive invisibility cloak, they were easy to destroy. Nick and Fox thinned the air, and the others could all handle any that swooped down, if they were careful about those sweeping blades.
The Barons fell in between. Faster than Knights and tougher than Phantasms. Sly hit one with his cane, fast and hard and constant, until it finally stopped moving. Penelope must have cut costs to mass produce them. This was easier than the fight he remembered.
But not much easier.
"This isn't working!" Murray hefted a Baron and used it, all of it, to block a Knight's axe-swing. "I'm the last guy to run from a fight-"
"But we need to keep moving!" agreed Bentley. He slid a bomb along the floor and damaged the Knight's relatively weaker legs. Murray pushed it aside. "She could send in more at any moment! Where's the exit?!"
Another Knight swung for Sly, who calmly ran up along its weapon and arm and perched briefly on its head. "That way!" he pointed. "Don't see a lock, though - you need to pry it open!"
"Buy me some time!" yelled Murray.
They did. Nick and Fox fired into the crowd, thinning their numbers, as Murray charged his way to the door.
"I'll cover you," said Bentley, hefting a bomb. "Everyone, get moving!"
Murray slammed his fingers under the thick metal, heaving it open slowly. A gap began to emerge, little by little. Judy was first, easily slipping through, and Carmelita squeezed in after her, jettisoning the heavy axe. Nick and Fox followed, slowly, firing as they went. Sly went next.
Then stopped.
"Murray?" He turned. "The door's not opening any further - how are you two gonna-?"
"We aren't!" he said. "Go ahead!"
Sly stared. "But - you said you wanted to stick together."
"No," he said, "I said I wanted us to all come out of this together. You gotta get the others to Andross. And when you do, and you win, you'll come right back here and we'll leave together. That's what I meant!"
"But-"
"No buts! Time's wasting!"
"He's right," called Bentley. "Andross is the priority. You get everyone else through the base - we'll slow down Penelope."
Sly hesitated. "I… I really feel bad about leaving you two behind."
"Good!" grinned Murray. "You should!"
And with that he let the door slam closed.
Sly started, then pressed himself against the door. "Murray! Bentley!"
"See?" came Murray's muffled voice. "That's how that feels! It sucks!! But, y'know…"
He didn't need to finish for Sly to understand. He understood both sides of this door now. "Be safe," he called. "I'll be back."
"Yeah," said Murray. "We know you will."
And with that, Sly heard them leaving. Deeper into danger. Without him.
He felt a small hand on his shoulder. The others were all watching him, but Judy had drifted up close, eyes soft. "I'm sorry. I'm sure this is hard."
"Yeah," he said. "Yeah, it is."
He turned, hazel eyes focused.
"Just not as hard as I'm gonna beat Andross."
"That's the spirit," said Carmelita drily. "Take point and let's go."
He did. Sly moved with silent precision, a shadow with purpose. They fell in behind him, Nick and Judy and Fox orbiting around Carmelita. Nick caught her eye and offered her pistol back. She took it with a nod.
Sly made quick work of the corridors. No camera or security system could slow him as he led them deeper into the beast. They came to another sealed door, and he stopped them. They waited as he easily scaled up to a small grate and peered inside.
After a moment, he dropped back down. "Pretty sure this is the right place," he murmured. "Not Andross' lab, but the entrance to it, I mean. Just be careful. Looks like the perfect spot for an ambush."
"Noted," said Carmelita. "We move as one. Fox, watch the left flank - I'll take the right. Nick, the rear. Ears up, Judy."
Nods all around. Sly reached over to pick the lock, saw the door was unlocked, and picked it anyway to be safe.
They entered. The room mostly consisted of a single, flat platform, suspended in mid-air. Very suspended. The walls went down and just kept going, indefinitely, eventually giving up in darkness. The platform didn't even connect to their entrance, forcing them to silently jump across this endless pit. On the opposite end, there was a similar gap to an elevator.
They moved carefully, alert for any sound, watching every direction. Except one.
Judy's ear flicked, too late, at the sound of rushing air, and then Wolf slammed into Sly from above.
