Kew
Within a clearing in the forest outside of Torzan, a campfire burned, illuminating four tents, and two canine figures seated beside it.
Wolf took a sip of water from his canteen and then met Carmen's gaze.
"Do you remember how you talked about getting a pardon out of all this?"
After slapping a mosquito that had landed on her ear, the dingo replied "Yeah."
Taking another swig, Wolf continued "A pardon's not something I have in mind. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure I could go straight."
Carmen seemed taken aback, her brown eyes studying the lupine.
"If you don't mind me saying so, wouldn't it be nice not to have to run anymore?"
Wolf gave her a wry grin.
"I've been running since the day I was born. Even if Corneria did pardon me, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
A frown creased Wolf's muzzle as he thought back to the aftermath of the Aparoids.
"A bit of gratitude would've been nice. Wishful thinking, I guess." the lupine remarked as he glared into the flames.
"Well for what it's worth, you've got my gratitude."
Thinking that she was kidding, Wolf did a double take at Carmen and saw that she was dead serious. Seeing his puzzled expression, she elaborated.
"There's no two ways about it, Corneria did you guys dirty. You deserved better."
Wolf let out a mirthful chuckle.
"Yet here we are, helping them again."
Carmen nodded.
"Well, of course. I know you'll probably never admit this, but I think that you want to do good."
"Looks like you've got us all figured out." he snarked.
The dingo simply shrugged.
"In any case, thank you. None of us would be here now if it wasn't for what you did during the Aparoid invasion."
Wolf was stunned to hear that and found himself at a loss for words.
"Well, uh. You're welcome." he said while scratching the back of his head.
After the two canines chuckled for a bit, Wolf let out a yawn, which did not go unnoticed by Carmen.
"You should knock off. I'll take first watch."
"You sure?"
"Positive."
Shrugging his shoulders, Wolf stood up and said "Good night."
"Good night."
As the lupine walked back to his tent, Carmen threw another log onto the fire and stared up at the stars.
The last time she had been camping in the woods had been on her honeymoon, when her and Richard had gone to Papetoon. The dingo was fairly certain that the trip had been where they had conceived Ryan.
Feeling tears tugging at the corners of her eyes, Carmen reached into her inside jacket pocket and took out the family photo that was her only remaining possession since that fateful night three years ago.
Staring at the image of her husband and son, Carmen sadly remarked "We'll see each other again. I promise." before kissing the photo and hugging it to her chest.
Wolf meanwhile, had entered his tent and removed his purple flight jacket, folding it over a few times and putting it at the head of his sleeping bag to use as a makeshift pillow. After kicking off his boots, the lupine crawled into the sleeping bag, shut off his digital lens, and closed his violet eye, quickly falling asleep.
He found himself in a blue and yellow landscape with multicoloured pillars floating past, very much akin to the warp zones in Sector X and the Meteo Asteroid Belt. Wolf looked around, unsure of which way to go, or even which way was up or down.
"Wolf."
His ears twitched in the direction of the female voice. It sounded familiar, very familiar.
"Mom?"
Another voice, this time male, called out from the same direction.
"Wolf."
"Dad?"
Wolf started walking in the direction of his parents' voices, certain that this was the way to go. As they repeated his name, he was shocked to hear another join in.
"Uncle Mike?"
Wolf kept going, ducking and dodging past the strange pillars. He noticed that a fourth voice had joined the chorus, but couldn't make out who it was.
Suddenly, the lupine found that he was falling, the pillars becoming a multicoloured blur in his vision. Just as the spectacle was starting to make Wolf feel sick, he spotted what appeared to be a hand made out of light.
"Well, here goes nothing." he thought before reaching out and grabbing the hand.
Doing so caused the lupine to stop falling. To his surprise, the light materialized into a familiar figure.
"You?" he gasped in shock.
"Yeah, Wolf. Me." Carmen replied.
Wolf stood speechless as Carmen walked up and wrapped her arms around him. As if he were on autopilot, the outlaw returned the embrace and began to lean his face towards hers.
He woke up the second their lips touched.
Wolf's eye shot open and he looked about the tent, having temporarily forgotten where he was. Calming himself down, the lupine turned his digital lens back on and switched to thermal vision.
He saw a figure sitting by the fire whom he recognized as Leon. Looking around, Wolf spotted Carmen and Panther asleep in their tents.
Checking the clock on his wristcom, the lupine saw that it would be dawn in a couple of hours and decided that now was as good a time as any to get up.
After putting his jacket and boots back on, Wolf left the tent and was greeted with the smell of instant coffee.
"Morning Leon."
"Morning Boss."
