Author's Note: And Chapter 10 is here, sort of the beginning of the end, though still more chapters to come. As always, my appreciation for the reviews. Thanks for reading and enjoy-Foxmerc

CHAPTER 10
The Face of Evil
Solar Wind, Solar orbit
2312 hours

I remember once, years ago after a tough ground job, I was badly injured in the stomach by some shrapnel and suffered blood loss. I remember the sensation of losing and gaining consciousness like it was yesterday. I don't think I could ever forget something like that. I remember I lost consciousness with Peppy hovering over me, a wildly scared look deep in those baggy eyes. I awoke in the Great Fox's infirmary to that same face and same expression. He had sat with me for nearly six hours with a fatherly concern. Tears fell from his eyes when I finally awoke.

I didn't wait for him to awake before my tears came.

I didn't bawl; I hadn't truly cried for years. But my vision blurred and small drops fell to the crisp white sheet on Peppy's hospital bed. His chest rose and fell with a shallow rhythm. The Solar Wind's doctor had diagnosed a hemorrhage. He had been beaten severely by the Warriors or someone else in on this war, and at his age, his organs couldn't take it. They had no way to stop the internal bleeding without a major surgery that had as much chance to kill him as save him. I knew then how Peppy felt looking at me that day; the father figure to the son figure, now the son to the father. Only Peppy didn't have a good chance of opening his eyes and letting the floodgates of my worry open and release relief.

I felt almost numb towards Falco. I always thought us to be good friends, childhood comrades, soldiers watching each others' backs. But as was popular for military types and critics to say, a mercenary was a mercenary. Falco followed the money. There was genuine regret in his tone; I didn't live with him that many years without getting to know true emotion on him when I saw it. Ironically, Peppy, the man inadvertently suffering from his actions, put it best back when Falco first joined the team:

"He's a hero who was raised a villain."

I knew Falco's nature. He had a good heart, but his sordid past wreaked havoc on his every action. Despite that, I didn't know if I could ever forgive him. I needed time, time for the numbness to leave and let my true thoughts come through.

I became aware of a presence behind me. The doctor, an elderly toad with a voice too low for his small height, stood in the doorway, clasping a clipboard in front of him.

"You need rest, Mr. McCloud," he said in a slightly exasperated way. "I'm keeping careful watch over him, and Mr. Toad is sleeping like a log in the next room. There's nothing left for you to do."

I sighed and rubbed my eyes, realizing I hadn't blinked in a long time. "Have you seen Captain Birse?"

His brow lowered as if I'd just told an anti-toad joke. "Ah, yes. That reminds me, I must prepare every examining table in here tonight."

I raised my eyebrow in questioning.

"Ever since the Solar Wind took on the Eighth Special Forces group, I've been busy on the weekends. It seems they became bored with no training facilities of their own, so they made one themselves. They get together anyone off-duty on weekend nights on the ship and go to the sparring room for some…wagers. Wagers that force me to stay here all night because someone unavoidably always comes in with a broken this or sprained that." He rolled his eyes. "No doubt, you'll find Mr. Birse there. I know the crewmen have to unwind, but I wish they'd just get a ping-pong table or something."

No argument from me. If there was brawling within a mile radius of Gage, he'd be there in two seconds. I thanked the doctor, wished him well with the night, gave one last hopeful glance to Peppy, then left.

With it being the late hours of the night, according to the time zone they followed anyway, the corridors were practically empty, made more so by this apparently popular even the doctor spoke of. As I neared the sparring room – a large training room that I'd love to get on the Great Fox, but which we would have no space for – I felt a pulsing vibration. It got louder the closer I got and I finally realized that someone must have a really nice stereo or boombox or something. The door slid open and the techno-ish music blared into the serene corridor. Practically leaning into it like a strong wind, I entered to the sound of cheers and shouts, the tangy odor of work sweat, and the sight of dozens of crew and soldiers with fists pumping in the air.

I pushed my way to a spot where I could get a view. The crowd hugged the wall and created a manmade arena in the middle of the sparring room. The mat was streaked with glistening sweat and a few spots of blood. And in the center of it all, of course, was Gage. He stood shirtless, sweat matting his fur, his tags dangling around his neck, and a small stream of blood from his forehead. There was fire in his eye as he looked down in triumphant sternness at his unfortunate opponent. The poor feline crewman's face looked like something served in the mess hall that day. He tapped the mat, giving the surrender symbol, and another wave of cheers erupted. Gage relaxed his pose and wiped the blood from his forehead. If I had to guess, I'd say Gage hadn't even taken time to breathe since we returned from Katina. I guess some guys need to blow off steam even after an exhausting battle like that.

