Rogue Fox Dark Dreams
Chapter II
I am Machine
~SyxxFox

A/N: Thank you to everyone for all your support in this series. Going to try to get onto an update schedule, stay tuned for that. Another question I get asked a lot is what happened to my youtube channel? You can find more information on that in my 'bio'.

I hope you'll all stick with me for the third installment of Rogue Fox.

~SyxxFox

The first thing that came to his mind was that strange rocking feeling. The feeling of motion. The feeling his body was being lightly knocked from side to side. It felt to Syxx like he was riding in the box of a pickup truck that was bouncing down a dirt road. His memory was hazy, as was his vision. He lifted one of his own arms slowly. He patted one of his paws over his chest. He could feel thick armour plating across his chest, as his gloved paw brushed over it. His body was encased in thick black steel in the form of highly advanced combative armour.

Soon he could start to hear things too. The whistling of an engine and gunfire echoed in his head, seeming far off at first before it drew closer and closer, and the mystic echo disappeared. The last thing that had come to him was his sight. Everything was blurry at first, and it took a long time for the deep blue of the sky to slowly fade into his vision. It didn't add up. Such a beautiful day and he was laying on his back, staring up at the blue sky, watching orange and green plasma tracers flash overhead. That wasn't all he saw though. When his vision cleared up even more, he could see a black and silver figure standing up over him with a weapon raised. It wasn't pointed at him though. Syxx could see an armoured figure double tapping a long trigger. As the shadow pointed the weapon over a low railing, it barked loudly emitting a rough slashing sound and kicking the shoulder of the ghost who was holding it.

Before Syxx could do or say anything, the figure looked down toward him. Syxx could see his own armor that was visible in the scratched silver visor of the being that stood above him. He could see his own reflection, but all there was to look at was a full-face helmet with a black visor, strong shoulder pads and thick armour plating with scratches across it. He looked back at himself as he lifted his paw. He flexed his glove in front of his face, watching the synthetic fabric contour to his hand, while the armour plates hinged across his knuckle.

"Keep breathing! We're almost there!" The shadow that loomed over the black fox spoke; the deep voice of a male and the strangest thing was that Syxx could hear the man smile as he spoke down to him, even though he couldn't see his face.

The black vulpine only had one thing in mind though, as the larger figure loomed over him. The fox reached a paw across his chest, and grabbed his knife. The long and serrated black blade slid with a metallic shimmer, as he pulled it from the sheath on his chest and wrapped his paw around the handle. Before Syxx could do anything, the tall figure grabbed his wrist with an unbelievably strong grip. Syxx clenched his fangs and the armoured figure dropped his weapon altogether, wrapping his other gloved hand around the neck of the fox. Syxx's heart lifted as he felt himself fly backwards, before his back hit something solid, and he came to an abrupt halt.

When he looked up again, the figure had a weapon is his arms. Syxx's heart leapt in his stomach. But the armoured man didn't point it down at the black fox though. The next thing he knew the rifle was airborne flying at him. Syxx caught the black weapon in his paws.

"Same team!" He could hear the man laugh out the words.

Syxx looked down at the rifle in his arms. A short weapon with a squared off barrel, square optic sights that rested on a mounting rail which almost reached the end of the barrel. The square stalk rested down in his arms. It looked like there was something else on it too. There was a square extension on the end of the barrel. A suppressor. He wrapped his paw around the pistol grip of the powerful ACX Special. This was a rifle that had been given to him by Slippy. Slick and small, but yet a full powered battle rifle, and it had already proven its worth to the Slayer. He reached down to the action of the rifle and slid it back. It glided back and forth with a smooth metallic sounding slip.

