Chapter -45-
Taking Up Arms

Venom Orbit
Lylat

Marcus pulled back on his control stick but looked down, between his feet, watching the wireframe visual of Kyong Adler on his visor HUD. With his targeting computer locked onto Kyong's fighter, his sensors displayed the weakest parts of Adler's shielding in a small box adjacent to the target. Parts of the wireframe target showed yellow and red sections of the enemy fighter's stressed shields.

A small icon appeared just above Kyong's ship in the HUD, a tiny green speaker with lines above it, which represented audio waves. A split-second later, Kyong spoke over the audio channel.

A static-laced video transmission feed of Adler's face appeared on Marcus' dash-cluster. The man's face was dark and grainy from having the belly of his fighter facing the Lylat star, so that his face was in the dark. "You're much better in the cockpit, McCloud. I'll give credit where it's due; you're actually a challenge when fighting in an interstellar theater."

"Oh. An interstellar theater. You get promoted to general and suddenly you're using fancy talk."

"Don't get overconfident, McCloud. I'm here because Anezka Vacek granted me permission to take you on personally. She understands my vendetta. She understands that I've fooled your ability in the past, and I'm capable of doing it again."

"Look, pal, just because we're further apart in space combat doesn't mean anything. There's a lot less interference up here, making it much easier to read your intentions."

"Ah. Noted. But I had a feeling that could be a possibility, so I took precautions. I tuned the frequency of my shields to…"

"Yeah, I know, Kyong. It's supposed to mask my ability to interpret your brain wave patterns by creating frequency interference. Honestly? It's like turning off one light bulb in an otherwise well-lit room. If you live through this, you'll have to do a better job of tweaking your shields. Cool theory, though. B+ for effort."

"You're a confident kid when dogfighting. I like that."

"Oh. Admiring your enemy, are you? Listen up and take some notes, pal. I got my confidence back. You saw me at my worst, but I'm a quick study and I've grown up a lot since that day when you had my team lined up on the flight deck of Great Fox, posed for execution."

"You got lucky that day."

"You're right. I was lucky. But I've trained hard since then."

"Polished your skills, did you?"

"Yeah. I did, Kyong."

"So, we're on a first name basis, now, are we?"

"It's just out here. Why not?"

"You know, it doesn't matter how much you've trained since our last encounter, 'Marcus.' Just remember that. I have raw talent and training, but I also have better luck than you."

"I'm going to kick your tail, Kyong. You know why? Because luck runs out; skill doesn't."

"If you were as good as you think, you'd have shot me down by now."

"I've spared you up to this point," said Marcus. "Look, Kyong, we have a huge threat that Anezka isn't prepared for. She might survive it, but Venom won't. Only a united Lylat stands a chance. Now, I'm willing to reunite you with your father."

"My father is dead, and even if Eric Adler somehow survived this long, he would be a little old man by now."

Marcus cleared his throat, grimaced in anticipation of a touchy subject, and said, "She's an old lady, I'm told. I'm not saying that as an insult, I mean it in the literal sense. Look, I'm just telling you this out of respect and I can prove it. My honesty on the subject of your dad is because I'm trying to recruit you; we could use your help in the upcoming…"

"IF what you say is true, Cornerian, then my father died when he became broken. I choose to honor his memory my way by accepting that my father has died, and his body is being repurposed by a mental sickness. I cannot hold my father accountable for his actions; mental sickness is something people cannot control."

"I believe your mom knew his secret. Wives know their husbands, she just wanted to spare you of it."

"I hold my mother in the highest regard for protecting me from whatever rumors you've heard. She knew I was young and emotionally immature. But now I'm old enough to understand mental sickness, accept it, and move on … if these rumors are even true to begin with."

Marcus took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then exhaled long and slow. "You don't even want to get to know your father so you can get closure?"

"I will process it my own way in the future. For now, killing you is my priority."

"Kyong…"

"Furthermore, Anezka is a Krazoan hybrid. She knows how to control the technology of her ancestors … they stopped the Locusts once in the past, and she will do it again. My allegiance to Anezka is not misplaced."

"All right, Kyong. You've left me no choice but to shoot you down."

"Do your worst, child. Prove your 'skill,' Cornerian."

"Guess we're not on a first name basis anymore, huh?"

"We never were." He opened fire on his blasters. The flit of illuminated energy lanced by Marcus, narrowly missing his Arwing.

Marcus turned over, pulled a half-loop, and hit the boost. He rocketed toward the highly modified Wolfen fighter in the distance.

"You really need to go back to school and study battles and war if you survive this fight. It was too easy to lure the team leader away from the team. It was too easy to keep you busy."

"Kyong, unlike your team, who can't function without you calling the shots and micromanaging them, I picked a team that can operate independently of my leadership. The best of the best."

"Mm. Children of the best does not necessarily mean they are as good as you claim. I guess we'll see how function while you're busy or dead."