"I can't believe my eyes!" A voice shouted over the cacophony. As the opponent hobbled away, a young-ish black wolf stepped into the center of the arena. From his dress, he wasn't Solar Wind crew; more than likely part of the specops group the doctor was talking about. He raised his left hand for relative silence, and grabbed and raised Gage's hand with the other. "Never has one fighter gone more than five rounds without a loss! Is there no one here who wants to take a shot? No one who wants to dethrone the new king!"

Nobody responded; smart crowd. It looked like the young wolf was about to take up his own offer when someone stepped through the crowd. I saw it was Torqinski, or Torq as Gage called him. I never properly got a chance to thank him for helping on Katina, but now wasn't the best time. I'd be sure to later. He seemed like a good guy, and a fellow merc who wanted a piece of the Shadow who was after me was always a welcome friend. But right then, it looked like he wanted a piece of Gage.

Torq unbuttoned his shirt nonchalantly with a little grin on his muzzle as if preparing for a friendly round of poker. Gage returned the grin and stretched his arms.

"Well, well!" the wolf shouted. "Arthur Torqinski is next on the slaughtering line. Let's see if he's got the brawn to match the guts."

It seemed like he did from my angle. He looked like a poster boy for a gym, perhaps even as fit as Gage, with a height advantage.

The wolf stepped between them and continued. "Alright guys, keep it clean, respect the tap, halt at bloodshed if the victim calls it, ten seconds flat on the mat is a loss, and remember we're on the same side."

His hand went up and the fight commenced. I hardly had a chance to wonder how badly Gage would beat Torq; the fight was over in a snap, but not as I expected it. Gage hunched into his stance and went for the first punch, but Torq grabbed his freaking fist in midair, twisted his arm, and smashed his elbow into Gage's face. Not to go down lightly, Gage took the momentum and spin into a roundhouse kick that that connected solidly with Torq's muzzle. The man barely flinched. He dealt his own kick to Gage's chest, and my pal looked like he had been hit by a truck. Torq grabbed him, kicked out his feet, and slammed him into the mat. I knew Gage would never tap out, and apparently so did Torq. The feline put him into a fierce grapple and held him down. Gage struggled with any energy he had left, but he remained captive for the ten seconds. The wolf in charge hit the mat and cheers nearly deafened me.

"Holy shit, man," the wolf said, walking out to Torq as he let Gage go and stood. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Martial arts instructor for the Guardians," Torq replied, still with that small grin.

"Well, damn. I don't think we're gonna find any challengers for you."

"Quite alright. I just wanted to give it a go once."

He turned and held out a hand to Gage, who was still on the ground, breathing heavily. He took the hand and Torq pulled him up like a rag doll. With a concerned look falling over his face, he asked if Gage was alright. Gage nodded with a drunken dizziness, and headed towards the door, calling back that he'd take a rematch any day when he was fresh and not tired after five rounds. The crewmen around the door helped him and patted him on the back on the way out.

I followed him, thankful to finally get away from the noise, and found him leaning against the wall in the empty corridor, chest heaving. A fresh stream of blood had started from his lip.

"You okay?" I asked.

He pounded the wall with his fist and growled. "I should've known better. I knew Torq was the fighting instructor for the Guardians. I didn't know he was that good though. Now look at me. Fucking embarrassment."

"Oh, shut up, you went five rounds in a row." It was useless; he could win a hundred rounds, lose one, and still be pissed. "I'm glad you know him, that's for sure."

"No kidding." He spit and wiped his mouth. "If he decides to stick with us, that fighting power could go a long way. Get us and the Shadow in the same room, and it's over." He looked up at me. "How's Peppy?"

I shrugged and shook my head.

He nodded. "Know what you need?"

"What?"

"You need to kick someone's ass."

I didn't think it possible, but it brought a smile to my face that night. Gage Birse's universal cure: kick someone's ass. "No way. That's not my thing in there."

"Oh, come on. You can hold your own."

"No. I'm tired. Maybe next weekend, if we're still here."

"Alright, alright. Wimp."

I grinned again. He looked up and grinned also. He stood up straight, grabbed me by the shoulder, and pulled me into an embrace. I hugged back. It felt good to have my friend, my brother, back. I wanted to say it before, but I was too embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, Gage."

