Author's note. Hello, I'm back once more with a chapter for you guys, and I want to give a big thank you to the people who have reviewed, faved and followed the story. I appreciate all of the support that everyone has shown this story.
Also, I have to give a big thank you to Ayslio for following the story. I genuinely do appreciate the support.
Now as always I have to give a thank you to SD321, Aysilo, Guest, Keyblade Writer of the Dawn, Fanakatsuki TGN, and Turquoise Triangle. As per usual I appreciate the support and the feedback.
Warnings there is blood, violence and character death in this one.
Disclaimer I don't own anything. Sega owns Sonic the Hedgehog. The only thing I take credit for is this plot.
A week passed ever since the events of Gadget's arrival in the Jackal Squad's camp. The rest of the resident of the campsite slumbered deeply after a long day of trying to survive in the harsh desert climate.
Cassius slowly turned towards Dune slipping on the sheath with the red short sword attached to his belt. Dune stretched standing to the left of his father's side his tail wagged slightly. Ever since Cassius chose Dune to be the next leader of the Jackal Squad over Zerinn, Dune wasted no time running over to the tent his younger brothers shared along with the freakish machine lover and rubbing it in Zerinn's face.
"So then we're heading out to Shamar to train my squad?"
Cassius looked over at Dune. Like Zerinn Dune bore the same rib cage pattern on his sides his damaged left ear healed, leaving several tears in it where Zerinn bit him over a week ago.
Yes," Came Cassius's reply. He turned his head to face his son."You will be the best leader that the Jackal Squad will have ever seen."
Dune looked over at his slumbering stepmother, the faint traces of alcohol and whiskey lingered on her breath. Earlier that evening Oasis and Sera came to congratulate Dune on becoming the new leader of the Jackal Squad, and Oasis hugged her brother saying she would miss him while he was gone.
"Alright then," Cassius whispered padding out of the room. "Let's go get your brothers and that flea-bitten mongrel."
Dune chuckled at the flea-bitten mongrel comment. Father and son left their home. The moon illuminated the night sky as the lights were on in the smaller house, indicating to Cassius, his other two sons were up and about rushing about grabbing the supplies. Inside their tent, Zerinn stifled a yawn gathering up the small satchel placing the items in the bag. Kaito yawned sleepily with Gadget. The red wolf put his grappling hook prototype in his bag making sure to take several bottles of water on the journey. Kaito grabbed several packets of food slipping into another satchel.
Zerinn healed well from his wound, and the large white scar now stood out against his black fur. The fur on the right side of Zerinn's face never grew back. The big scar on Zerinn's face made the young jackal look more intimidating than he did before.
"Wow, it feels weird we're leaving this place," Gadget commented. "It feels like yesterday when I came into your home."
"Yeah, well, we knew the day would come to say goodbye to this place," Zerinn replied, turning his head slightly to look at Gadget. "Besides, we won't be staying at Shamar forever, and we'll be back in this campsite again in three months."
"Yeah, that's true," Kaito called out having packed the last of the supplies. "Besides Shamar is huge! I heard that it has various ruins out in the desert and the local foods there are delicious!"
The tent flap shifted slightly alerting the three occupants that it was time to go. Gadget and Kaito gathered up the three small satchels while Zerinn exited the tent spying Cassius and Dune standing there the latter forming a big smirk on his face. Cassius stepped back silently allowing his firstborn son to take command. Cassius wanted to gauge Zerinn's reaction. He must have been crazy even to have considered Zerinn for the role of the leader. Zerinn looked up, meeting the disappointment in his father's eyes.
"Are you three freaks ready to go?"
"Yes leader," Zerinn replied bitterly."Kaito and I will follow your every command."
Zerinn and Kaito pinned their ears back, making sure to bow their heads low in submission. Gadget hung watched his friends making the small gesture of submission his fists beginning to clench in anger.