Marcus lined up Adler's Wolfen in his sights, then evaded just as Kyong opened fire. The Arwing rolled, darted, and dashed back, easily avoiding the blaster fire. The fox double-tapped his thumb on the firing button, weaved to avoid a return volley, then opened fire again. The hard work paid off.

Adler's shields came down to under fifty percent.

"Look, I can do this all day. Part of you thinks it's all a part of your plan – keep me busy so my team is overrun. But my team is comprised of experienced and highly trained pilots, who have been preparing their entire lives for this day. Some of them were present when the 'book of winning' was penned. You get it, now? Fara and Falco are the best-of-the-best. Theodore and Vivian were trained since birth by the best-of-the-best. My team doesn't need me. They follow me because I've earned their respect. Your plan to leave them leaderless? Yeah … that plan sucks. Either go back to being a general, or let's land and fight as men, face-to-face. A rematch."

"How about I kill everyone you care about, then I come back for you."

"Be careful what you wish for, Kyong. Like I said, everyone I care about is capable of handling themselves."

"I have too much honor to hunt for your child first. I'll save them for last, after you're dead. But, if you survive this, I'll be sure to go after your mate first."

"My mate is a better CQC fighter than anyone I know."

"Mm. Guess we'll see about that."

"Guess we will, pal. You ready to finish this?"

"As if you could just snap your fingers and end this fight. There is simply no way you could shoot me down 'at the drop of a hat' as you Cornerians like to say. Again, if you could have, you would have by now."

"Okay, now I'm getting bored. Time to end this. I have things to do, and then I think I'll have a nice lunch." Marcus tapped the boost, thrust-vectored about, cut his engines, rotated his fighter, opened fire, and launched a nova bomb.

Kyong's targeting computer couldn't compensate for the arc movement the Arwing made with its engines showing zero throughput.

Marcus' blaster strafe brought Kyong's shields down to nothing.

The Nova bomb eruption threw the Wolfen back into Marcus' crosshairs for a second round of blasterfire. The twin blaster energy rounds tore into the hull armor, chewing up the top layer of the Wolfen's armor plating.

Kyong rearranged what little shield power he had left to the emitters at the front to protect his cockpit. "You fool! Nova bombs?! They have never worked on Wolfens! The fighter's armor plating is layered and frequency-tuned to…"

"Oh, shut up," Marcus interrupted. He slammed the throttle bar up, hit the afterburn, and clipped the Wolfen, so that the Arwing's stabilizer fin diced through the Wolfen's unshielded dorsal armor plates. He pulled down on the throttle bar, spun his fighter about, so that he was coasting backwards, and opened fire again, until the Wolfen's main engine boosters exploded.

"What?!"

"Hey, that Nova-proof armor can't protect you anymore." Marcus fired a second Nova bomb. The device became lodged into the damaged engine booster. Marcus continued to coast away, flying backwards, until there was more distance between himself and the Wolfen. "Hey, Kyong…" McCloud began counting down from twenty. He pondered something clever to say while continuing to count down.

"Shut the hell up and die! My only deepest regret is that I won't be able to soak in your blood! I won't be able to feel it running down my skin and dripping from my fingertips, because you will be obliterated. But know this: I will find your remains in the twisted wreckage of your Arwing. And, when I do, I will drink Venom's strongest spirits from your skull!"

"Oh! Spirits, huh? I already have a spirit in my skull, heh. Hey, real quick, I have an important question." Marcus counted down on his fingers, two seconds per finger.

"Yes, McCloud, I will keep the skulls of your loved ones together as a set. Yours, your mother's and your father's skulls, as well as the skulls of your girlfriend, your ex-girlfriend, and, last but not least, your child's skulls … all together. I'll add stems and serve your skulls as goblets at parties! I will use the skull of your child to take hard liquor shots, so help me god!"

"Actually, I was going to ask … are skulls even dishwasher safe?" Marcus closed his eyes just as the Nova bomb, still stuck in Kyong's engine booster, erupted in a flash of white as bright as the Lylat Star.

The flaming remains of Kyong's Wolfen was thrown down into the Venomian stratosphere. It spiraled to the planet's surface in a flat spin fireball…

Marcus sighed. "Damn. I should have said something badass, like, 'Up your tailpipe, pal.' That would have been epic." He snapped his fingers with a shake of his head. "Crap. I really wanted to see Fara kick his ass in a CQC 'theater.' What a shame…"

Marcus pulled back on his flight stick, punched the throttle, and headed back toward the Great Fox Flying Fortress.

X


X

Shrey-Lek, Venom
Lylat

Wolf O'Donnell clenched his paw into a fist, causing his fingerless gloves to creak. He exhaled, reached up, and pushed his white mohawk back from where his sweat caused it to hang down over his face a bit.

Leon Powalski held a blaster outward and backed up until his shoulder met Wolf's back. "You good, boss?"

"Yeah, Leon. The last time we did something this stupid, we had Panther and a sniper rifle watching our backs." Wolf shook his head, adding, "If the old man's message isn't received as well as he expects, then we're shit out of luck."