"Hey, man. I'm not gonna pretend I know what you're going through. When the whole galaxy's at your throat, that can make a guy a little paranoid. You just remember that I'll always be there. You got me, Andrea, Torq, and your team there for you, unquestioning, no matter what. You got that?"

"Yeah."

Andrea chose that tender moment to exit the sparring room, bringing a couple seconds of blaring noise with her. The wolf looked at Gage with an almost motherly concern that turned into a look of annoyance. She touched his forehead where blood was drying and gave him a swift punch in the arm. "Moron! You should've stopped after that fourth round."

"I was doing fine."

She scoffed. "Oh, sure, you were in there for what, fifteen seconds against Torq?"

"He's a martial arts instructor."

She sighed and turned to me. "I'm shocked you knew him this long and he's still alive."

Gage answered before I could. "I'm a hard guy to kill. I'm almost a running gag around the medics back at the Corneria City HQ."

The door slid open again and a couple crewmen exited with nods to Gage. Torq followed and came up to Gage with a look as if one of his stray rounds accidentally pegged him in the leg. He grabbed his shoulder and said, "God, man, I'm sorry about that. I haven't fought in awhile, I thought I'd be a bit more out of practice then that."

Gage shook his head with a bit of an embarrassed expression. "Hey, we fought, you won, no apologies needed. Next weekend, you and me, first thing when we're both fresh." Even he didn't look totally convinced.

Torq nodded. Good sport. "Sure. I didn't even come here to fight, just to find you."

"For what?"

"Well, you all left after we got back from Katina. Took me hell to find out where you went. Who would've thought that after a mission you'd want to come here for more fighting? Anyway, a couple of the tech boys were messing with the program you used to discover…" He hesitated and glanced at me. "The one you used to find out about Falco Lombardi. Well, they couldn't uncover the Shadow, but they hacked into the source pattern field."

He looked at us expectantly. Hell if I knew what that was. "The what?"

"It gives the coordinates of the signal's origin. They traced the video back to its source."

Three sets of eyes and jaws opened. I spoke up first with the obvious question. "What? Where?"

"Corneria. A freighter floating hundreds of miles from any shore. Satellite surveillance shows little activity except for a few fighters coming and going. They've been ID'd as StarWolf."

My eyes instinctively went to Andrea. Her jaw snapped shut, but her face was stern. I couldn't tell whether she was disappointed by the news or happy that we'd be going after her brother. There was an awkward silence before, to our surprise, she said, "When do we go?"

"The ship can be prepped by morning," Torq replied. "I'll fly you out again, if that's alright with you."

Andrea nodded.

"Andrea," I said. "You don't have to go. Gage and I can—"

"See you bright and early." She turned on her heel and walked away.

The next morning

Working in Dagger meant that every enemy was a shadow, a target meant to be taken out. There was never any emotional attachment and never any reason to pussyfoot around the subject of obliterating the opposition. The day after the Katina mission was pretty new for me. Though things with Fox were patched up, I didn't know what to say concerning Lombardi and the bad shape Peppy was in. I figured it was best to just say nothing and reassure Fox that I'd be there for him if he needed it. He was like family, just like my team back on Corneria was.

Andrea was a different story…

Taking on a mission that would probably end up in us either killing or being killed by Wolf O'Donnell, a mercenary as famous as Fox but for all the wrong reasons, was no easy matter when his sister would be coming with us. Not for a moment did I think that she would betray us; I knew raw emotion when I saw it. No, my concern was her use in a firefight. She wasn't as battle-hardened as Fox, and if the emotional side dropped the bomb right when her dear brother waltzed into the fray, she could jeopardize herself, or even all of us. I had to confront her on it.

Dawn the next morning – though "dawn" is sort of false considering Solar was glaring at the ship day and night – I found her in her room, calmly dressing with a distant look in her eye. She didn't look weary at all. Two missions in two days was cake for me, but no picnic even for seasoned soldiers. She glanced up at me and looked back down as if she knew what was coming.

"Andrea," I said. "I need to know if you're going to perform out there."

She wasn't fazed by my signature bluntness. Most people are. "I told you to stop asking me that."

"A team's strength is in each member. If you fall apart, the team falls apart."

She looked up at me with pursed lips and a gaze that looked like she was either about to cry or yell at someone. "I've been waiting for this for a long time. Show me Wolf's face, and I'll blow it off."

"And if you don't?"