As Syxx's mind cleared he came to realize the man who was helping him was not Pyro, a Slayer that he had befriended in the years earlier and had later become his best friend, and close brother in arms. The ghost helping him didn't wear the advanced Slayer armour either. As the shadow loomed over him, the dark fox was able to better inspect the armour. While most of it was black, the majority of the plating was silver. Some of it had deep gouges in the metal, and everything was scratched, unlike his own newer and blacked-out suit. There was an emblem on his shoulder too. Though scratched and faded. Syxx could still make it out. A white star. This man was in the older Vortec which was worn, having seen a lot of combat. This was a suit specific to use by a Slayer. It multiplied their strength, and was a complete closed system with its own life support, and thanks to SFX technology, was for the most part, self-repairing. Not just anyone could wear this armour though. It could only be worn by a Slayer. Due to a Slayer's synthetic biological enhancements, they had no danger to wear the armour. Anyone else wearing it could easily be killed by the multiplying factor of the Vortec alone.

The Vortec worn by the man above him had been mutated to have larger shoulder flares, and blades on his forearms, just like Syxx's used to have. The man was taller than Syxx too, with a long and somewhat bushy black tail. The soldier put his back to Syxx again, returning fire from the back of the cargo truck. The voice was somewhat familiar to the vulpine too, his jaw hung open for a moment as he tried to put his finger on it.

Syxx stared up at the soldier, before blurting out his words. "Kurses!?" His voice cracked as he coughed and cleared his throat.

"What's going on back there?!" The reply didn't come from the Slayer though, it came over his headset. Syxx recognized this voice as well. A female and another Slayer. "I got enough problems without you two shaking this thing around! Get along boys! And don't make me come back there!"

"Our guest is awake!"

"Siarra." Syxx said with a little bit of awe.

The reply came back quickly. "Long time and no see, Syxx!"

"Alright!" Kurses chimed in. "If we're going to catch up, let's do it later. Get up and fire your weapon, fox!"

Syxx made his way slowly to his feet, putting an armoured glove on the railing of the transport truck as he struggled to keep his balance. His sharp eyes darted around the passing scenery. Deep, dense and dark forest surrounded them on either side. But that wasn't all. It was like the passing forest was alive with glowing green eyes, tracking them as the truck bounced down the dirt road. The truck was surrounded by Aparoid Walkers. Some were just being run down by the hefty grill of the truck, being sucked under the wheels, and spat out the back end. Other creatures shot at them from the trees, hidden.

Syxx held onto the bars of the transport truck, working his way to the front of the box. He smacked the side of the ACX Battle Rifle, making it click loudly. He positioned himself at the cab of the truck, putting his elbows up on the roof. His finger landed on the trigger. He single fired it quickly, tapping the trigger. Each round found its mark on another Aparoid, as he cleared the road as best he could for the truck, as Siarra busted through the ranks of the Walkers, and Gunners. The vulpine couldn't even hear the weapon as it went off. There was just a subtle flicker of red smoke from the barrel and a metallic clipping sound, which of course was paired along with a hard punch to the shoulder each time that he pulled in on the trigger.

The black fox's ears perked up as he looked the sky. His heart skipped a beat as they looked behind them. The blue sky was speckled with silver and purple dots. Bug-like creatures loomed down over them. The vulpine didn't hesitate to spin around and open fire. He led each shot with his sights, only able to see small sparks fly off the amour of the wide winged creature through his sights. Long blue arms swung out from behind its head, as the large bug screamed at them. Seemingly paper thin wings propelled it toward them. Small sparks pinged off the silver-purple body as the vulpine tracked the fighter in his sights.

Kurses stopped firing his weapon. "Uhh Siarra."

Siarra shifted her arm inside the cab of the whistling army truck. She placed her glove on the side mirror closest to her, looking up into the sky, seeing the darkening horizon, filling with dozens of Aparoid fighters closing in one them. "Whoa."

"Syxx!" Kurses barked his name simply.

The vulpine turned around just in time to sling his rifle on his belt. His other paw caught a massive red and yellow weapon. He held the rocket launcher up and out in front of him before slinging it over his shoulder. A small screen flipped out from the side of the weapon, sitting just in front of his visor. The screen turned bright blue before dimming and clearing up to a grid. Red targets flashed in the display before the targeting system honed in on one of them. Syxx wasted no time in pulling in on the trigger. The rocket jumped from the tube of the launcher, dropping in the air a short distance before another a loud report and blast of red flame exited the rocket, and it took off spiraling in the air, leaving behind red rings of fire in its trail. Kurses fired the trigger to his rocket soon after, and it followed in the fire rings of the first projectile.