"You should've left me basking in the bar where you found me."

Wolf's ears laid flat, looking a bit like wings to his white mohawk as it continued to fall into disarray. He held a blaster in his free paw, exhaled through semi-clenched teeth, and looked around the hallway of the capitol building. "Oh, so sorry for inviting you to come and murder your way back to happiness, Powalski."

"I've killed one person since we arrived here, Wolf. And that's after going through a dry spell, playing nice on the Great Fox of all places. I could have killed at least ten people by now if I'd stayed at that bar last year."

"You seriously think killing people is what makes you happy?"

"The deserving," said Leon.

"What, like some sort of effing vigilante? Why not just become a bounty hunter?"

"Because half the time, hunters have to bring back their catch live. More than half, actually. Nearly all the time in Lylat, these days. Blah blah 'civilized behavior' blah blah." Leon held his blaster forward in one hand, with his other arm crossed in front, holding a dagger in his other hand. "Look, you know how I became after crashing the Wolfen II just outside of Doctor B's base. I had, you know, neurological issues and shit. Killing is a compulsion, now. I've been doing it since forever, but now? Now I go through withdraws if I don't kill."

"Yeah, it's psychosomatic. Your body doesn't go through actual withdraws, it just creates withdraw symptoms and it crashes your metabolism or something. Point being that it's all in your mind."

"You think I don't know that? I still went days on that stupid piece-of-garbage fast-attack carrier with Star Fox. And! The one guy I got to kill since we landed here, on Venom? It's not enough. I was promised a murder spree. I was promised devolution and insanity and a bloodbath. That's all I'm saying. I want to have some fun, okay? God. Else, I'm flying back to Star Fox and killing Falco, finally. God, that's what I really want to do – kill Falco. That would make me feel loads better."

"Quit your bitching, Lee. We'll see plenty of action soon." Wolf perked up and lifted his ears. "Wait, you hear that?"

"Um…" Leon tilted his head. "No?"

Wolf cupped his free paw and held it behind his left ear. "I hear the old man."

"You hear Doctor B.? From where?"

Wolf sniffed at the air and walked to a door leading to the front of the Capitol building. The grand double doors were locked, and he couldn't see through the frosted windows. The lupine unlocked one of the two large doors and pushed it open on well-balanced hinges. He peered outside. "It's coming from out here. Shit, wait. He's starting his broadcast. I thought it was being broadcast to the TVs and shit. I didn't realize he was going to have it broadcast over a PA system to the city's remains, too."

"What city?" Leon scoffed. "Shrey Lek hasn't been a goddamn capital city in decades. And it hasn't been a place for people to live since Dash and Andrew's fighting flattened this dump last year."

"Leon, if people know the old man is broadcasting from here, those who disagree are going to come here. So, head down the hall, back to the courtyard, to our ships, and grab an assault rifle, a machine gun, and a fuckload of ammo."

"Now you're talking, boss. Be right back." Leon dashed off down the hallway, headed for the door to the courtyard.

Wolf pursed his lips and kept his singular gaze on the weed-covered street at the bottom of the marble steps in front of the building. "I got a bad feeling about this."

Silence.

Wolf sniffed at the air again. He looked upward, using his bionic upgrade to see heat signatures of two people in a room above him. "I hope you know what you're doing, old man. And I hope you hurry the hell up."

Wolf strained his ears to hear the distant echo of the audio broadcast over citywide PA speakers. He mused softly, to himself, "Pretty sure at least half of those speakers don't even work anymore." He held his breath and listened again. The city was otherwise silent as if dead.

Wolf sniffed at the air again. He smelled something. Body odor. It didn't smell like Leon, nor did it smell like Garrick, but it was definitely reptilian. His nose twitched. Wolf sniffed once more. The lupine pursed his lips. "All right, I know you're there. Come out real slow or I'll put a round through your skull."

No answer. No motion. Not even a breeze.

O'Donnell looked around the area but didn't see any thermal signatures. However, the smell was strong enough that he knew it wasn't his imagination.

Wolf yanked the front door open wide, reached around the corner, to his left, and closed his paw around something soft. He pulled with all his strength, yanking a reptile in through the doorway. "You a point-man?! Where's your team?"

The armed reptile stumbled to the dirty wood floor tiles in front of Wolf. His clothes had burn marks and smelled of a chemical fire, but had since cooled to the ambient air temperature. The reptile's face was bruised on one side. He had various glass cuts on the other side of his face.

Wolf narrowed his singular-eyed-gaze. "You look as though you've just been in a serious car accident. Where's your goddamn team?"

The man didn't respond. He opened his hands but didn't move otherwise.

O'Donnell pushed down on the man's shoulders and brought his knee up, burying it into the man's jaw. He forced the man to stay doubled-over and reached for the lizard's weapons. "I'll take that! Thanks for telegraphing your intent, shitbird."

The soldier lifted his head, slamming the backside of his skull into Wolf's mouth before O'Donnell could take his firearms. "Back the hell up, O'Donnell!"