"Alright then we're meeting the rest of the squad at the campsite's entrance," Dune said, turning his head back regarding all three of them with something akin to contempt. "Let's move it. It won't look good for me if we're late."
Zerinn growled low in his throat growing even more angry at his older brother's arrogance. Kaito saw his half-brother tense gently reaching out for Zerinn taking his hand squeezing it in a gesture of standing together.
"I know it makes me mad too," Gadget whispered to Zerinn."You would've made a better leader than Dune."
The group of five Mobians left their tents behind passing through the silent campgrounds except for the guards on the night shift. The town was silent in the darkness. The five travelers were quiet until they spotted the convoy consisting of three jeeps waiting for them where three vehicles parked on the sands. The smell of gasoline was heavy in the air. Gadget saw Quartz, Saber, Nephthys, and Mikhail were already in one of the vehicles.
Ace and Flint were in the next one. Ace sat at the wheel of the second jeep and in the third jeep much to everyone's surprise Chad and Mara sat together in the back seat handcuffed together. Another maned wolf and jackal were in the back seat of the jeep. The expressions on all the prisoners' faces were ones of pure misery.
"Wait, wasn't there one more of those jerks?"
Cassius turned his head towards Zerinn. The small scowl formed on his muzzle. He looked over at the third jeep with their prisoners sitting in the back of the automobile. Gadget noticed Chad lift his head shooting him a dark glare before letting his head sink back down.
"There were, but the fat fennec fox made a break for it," Cassius said anger in his voice. "He'll either be recaptured, or he'll die out that in the desert."
Cassius and Dune climbed into the first jeep with Cassius taking the wheel as Zerinn, Kaito and Gadget entered the second vehicle. The sound of the car engine shuddering before it came to life taking off into the night with the other two jeeps following it.
Gadget sat between Kaito and Zerinn both young jackals were fast asleep. Gadget turned his head, looking back over out of the window watching the shrinking shape of the campsite fading from sight until the wolf couldn't see it anymore.
"Farewell campsite," Gadget whispered. "Maybe I should get some sleep."
The wolf fell asleep resting his head on Zerinn's left side. Cassius looked up into the rearview mirror. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white under the black gloves. To the scarred Jackal in his opinion wolves were nothing more than useless scavenging thieves.
"The second I get to Shamar, I'll do everything I can separate them," Cassius vowed to himself. "He's a bad influence on
Gadget was awoken by a sharp jolt hearing the vehicle skidded into a stop. The flash of bright sunlight raced into the jeep. Zerinn and Kaito were jolted awake as well as yawning slipping out of the jeep landing on the dusty ground.
Gadget rubbed at his eyes gazing around in wonder at the entrance that led into Shamar. Shamar was bigger in comparison to their former home. The streets were far more extensive, and a there were a few humans clad in black uniforms wandering about on the roads along with some Mobians. Gadget noticed there were hedgehogs, ocelots, parrots, and bats.
"Damn it," Cassius let out a low growl in his throat. "I wasn't expecting G.U.N to be here. If we keep our heads down, we should be fine."
Cassius recalled with a grimace someone sighted that Eggman was heading to Shamar. It would explain the increased security in the city. G.U.N Soldiers positioned on top of the outer walls of Shamar's buildings their rifles trained on spots outside of Shamar. The town was in a state of high alert, and the small band of jackals that just arrived with two prisoners in two was raising eyebrows. Cassius glared at several Mobians who hurried on ahead
Gadget heard the jeep doors opening allowing the wolf along with his adoptive brothers to exit the vechile. Flint opened the door to the third jeep prodding both Mara and Chad along with the other two prisoners forward, keeping their hands tied together bringing them over to the entrance of Shamar. Quartz looked all over at the large town an almost hungry look appearing in his eyes at the sight of the gold bangles on a passing women's wrists.
"Oh yeah, now this is more like it."
"It's so much bigger than I thought it would be."