The rockets danced and swirled around each other. A large bug like creature screamed as the first rocket slammed into it, knocking it a short ways out of the air. As the second rocket hit, the Aparoids wings folded in around its bulky body, as it went up in smoke and flame. The ground thundered at the impact of the creature. But the Slayers didn't have time to watch, both of the warriors slung down the weapons, sliding new rockets into the chambers and locking them shut. Once loaded the Slayers both loaded the launchers they fired in quick succession again.

Kurses threw down the weapon as the next rocket contacted the Aparoid fighter, making it tumble down to the ground, shortly behind the truck. The impact almost knocked the truck from its wheels, making the rear end jump off the ground. As the back of the truck landed back on the dirt road, the Slayers were thrashed against the deck of the vehicle. As it landed, both Slayers were brought down flat on their backs bouncing to the rear of the box.

Syxx laid down on his back in the cargo box of the truck as a fighter swooped down at them. He reached for his battle rifle, and lifted it up. He pulled the trigger so fast that it sounded like a fully automatic weapon. With a few more shots two small flaps on the side of the rifle opened up letting out a small cloud of red steam around the weapon as it overheated.

The last shot did it though. The fighter screeched as it swooped past them, flying overhead. It hit the ground, a long way down the road in front of them, sending up a cloud of dust, dirt and smoke.

"We don't have the fire power for this!" Kurses barked.

Before anything else could be said, the two Slayers in the cargo deck of the truck were tossed forward. The two men smashed against the rear window on the truck, shattering it, and throwing glass into the cab as Siarra hit the brakes full on. The truck went skidding sideways, coming to a halt just before the deck of a tall bridge. The rear of the cab was dented and bent inward from the force the armoured soldiers smashing into it. Syxx looked over the cab of the truck seeing a river raging below an open gap in the bridge with an Aparoid fighter in a pile of melting steel as smoke encased it.

Siarra jumped out of the cab, slamming the door behind her. "End of the line, boys!" A bushy red tail with a black and white tip following right behind her.

An Aparoid fighter screamed from overhead, diving down low and shaking the ground. Kurses and Syxx jumped out of the back of the truck after throwing Siarra a weapon. When the next fighter swooped down, it grabbed the truck with its arms, forcing it to overturn and tip off the edge of the destroyed bridge. It careened downward to the riverbed blow, falling thirty meters to land on the body of the Aparoid fighter. An explosion of purple mixed with red billowed up from under the bridge, boiling into the sky.

It wasn't long before the Aproids on the ground had caught up them. An infected soldier jumped onto Siarra's shoulders. Syxx watched it all like it was happening in slow motion. A lean, silver feline leaped through the air. It was in a black military uniform, but it was beat up, scratched, and rippled as the tunic was just barely hanging on. There was only one black boot to be seen, while his other exposed foot had six inch long silvery claws, patched with dirt and blood. Its eyes were electric-purple, and lifeless. Fangs protruded from his maw, dripping silvery purple saliva from them. Its teeth were almost as long as the claws. Both of which were oversized and bloody. The feline screamed at the top of its lungs, as saliva shot past its fangs. The jaw seemed to open so wide that it would be dislocated.

Siarra acted swiftly. She arched herself forward and threw the infected marine over her shoulder with one arm, as the other lifted the Mapaw rifle with one arm. She held the full size rifle making it look light as a pistol with one paw. She pulled the trigger twice, sending two rounds through the man's head. Purple blood sprayed onto her silver visor, and the rest of her armour.

Syxx reached over his shoulder, putting a paw on his upper back. He sighed in relief. It was still there. A large black cylinder attached to his back, with silver rings circled around it on each end, glowing soft white. It was something he had almost forgotten completely about; a container that was strapped to him. It limited his movement a little bit, but nothing he couldn't compensate for. It was just like wearing a backpack, even though it weighed as much as he did.