Grabbing a thermos from his fighter, Wolf poured himself some coffee and sat down by the fire. After a bit of quiet, Leon spoke up.
"Can I ask you something, Boss?"
"Shoot." Wolf replied after taking a swig of coffee.
Leon let out a huff.
"Why are we doing this?"
Raising an eyebrow, Wolf answered "One Lylat War was bad enough. If Koates gets his way, he'll start another. That's the last thing anyone needs right now."
Leon tilted his head.
"That's not really what I meant." he remarked as he looked off to the side.
Following his second in command's gaze, Wolf's eye fell on Carmen's tent. Turning back to the chameleon, Wolf sighed.
"Look, I get it. You're still pissed that she dragged us into this."
Leon crossed his arms.
"That's one way of putting it."
Wolf glanced at the fire while taking another sip of coffee.
"All things considered, Panther hit the nail on the head. We would've ended up in Koates' crosshairs sooner or later."
Leon shook his head.
"She still played us. And besides, I've seen you two together."
Narrowing his eye, Wolf said "We've got a common enemy. That's all there is to it."
Leon simply rolled his yellow eyes.
"No, Boss. I've seen the way you two are."
Wolf stared dumbfounded at his second in command before bursting into laughter.
"Come on, Leon. We've known each other a long time. You of all people should know that I'm not into a serious relationship."
Seeing the unconvinced look on the chameleon's face, Wolf elaborated.
"Look, even if I wanted that from her, it wouldn't work. We're wanted men. There's no way I could take her out for a nice dinner or anything like that."
Leon looked down and shook his head.
"So, just business than?"
"Uh, yeah."
The lizard yawned and then stood up.
"Well if you say so, Boss. Good night."
"Good night, Leon."
Wolf glanced towards the fire, not caring that Leon hadn't sounded the least bit sincere. Truth be told, the lupine wasn't sure that he himself believed the things he had said earlier.
Women had never been a big priority for Wolf, aside from an occasional tryst with a lady of the night. Indeed, he had concluded long ago that there wasn't a woman in the universe who could understand a man like him.
But the better he got to know Carmen, the more Wolf started to doubt that. Being around her and talking to her was stirring up emotions that the lupine had never felt before.
And no matter how much Wolf tried to explain it away, two things were very clear: He was starting to care for the dingo, and he was not looking forward to the end of this mission.
Because it would likely mean that he would never see her again.
As the hours ticked by and Solar rose over the treetops, the others got up and joined Wolf by the fire. Breakfast consisted of instant coffee and rations from the team's survival kits. It was a simple meal, but it did the job of filling their bellies.
After they were finished, Carmen brought up a hologram of Zalbar Island on her wristcom.
"Okay guys, bit of a history lesson here; Vekman started a mining operation on the northeast side of the island six months ago. From what I was able to gather at their head office, the mine is now in full operation."
"What are they mining for?" Panther asked.
"That's what we're going to find out." Carmen replied.
Looking around at the others, the dingo continued "Something I should point out, the equipment is being supplied by Manticore Incorporated."
Her statement caused the Star Wolf team to exchange looks, with Leon ultimately giving voice to their thoughts.
"The Castillos."
Wolf glared at the dying embers of their campfire.
"We're in this deep, boys. Might as well go all the way."
After nodding in agreement, Panther said "I thought the last Castillo died four years ago. And his wife before that."
"Control of the crime family was passed to a nephew from Katina. Some guy named Zalsee or something like that." Wolf explained.
"Szalasi." Carmen put in. "Janos Szalasi."
Her remark caused all of the Star Wolf team to stare at her.
"Szalasi was one of the links in my investigation. I discovered a series of payments between him and an unidentified person on Eladard. I think it was Koates."
Moving on from there, Carmen highlighted the southwest part of the island.
"This is probably the best place to land. I know it will be a bit of a hike, but we can't risk being spotted."
"Damn right." Wolf agreed.
After that, the quartet went about taking down their tents and covering up all traces of their camp. Soon enough, the three Wolfens had taken off and were on their way to Zalbar Island.
As they emerged over the ocean, Wolf keyed his comm.
"Drop altitude, boys. That should keep us off their radar."
The Wolfens dove down until they were almost skimming across the surface. Within his cockpit, Wolf stared out at the emerging shape of the island and thought about the feelings he was developing for the woman seated behind him.
He was tempted to spill his guts then and there, but held off. The mission was going to be hard enough as is.
"When we get done here, I'm telling her everything." the lupine resolved.
Zalbar Island
Kalman Koates stared at the viewport of his shuttle as it made it's landing approach. On this particular day, the armadillo was clad in a brown business suit, a grey dress shirt, a black bow tie, and a pair of sunglasses.