The young jackals followed the older jackals looking all around in wonder at the massive, sprawling walls of Shamar following Cassius to a large worn down motel. A group of hedgehogs milled about in front of the motels' entrance before their leader said something before his group headed off to the eastern part of town, unaware they were being watched.
"Ah Quartz," Cassius said, smiling with a small smirk. I've got a little job for you Do you. see those group of hedgehogs over there?"
"I do, Cassius," Quartz said softly. "I take it you have a mission for me?"
"I do," Cassius replied smirking."I want you to follow that group of mercenaries on your own, and you have to kill one of them and bring back proof.
The group of younger jackals froze in shock as Quartz swallowed nervously. Gadget and Zerinn paused, turning towards a grinning Dune who strode forward, pushing Quartz forward who fought Dune every step of the way until Cassius reached out seizing Quartz's arm in a vice-like grip squeezing it tightly with a sneer crossing his face.
"Damn it!" Quartz snarled. "There's no way that I'm leaving my friends!"
"You don't have a choice," Dune snarled all hints of "If you refuse to accept this mission, then I will exile you to the
Zerinn ran forward with Kaito only for Roscoe to step into their path his blade drawn. Quartz realized that fighting was useless bowing his head low in reluctant acceptance of his fate.
"Zerinn, please don't fight back, "Quartz said, looking over at the anguished expression on Zerinn's face. "I will come back alive, and Dune is going to be such a bad leader of the Jackal Squad, due to his cowardice."
With a new resolve, Quartz walked past his friends following the group of hedgehog's tracks. Quartz shot one last look at his friends waving his hand in a silent, sad goodbye. The change in Quartz's demeanor was a shock for Gadget. The teen usually had a smile on his face along with a good sense of humor was now gone.
"Bye guys," Quartz whispered with a sullen tone to his voice. "Be strong Mikhail, Gadget, Saber, Zerinn, Kaito, Nephthys, Ace and Flint."
Quartz felt a shove from one Dune forcing him to keep walking and a few minutes passed until Quartz was out of sight. Mikhail's ears drooped against his skull the small tears leaking out from underneath his eyes. The rest of the jackals looked on as Chad and Mara sniggered at Zerinn's misfortune before Flint whacked them across the back of the head.
"Why the hell did you get rid of Quartz old man?" Zerinn demanded to shake in anger. "He did nothing wrong! How do you know this mission won't get him killed?!"
"Quartz may be young, but I've seen his fighting skills," Cassius said glaring at Zerinn. "Besides Quartz struck the future leader of the Jackal Squad, so I figured he needed to be toughened up. It doesn't matter to me if he comes back dead or alive."
Cassius breathed out, turning his attention to the small group that stood in front of him. Mikhail and Kaito's ears were down scuffing the ground with their feet not even paying attention to Cassius. The older jackal lets a low growl building in his throat at their refusal to make eye contact with him.
"I want you and the other jackals to be ready within an hour. Gadget and Mikhail can stay behind and polish our weapons by themselves."
"No way! We can go to!"
Gadget froze in fear seeing Cassius run over to him delivering a hard slap to the force of the blow knocked Gadget to the ground. The wolf's glasses fell off his face. Gadget lets out a gasp of pain. His cheek stung from the slap. His vision consisted of nothing of a blurry landscape as he saw a flash of blurry gray fur with Mikhail placing his glasses on the bridge of his snout.
"Gadget are you okay?"
Zerinn and Kaito immediately stood between Gadget and Kaito their tails bristling as Zerinn stared at his father with pure, undisguised hatred keeping a protective gesture with his arms spread out
"I can't stand wolves," Cassius snarled. "Wolves are near the bottom of the social ladder. They are weak, useless mongrels and if I had my way, I would've killed that half jackal freak a long time ago. Gadget and Mikhail will stay here, and they will polish our weapons!"