"We'll lose the air-support in the trees! Let's go!" Kurses barked.

The Slayers all leaped over the railing of the bridge in unison, making their way into the forest. The treetops shook and waved in the air above them as leaves and needles rained down on the squad. The trees looked like they were going to topple over on them as screaming bugs flew overhead. The air around them buzzed as Aparoid air support searched for them from above. It felt like the whole army was after them as they filled the sky and the trees around them. Syxx could only make out purple blurs as the ships darted over. He could still pick up the screeching mechanical sounds of their communications over the whistling of the air around the fighters as they dashed low above them. Their only chance was to disappear into the bug infested forest now.

Syxx could hear Siarra speaking right in his ear through the communicator. "Keep weapons fire to a minimum, so we can lose the Bugs. Syxx, take them out with your SD."

Syxx knew that the Slayers trusted his actions and his aim, even though they hadn't seen him in such a long time, and they had abandoned him. Siarra and Kurses almost seemed to ignore the Aparoid walkers, running past them, and letting the black fox take them out one at a time with the supressed weapon. The black vulpine quickly dispatched each bug as the sound of plasma fire drew quieter. The sounds of their air support grew further away too, after a half hour of running into the woods. The Slayers could cover a lot of ground in thirty minutes. It was the sound of their footsteps on the dead foliage that soon became the most prominent sound as the Slayers disappeared into the forest.

With that Syxx holstered the battle rifle at his side, clipping it to his belt. With his other paw, he grabbed the blade of his knife, and pulled it from the sheath on his chest, sliding it out, and rolling it into his gloved paw. He looked up as an infected marine leaped from above. Even with the mass of the large hound looming down upon him. Syxx held out his opposite arm, grabbing the infected by the neck, and throwing him to the dirt. He lifted his boot, and slammed it down onto the hound's head, smashing it into the ground with one swift thrust. The sound of shattering bone crunched beneath his boot.

Siarra's smooth and calm voice echoed in his ear again. "Double time it, Slayers."

As Syxx lifted his head, the two other warriors had disappeared into the forest. His boots skidded on the dirt as he dashed, trying to catch up. It wasn't long before he did; following a trail of demolished Aparoid bodies. The forest was so thick; he could barely see fifty yards through it. The dense Katina mountainous woods were mostly unexplored and uninhabited entirely. As he sprinted up the next hill, he saw the two Slayers encountered by a massive Dragoon. Its arms stabbed into the ground, and pulling back dirt as it hissed at them in a mechanical frequency. Syxx grit his teeth together, as he leaped from the ground, crushing the log with his boot as he was propelled into the air. He spun in air slowly before swinging his leg, contacting the monster right in its head. The impact came with such force that the huge head of the Dragoon mortar came tumbling off, bouncing through the grit. The rest of its body fell suit, landing in a pile of rubble. Its machine-like body went limp like a rag.

Syxx landed just behind it as it fell, falling to his knee, and looking over his shoulder at his swift work.

"Keep moving." The female voice rang.

As the Slayers moved through the forest, the resistance became less and less. The creeping and whistling sound of Aparoid air support soon disappeared altogether. They didn't stop at that though. It was another half hour before the Slayers stopped their running. Even though the forest was dense, it didn't slow the elite warriors. In the part of an hour, the Slayers could cover the distance of what an athletic runner could sprint on an open track. Foliage and branches caved on their armour as they ran through the woods, vaulting over logs and riverbeds below.

The voice that came over the radio was just a little over a whisper, that of a female voice. "Freeze."

At once the Slayers all found cover. Pressing their backs up against trees, in a defensive position, as the sounds of boots and branches cracking stopped all at once. They hung there in complete silence for a solid fifteen minutes listening and waiting. They positioned themselves for complete coverage of the forest, each watching each other's back, with a three-hundred and sixty degree viewing angle of the woods. But everything was silent. Not a sound to be heard except an occasional breeze swooping through the trees and the sounds of small birds chirping in the branches above.