"Then you can shoot me."

I hesitated. The response surprised me, but the sureness in her voice left no doubt of its authenticity. "This ain't like those merc bitches you've been with. We protect our own, not shoot them. I'm trusting in your judgment of whether you'll make it through. If you think so, then the team will work with it, one way or another."

A tear finally slid down her cheek. Stress, anxiety, relief, love for a system that finally didn't hate her, whatever the cause, it was only one tear. She wiped it away and bucked up a bit. She hugged me and I hugged her back. I knew she'd make it through.

Midland Sea, Corneria
0643 hours, local time

It was a silent flight to Corneria. The three of us sat against the sides of the dropship, rifles loaded and laid across our black-clad laps, Torq silently maneuvering to avoid global defense sensors. Last thing we needed was the Cornerian military asking questions. Andrea and Fox both stared at the wall, the former no doubt pondering how to confront her brother and the latter probably anxiously awaiting his chance to knock off his old rival. Me, I knew my role on this mission was just to lead and protect. The worst thing to do was to go into a mission with volatile emotions, and since half of our team was doing just that and we couldn't afford the luxury to wait for them to calm down, Torq and I had to be vigilant.

There's only one thing more frightening than a hot battle zone: a totally silent battle zone. That's exactly what we found. The huge freighter bobbed in the choppy ocean under menacing storm clouds. Not a light was burning, not a soul stirring. I leaned on the pilot's seat and stared at the dead ship, contemplating. Torq looked up at me and asked, "What's the call?"

Either the ship was a remote station, anchored there until Wolf or whoever needed to use it, in which case it's perfectly plausible and even favorable that it's vacant…or it's a trap. Either way, we had to get down there to check it out. I nodded and said, "Put her down on the landing pad, but keep the engine going. Stay alert."

He nodded and we started down.

I turned to Fox and Andrea and waved for their attention. "The ship looks dead, but we can't be sure. We're going down there. Fox, stay on the deck near the dropship and keep watch. Andrea and I will recon the inside. Torq will keep the ship going. If I say to fall back, don't ask questions, just get your asses back to the ship. Alright?"

Fox looked disappointed at being given guard duty, but he nodded along with Andrea. I wanted to be with her at all times; I could count on Fox to keep his cool alone if things got ugly.

The dropship door slid open and we were greeted by a bone-chilling wind accompanied by freezing mist-rain. Quite a change in climates overnight. I hopped down first onto the slick deck, rifle shouldered, and scanned the area. Nothing. I motioned for Fox and Andrea to follow and had them by my side in a moment. I raised a finger to Fox and pointed to the ground; he got the picture, stay put and patrol around the dropship. I then pointed to the looming bridge of the ship and all the innards in between. Andrea nodded.

If the outside was dark, stormy, and cold, then the inside was just dark and cold. It reminded my why I didn't join the Navy; hell if you'd get me on a cramped, floating coffin. A ship in space was bad enough. The first deck was a maze of dim metal corridors. I pondered whether to use the flashlight on my rifle or nightvision and finally decided on the flashlight; never know when a blinding light would pop on. I flicked it on and we both followed the eerie cone of light through the halls.

I was quickly becoming itchy. Let alone the small light guiding us through the dripping, cold ship, every few seconds we'd hear the groan of the hull or clank of something outside being tossed in the wind. I wasn't superstitious or anything, but I'd seen my share of horror flicks growing up. If ghosts or shit like that existed, they'd be right at home in that damn ship.

We made it to the mess hall without any encounters, living or paranormal, and I swept the flashlight around. Three plates and three cups rested on one of the long tables. I flicked the surface of what looked to be coffee and touched it to my lips. Not hot, but not totally cold either…certainly not cold enough to be more than an hour old. Ghosts took back burner as my main concern turned to resident mercs. I motioned to Andrea to follow closely.

The bridge was my goal and I finally found a stairwell leading there. If there was any information about the Shadow or his operation, it would be stored in the data banks there. I wasn't too impressed with the bridge once we arrived. The command center was in disarray and the large windows that overlooked the outside decks of the freighter were grimy and barely transparent. The numerous computer consoles were rusted and looked barely operational.

"Gage, look at this."

Andrea was peeking through a door at the back of the command center. She pushed it open to reveal a small room draped in black curtains. A couple lights on tripods flanked it. I knew it immediately; it was the set that the Shadow was filmed in. We found the bastard, no doubt. Reassured, I went back into the command center and booted up the console next to the large data banks. It sputtered to life like an old man not wanting to be awakened. I brushed grime off the screen and just sort of stared at it for a minute before Andrea sighed and pushed me out of the way. Hey, I was trained for special forces, not hacking.