"Sir, permission to speak freely?"
"Go ahead, Captain Capaldi."
"Sir, our ruse with Vekman's business partner probably won't hold up to scrutiny if Star Wolf attacks."
Koates glanced over his shoulder, meeting the eyes of his special operations team. Along with Valen, Algy, Rena, and Bandera, there were the two replacements; Pyle, a mountain gorilla, and Wilkeson, a Komodo dragon.
"We will deal with that if and when the time comes." the Venomian Marshal replied.
Smiling, he continued "Until then, act naturally."
The shuttle descended onto a landing platform, where Vekman, a polecat, and several bodyguards awaited them. After landing, the entrance ramp was lowered and a group of Koates' bodyguards and Valen's team descended and took up positions.
Koates himself walked down the ramp and was greeted by Vekman.
"A pleasure to finally meet you in person, Mr. Szalasi." the jackrabbit said as he extended a hand.
"Glad to be here." the armadillo replied as they shook hands.
Turning to the polecat, Koates remarked "And you must be Mr. McTiernen."
"Indeed I am." the mustelid replied.
After they had shaken hands, the group walked towards a lift and began descending into the mine. Now that he was no longer outdoors, Koates removed his sunglasses and heard McTiernen gasp at his blue scars and orange right eye.
"Well." the polecat stammered. "I see you had an encounter with those damn bugs."
Koates gave him a wry grin.
"You should have seen the Aparoid."
Even as he let out a chuckle, Koates could not help but think back to that fateful encounter from over a year ago.
One year ago
It was supposed to be a simple operation. Upon hearing that Andrew Oikonny had met his end on Fortuna, Koates had his people track down what was left of the ape's forces and then had taken his personal shuttle to speak with them face to face.
Even though Oikonny's army was a ragtag bunch, with the actual soldiers outnumbered by hired guns, Koates knew he couldn't be picky if he wanted to succeed where Emperor Andross had failed.
Then the Aparoids had shown up, and the situation had degenerated into chaos.
Koates had been so close to getting back to his shuttle and escaping when one of the insectoid creatures landed in front of him. He had managed to get off a few shots before the Aparoid lunged and tackled him to the hanger floor.
The armadillo fought with all his might to keep the Aparoid from biting him, but it was not enough. He screamed in pain as the insectoid's mandibles cut up the right side of his face.
"No, not like this." he thought as he reached for his combat knife.
Koates stabbed the Aparoid in the neck, which mercifully, caused it to back off. Ignoring the burning sensation on his face, the armadillo went up to the creature and repeatedly stabbed it in the head, letting out a scream of rage until the creature finally laid still.
The Present
Everything after that was a blur for the Marshal. He vaguely remembered piloting his shuttle into a ship that wasn't infested, but not much else.
What he did remember was the pain and the voices in his head. Voices of people he either knew to be dead, or hadn't seen in years.
Koates took a breath and clenched his fists. None of that mattered now; He had survived, and he would carry on the legacy of Emperor Andross.
Great Fox II
"Fox. I've got something on the scanners."
Turning his command chair to Peppy, Fox replied "What is it?"
"The geological scan has pinpointed two exits for the cave that Star Wolf escaped into."
The vulpine stood up and walked over to Peppy's terminal, peering over the hare's shoulder at the display. Fox quickly noticed that the exits were quite some distance away from each other.
"Looks like we'll have to split up again." he mused before turning to ROB.
"Get everyone up here."
"Yes, Fox." the robot replied before keying the ship's intercom.
"All personnel to the bridge. Repeat: All personnel to the bridge."
Fox, in the meantime, thought about how he would split up the team.
"Hmh, we're gonna be down a pilot with Krystal on a solo mission."
Thinking about the team's encounter with Star Wolf the previous day, Fox mused "I'll put Slippy and Amanda with Fay and Miyu. That way, there's three pilots with combat experience and a slight numbers advantage."
After the rest of the team filed onto the bridge and gathered around the holotable, Fox brought up the geological scan.
"A bit of good news here, guys. Our scan has found the exits to the cave that Star Wolf went into."
"It's still looking for a needle in a stack of needles." Falco commented.
Looking in the avian's direction, Fox replied "I know, but it's all we've got."
Glancing around at his team, the vulpine continued "Slippy, Amanda, Fay, Miyu. I want you guys to search the area around the westernmost exit. Fara, Falco, and I will take the other one. Any questions?"
When nobody spoke up, Fox said "Alright, let's move out."
While the others left the bridge, Fox went up to Krystal. The couple embraced and shared a kiss.
