Chapter 03: Cry of the Wolf

Canyon in Thunder Plains Zone, Northamer Badlands, Mobius

Platoons of Stormtroopers, accompanied by AT-ST and AT-DP walkers patrolled the canyons, searching for their targets, which were hiding behind some rocks. A group of Mobian wolves, the Wolf Pack, watched as they observed the Imperials walk past; Lupe, their leader, calmly kept her eye on the walkers, and then eyed the path.

"Now, let's go," she said.

The Wolf Pack quickly sprinted across the canyon, praying the noise they made did not attract the attention of the squad that passed, the pack then quickly opened a door built into the canyon, leading to underground tunnels. Lupe stood last, making sure no eyes were on them, and then she proceeded inside, shutting the door just as another squad of Imperials walked past. She took a deep breath and then went to rejoin her people as they followed the tunnels that led to a lair deep underground, their only haven from the danger above. Lupe sat down as her fellow pack members approached.

"Senorita, the supplies we have are barely enough for a week. If those off-worlders attack, we won't stand a chance, especially against those armored mechs."

"I know, Reynard. The supply runs are getting more dangerous by the day."

"But we cannot give up, not when we still have a fighting chance," said Diablo.

"Even so, we were never prepared for off-worlders assisting Robotnik, we just weren't prepared, Lupe," said Lyco.

"Now they're almost right on top of us," said Leeta.

"At this rate, we won't last another day once they figure out where we are!" said Reynard.

"Well, I don't see you coming up with any ideas, Reynard," said Diablo.

"They've already destroyed Knothole, the Freedom Fighters there are missing, we don't know if they survived or not. I simply do not want us to lose everything, Diablo," said Reynard.

"What are you saying, Reynard? That we should come out and surrender ourselves?" said Lyco.

"Did we surrender when Robotnik rounded up and roboticized our people?" said Diablo.

"No, and we cannot expect anything less from these people, other than being shot," said Reynard.

"Enough. I will not even consider surrender, much less give up. Doing so will undermine those we've already lost. I will not see the end of our people, our culture, even our traditions, not at the hands of Robotnik, and not at the hands of the off-worlders. It would be an insult to those we fight with. But, I see your concerns, the off-worlders have appeared to be anticipating where we'll be…too well," said Lupe.

"What are you saying, Senorita?" said Leeta.

"Are you suggesting they may know where we'll be?" said Lyco.

"I don't suggest. I know. They were right on top of our destinations every time the last few days, and coincidences are unlikely."

Lupe then turned her eyes to Drago, who was standing in the corner, looking quite unconcerned.

"Drago, where were you during our last supply run?"

"I was hiding from those probe droids," said Drago.

"There were hardly that many, and you hung back, and when they spotted us, we had to abandon more than half our salvage. Also, I've noticed you've become withdrawn lately. Why?"

"Maybe I'm not comfortable with the idea of us fighting against impossible odds," said Drago.

"We've fought against worse and lived…what's that in your hand?"

"Coins from my collection," said Drago.

"You don't carry them with you, that's reckless."

Suddenly, Lupe hit Drago's hand with her knee, causing a small device to fly out of his hand.

"What is this?" she said.

"Is that…?" said Reynard.

"A tracking device," Lupe said.

Drago grew nervous.

"Why? Our people are so few now, Drago. Why turn your back on them?" said Lupe.

"I did it for myself, fools! We live like savages when we could've left this all behind? Well, that's not what I intend to do, and if I gotta put the rest of you down to get what I want, then so be it. Go ahead, I've already disgraced my ancestors, for what they're worth to me, nothing more than some bones in the ground," said Drago.

"You already disgraced yourself the day you sold out our people," said Lupe.

Drago then lunged at Lupe to try and grab her, but she countered the attack, grabbing his arm and throwing him over her shoulder and down on the ground. Drago then quickly got up and pulled his blaster out of his holster, but before he could fire a shot at Lupe, she punched him in the face as hard as she could, which knocked Drago out cold and caused him to fall onto the ground.

"Are you okay, Senorita?" said Canus.

"Yes, I'm fine, though I am disgusted even our own kind are not immune to behavior like this," said Lupe.

Suddenly, the room shook, and they heard a faint rumbling sound.

"An explosion?" said Lyco.

"We must hurry. Gather what you can, the off-worlders will be here soon," said Lupe.

"What about him?" said Renard.

Lupe looked at Drago, feeling her stomach twist in disgust.