She typed rapidly for a few minutes while I kept watch at the door. It was taking too long for my tastes. My imagination was still bullshitting me and forcing me to keep watch in case the damn fire hose or something came to life. Finally, as I was about ready to put a laser into the fire hose for good measure, she spoke up.

"Ok, there's a backup of each video he released on here. Good news is that you were right. Remember the Black Scythe, Venom's own version of Dagger? They're definitely involved. One of them that escaped capture or death after the war is the Shadow. Here, there's a file here of every member, like the one you found awhile ago, only the names and profile pictures aren't blurred out. Bad news is that he filmed himself in darkness so we can't break that to see which one it is. But…oh! Look at this! The voice was apparently tampered with. That's not his own voice on the video. So if we rewind the work on this and start it over, we should hear his normal voice."

"It's a start. Won't do us much good. Would be nice to know what the bastard sounds like, but until we know which of the Scythe members he is, it won't do much good."

While she messed with the sound file, I clicked through the Scythe profiles as if browsing a dating service catalog. Most of them looked like pretty tough bastards; I only had a run-in with two of them, and it's not a fond memory. Their names didn't ring any bells and, eerily enough, sounded…normal, if that's the right word. Maybe I expected their names to be like Blade McBeatass or something, but it sounded as normal as Bob Johnson the paper boy.

The voice file started rewinding and as I heard it in ultra-fast backwards mode, I suddenly felt a pit in my stomach, the same kind I felt back when Falco's boots were just being uncovered in the lighting program. I suddenly didn't want to look at anymore Scythe pictures and the beep as the sound file finished and started playing at normal time, in the Shadow's normal voice, was like a sucker punch to my kidney. My fingers moved on their own force. I clicked onto the next Scythe picture just as the voice echoed in the Command Center and took my breath away. Andrea stared in shock. The picture I saw before me, the name beside it, the grizzled expression, the voice that I imagined saying anything but the horrible things it was saying in that video, was burned into my brain.

I wasted no time. I sprinted back through the corridors of the ship, the flashlight bobbing and guiding me. Tracking training pulled through and I found my way back to the heavy hull door. A burst of stormy, misty air embraced me as I slid out onto the deck and looked at Fox calmly standing by the dropship. Did he mean for us to find that? He couldn't have…he must not have thought we'd find it, or he would have opened fire by now.

I sprinted forward and Fox looked at me, first with confusion, then concern. The concern turned to fear as I raised my rifle right at his head.

"Fox, get down!"

He hit the deck and I opened up full auto on the dropship. Lasers bounced off the hull and finally cracked the canopy. Torq reeled back in surprise that turned to frustration. The sound of boosters overtook the storm and the dropship took off, but he didn't fly away. He turned back and fired the weak but powerful enough main gun. It chewed up the deck around me. I ran forward, pulled Fox to his feet, and we dove behind a huge shipping container as the lasers seared the air around us. I waited. There was no way in hell we could take a dropship. To my surprise, he turned and jetted off. Only after we were alone with the sound of the storm did I realize how bad that was. That meant something on board this ship would kill us, and Torq was sure of it.

"Fuck fuck fuck," I muttered through gritted teeth, punching the container. "This whole goddamn galaxy is fucking two-faced!"

But I knew that wasn't true. I didn't know Torq by accident. He made very subtle and very intentional moves to get near me. Keep friends close and enemies closer. It made sense. The destruction of the Guardians, supposedly his own mercenary team, the amazing fighting the day before, the money, how he was able to keep tabs on Fox. All this time, the bastard was right under Corneria's nose.

But fuck if I would let the Black Scythe beat Dagger.

"What the hell was that!" Fox shouted. "What the hell happened?"

I didn't answer yet. It didn't all click into place yet, but we had more immediate concerns. I turned back to the ghostly bridge with a new sense of fear. Andrea hadn't followed me; she hadn't joined us yet. There was someone in that ship. Torq had set us up. StarWolf was lying in wait, no doubt. Torq just expected them to kill us before we found out the bad stuff. If Andrea was in there, then I was going after her. We were playing on Wolf's turf now, but I have a very high winning average on enemy playing fields.

I motioned for Fox to keep quiet and follow me.

-Chapter 11 coming soon-