"Good luck, babe."
"You too, Fox."
The vulpine gave his girlfriend a smile before turning and leaving the bridge. After taking the lift down to the hanger, Fox walked up to his Arwing and hopped in. Within the cockpit, the Star Fox leader strapped himself in and performed his preflight checks.
Once those were done, a countdown began on Fox's HUD. The vulpine braced himself as the timer ticked closer to zero, and when it did, he slammed his foot on the boost pedal. With the help of a catapult, his Arwing was propelled out into the vacuum of space.
As his teammates formed up around him, Fox keyed his comm.
"All wings, report in."
Fox listened as his teammates responded in the affirmative and then began issuing his orders.
"Okay guys, split off into your groups."
Fay, Slippy, Miyu, and Amanda broke from the formation while Falco and Fara remained with Fox. Looking down at Kew, the vulpine thought "What are you up to now, Wolf?"
Zalbar Island
The three Wolfens landed on the forested southwestern side of the island. After getting out of their cockpits, the quartet set about camouflaging their ships. When they were finished, Wolf ordered "Let's move out."
With that, the group set off into the woods, the afternoon rays of Solar beating down on them. As they pushed through the trees and brush, the four fugitives kept their ears open for the sounds of aircraft engines, though the only thing they could hear was waves crashing against the distant shores.
After an hour of walking, if the clocks on their wristcoms were any indication, the quartet came upon a tall cliff face that stretched out both east and west as far as their eyes could see.
"I don't suppose we can go around." Panther remarked.
Carmen responded by bringing up a topographic map on her wristcom and highlighting the cliff. Shaking her head, the dingo said "We could, but it'll put us near the coastline."
"And chances are they have patrol boats." Wolf put in.
"So we climb" Leon finished.
From there, the four of them began scaling the cliff, carefully searching for hand and footholds. Things were going smoothly, until Wolf heard falling rocks and a yelp of surprise to his right. On instinct, he reached out and grabbed Carmen's hand, preventing her from falling to her death or serious injury.
"You okay?" he asked, his voice carrying a little more concern than he would have liked.
Meeting Wolf's gaze, Carmen replied "Yeah, fine."
After the dingo got a grip back on the cliff face, Wolf signalled for everyone to stay put while he checked out up top. Cautiously peering up over the edge, Wolf looked about and didn't see anything out of place, nor did he see anyone waiting in the bushes when he switched to thermal vision.
"We're clear." he whispered.
After climbing up, the group pressed on and soon came across another rock wall with an entrance. Judging by the shrapnel on the ground and the light fixtures on the roof of the cave, this cavern was undoubtedly part of the mine.
Seeing that his compatriots were moving to switch on the built-in flashlights on their blasters, Wolf held up a hand.
"Don't. Somebody might see that. I'll use night vision and lead the way."
"You sure about that?" Carmen asked.
Giving her a sly grin, Wolf replied "Positive."
And thus, Wolf's two teammates and the rogue Cornerian agent stacked up behind him while he switched his digital lens to night vision. The lupine led the way, keeping an eye out for tripping hazards and anything that might make noise and give away their position.
After a while, the tunnel lights got bright enough that Wolf switched back to normal vision. The quartet kept moving until they came upon what appeared to be an empty workstation with a map of the mine on the wall and a computer terminal.
Wolf, Leon, and Panther went up to the map and began studying it while Carmen sat down at the terminal. Looking over the map, Wolf determined that the way they had come in was an emergency exit and made a point of memorizing it's location.
Their attention was grabbed when Carmen gasped "Oh my God."
"What is it?"
Carmen met their eyes, fear etched onto her features.
"Our friend Koates wants more than regime change on this planet. A lot more."
Walking around the terminal and behind the dingo, Star Wolf took note of two words on the monitor.
"Oregtanium." and "Dasslar crystals."
"What's so important about those?" the lupine asked.
Carmen let out a breath.
"I assume you guys know about the Gorgan."
"Yeah."
Carmen turned her swivel chair around.
"Oregtanium is what the outer shell of the weapon was made out of. It's a very durable metal. Nothing short of a capital ship's guns will put a dent in it. As for the Dasslar crystals, they powered the Gorgan's laser."
Wolf stood in silence for a moment, thinking back to what little he had heard of Andross' super weapon. A couple of particular memories came to light. Propaganda videos of Dr. Edward Gaines and the numerous other eggheads talking about how they had come up with a laser that could penetrate a planet's crust.
He then thought of Andross' daughter telling him about Cerinia being blown up and quickly made a connection.
"Fuck me, Koates wants to build another one."