Siarra whispered. "Kurse."

The soldier didn't say anything. He just set his rifle up against the trunk of a tree. Syxx watched and listened as the soldier darted into the forest. He could see the man pressing a small device up into the trunks of trees, emitting a dim white light in the forest, as the evening drew upon them. The dark fox could only see the very slowly dim fading on and off lights in the woods because he was looking for them, otherwise they could be easily overlooked. Syxx's eyes locked on the Slayer as he darted through the woods around them in a wide circle. His armoured glove occasionally patting a tree to plant and arm a small device.

The man made his way back quickly, looking into the forest behind his shoulder as he spoke. "We're only going to get a one-hundred meter scan radius tonight. We've found that the Infected are a little more active during twilight hours. It's worth it to stop. One scream from an infected, will draw in the bugs."

Siarra's helmet dipped down as she nodded. "Once of those bastards screams and you'll have the whole hoard on you. Better to keep movement to a minimum until the daylight hours."

Kurses looked up into the trees. "Sol's just about to set. This is as far as we go tonight."

Siarra turned her head to look at the black fox. "Hey! You gonna' say something or just sit there?!"

Syxx's sharp eyes watched the Slayers. He kept a finger coiled into the trigger on his battle rifle. "I thought the Slayers owned the night." Syxx's eyes glanced back and forth between them. "What're you two doing here?"

Kurses laughed. He threw back his head, resting it on the truck of a tree. He let his back slowly slide down the trunk until he was sitting at the base of it. "I was going to ask you the same thing! I thought you were dead on Corneria. You are the last person I'd thought I'd meet on Katina."

Syxx growled a little bit from the back of his throat. "You abandoned me."

Kurses reply was swift. "You- were on a warpath." He pointed to the dark fox with an armoured glove. "A senseless warmonger that endanger all of our-"

Siarra put up a paw. "That's enough Kurses."

Kurses went silent. He put up a paw, and placed it onto his forearm. With that, his helmet hissed. His armoured glove wrapped around the bottom of the helmet and pulled it off his head. He took a long pant and a deep breath in, as he inhaled a thick breath of fresh air. The Siberian husky ran his gloved paw back through his dark hair. Bright blue eyes seem to almost glow from behind the locks of hair that covered his eyes. He reached behind him, grabbing a beanie hat from an ammo slot on his belt. He wrapped his hair up in the beanie; still letting a few locks of hair just cover his eyes. His face half white with black streaks across it, and a half crescent of under each eye.

Siarra did the same. She put her back to the same tree as the husky, sitting next to him, with her back propped up against the trunk. Her helmet hissed and she lifted it from her head, letting it lay next to her in the dirt. Her hair was long, mixed with black and white as it laid down over one of her shoulders as she brushed it to one side. Her large and luxurious tail rested down between herself and the Siberian husky; mostly red with two black strips across it, half and a quarter of the way down. A black ring surrounded the white tail tip. The vixen had a wide smile across her face, with small hooks of black fur under each of her eyes.

Syxx sat across from them, not too far but not too close. He sat in the silence before taking in a deep breath. He lifted a paw and tapped at the small panel on his forearm. "Command this is Asset Metal Zero-one. Come in." When he let off the switch all he could hear was the mechanical squeal of dead signal.

Kurses smiled. "Don't bother. Way too many Seeders around here. You can get short range, but long range won't work within a thousand clicks of here."

Siarra's ears perked up. "Metal Asset?!" She picked up on the words the vulpine transmitted.

Kurses shot the black vulpine a strange look as well. "Metal Asset. I knew it was too good to be true."

Siarra smirked. "From myth to legend, huh Syxx?"

Syxx glanced at each of them. He lifted his rifle and set it down next to him, leaning it up against the trunk of the tree. "What are you talking about?"

"I guess being the legend, you don't hear about yourself very often." Siarra grinned. "We thought Metals were machine. That's the story of the system. You've only been around for a month but when so many soldiers see you the stories spread fast."