There was a threat in the older jackal's words. Zerinn helped Gadget to his feet, pulling him to his feet. Mikhail leaned into Gadget giving him a hug of reassurance.
"It's okay, please don't do that again,"
"I know it's a real pain, but listen to that old idiot," Zerinn whispered in a gentle tone, placing a hand on Gadget's shoulder squeezing it gently. "I don't want to lose another friend today."
Gadget felt a stab of guilt. The mismatched eyes had a single tear slipping out of the corner of Zerinn's right eye. Gadget felt guilty at acting so rashly; he could only imagine how hard it must've been for Zerinn to bid farewell to Quartz and now
"I won't," Gadget replied. "Just don't worry about me Zerinn."
"I'll keep an eye on him I promise," Mikhail added in placing a hand on Gadget's shoulder. "You can tell us about your big adventure when you get back."
"Move out Jackal Squad!" Dune's voice cried out falling into stride behind Cassius eager to please his irritated father. The rest of the young jackals fell into step subdued Quartz's departure as Gadget and Mikhail and Blade headed off to complete their task. Chad and Mara were taken away by one of the guardsmen to the nearest prison.
The other maned wolf and jackal prisoner was taken by Cassius heading over to the group of jackals.
"Hey, where are you taking us now?!" Axel protested. "This isn't the way to Shamar's prison!"
"Shut up Axel," Cassius snarled."Both you and Lyra broke the law in the campground when you robbed from the strong. Now you have to face the punishment."
Axel fell silent. The walk was quiet, and Axel couldn't shake the feeling that there was an ominous feeling descending on the group. The blazing midday sun shone down as the small group with their two prisoners came to a spot not too far away from Shamar. Axel and Lyra were released from their bonds. Confusion was on their faces as they stared around at the group of jackals who drew out their weapons. Cassius gave both of the thieves small knives, prompting both Lyra and Axel to ecxhange a confused glance with each other.
"Okay, seriously, what's going on?" Lyra asked fearfully.
"The first lesson that every mercenary must learn is the art of killing," Cassius intoned turning to face the band of young jackals. "Today your first lesson is to kill these two fugitives. If a mercenary can't kill their target, they'll be a dead mercenary."
Axel and Lyra exchanged a horrified glance with each other the reality of the situation slowly began to sink in. They were going to die out here in the desert alone and defenseless. The expressions on the young jackal's faces hardened.
"No, wait!" Axel cried out sinking to his knees."Have mercy on us please."
Dune regarded the frantic expression on Axel's face. The maned wolf got on his knees; his hands held out in a begging gesture. Dune looked down at the red short sword resting in his hands for a few heart-stopping moments.
"Nephthys and Ace," Dune said a stoic tone to his voice. "Deal with Lyra. Zerinn, Kaito, Flint, Saber and I will deal with Axel. Jackal Squad move in for the kill!"
Lyra broke into a run her steps shaky and uneven unable to stay balanced on the sands. Nephthys and Hela surrounded her. Mara looked down at the small knife which Iris gave to her, and she looked at the daggers held by her opponents. Nephthys darted in scoring a hit on her upper left arm, leaving a trickle of blood.
"Agh!" Lyra lashed out her face contorting into one of rage. "I won't go down to a pair of pups. Not like this!"
Lyra took another run at Hela, who snorted lashing out with a well-timed kick to Lyra's legs, knocking them out from underneath Mara sending her crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust rising into the air as Nephthys pinned her down turning her over. A pair of fierce yellow eyes glared down into Lyra's own terrified eyes.
Hela raced in slashing at Lyra's unprotected legs and arms staining the sand beneath her body with Nephthys cutting at her shoulders and chest. The pain ached everywhere all over the older jackal's body. Nephthys pressed the tip of the steel blade pressed against her throat.
"You knew the law that the weak must never steal from the strong in Saharais," Hela snarled in anger. "Do you have any last words?"