Wolf arched his brows. "Know my name, do ya? Well, aren't you special…"

"Look, you don't know who you're dealing with, but if you join me, we can kill Star Fox together."

Wolf blinked. "Wait, you're not here for Andross?"

"Andross? Seriously? No. I'm here to find whoever is broadcasting in his name, and demand that they join me. I aim to kill Marcus McCloud and his father."

Wolf scoffed. "Only I get to tan their hides. What the hell is your name? Where is your team?"

"No team. My name is Kyong Adler."

Wolf retorted with a belly laugh. "You? Your scrawny ass is the infamous General Kyong Adler? You're the son of Captain Eric Adler?"

"You knew my father?"

"I trained all the Imperial captains in CQC, so they could teach their soldiers how to fight. Yeah. I knew your old man. You look just like him."

"Well? Will you join me in killing Marcus McCloud and his father or not?"

"You really have it out for that kid, huh?"

"I just fought him. My ship crashed near here. I heard the broadcast and came here to try and persuade…"

"Get the fuck up and talk to me face-to-face like a man."

Adler stood up, back straight and shoulders even, despite his injuries. "So, is it you playing that broadcast, pretending to be Andross?"

"You think it's a recording? No. That's the real-deal Andross Bowman-Oikonny."

"It can't be. He's dead. Kursed invoked his name, and claimed she was trying to liberate Venom in his name, but…"

"She was," Wolf replied in a flat tone. "But then Anezka Vacek attacked. Kursed refused to join her, and then Kursed wound up heading across the interdimensional gateway, back to where she came from."

Adler stared at Wolf. "I can't be sure if you're serious or if you're messing with me. Doesn't matter. Andross is dead. People followed Kursed because she exuded power. Her telepathy made her a powerful adversary, so no one crossed her until Anezka Vacek. We all know who's running the show, now. And Anezka doesn't use false pretenses like 'I'm here with Andross' to get people to listen to her message."

Wolf scoffed. "You really drank the goddamn grape Flavor-Aid, huh?"

"What? I don't know that Cornerian expression."

"Doesn't matter. The point is, Andross is here. He's alive. He's upstairs making that broadcast, and if anyone tries to go near him, I'll kill them."

"I don't care what you do. I'm here to find a way to call for assistance, or, preferably, to get a new ship, so I can go after Marcus McCloud."

"Oh yeah? And what are you going to do when you fight him again? He's already kicked your ass, judging by how you look."

Adler narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to use his skull to drink…"

Wolf abruptly interrupted the lizard. "Shut the fuck up. You sound like an idiot when you say crap like that."

"Are you going to help me kill Marcus McCloud, or are you standing in my way, O'Donnell?"

Wolf smirked. "What makes you think you know what you're even talking about?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Last year he survived being executed by me. He's a worthy hunt."

"Why do you really want him dead?"

"He insulted my father's memory. You hate his father; you should want to help me kill them both. Why did you say I don't know what I'm talking about?"

Wolf shrugged with indifference regarding Eric Adler. "Because that kid is Lylat's last resort. He's the only one that can kill the Locusts, you dipshit. Why would I kill someone who can fight the Locusts? No one kills him until I have no further use for him."

"Then you're standing in my way and I'll kill you. Nothing personal." Kyong reached for his blaster.

Wolf snatched the weapon from Kyong's grasp, kicked the lizard in the stomach, threw the blaster on the ground, and followed through with a quick jab in the reptile's snout.

Kyong groaned from being struck in the lower ribs, but quickly put his hands up, claws outward. "You're going to regret…"

"Shut up and stop telegraphing. Now I know your ribs are bruised or broken. So. You got shot down by the kid, huh? You know you didn't have a chance against him up there. You can't overpower him in an Arwing. Telepathy doesn't give him super endurance, though. That's why you gotta pick your battles, stupid."

"How dare you insult me! I am a general of Anezka Vacek and one of her personal advisors!"

"Yeah? Why aren't you advising her, then? Why are you dogfighting a kid, getting your ass shot down, and now arguing with me? You sound replaceable to me."

"She knows of my personal vendetta; Marcus McCloud's father killed my father."

A blaster round struck the door frame, causing both Wolf and Kyong to take cover on opposite sides of the doorway.

Kyong shouted outside. "Hold your fire! I'm General Kyong Adler! I'm a friendly!"

Blaster fire struck the frame very close to Adler's face, causing him to drop back. "Hold! Your! Fire!"

Another blaster round struck the doorframe, yet another round hit the back wall of the foyer.

"Where the hell is Leon?" Wolf groused. He glanced down at the blaster on the floor and pointed. "Grab your pistol, kid. They're gonna light this place up to try and stop the Doc's message from rallying the lizards against Anezka."

"I won't fire on my people over a miscommunication."

"Moron. If they're shooting at both of us, it's because they think we're working together, bozo."

Adler ground his teeth together. He shouted outside. "I'm General Kyong Adler! Friendly! Come up here and assist your general!"