"I don't understand." Panther interjected. "I thought you could only find those things on Macbeth."
Wolf and Leon looked at the jungle cat in surprise.
"Where the hell did you learn that?" the lizard inquired.
"Geology." Panther replied "It was the only class in school that I actually cared for."
"Looks like Macbeth isn't the only planet after all." Carmen said as she turned back to the monitor and brought up a file.
"It says here that Vekman Industries and Manticore Incorporated have both had geological survey teams running all over Kew and Eladard. I'm sure we can all guess what they're looking for."
Wolf's one eyed gaze turned back to the map on the wall.
"I think I've got an idea. It won't stop Koates' plan, but it'll sure slow it down."
He walked over to the map and pointed at a blue area.
"There's an underground lake here." the lupine said and then pointed to another spot.
"I say we grab a bunch of explosives, blow up that retaining wall, and flood this place out."
"Sounds like a plan." Carmen remarked as she stood up.
The four of them left the workstation and set off through the tunnels, occasionally stopping to check their position on the numerous maps set up along the walls.
They'd had to get there in a roundabout way in order to avoid being spotted by the miners and the guards, but Wolf was soon looking around a corner at the room where all the explosives were kept. Guarding the door was a bored-looking meerkat.
After he signalled as much to the others, Carmen whispered "How do you wanna do this?"
With a grin, Wolf replied "The only way."
He then turned the corner and began walking up towards the guard. The meerkat lazily glanced towards Wolf and then did a double take.
"Hey! You…"
The rest of his sentence was cut off as Wolf's fist connected with his face, knocking him down and out. The lupine then signalled the others over. With the help of Carmen's keypad decrypter, the group were able to get inside. From there, they began loading up four backpacks of explosives.
"We're gonna need to be quick about this." Carmen said as she dragged the meerkat guard into the room and set about tying and gagging him, as well as looting his commlink.
"It's alright. We're used to living on borrowed time." Wolf replied as he hefted on a backpack.
Once the others had taken up their packs, the quartet set off through the tunnels again. Despite a few close calls and generally having to take the long way, the group were able to proceed without incident, thanks in no small part to Carmen being able to listen to the guard's chatter with her stolen comm.
Smelling water in the air, Wolf whispered "We're close."
Peering around a corner, Wolf spotted the retaining wall and was relieved to see that it was unguarded.
"All clear. Let's get to work."
While Wolf and Carmen set about planting explosives along the bottom of the wall, Panther and Leon climbed up a ladder to the top of the wall.
"Keep enough in the bag so that it'll sink." the chameleon remarked.
"Good idea."
The two of them planted some explosives across the top of the retaining wall and then threw their backpacks into the underground lake.
Elsewhere
Within an observation room, Koates listened as Vekman explained the situation.
"The first shipments of Oregtanium and Dasslar crystals are due out today. No doubt you'll be getting your money's worth, Mr. Szalasi."
"Indeed." replied the armadillo.
Suddenly, klaxons began blaring and red overhead lights switched on.
"What's going on?" Vekman exclaimed at a tech.
"Sir, explosives storage has been broken into. The guard's commlink has been stolen."
Processing that information, Koates turned to a map on the wall and quickly took note of the underground lake.
"Nice try, Star Wolf." he thought before gazing at Valen.
"Captain, take your team to the retaining wall and disable the stolen explosives. Maintain radio silence until I order otherwise."
"Yes sir." the hyena replied before turning to his team.
"You heard him, move out. Double time."
As the Venomian special ops team left the room, Jared McTiernen stared in surprise.
"What's going on here?"
Rounding on the polecat, Koates stated "I suppose it's time I let you in on a little secret; There is no Janos Szalasi. There never was, and there never will be."
Smiling, the armadillo continued "With that in mind, allow me to properly introduce myself; Marshal Kalman Koates, at your service."
McTiernen stared at Koates, eyes wide and mouth agape.
"Koates? Kalman? Andross' Fireman?" the mustelid sputtered.
Koates shook his head.
"These days, Andross' Successor would be more appropriate. But yes."
McTiernen's mouth moved about as he struggled to form a response. Finally, the polecat turned to Vekman.
"What the hell are we doing getting involved with these people?"
"Jared…" the jackrabbit began, but was interrupted by Koates holding up a hand.
"Please Aaron, allow me."
Locking eyes with the polecat, Koates stated "Jared McTiernen, Vice President of Kew. How does that sound?"
McTiernen looked about the room, taking note of the armed guards. He was under no illusions about what would happen if he refused the offer.
"Sounds pretty damn good, Marshal."
His response elicited a grin from the armadillo.