"Yeah, I do," Lyra chuckled weakly spitting out a goblet of blood. "That freak with the mismatched eyes is all going to get you killed ones of these days. Mark my words he will."
It was too much for Nephthys to accept the older jackal's insult. With an enraged scream, she slashed Lyra's throat with such ferocity that surprised her. The blade cuts through Mara's jugular vein the gush of blood sprayed Nephthys across the face as Mara slumped to the ground her sightless eyes staring up into the sky.
Axel heard Lyra's final gasp of pain. It was hard to see the red blood against his fur as his heart paled listening to the group of jackals cheering for Lyra's death. Saber ran at Axel striking a blow against his arm. Axel lashed out with the small knife, scoring a hit on Saber's chest.
"Go in for the kill!"
Ace cried out feinting to the left only for Axel to delivering a kick to Flint's shin hearing a pained cry came from the jackal with the knife Cassius gave him. Axel turned his angry eyes to Dune who froze in fear. Zerinn glared at his older cowering brother. It was almost a pathetic sight. Moments ago Dune landed several hits on Axel darting out of the way, and he lost his hold on the red short sword seeing it land blade first in the sand.
"I'm coming for you coward!"
Axel made a run right for Dune who panicked briefly his gaze drawn to the knife in Chad's hand. Dune froze in place reaching down for his sword
"I need time to get my weapon!," Dune cried out in fear. "That's not fair!"
Zerinn glared at Dune wrenching the sword out of the ground running to engage the older maned wolf in battle. Zerinn drew close to Axel thrusting his father's sword forward. The tip of the blade pierced the maned wolf's chest. Axel let out an agonized scream of pain as Zerinn pulled back on the hilt withdrawing sword, seeing the maned wolf collapse to the ground eyes wide in disbelief at what had happened.
"It hurts," Axel said. "Someone please make it stop."
Axel flopped on his side, gasping. His heart weakly fluttered — the gush of blood leaking from his chest. Every time his heart beat it was getting weaker. Zerinn stabbed deeply into his heart. The maned wolf knew he was going to die soon and there was nothing the maned wolf could do to stop it.
"I hope that you're happy. You are a monster."
With those words, Axel closed his eyes with one last sigh. Dune released his hold on Kaito who scurried over to Zerinn who had the maned wolf's blood splattered on his chest, looking down at the maned wolf lying dead in the sand. Zerinn felt the rush of adrenaline leaving his system as he sank to his knees. The shock of having killed someone slowly began to set in. Kaito came up to his older brother hugging him in silence.
"That was pathetic," Dune said kicking Axel's body. "I could have killed him quicker than you ever did."
Zerinn said nothing standing up to his feet, landing a quick punch to Dune's face, sending his older brother sprawling to the ground. Zerinn heaved in a deep breath, seeing his father looking down at him with a proud smile on his face.
"Well done," Cassius said, smiling broadly. "You have a knack for killing. That's a real sign that you have a killer instinct."
Zerinn nodded, hearing his father's praise. Cassius shot a look of disgust at Dune who shrank back keeping his head down to avoid eye contact with his father.
"Cassius, what do we do with the bodies?" Roscoe asked, nudging Lyra's dead body with his foot. "Do we give them a burial?"
Several harsh squawks cut through the air as Cassius looked up to see the vultures beginning to circle overhead. The scarred jackal shook his head from side to side.
"No, they proved to be too weak," Cassius said in a cold tone. "Their bodies will sustain the vultures."
The trek back to Shamar was in silence. Kaito silently placed himself against Zerinn. The group of jackals walked away from the bodies of the victims behind in the desert to be picked apart by the sharp beaks of the vultures.
The rays of the evening sun filtered in through the thin blinds of the large room Gadget and Mikhail sat on two of the four beds in the room. The door opened as Kaito was the first one to enter the room with his tail dragging along the ground behind him which was unusual for Kaito.
"Kaito?" Mikhail was on his feet hurrying towards him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Kaito shuddered. "We had to do something terrible today. Please don't ask us what happened."