"Leave him, but make him wear the mark of shame. His new "family" will see," said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack quickly ran about their hideout, grabbing what they could take with them, and destroying anything containing intelligence. Meanwhile, Leeta and Lyco moved Drago to a rock, tied his wrists behind him around the rock, and then retrieved a branding iron.

"The sacred Wolf Pack mark of shame, only given to 'lost' ones," said Lyco.

"This iron says in ancient tongue… 'Lost one'. Appropriate," said Leeta.

They put the iron to the flames as Drago slowly came to.

"Wha…what is…no…no, please! Not that! Anything but that!"

"You shamed your heritage…traitor," said Lyco.

"Is this truly necessary?" said Canus.

"As savage and…distasteful as it is, it must be done. I don't like this punishment, but our law still requires it, and it must be done. Do not worry, only traitors endure this," said Lupe.

The twins looked at Lupe, who then gave an approving nod, and the rest of the pack turned their backs to Drago, as Lyco and Leeta moved the iron and pressed it against Drago's face. Drago howled loudly in pain as the metal burned the flesh on his face, leaving the mark of shame, now permanently on his face.

"You know the off-worlders will have heard that," said Diablo.

"I know. When they come, they will see their puppet did not deserve an easy end to this. That is why he will bear the stigma. Now, come, it's time to leave," said Lupe.

"The Caves of No Return will not hold them for long, Senorita," said Canus.

Canus then went to another door, and he pushed it open, revealing another passage. But as the Pack begun to leave, the main entrance was engulfed in sparks.

"They're breaching! GO!" said Lupe.

They had only just barely started going through the exit when the entrance suddenly burst open, and several Stormtroopers flooded in.

"FREEZE, FURBALLS!"

"Look out!" said Reynard.

The Stormtroopers fired at the Wolf Pack, Reynard and Diablo fired back, killing a few troopers as they soon fled with the rest of the pack into the tunnels. A Death Trooper among them came in and looked around.

"Doctor, the Wolf Pack is on the run, Operative 97 is here, but appears to have some ancient mark burned into his face," said the trooper.

"Get him some medical attention, but don't rush it, your priority are those wolves! I've waited too long to finish them! GET THEM NOW!" said Robotnik.

"Affirmative, sir. AFTER THEM!" said the trooper.

The Wolf Pack ran through the tunnels, barely slowing down for the turns, their feet slid across the rock floor as they turned at full speed.

"Now I know what it feels like to be Sonic the Hedgehog!" said Lyco.

The Wolf Pack soon reached the door, but the second they opened it, they saw a whole squad of Stormtroopers waiting.

"There they are! FREEZE!"

The Wolf Pack stopped outside the door, as the other troopers were not far behind. Lupe looked around as AT-ST and AT-DP walkers were coming up the canyon to render support. She then reached into her satchel and pulled a thermal detonator, hiding it behind her back. She then took a long, deep breath.

"Members of the Pack…let them hear our cry. Let them hear the cry of the Wolf Pack!"

Lupe then went into a long, deep howl, with the rest of the pack joining her, leaving the Imperials bewildered and confused, but the second Lupe stopped howling, she tossed the thermal detonator right at the Imperials. The Wolf Pack jumped to avoid the explosion that followed, which killed several troopers. The Wolf Pack then leapt to their feet and charged the ones that survived. Diablo charged one trooper and wrestled with him.

"DIE YOU FUZZ-GAGGGGGH!"

Diablo silenced the trooper by shooting him with his own blaster, as the Wolf Pack quickly found cover in the canyon.

"Sister! Behind you!"

Lyco shot two more troopers behind Leeta, who quickly turned and shot one more behind Lyco in return.

"Thank you, sister!" said Leeta.

"Likewise," said Lyco.

"Senorita! A Mech!" said Reynard.

The Wolf Pack saw an AT-ST close on their position, and it started firing at them. Lupe got to cover.

"Lyco, Leeta. See if you can get atop that mech, and take control of it, we need to get out of this canyon, and we need fire support!" said Lupe.

"We're already on it, Senorita!" said Leeta.

The twins climbed up the sides of the Canyon, while the Pack provided covering fire. Lyco and Leeta leapt from one ledge to another, until they were directly above the AT-ST. They leapt onto the top of it's command pod, and begun tapping the hatch. Soon, it opened as one of the pilots drew a blaster to fire at them, but he was shot by Lyco. Leeta grabbed the other pilot and tossed him off, with his dead co-pilot following suit. The twins then hopped in, closing the hatch.

"Now, to figure out how to pilot this thing…" said Leeta.