"There's a good fellow."
He clapped the polecat on the shoulder.
"And please, call me Kalman."
Elsewhere
The sounds of blaring klaxons nearly caused the four fugitives to jump out of their skin.
"Looks like we've been made." Wolf commented before turning to the others.
"We should split up. It'll make it harder for them to find us."
The lupine took the detonator for the explosives out of his jacket pocket.
"Who wants to take this?"
Carmen moved towards Wolf, only for Leon to put an arm out.
"Oh no, I don't trust you with that."
"Leon." Wolf growled warningly.
Carmen meanwhile, narrowed her eyes at the lizard.
"That's funny, Powalski, cause I don't trust you with it either."
Wolf looked between the two, trying to figure out a way to break up the argument. Thankfully, Panther beat him to the punch.
"I'll take the detonator, Wolf."
"Well that settles it." the lupine replied as he handed off the device."
From there, the four of them split off, each taking a separate route.
Elsewhere
As Valen and his team arrived at the retaining wall, they caught sight of all the explosives that had been planted by Star Wolf.
"My God." Pyle murmured.
"You can say that again." replied Wilkeson.
"Cut the chatter and get to work." Valen ordered as he removed a multi-tool from his pocket and brought out the wire cutters.
Glancing upwards, the wild dog gestured to Algy and Rena.
"You two go up top. Everyone else, down here with me."
While the others got to work disabling the bombs on the ground level, Algy and Rena climbed up the ladder to the top of the retaining wall. As the two of them went about snipping wires and removing vital components, Algy's red eyes kept darting to the underground lake.
Finally meeting his old friend's gaze, the lemur asked "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
After cutting the last wire on a charge, the coywolf responded "If you mean weighing a bag full of charges down and throwing it into the water, than yes."
"Well, let's get to it." Algy said as he removed his jacket.
Rena did the same with her black tactical vest and then put a grappling hook attachment on her blaster.
"Just like the reservoir back home." the coywolf remarked as she coiled the hook and cable around the guardrail.
"My thoughts exactly." Algy replied.
Down below, Bandera glanced upwards.
"Uh, sir?"
"Ignore them, private. They do this all the time." Valen said.
"Be safe, Rena." he mentally tacked on.
Elsewhere
Wolf pressed himself against the tunnel wall and listened for approaching footsteps. Hearing nothing, the lupine peeked around the corner and saw a wide open area with several deactivated rock crushers.
Turning his gaze upwards, Wolf spotted an observation room. Through the windows, he could see a jackrabbit and a polecat in animated conversation with an armadillo.
"No, it can't be." the lupine mused.
But his suspicions were confirmed when the armadillo turned his head, showing off his scars and discoloured eye.
"Son of a bitch, it is him." Wolf thought as he brought up his wristcom.
"Guys, what's your status?"
"We're almost at the exit, boss." came Leon's reply.
"I've got eyes on Koates."
There was a pause on the other end of the line as his teammates processed the information.
"Where are you?" Carmen asked.
"Not sure. But there's an observation deck and a bunch of rock crushers."
"Okay, I think I know where that is. Hang tight and we'll join you."
Shaking his head, Wolf replied "No time for that."
"But…"
"No buts. Panther, set a timer for five minutes on your wristcom and start counting down on my mark. No matter what happens, when it reaches zero, light the place up."
"Wolf…."
"This is not a request!" the lupine growled as he began setting a timer on his comm.
Sighing in defeat, Panther said "Ready when you are."
"Alright, now."
Seeing the timer start counting down, Wolf spoke into his wristcom "Okay, get yourselves out of here and don't come back for me."
"Boss…."
"Do not come back for me."
Cutting the line, Wolf glanced back up at the observation deck and began thinking of a way to sneak in.
Elsewhere
Panther and Leon were about to keep heading for the emergency exit when the jungle cat noticed that Carmen wasn't following them.
"Hey, you coming?" Panther called over his shoulder.
"Nope. I'm going back for Wolf."
Both of them stopped walking and turned towards the dingo.
"Wolf said…" Panther began, only for Carmen to cut him off.
"He said for you two not to come back. Last time I checked, I wasn't part of Star Wolf."
Leon crossed his arms.
"You wanna get yourself killed, Sanders? Fine, it's your funeral."
Carmen glared daggers at the lizard and retorted "We'll see about that, Powalski."
She then turned and ran back into the mine. Shaking his head, Leon turned to Panther.
"Let's go."
Elsewhere
The sound of a nearby explosion caused Marshal Koates' ears to twitch in that direction. Reaching into an inside pocket, the armadillo drew a compact blaster.