Wolf scoffed. "So much for having help, kid. Bit off more than you could chew, huh?"

"Shut the hell up, O'Donnell." Adler reached for the blaster on the ground, but gunfire caused him to recoil back to beyond the doorway. "Goddammit!"

Wolf snickered.

Another series of blaster rounds struck the door frame, causing the paint to bubble up, and leaving scorch marks on the back wall, directly across from the doorway.

Leon Powalski dashed up the hall. He tossed Wolf a machine gun and donned an assault rifle, quickly laying down suppressing fire in the direction of the attackers outside. Leon's side-facing eyes widened at Kyong Adler. "Holy hell, you're Tanya Adler's son! God, you look just like her."

Kyong blinked at Leon. "My mother's name is not Tanya."

Wolf said, "That's Eric Adler's kid. You probably never met Eric. He led raiding parties for the Imperial Venom army."

Leon shrugged. "He looks like my ex-girlfriend, Tanya Adler." Leon shot his assault rifle through the doorway again. "She was tall, gorgeous, and had long strong legs." He fired two more shots through the doorway to suppress whoever was shooting from the other side. "Kid, you're the spitting image of your mother. She kept pictures of you, and pictures of her ex-wife back from before she left Venom."

Kyong pursed his lips together while grinding his teeth. He turned to Wolf and said, "Act like you're taking me hostage. It's the only way they'll stop firing."

Wolf scoffed but then abruptly put Adler into a headlock, with a blaster to his face. He leaned into the doorway and shouted, "I've got General Kyong Adler as my hostage! You want to explain to your crazy Krazoan bitch leader that you shot her advisor?!" His newly acquired machine gun hung from his shoulder by a strap.

The incoming gunshots ceased.

Wolf smirked. "Good plan, kid."

"I'm a tactician," said Adler. "It proves I'm not on your team, and it gets them to stop firing." He stole a glance at Leon, scowling at the chameleon. His throat bulged up with a red flap of skin to show his irritation. He cocked his head, eyeing Leon, and took a deep breath, which caused his body to puff up, just slightly. "My mother never left Venom."

"I'd argue otherwise," said Leon with a smirk. "Considering I dated her for six months on Corneria…"

A gunshot lanced out from a window in a burned-out shell of a building across the street. It struck Adler in the heart, launching his body from Wolf's grasp.

O'Donnell quickly ducked back behind the doorway. "Shit. They executed their general. These bastards must be fanatics." He cut his gaze to Leon then looked back down at the motionless body on the ground with a new scorch mark on the damaged flight suit. "Well, it didn't penetrate his armored vest. Gotta love nano-weave poly-fiber vests." Wolf scanned Kyong's body with his eyepiece.

"Is he dead?" asked Leon.

"Nope, but the gunman doesn't know that." Wolf peered out the doorway at an angle. "At least now I don't have to listen to him bitch about how you banged his mom."

Leon snickered. "You should've seen his face from my angle when I told him. His dewlap came out. He was mad as hell."

"You sure it was his mom?"

"Half iguana, half anole, he's the spitting image of his parents. Yeah. I'm sure, Wolf."

O'Donnell shrugged. "I think he looked more like his dad – I actually knew Eric Adler."

"Spitting image of his mom," Leon protested. He fired two warning shots out through the open door. He shouted, "I'll rip out your kidneys and feast on your testicles!"

Wolf blinked his singular-eyed gaze. "You wanna suck on their balls, Powalski? Heh, I've always heard that chameleons are the more 'delicate' of lizards. I guess the rumors were right."

"Most Venom lizards carry their testes next to the kidneys. You used to work alongside of these people. You should know they can't get kicked in the nuts if you trained them to fight."

"I trained them not to get kicked at all, Leon. Whatever. Let's just hold this position until the old man is finished with his stupid ass speech." Wolf drew the machine gun up, ready to fight a hoard of enemies.

Someone outside, taking cover behind the remains of an old automobile, called out to Wolf and Leon. "Are you two alright?!" They spoke in Cornerian.

Wolf blinked three times and stole a glance at Leon. "That was unexpected."

"Just a bit."

"Star Wolf!" someone shouted. "Are you all right? Are there any other enemies needing to be executed?"

Wolf's eye went wide. "Are you guys friendlies?!"

"We're here to assist Andross in any way possible!" shouted the reply. "Are there any other members of Anezka Vacek's forces inside?"

Wolf's shoulders relaxed and he beamed in amusement. He gestured to Adler. "Oh shit. General Dumbass, here, thought these lizards were here to rescue him! Hah!" Wolf cleared his throat then called outside in a loud tone. "He was our hostage!"

"He's a menace!" said a lizard, standing up from behind the remains of a car at the bottom of the high marble staircase. "Kyong Adler, he's the General of her armed forces. Army and Airforce. We're coming out. No weapons." The lizard made a gesture with one fist while holstering his weapon. "Same team, gentlemen."

Leon hissed in laughter. "Well, that went very differently that I expected."

