Blue Fire
Political Fallout
Carcasses lied in the fields. In ditches. Along the foothills and the beaches. They floated in the ponds, lakes, and rivers. They went down by the masses, at first thought to be suffering some sort of epidemic but soon discovered by the Lylat Planetary Council that they were being slaughtered by Avian forces. The atrocious murders of Vulpine families living on the west coast of Zoness came as a shock, for it had been many years since the Avians had battled with any other species, and never with Vulpines, who had been staunch allies since the first Lylat Wars. But now a new dictator had come into power, one who believed in the ancient practice of predatory survival, and he gave the order to shed first blood. Thus, the tables of time were turned back to the days of the true hawks, foxes, reptilians, et cetera.
One by one, young males, females, children, even newborn cubs were plucked from the streets by swarming Aves . The sight of it all laid sourly in Katt Monroe's stomach as she watched from her holding tank with many others; she'd been trapped on a bridge leading out of the city and snatched from the ground by claws of a huge black peregrine then hauled off to the killing fields in his ship. And now here, in an old abandoned warehouse that had once served as shelter for the homeless and poor.
Little cubs and kittens whined fitfully. Otherwise, there was little movement, not much room to stretch, let alone breathe. Katt looked around, wishing to find someone she knew in the hundreds of scared faces....anyone...but then again, deep down she hoped none of her friends were as close as she had come to the final days. Before fleeing from her apartment in the midst of an intrusion, she had made one phone call to someone very important in her life. This friend—no matter how difficult he was at times—had begged her to stay put, not to go out into the streets because he knew she would risk getting captured by the Avians. The Avians? It was a boldfaced lie, for goodness sake; the man she loved was Avian. But this friend knew what was happening, all the information was in front of him, and he'd had good reason for trying to send Falco to a squadron on the far side of the universe. He had said it was for Falco's own good, to keep him from being captured and imprisoned by some Cornerian unit who knew nothing of him except that he looked like the enemy.
Soon as Katt broke the communication with the friend, someone had grabbed her from behind, told her to stay quiet, warned her not to move. She knew that voice and reacted in fear, shoved him off and flipped him onto the floor. Yet, he'd managed rolling over and grabbing her by the ankle, but she kicked until finally snagging away. "Katt...!" He called as she scurried out of the room. "....Don't....go...!"
She trembled now, had a strange feeling Wolf O'Donnell had been her last chance to stay alive. Someone once told her that he could be a caring man, that she didn't really know him, that he was a dedicated fighter and at the same time a man who revered life. Maybe it was true, especially since he had three children of his own, although they lived with his ex-wife.
All of a sudden a burst of water sprayed down from above Katt and seemed to wash away her thoughts. Some of the others screamed, believing it was some sort of chemical that would poison them. But no...it was only water, she tasted it on her lips. "FIRE!" Someone in the crowd shouted, and she felt her body being shifted forward but worked hard at staying upright so she wouldn't get trampled beneath anyone's feet as they began moving swiftly toward what she hoped was an exit. One more chance was all she needed.
Get out.
Survive.
Find Falco...
~~~
On another shore stood Wolf O'Donnell, with him, Leon Powalski and a good friend of the Star Wolf team, Rick Demarres. The kid was a rough and tumble feline, and yet he had been an outstanding student back when Wolf was a head instructor at the Clusters of Venom—the main training facility for the Androssian military. Rick had short brown and white fur with a few streaks of silver on his head even though he was only twenty-five. Actually the silver looked very nice on him, gave him a sort of distinguished look, making him appear more mature and sensible.
Wolf stood up in the place where he and his fellow commandos had hunkered down briefly, or at least until the next wave of hawks moved in from across the sea.
"Leon, toss me the shield propellant,"
The chameleon gazed up at his superior whose long, sleek, gray form was cast in silhouette against the backdrop of sunny blue sky. He then grabbed the small can from his pack beside him and gave it a good lift into the air, which was just enough for Wolf to make a perfect catch.
"Very good," Wolf shook the can a bit to access its volume. "Enough to last a good two days,"
"Yes, it is, sir." Leon nodded.
"This will stun those birds in their paths. Their flocks will drop from the skies in droves and land on the ground in piles, just as they are doing to the innocent on this planet."
Leon then heard the young fellow next to him mumble something.
"What's that you just said, Rick?"
For a moment the boy hesitated and looked up at Wolf in wonder.
"It's just that....I didn't know you'd come here to save Vulpines, Major O'Donnell, considering your deep hatred for....well...you know,"
"What, you think I'm some sort of ogre? Gad, Richard, I'll defend women and children as any of us would, plus, like Leon, I'm eager to see the Avians put down for good."
Yes indeed, Leon agreed with that—and that there was one Avian who he wished to be more than dead. ...If we'd gotten in earlier, I could've had him...Falco Lombardi.... ...I'd like to know where that Miss Katt Monroe vanished to after she wrestled away from Wolf....