"Where are you, Star Wolf?" he wondered aloud.
Koates soon regretted that statement, for there was the sound of rending metal from above, followed by a familiar lupine dropping into the room. The Marshal raised his weapon, only for Wolf to bat it out of his hand.
Before anyone else in the room could react, Wolf grabbed Koates, spun him around, and wrapped an arm around his throat while his free hand pressed a blaster to the armadillo's temple.
"Nobody move, or I'll blow his fucking brains out!"
To everyone's surprise, Koates remained calm.
"You didn't think this through, did you, O'Donnell?"
"Oh I've thought it through. I'm gonna drag your sorry ass all the way into General Pepper's office. With any luck, the old fart will give me anything that I ask for."
"Rest assured, O'Donnell." Koates snarled "I'll die before I face a Cornerian tribunal."
"That can be arranged!"
Vekman chose that moment to interject himself into the conversation.
"Surely, you don't think you can escape from this island."
Wolf responded by holding up his wristcom, showing off the countdown.
"When that hits zero, your little retaining wall's gonna come crashing down. So unless you're a fucking good swimmer, I suggest that you let us be on our way."
Nobody said anything as the timer eventually ticked down to zero. But apart from his wristcom beeping, Wolf didn't hear or see any signs of their bombs going off.
No distant rumble, no whoosh of incoming water. Nothing.
"Maybe it's a delayed reaction."
Then his comm crackled to life and confirmed his worst fears. The lupine felt a pit form in his stomach as Panther spoke.
"Wolf, nothings happening. What's your situation?"
Grinning wickedly, Koates snarked "You were saying?"
He then elbowed Wolf in the chest, causing him to lose his grip and drop his blaster. One of Koates' bodyguards quickly moved in and rammed his VAR 77's butt stock into Wolf's gut, dropping him to the metal floor.
The guard then took aim, but held off when Koates ordered "Wait, I have a better idea. Pick him up."
A second guard joined in and the two of them hauled Wolf to his feet. He struggled in their grip, but couldn't get free. Koates in the meantime, turned to a technician.
"Turn the rock crushers back on."
"Yes sir."
The armadillo then turned his gaze on Wolf, snout curled back into a sadistic smile.
"Looks like I win today, outlaw whelp."
Wolf widened his eye upon hearing those last two words. The same ones from the childhood that he tried so hard to forget, but always ended up reliving in his dreams.
A low growl emitted from Wolf's throat as his shock dissipated and rage took it's place. Fur bristling and muzzle curled into a snarl, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
"YOU!?"
Koates let out a chuckle.
"Yes, O'Donnell, me. The one who obliterated your parents and executed your uncle."
After another short bout of laughter, the armadillo continued
"You know, when you and your team were assigned to the Fourth Army, I was afraid that you were going to recognize me. Clearly, you were too young to remember."
Breathing heavily, Wolf retorted "I'm Gonna Fucking Kill You! I Swear To God, I'll Tear Out Your Guts And Hang You With Em!"
"You'll understand if I find that unlikely." Koates said as he shook his head.
Glancing at his bodyguards, the Venomian Marshal ordered "Throw him into the crusher, feet first."
Looking back at Wolf, Koates remarked "Don't be sad, boy. You'll be with your family soon enough."
Wolf doubled down on his efforts to get free as the guards dragged him from the room and out towards the rock crushers, but it was to no avail.
Suddenly, a blaster screeched and one of Wolf's captors fell to the ground with a smoking hole in his head. Now that he had an arm free, Wolf slashed the remaining guard across the face with his claws. As the avian staggered backwards, Wolf grabbed him by the jacket and raked his claws across the bodyguard's chest a few times before kicking him backwards onto the conveyor belt.
Ignoring the brief bout of screams as the bird was crushed to death, Wolf turned his one-eyed gaze back up at the observation room and snarled at Koates, who simply regarded him with that same wicked grin.
"Wolf!"
The lupine's attention was brought to Carmen. Throwing one last hateful glare at the Marshal, Wolf growled "Let's fucking go!" and stormed past the bewildered dingo.
Watching the two of them leave, Koates mused "Yes, that's it. Run vermin, run."
Elsewhere
Behind a metal crate, Carmen winced as a quartet of guards fired on her. Wolf meanwhile, took aim at a light fixture and fired, causing it to fall from the ceiling and land in the guard's midst. Taking advantage of their distraction, Carmen popped up and helped Wolf gun them down.
As the two of them grabbed carbines from the fallen guards, Carmen once again noticed how feral Wolf looked and couldn't help but ask "What the hell's gotten into you?"
"I don't wanna talk about it." he growled.