Sly's skull cracked into the cold metal below as a huge weight hit him. At speed. He heard the others yell, the sounds of combat instantly in the air. He lay on the floor. He needed a second.
Wolf was ruthless, vicious, quick. He made his priority grabbing Carmelita's pistol and ripping it out of her hand, flinging it into the elevator. Those doors sealed shut, as did the entrance. Disarmed. Trapped.
Carmelita growled and threw a punch, but he simply caught her wrist. And squeezed. Her eyes widened. Her first brush with his newfound strength, and it was… definite.
"Let go!" Judy shouldered his knee, trying to topple him, and he ignored her. He ignored Nick, too, leaping up to wrap an arm around his neck. He didn't even glance in their direction. He knew Carmelita was the leader. The main threat.
His other hand closed around her throat.
And just like that, Sly was on his feet again, bringing his cane down on Wolf's head with a roar. That, with a fresh shove from Judy and full-bodied twist from Nick, finally got Wolf to stumble. Carmelita sucked in whatever breath she could and drew up both legs and slammed her boots into his stomach.
She fell. He growled for a moment, as the other three continued to hammer at him.
"You people," said Wolf, "annoy me."
Then his hand shot out and hit Sly so hard his teeth rattled, and before he could even process the pain Wolf was grabbing his shirt and hurling him forward. Towards the edge. Past it.
He fell.
Sly had a final instant to see them all before the platform disappeared, replaced by smooth, uniform walls and an endless, endless drop. There was no acrobatics, no athleticism, that could solve this. He would keep falling, maybe forever. And he would die.
Gravity took him, tilting him backwards. And from the platform above him came a very reckless rabbit.
Of course she had dove after him. And he didn't even have the chance to yell at her. Always partners. Ever a package deal. Nick was right behind her.
Judy's hands closed around Sly's cane, and Nick grabbed both of Judy's ankles in one paw, and then Sly lurched. He hung there for a moment.
He hung there…?
Sly looked up. Past Judy's stout strength, past Nick, his green eyes wide and immediately regretful.
Carmelita.
One arm intertwined with Nick's, hands at elbows, secure. The other digging into the edge of the platform. Solid. Utterly solid. As Sly hung there, swaying helplessly, Carmelita held them all. Her teeth were gritted. Her eyes burned. And she held them all.
"I love you," he blurted out.
Her only response was a low yell, her rage sustaining her. She was at her limit. But she would rather die than fail them.
Wolf, for his part, seemed happy to arrange that. He sauntered over to Carmelita's hand, her straining fingers. And casually, he lifted the toe of his boot.
"I honestly dunno how far down that goes." Hands in pockets. Shoulders slouched. Foot poised and ready. "Maybe I'll count the seconds before I hear four splats."
"Wolf!"
His ear flicked, and with the same calm disinterest - without moving his boot - he turned.
Fox's blaster was shaking in his hand.
Wolf smirked, but it was humourless. "I was starting to wonder about you, Pup. Just gonna stand there, or what?"
"Wolf, I…! You…!"
There was pain in Fox's eyes. Fear, too.
"You really don't care, do you?" he said softly. "They warned me. They told me you'd… You'd-"
Wolf's ears pinned back, subtly, and he stood a little straighter. "Easy, now. Don't go getting all upset. I'm paid to keep these idiots away from Andross, that's all." He tried a grin. "Yeah, I don't care! Because it's nothing personal, just-"
"Just business. I know." Fox's eyes narrowed. "I've heard it before."
Carmelita hissed. She was beginning to sweat. She looked down, catching Sly's eye. Conveying an entire strategy in one silent second.
And she began, gently, to swing her arm.
"They had every opportunity to stop," said Wolf, with a vague nod towards the hanging four. "But they aren't gonna, are they?"
"And this is what you're going to do?"
"I think the real question, Pup," said Wolf, his tone a little darker, "is what you're gonna do."
The slight motion of Carmelita's arms went down their makeshift pendulum, passing through Nick and through Judy to end in noticeable swinging for Sly. He gripped his cane tightly, aligning himself. Preparing. He'd only get one shot. But that was more one shot than he would have gotten without their help. He smirked, quiet and confident. He'd nail this in one take. As usual.