"Senorita! There's another one!" said Reynard.

"Diablo! Go with Reynard! Take control of that mech too! After that, follow my lead!" said Lupe.

Lupe barely dodged a shot from a Stormtrooper as she shot that one down, with more on the horizon. Reynard and Diablo meanwhile climbed up the cliff walls, preparing to do what the twins just did. They climbed until they leapt down onto the command pod of the second AT-ST. They forced the hatch open and shot the pilots dead, tossing them out, allowing them to take control. But unfortunately, the Stormtroopers were bringing AT-PTs and TIE Maulers for support.

"More mechs! Hurry!" said Lupe.

"Come on, Leeta! Get me a shot here!" said Lyco.

"I'm trying! But these controls are confusing!" said Leeta.

"Canus! See if you can draw their fire!" said Lupe.

"At once, Senorita," said Canus.

Canus ran across the open, firing his blaster rifle at the Imperials, as the TIE Maulers soon were in range, and started firing.

"Come on, Leeta! Hurry up!" said Lyco.

"I'M TRYING!" said Leeta.

"This thing walks like a child! I can barely control it!" said Reynard.

"It isn't that hard! Push that to make it move! Turn that to make it go wherever you point it!" said Diablo.

"Oh, thank you, Diablo! That's very helpful!" said Reynard.

Lupe continued staying in cover, and she then took a few more shots at the Imperials, but suddenly, one blaster shot hit her in the shoulder, and she howled as the pain could be felt.

"SENORITA!" said Canus.

Lupe gnashed her teeth.

"We need to leave…now!" she said.

Soon, the two AT-STs they'd captured begun to fire on the Imperials, taking them completely off-guard.

"All right, we got it!" said Lyco.

"Blast them!" said Diablo.

The Pack used their captured AT-STs to begin blasting AT-PTs and TIE Maulers, and begun clearing the way out of the canyon, as Canus rushed to Lupe's aid, helping her to her feet, and they begun heading down the canyon. The Wolf Pack fought their way, blasting any Imperials in their way, until they came across more AT-STs and AT-DPs.

"More mechs! We gotta take them out!" said Diablo.

Their AT-STs exchanged fire with the Imperials, destroying the AT-STs, but then Reynard noticed something above the AT-DP.

"Hit that boulder!" he said.

"Give me a shot!" said Diablo.

They turned their walker's guns on the large boulder above, firing a few shots at it, and it slowly begun to fall, and it crushed the AT-DP beneath its massive weight.

"We're almost out of here!" said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack turned the corner, towards the entrance to the valley, but the second they turned the corner, they saw something even more ominous, an AT-AT.

"Out…now," said Reynard.

"Leeta, get out, NOW!" said Lyco.

"GET BACK!" said Lupe.

Lyco, Leeta, Reynard, and Diablo barely jumped out of their AT-STs as the AT-AT fired on them, destroying both walkers. Lupe saw that there was only one way out.

"Run, head towards it's legs. If we get close enough, it can't turn fast enough to hit us! GO!" she said.

The Wolf Pack ran towards the AT-AT as it fired at them, but it kept missing them, soon, they managed to get under the walker, where it could not hit them, but soon, the walker begun to perform stomping actions with its feet.

"Keep moving! Watch the feet!" said Lupe.

The Wolf Pack ran to the entrance to the canyon, and with AT-STs closing fast, they had one shot at fleeing, as they exited the canyon, and ran to a nearby alcove.

"Let's hope the speeders are still usable…yes! Come! Quickly!" said Lyco.

The Wolf Pack's survivors loaded themselves onto the speeders, and quickly started them up, racing away just as the AT-AT turned around and tried to get a bead on them, but they were too quick for it to get a shot at them. They were already some distance away. Later, they stopped at the edge of a river to catch their breath, as Reynard tended to Lupe's wound.

"That spineless fool…how could he do this, to his own people, nonetheless?" said Reynard.

"He always wanted the 'easy life', he said it himself…OW! Easy, Reynard!" said Lupe.

"What does that even mean?" said Leeta.

"It means he wanted to go his own path, but it only took the off-worlders and Robotnik's empty promises to turn him against us for money," said Lupe.

"I only pity him," said Canus.

"Where does that leave us now?" said Lyco.

"She's right, Senorita, where do we go now? We won't last very long," said Reynard.

"We may have lost our homes, our brothers and sisters, but not our resolve. Fortunately, I know where we can go. Sally and I had a plan in place in the event Knothole went dark. There's a secret hideout near Robotropolis, only the leaders of the Freedom Fighters know about," said Lupe.