Wolf released his machine gun, leaving it to hang from the shoulder strap. He held both paws out the door, straight outward, palms upward. "No guns, guys." He stepped into the doorway, next to Kyong's motionless body. "Hell of a shot."

A lizard climbed from a third story window and leapt from the building across the street. He landed atop of a pickup truck's burnt-out frame, causing the body to drop a few inches so that it was flat upon its belly. A plume of dust wafted up from beneath the truck's frame. The man held a sniper rifle in his left hand. He vaulted from the back of the truck and crossed the street. "That'd be me."

Wolf zoomed in on the approaching lizard, quick to note the man's bionic legs.

The lizard approached the steps to the capitol building. "I put it right through his heart because he uses a pacemaker from a previous injury. Used an energy round to stop his heart and disable the pacemaker. He wears a collar shield unit to protect himself from headshots. Couldn't risk him running again. He's been known to hunt and kill entire platoons while injured." The sniper gave a nod to the man behind the car closest to the capitol's staircase. The two men made their way up the stairs together, approaching Wolf and Leon.

Wolf grinned at them. "You two look young. Barely old enough to drink."

The man with the sniper rifle shouldered his weapon. "Never touch the stuff. Can't shoot drunk."

The leader of the group looked back at the empty street. "Platoon! Up!"

Wolf counted twenty-six lizards in various forms of dress. Some wore polo shirts; others wore jeans and t-shirts. Wolf looked back at the two lizards and gestured to Kyong's body. "Got restraints? This pecker-head is still breathing." Wolf hooked a thumb at Leon, adding, "My wingman, here, banged Kyong's mom."

The platoon leader scrunched the scaled ridge above his eyes, furrowing them as if they were eyebrows. "How? She died from sickness. Cancer, I believe."

Wolf furrowed his brows. "What became of this shitbird's dad?"

The lizard leader said, "His father is known to have run away to Corneria when Kyong was very young. Rumor has it that Eric Adler got a sex change and became 'Tanya Adler,' and lived below the radar. Not sure if the creep is still alive. I remember my older brother serving under Eric Adler. I heard Eric was very feminine looking. My brother said he liked sleeping with younger men, years ago, back when he was a Captain in the Venom Imperial guard. It's why his wife left him."

The sniper lizard snickered.

Leon turned away.

Wolf glanced at Powalski but kept his wingman's secret. "Tanya Adler, huh? That's … different. Does Kyong know?"

The platoon leader shook his scaley head 'no.' "Doubtful," he said, adding, "Would you spread rumors to a psychopath? He would kill the messenger, even if they were his closest friend."

Wolf shook his head with a sinister chuckle. "Let's keep him as a hostage for a while. Maybe we'll do a public execution. Let's see what the old man says."

"You don't want to kill him?" asked the lizard leader.

Wolf shrugged. "Not just yet. I want to keep this bozo around long enough to find out if the shit about his dad is true so I can rub it in his face. You know? I want to see how he reacts, heh-heh."

Leon grimaced, still looking away.

Wolf waved the lizard platoon to follow him, then gestured Leon to take up the rear of the group and keep an eye on them from behind. "Let's go upstairs. Have your sniper watch the door. I'll have the old man deputize you legally or some shit, then we'll put you on the streets to keep Adler's people from trying to start shit." Wolf dead-lifted Kyong's body, over his shoulder, in the same manner as a firefighter would lift an unconscious person. He carried Adler down the hall, through the capitol building. "And have your sniper guy take at least one volunteer spotter. The rest of you follow me. It's time to meet the Doc."

Once the group reached the top floor, Wolf approached Leon and discretely said, "So, you must be freaking out."

"Whatever. She was a chick when I banged her."

"I don't judge shit," said Wolf. "My daughter's a lesbian, remember?"

"You judge me."

Wolf snickered. "I don't give two shits who you bang. I just think it's funny you're embarrassed."

"Fuck you."

"Oh, no thanks. I'm married."

Leon grimaced. "Oh, shut up."

Wolf chortled softly and reached for the door leading to the broadcast room. He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear. "All right, quiet everyone. They're broadcasting live in here."

Leon asked, "What if one of these guys turns out to be a suicide bomber, looking to kill the boss?"

Wolf shook his head. "I scanned everyone. No one has any ordinance on them, and no one's heartrate suggests anything other than being a little excited to meet the Doc." Wolf opened the door and led the group into the studio's front office.

X


X

Cerinia

Fox McCloud opened his eyes and reached for his computerized wrist gauntlet. He brought it close to himself and thumbed a button on the vibrating unit. "Fox here."

Slippy's voice, audio only, came over a speaker built into the device. "Hiya, Fox! I'm sorry it took so long to finish this sweep … the ruins, well, I guess I shouldn't call them 'ruins' because they're in perfect shape … anyway, yeah, they're much larger than we previously assumed. I mean, massive. There's one room we couldn't sweep … that might present an issue."

"How so?" asked Fox.