Kaito made his way over to the bed, and Zerinn stepped into the room. Gadget recoiled in horror, seeing the dried blood clinging to Zerinn's fur. The older jackal made his way over to the bed, sitting down on it hearing the bed springs creak underneath his weight.
The silence fell over the room as a shuddering breath broke the silence. Zerinn looked up; with a haunted expression in his eyes. Several minutes passed by in silence. Gadget thought he saw Zerinn's lips turn up in a slight smile of satisfaction before it vanished to be replaced by the same tired expression.
"Hey Gadget?"
Gadget looked up, seeing Zerinn fiddle with the edge of the bed sheets a small frown lining his mouth.
"Listen, it was nothing," Zerinn replied."It's none of your concern. "It's that I'm still trying to come to terms that Quartz is with another squad."
"We all are going to miss him too," Mikhail said sadly. "Quartz was like a brother to all of us."
Gadget got up off his bed, sitting next to Zerinn along with Mikhail and Kaito. The four of them offering quiet comfort to each other with the loss of Quartz wasn't just a member of the future Jackal Squad. Quartz was the big brother Zerinn, and Kaito never had.
Meanwhile, over the desert sands, a small platoon of EggRobos flew across the desert landscape with a Gray Egg Mobile with yellow and black stripes over it. Doctor Eggman sat hunched over the wheel of the Egg mobile his eyes focused on a small green screen with a single emerald shaped object on it.
"Ah, so according to my sensors there is a Chaos Emerald in Shamar of all places," Eggman grinned, running a finger through his mustache."Of all the places to find a Chaos Emerald."
Eggman looked down at the small group of robots. The rotund figure narrowly escaped another defeat at the hands of Sonic the Hedgehog with a scowl forming on his face. He'd been so close to obtaining the power of the Master Emerald for himself. The doctor's robotic army mostly reduced to nothing more than a small group of EggRobos after the attack on Angel Island. Another plan which had been foiled by Sonic and Tails.
"Ah, it's no matter, then," Eggman muttered grinning to himself. "I'll find a way to conquer Shamar and the Chaos Emerald will be an excellent consolation prize."
Eggman still kept the board grin on his face, making his way towards Shamar unaware that high above him in the sky that a small red and white biplane was following him with Sonic the Hedgehog standing on the wings his arms folded across his chest.
"So Tails we've got to follow Eggman to Shamar and stop him, from getting that Chaos Emerald," Sonic said letting out a low sigh. "It would have been nice to have a vacation at least before we got dragged into one of Eggman's schemes again."
The young fox nodded in agreement.
"I know Sonic, but we got a call from the mayor of Shamar saying that they found a Chaos Emerald and it can't fall into Eggman's hands," Tails replied. "Besides, if we drive Eggman off, then we can catch a breather."
Sonic nodded as the Tornado continued following Eggman heading to Shamar. What no one realized was that a storm was coming and when it ended nothing would be the same ever again.
Author's note. This had to be the longest chapter of this story I've written since it was over 3000 words and it's the last we're going to see of the campsite Gadget called home since we're not going to be returning to the campsite mostly due to it having served it's purpose in the stroy, since it was more of a training ground for the future members of the Jackal Squad.
Now on the subject of the deaths of the two random prisoners. I'd imagine that when the Zerinn and the rest of the Jackal began their mercenary training, I'd guess that being taught to kill their targets would be a priority and it presented an opportunity for me to explore the effects of Zerinn's first kill. Zerinn is at first shaken by it, but at the same time, he enjoyed the taste of his first kill. Aster is still alive, and we will see Chad and Mara again within the story.
Eggman finally enters the scene along with Sonic and Tails since there are plans for these three to play a role in the next few chapters of the story and I won't say what those plans are; you'll have to wait and see.
As per usual thoughts/suggestions and reviews are always welcomed and appreciated.