"Wolf…"
"I don't wanna fucking talk about it!" he snapped.
"Alright." Carmen said while holding up her hand.
The wild dogs pressed onwards, soon coming upon another group of guards. Wolf quickly lifted his weapon and opened fire, a howl of rage escaping his throat. One by one, the guards fell under him and Carmen's fire.
Shortly thereafter, they rounded a corner and Wolf once again aimed his weapon, though Carmen quickly recognized that the three men they had come across were unarmed miners.
"Don't!" she exclaimed while pushing the barrel of his carbine down.
Glancing towards the miners, Carmen said "Get out of here."
None of them moved, clearly still frightened. Carmen decided to try a different tack.
"Are you fucking deaf? Move!"
That seemed to do the trick, for the miners quickly dashed past them, while Wolf and Carmen continued on to the emergency exit. Not a word passed between them as they left the mine and ran through the woods, soon coming upon the cliff from earlier.
Leon and Panther must have just reached the bottom, because the latter called up "Ah, you two made it."
Neither responded as they began their descent. Around the time they reached the halfway point, they heard the distant whirring of gyrocopter blades.
"Oh, this keeps getting better and better." Carmen mumbled to herself.
Upon reaching the bottom, Wolf immediately began sprinting in the direction of their fighters. His furious appearance did not go unnoticed by his teammates.
"What the hell's up with him?" Panther asked as they set off after the lupine.
"I don't know." Carmen replied "But whatever it is, it's got him blood drunk."
"Right." Panther remarked before glancing at Leon.
"You've known Wolf longer than either of us. Has he ever been like this?"
The chameleon looked ahead to make sure Wolf was out of earshot. Glancing back at Panther and Carmen, he said "Once, after our pirate crew was massacred by the CDF. That's why we went to work for Venom, we wanted payback."
Both the jungle cat and the dingo took the same thing away from that statement. Whatever had happened in the mine was obviously very personal for Wolf. In the meantime, the fugitives made it back to their ships and hopped in.
To Carmen's surprise, after taking off, Wolf pointed his ship towards the approaching gyrocopters. She was tempted to say that they should get out of there, but held off. Any lines of questioning would have to wait until the lupine finally decided to calm down.
And so, the Star Wolf team boosted towards the approaching VTOLs and locked on to three of them. The green bolts slammed into their targets, sending the wreckage hurtling towards the island. However, the two remaining gyrocopters launched a salvo of guided missiles at the Wolfens.
In response, the three fighters pulled up and launched flares, which drew off some, but not all of the missiles. In particular, two of them continued to follow Wolf.
To make matters worse, his Wolfen shook from anti-air fire. Glancing out towards the sea, the lupine spotted a quartet of patrol boats and banked towards them.
Diving down until he was almost skimming the surface, Wolf jinked and weaved to dodge the incoming fire and barrel rolled to deflect shots that he couldn't avoid. Just when it seemed that he would crash into the patrol boats, Wolf pulled back on his control yokes and pulled up into a vertical climb. The missiles that were following him slammed into two of the patrol craft, destroying them in fireballs and oily black pillars of smoke.
Seemingly not content with that, Wolf u-turned and opened fire on one of the remaining boats with his laser cannons. As it started to spew smoke, the lupine rolled his ship over and repeated the process on the final patrol boat.
Meanwhile, Leon and Panther shot down the remaining gyrocopters and formed up on Wolf's wing. What none of them realized was that quite some distance from the island was a seemingly mundane fishing boat.
In actuality, the brown-furred vulpine known as Rossington was watching the Wolfens with a pair of binoculars while within the cabin, the black-furred German Shepherd known as Richard Varner took note of their flight paths on a scanner. The canine keyed a nearby commlink.
"They're leaving, sir. Transferring their flight paths to you now."
He pressed some buttons on the console.
"Excellent work, Agent Varner. Over and out."
The sound of the cabin door opening caught Varner's attention. Rossington entered and poured himself some coffee.
"Gee man." the vulpine remarked. "I can't believe that your old lady's still alive and helping them."
Letting out an annoyed huff, Varner replied "Me neither."
Elsewhere
After receiving the Star Wolf team's flight paths on his wristcom, Marshal Koates glanced towards Vekman and McTiernen.
"Aaron. I think it's time for you to give Star Fox a call."
"Indeed I will." the jackrabbit replied as he took a commlink out of his pocket.
McTiernen meanwhile, gave a knowing smile towards Koates.
"I see what you're doing there, Kalman."
"You catch on pretty quick, Jared." Koates replied.
Smiling wickedly, the armadillo continued "Any which way, one of our problems will be solved."