"Because the deeper areas hadn't been opened in about twenty-five hundred years, and only the top layer had ventilation, due to the elevator shaft. Yeah, it was underground, but for some reason that upper layer had minimal bacteria in the air. But had you gone much further, the two of you would be seriously sick right now. Amanda had the idea of walking through with bio-hazmat suits. We 3D printed a series of machines for each floor and each hermetically sealed section. The machines were a design I'd been working on back in my forties but never got a chance to implement. It came in real handy! It filters the air and puts out oxygen in a very pure state, while flooding each area in high-power UV lights with temperatures of one hundred ten Fahrenheit."

"Uh, why so hot?"

"It kills airborne pathogens and most types of viruses that can survive without a host; it kills most bacterium, and it purifies the air. The filters put out nearly pure oxygen, and then a stage-two device on the filtering machine adds the rest of the stuff to simulate normal breathing air. But the oxygen content will still be a little higher than Corneria, so you might feel a little high at first, at least until you're used to it. Euphoric might be a better word than 'high.' Anyway, because we had to do so much work, that's why it took so long."

Fox checked the time. Seven hours. "It's fine, Slippy. I caught a little nap so that I'd be refreshed. What's the issue with the last room?"

"Well, scans indicate that it's thee last room. The device is in there. But Amanda and I didn't pass the test of whatever guardian is in the staging area, so we couldn't get into the final room."

"You didn't pass the test?"

"And you won't either, Fox. The Krazoa spirit was scanning for Cerinian genetic markers. So, Krystal and Marcus are the only two people that could get the device free. Well, and baby James, but I'm not sure it works based on just being Cerinian. I have a feeling there's probably a test involved, and Jaye can't even say much just yet."

Fox frowned. "I hate tests."

"Well, you're not Cerinian, so you won't have to take it. We have one hazmat suit Krystal's size made fresh off the 3D printer. I'm going back through and rounding up all the air filtration machines while Amanda takes a breather. It's been a long day for us. I'll see you guys when you're ready to head down to the heart of this place. I made a map to help you guys! But … even though I've solved all the puzzles to get to the staging area room, they reset when you leave the room, so you'll have to re-solve them. Sorry. I tried to make it easier for you, but yeah."

Fox feigned a weak smile. "Thanks, bud."

"Where are you guys anyhow?"

"Uh. Krystal's old condo."

"Ohhhh."

"What, Slippy? Don't say it like that."

"Heh. We're all grownups, here, Fox."

"Oh, Jeeze Laweeze."

"Oh-ho-ho! Cussing like Falco, now, are we?"

"All right, all right. I'll see you shortly."

"Take care!" The transmission ended.

Silence.

The quiet didn't last long.

Krystal pushed the blankets off of her body with a foot and stretched. "I admit, I expected the bed to smell musty, but … I guess the cold preserved everything. How'd you sleep?"

"I always sleep great when by your side."

She turned to him with a grin. "And when we sleep naked, it's even better."

"Always. Always better. Every single time. I remember when we first got married. We pretty much ran around the house with nothing on until Star was almost two years old."

"Those were the days. You know, once all this nonsense is over, we can go back to that if you like."

"Oh, I'm an old man, now, Krys. Nobody wants to see that."

"Nobody had better see it except for me, and you're in wonderful shape for hitting fifty. So, don't presume to tell me what I do or do not want to see."

"Oh, is that right…?"

Krystal's grin broadened. "Stand up."

Fox arched his brows and eased out of bed. "Okay…?"

"Turn around."

Fox scrunched his brows and turned about by one hundred eighty degrees.

"Mm. Mm-hmm."

"What?"

"I like when you model for me."

Fox looked down at his naked pelt. "Model what?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"I'm confused."

"I don't want you to model clothes. I want you to model your arse for me. And you complied without even asking why you were doing it. You're my eye candy."

"My old ass is eye candy?"

"What can I say? I have a type. A preference. And then? Then I fell in love with everything that arse is attached to, Fox McCloud. Now? Now I really love that dishy bottom. It's all mine, and it's my favorite."

"You have a type, huh?"

"OH, shush up, you. I bodged it up once. I only dated Panther because I thought it would piss you off when you found out. That's why I told Slippy and some others, so that it would get back to you. Bloody well took ya' long enough to make your way back to me. I thought making you jealous might make you get possessive and come running back to me, but no one could get a hold of you until the Anglars showed up needing a sound beating. And not five minutes after you got involved, you and I were talking again. I'm the one that ruined things by going back to that stupid bleeder, the Berkeley Hunt bell-end cat." She exhaled through clenched teeth. "Sorry."

"For what? Did Panther put you through the wringer?"

"No, leaving you put me through the wringer, and I had no one to blame but myself."

"But then you kinda saved my life while I didn't know who I was, on Kew; I didn't even recognize you, and you still saved my life, so you totally made up for it."

"And you sure worked a treat from there."

"Meaning?"

"We had a hell of a time, but we got there in the end, didn't we? You gave me the baby I always wanted."