"Half the off-worlder's army is after us, and you want to go to Robotropolis? Into the vulture's den?" said Reynard.

"It's perfect, Reynard! The off-worlders are too busy scouring the countryside, they won't look too closely at the cities!" said Diablo.

"And if we're lucky, maybe the other Freedom Fighters managed to survive too!" said Lyco.

"I hope they did, and I also hope they didn't suffer the sting of betrayal either…nevertheless, it's the only place we can go now. Follow me, I know where to go," said Lupe.

Somewhere in the Outer Rim, Rebel Cruiser Salvation

The Star Tornado and Storm Ranger exited hyperspace, and approached their destination.

"Look at the size of that starship!" said Rotor.

"I know! Think of all the hours I can spend on all those systems!" said Tails.

"You mean 'we', Tails. I got plenty of ideas on how we can improve the performance of both the Tornado and the Salvation at the same time! Oh, the things we can do!" said Rotor.

"Just make sure you refer it to me. Storm Ranger to Salvation. Geoffrey, you there?" said Jericho.

"I'm here, old friend. Good to see you made it. Also, good to see the Freedom Fighters got their new toy, too," said Geoffrey.

"What do you think?" said Jericho.

"Good point," said Geoffrey.

"You know I can hear you two," said Sonic.

"Oh, please tell me he's not flying that thing," Geoffrey said.

"Not just that, he owns it," said Jericho.

"What? I thought Sally would be the one to own it! Oh, never mind, you two may land in the main hangar bay," said Geoffrey.

"He called dibs," said Jericho.

The Tornado and Ranger approached the hangar bay for the Salvation and landed in empty spaces not occupied by the many X-Wings, Y-Wings, A-Wings, and Z-95s parked inside the hangar bay. Geoffrey was waiting inside the hangar, and as soon as Jericho exited the Ranger, they shook hands.

"I heard the fleet is scrambling to avoid the Imperials' retribution, but at least you guys made it back. And good thing their new baby is intact, at least," he said.

"First thing, deflector shields and armor. We're gonna be in hot zones a lot, so we need defenses first," said Rotor.

Tails looked around the Salvation's hangar bay.

"Look at all these fighters!" he said.

"Yeah, we're gonna be busy for a whole year, Tails."

Soon, three more Mobians arrived, a male Mobian weasel, a male Mobian eagle, and a male Mobian kangaroo approached.

"Ross Baldwin, Terry Ryback, and Kirk Vogel. Glad you three at least are still with us," said Jericho.

"We wouldn't do you good with all of us dead, would we, sir?" said Ross.

"Thought you were on the bottom of a walker's foot for sure, sir," said Kirk.

"Yeah, glad to see you're still in once piece, sir," said Terry.

"It's gonna take more than the Empire's best to get me at anything less than my best," said Jericho.

"Like back on Scarif?" said Ross.

Jericho then noticed behind his men, a female Mobian skunk who appeared to be trying to stay out of the open.

"Natalia Mydaus, is that you trying to be incognito?" said Jericho.

Natalia yelped a bit, trying to get out of sight.

"Scrapper, come out here now. We know you're there, the Skipper can smell you," said Terry.

"Don't make me come over there and drag you out; we have VIPs aboard, so come out," said Jericho.

Natalia slowly emerged, looking very nervous and not making direct eye contact with the Freedom Fighters.

"Now you three I remember from previous missions…her, I've never seen before," said Sally.

"She's new, she only just started getting in the field. Speaking of, how's your gut doing, Natalia?" said Jericho.

Natalia rubbed her belly a bit, cringing a bit.

"It still stings a bit, sir, but it's a lot better," said Natalia.

"Either way, good to meet you all," said Sally.

"It's an honor to be working with you, Princess," said Kirk.

"I know you follow protocol, but you don't have to call me that," said Sally.

"Anyway, I assume everyone else on the team is at their assigned stations?" said Jericho.

"Everyone is already posted and working as we speak, sir," said Ross.

"Good, escort the Freedom Fighters to their quarters. Today, you rest. Tomorrow, we will begin, zero-five-hundred hours," said Jericho.

"Why so early? I need my beauty sleep, you know! And I wanna work now!" said Sonic.

"Sonic, we need to be at one-hundred percent to work in this new environment, so be patient, and not the hospital kind," said Sally.

Sonic simply pouted.

"Follow me, please," said Ross.

The Freedom Fighters walked out of the hangar to the elevators, and rode the elevators to the crew quarters.