Kurses nodded. "Stories of unstoppable warriors, powerful enough to even take down that Aparoid Monster. The Creature. And the Metal Asset was a Slayer the whole time. I guess its best that no one knows that isn't it?"

Syxx cleared his throat as his ear perked up. "Is that what they say?"

"They say Metal Assets are machine. But now we know you're just as mortal as any Slayer." Kurses grinned. "So still immortal."

The vixen laughed. "Come on my immortal! We don't have much light left!"

Kurses smiled. He reached for his weapon and pulled the rifle against his chest tightly as the darkness started to close in around them. "It'll be dark soon."

Siarra held her rifle in one paw and her helmet in the other as she stood up. She looked around into the tree tops, to see the dark blue sky through the forest. The air filled with a mechanical whistling sound, as Aparoid air support flew by from overhead. The vixen's eyes tracked them through the tree tops as they quickly disappeared.

Siarra stood, staring upward. "They're looking for us. Hup-two, Slayers."

Kurses jumped to his feet. He too looked into the tree tops before slowly walking over to another nearby tree. He set his rifle and helmet down in the dirt and looked over his shoulder. "We sleep in the trees tonight. Find a place and hunker down, and try to get some rest. We'll get to some safer ground tomorrow."

"I'm not going back." The fox simply said.

Kurses looked over his shoulder, staring down Syxx, but he didn't say anything. The husky bent his knees and shot himself up into the air, grabbing the nearest branch that he could, more than twelve feet off the ground. He pulled himself up into the tree tops as Siarra tossed up both of the weapons, and their helmets. Kurses hooked the guns into the tree branches and grabbed the vixens paw as she jumped, pulling her up next to him. They both climbed about half way up the tree, putting them forty feet off of the ground.

Syxx watched them for a moment, and took to his feet. He chose a tree directly across from them and hopped up into it, climbing upward. The bulkiness of his suit with the bomb strapped over his shoulders made it somewhat difficult to maneuver through the branches. He picked a spot at the same height as the other Slayers, finding a place where two branches could be used as armrests while he could lay on the third, a little further below, with his back to the trunk.

When he got to his desired height, he looked across the way. Only a few thin branches separated him from sight of the other two Slayers. Both Kurses and Siarra were laying the same way he was, with their back to the trunk. Their helmets and Mapaw rifles hung on branches within reach of them.

Syxx took in a deep breath as he pulled the release on his helmet. It hissed softly, as he removed it from his head, and hung it on a branch. He didn't let his rifle from his grip though. He kept it in one paw, and lying over his lap. The fox took in another deep breath as he felt the fresh air on his face, hair and ears. After running his paw back through his hair he glanced over at the two other Slayers. They were staring at him. He licked his tongue over his pearly white fangs, including the one silver one. He shot his eyes back at them, as he observed them with his glistening and glowing blue eyes. A lock of his white hair half covered one of his eyes, before the fox ran a paw back through his hair, and slicked it back between his black ears with small white tips. He hung his helmet on a nearby branch.

Siarra's mouth hung open for a little while. "You going to explain the eyes?"

Syxx's eyes were glowing bright blue, with waves of pure silver running through them like liquid veins of crystal. He was possessed by the power of a Krazoa spirit. It infected his very soul. It was something that Krystal, a certain blue vixen he had met on the Planet Sauria some years ago, had infected him with. A lot had happened since then. He had undergone a lot of change since then. So had the Lylat System. Corneria was virtually destroyed, the Aparoids were back, and the most elite warriors were loose in the system, acting on their own free will.

Slayers were the systems most elite warriors. They were trained by Cornerian Military, and then they left. They turned their backs on Lylat. The system's deadliest and most elite warriors were nearly immortal, and now, ran loose in the system while Corneria fought a war against the Aparoids. A war Syxx had started.

The black fox chose to say nothing about the Krazoa Spirt that infected his body. "It's a long story." He paused. "Why did you help me?"

Kurses let his head fall back on the trunk of the tree, letting some of the bark stick back against his beanie as he smiled. "We're still brothers. We always will be. We do a lot of dark things as Slayers."