"You gonna shoot me?" continued Wolf. "Go ahead."
Fox did nothing.
"Go ahead!" shouted Wolf, slapping himself on the chest. "I ain't about to move! Easy target!"
"Why are you like this?" said Fox quietly.
Sly swung, and swung, and swung, in careful silence. He picked his target and waited for his moment. But he was utterly quiet. If Wolf noticed too early…
They all stayed silent. Judy was silent, ready for her own part. Nick was silent, his jaw clenched but his arms holding. And Carmelita was silent, despite the strain that was eager to pull her body apart.
Wolf scoffed. "I don't know why they even gave you that thing," he muttered. "Someone like me could make great use of a weapon like that. But you? You don't have the guts to turn it on someone. Never have."
"Let them go, Wolf. Help them up. Please."
"Do you hear yourself? Pathetic!"
Sly swung and swung and flew as Nick released Judy, and he twisted gracefully in midair and grabbed the edge himself, and he let his other arm swing out and then back, the cane giving her a wider arc, more momentum, as-
"This is a fight, Pup," Wolf was saying, "not a date. So either be a man and shoot me, or-!"
A speeding rabbit kicked him in the head.
Judy was a master of using her momentum. She was particularly proud of this kick. Wolf still felt solid as steel against her foot, but she had a great angle, flying in at his head. That, coupled with his distraction, knocked him straight off his feet.
They capitalised on their moment.
Sly flipped up in an instant and he and Judy grabbed Carmelita's arm, allowing her to finally loosen her grip. They both pulled with all their strength - Sly's climbing arms, thin but wiry, and Judy's solid legs and core - and hefted Carmelita, then Nick, back to safety.
Wolf grumbled into the floor, and Fox was staring. Carmelita had no patience left for this room. "Let's go, let's go!" She led the others past Wolf and over the gap and to the elevator door, then watched them try to pry it open. She let her arms both go limp. Strategically.
Wolf recovered, looking up. "Hey, idiots! I'm the only one here that can open those doors." He stood, slowly. No rush. "So come back here, and let's see how many more times I can throw you off this thing. You gotta run out of dumb luck eventually."
"No."
Fox's voice was quiet, but it carried.
"They're done here, Wolf. They're going up that elevator."
Wolf snorted. "Is that a fact?"
"Yes. Because if you open that door…"
Fox maintained eye contact. He slowly turned his pistol until he was holding it sideways. And then he dropped it. The sound echoed down the pit.
"You can have me."
Judy's ears shot up. "No, don't! You're inj-!"
She felt a paw on her shoulder. She looked up to see Nick shaking his head. "Look at his eyes," he murmured. "He knows what he's doing."
Reluctantly, Judy bit her lip.
Wolf stood there. His eye was on the fallen pistol. Abruptly, he turned to the others. "Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna stand by that door, facing me. I'm gonna open the door, y'all will take one step back, and then I'm slamming it back shut. Better be quick. You ain't getting the chance to try anything."
Carmelita met his glare. "Then why do it at all?"
"I don't trust any of you," said Wolf, "but I know I can trust him."
Carmelita nodded, as did Nick. Judy was busy trying to bury her objections. But Sly's voice rang out. "Fox, what are you doing?! Let us handle this clown. Andross killed your parents! He's the one you want!"
Fox shook his head, calm. "Thanks for the offer. But I know what I want."
Sly didn't have a response to that. Carmelita took him and gently guided him back to the door.
"Fox!" Judy couldn't disguise the worry in her eyes. "Please be careful, okay?"
He gave her a little smile. "I'll be alright. And I know you'll take care of Andross for me!"
Sly went to reply, but stopped himself. Carmelita's hand stayed on his shoulder.
Wolf reached into his jacket pocket and pressed whatever device controlled the doors. True to his word, they only had a second to duck back into the elevator before the doors slammed again. They all caught one final glimpse of Fox. Alone with Wolf, he seemed small.
Carmelita reclaimed her pistol. They all took a breath. And the elevator rose.