Fox reached back behind his head and rubbed at the nape of his neck in a somewhat bashful way. "I mean … yeah … and I … might've done that again a few hours ago." A wry grin tugged at the corners of his maw.

She laughed with a shake of her head. "There's a fifteen percent chance sex leads to pregnancy. Guess you'll just have to … 'help' me seven more times to be sure it takes, hmm?"

Fox snorted in amusement. "Oh, a one-oh-five percent chance, huh?"

"Or as much as you like. I know you'd fancy if we just tarry about all day, but … I suppose we should get back to the jobsite. We'll sort the other six times soon enough. Apparently, I'm the only one that can fetch this bloody tech from the Krazoa spirit, computer, or whatever it is we're dealing with. So, let's go save the day – I'll show you how it's done, yeah?"

"Sounds good to me."

"I can't wait to have a shufti about these ruins."

"Oh, you heard Slippy, though … they're pretty pristine, so he wouldn't call them ruins."

"Oh, whatever. The promontory dig site, then. I'm going to get dressed." She walked across the room to her closet, opened it and gazed fondly upon all of her old clothes.

"That's a fancy word."

"Yeah. It means a jetty or a bluff. I'm referring to the dig site that were nearly swallowed up by the sea from all this rapidly melting ice. We were fortunate enough to dig out the building at low tide, and set up that forcefield to keep out the coastal waters. To be honest, I'm not rightly sure how the water table hadn't swallowed up the entire underground dwelling, you know?"

"Oh, right. Is that a Cerinian word?"

"No, love. It's Cornerian." She looked back from the clothes in the closet for a moment and eyed her husband. "What? When I learn a language, I like to buy a thesaurus for it and sound posh." She drew sleeves to her nose and sniffed. "Well, that's just gorgeous. They still smell like the detergent I used. This scent takes me back to … good heavens. I mean … it's been so long. I can't believe how well the cold preserved everything. It doesn't make sense. It shouldn't preserve a scent, should it?"

Fox approached her closet and inhaled deeply. "I can barely smell it. Has a very faint floral scent."

"God, to me, it smells like I washed them yesterday."

"Your imagination … your brain, specifically, is filling in all the holes in the 'data,' so to speak. You're remembering it, so you smell it stronger."

"Oh, come off it." She sniffed at a sleeve again. "You really think so?"

"Pretty sure, yeah." Fox reached for his clothes on the ground. "Cerinian trends are back in fashion. Rock your old stuff if you want. But they might come apart at the seams or whatnot. It's been a long time."

"Oh. Erm. Cerinian fabric isn't anything like Cornerian fabric. Our synthetic fabrics are made of a polymer blend invented by some bloody genius a hundred 'n fifty years back … our clothing simply doesn't disintegrate. We should stop back by before we leave the planet. I know the Locust threat is looming over Lylat, but … I just need a little time to pack my belongings. I won't be long about it, you have my word."

"That's fine. Do you want me to warm up the runabout?"

"Actually, that's perfect."

"I'll see you in ten?"

Krystal looked down at her legs then back up at Fox. "Mm, I don't want to smell like sex."

"So? What if you do? Big deal."

Krystal dead-panned at her husband. "Half the pejoratives that exist for women are generally based on sex in some way or another, so I'd rather just clean up and smell good … for me."

"Oh. That's cool, but…"

"But?"

"But can you, here? Is there power for it? Running water?"

She nodded. "There's still enough power in the batteries of this complex for me to take a shower, run the lights and such, and cook a meal. They're at ninety percent charge. It'd last me two or three days, especially since there's no internet or entertainment broadcasts ongoing. Besides, I miss my old shower. How about you join me?"

"We'd be here for another hour. Trust me."

She grinned in reply. "Okay, yeah, that's true. All right. I'll be down in twenty. I love you."

Fox finished dressing in the clothes he wore earlier. "I love you more."

"You just might, you cheeky dish. Maybe." She offered a flirty wink, turned back to the closet, grabbed something flowy and flowery in yellow, and carried it into her condo's bathroom. "See you soon!"

Fox grinned and headed for the door. "I'll imagine you in there. Oh, and for the record, I still find it weird your people used batteries to power their homes."

"I found it weird Cornerians plugged directly into the grid when I came to Lylat. And yet we have so many similarities, like doors, bedrooms, personal bathrooms, showers, closets full of clothes…" She winked again and stepped into the bathroom, sliding the door shut on its track.

Fox headed for the bedroom door and slid it open. He walked to the stairwell at the end of the hall, musing how at first glance, this could've just as easily been a condo on Corneria, based on design, except for the doors all working on sliding tracks.

Fox took the steps down to the first level, and he walked outside, where the landscaping was dead but arranged in a way that suggested it was very nice many years ago.

He headed for the shuttle, boarded the small ship by the cargo ramp at the back, and headed for the cockpit. He booted the computer, fired up the engines, and waited for them to warm up.

He sank into the pilot's seat, withdrew his communicator, and opened a small touch-screen game while he waited for his wife.