Siarra finished the husky's thought. "But, we'd never betray another. Because there is no one in the universe that understands us, but the Slayers."

Syxx took a long time to think. "And the others?"

Kurses shut his eyes, still grinning. "They don't harbour any resent to you. If anything, we understand your actions more than anyone. Some wanted to go back and rejoin the military. It wasn't an option though."

Syxx raised an eyebrow. "So where did they go?"

Siarra answered. "It really is amazing that the Cornerian Government thinks that we're suddenly on the brink of extinction just because Corneria is wiped out. Yes, we're in a war, but we always are. They have no idea of the economy that goes on under their noses. Illegal trade, clan wars, black-market. Wiping out Corneria changes nothing. There are still millions if not billions of Lylatians operating under the government's nose. Wolf O'Donnell's operation has grown into an empire. He's a serious military power now. More than just bandits and scum of the system. They're organized."

Kurses nodded. "After the 'nukes' went off, we all stuck together for a while. Soon, we all split up. Some kept together. Others went off on their own. There are Slayers operating freelance, some joined private military companies, bounty hunters, and some just… disappeared back into society. Before we left, we all promised that no Slayer would ever hunt down another. But now, no one will even know if the person they are sitting next to at the bar, is Joe-Blow, or a Slayer."

"No Slayer would ever kill another for a bounty. That was the deal." Siarra added. "Even you're included in that deal."

"There're bounties on Slayers?" Syxx asked.

The husky nodded. "Yours was the biggest. Multimillion."

Syxx pushed his tongue to the inside back of his fangs. "You said 'was'."

"Someone claimed yours." Kurses simply said. "Someone who went by the name of Kursed."

The fox narrowed his eyes at the Husky causing the canine to roll his as he went on. "The name is coincidence. Whoever claimed your bounty sure cleaned up though. Tens of millions."

Syxx held himself back. His fangs were clenched tightly together beneath his closed mouth. He never thought of it like that. He didn't even know there was a bounty on his head. He held so much resent in his heart for his past. He didn't even know how to mentally handle this right now. He was forced to put it to the back of his head, and not say anything.

Siarra smiled. "I see they've outfitted you in some new gear. I don't know how you talked the military into taking you back after what you did. Seems somewhat counterproductive in a way. The only one who can stop the outbreak is the very one who started it. You must know some people in high places, hmm, Metal-Asset? Now what the hell would they have you here on this side of the planet for?"

"I could ask you two the same thing." Said Syxx. "You're both on the wrong side of an infected planet."

Siarra answered. "We were scoping out the Aparoid hive. We tried to do a fly-over, and almost got dusted when we started to get close. We had to go in by foot to assess the nest. It's a lot bigger than we thought. There's a force field around it though. We can't get through it."

"But I can." Syxx cut in.

Siarra smiled somewhat suspiciously. She lifted her head, pointing her muzzle to the sky. Her eyes gazed at the vulpine in the tree across from her though. "So that leaves you. And whatever it is that's on your back has something to do with it."

Syxx glanced over his shoulder. "This is a low-yield Photonic Bomb. And I'm here to destroy the Hive."

Kurses and Siarra just stared at him. The said nothing as they leered at him in disbelief. The sounds of the forest grew louder around them, before Kurses blurted out. "What!?"

Syxx repeated himself. "I'm going to the Hive and I am going to destroy it."

Before Kurses could reply, there was a high pitched beeping noise. It sounded like a watch alarm. Siarra looked down at the controller on her forearm, and tapped at it with her gloved paw. "Hostiles. Eighty yards and closing. Shut it down, boys."

Kurses looked about the treetops and around the forest floor. He let out a long and frustrated sigh. "We'll finish this talk in the morning."

Syxx kept his rifle in his arms. His right paw, held around the pistol grip of the suppressed battle rifle. He tipped the gun down to the side, and reached his other arm across the stalk. He pulled the receiver back and let it slide forward with a metallic snap. He let the black and square silencer rest on the nearest branch as the squad of Slayers went silent as they watched, and they listened.