A/N: So, the day after the last chapter was posted, this story as a whole broke 10,000 views. To that I say... holy shit. Oh my god you guys are so amazing! Seriously! You guys are the best! I would've never thought in a million years this story would be able to top that milestone. You guys have far exceeded my expectations, and I seriously can't thank you enough.
Ironically, this chapter here broke 10K words too. Coincidence? Absolutely. :)
So, as per usual, tell me what you guys think (because at the time of posting this I'll be three reviews away from breaking triple digits, and if that happens I may or may not cry). Also, special shout-out to VulpineLover for a bit of assistance with this chapter. If you're reading this, I did actually change a little bit of what you suggested, but the general makeup of it is still there. Again, thanks bud! :)
Regardless, thanks for helping me top this giant milestone, and hopefully this chapter is a good enough reward. Hope you guys enjoy, and take care!
- Also, dual songs again for extra reward. :D
I am a new day rising
I'm a brand new sky
to hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
do I stay or run away
and leave it all behind?
It's times like these you learn to live again
It's times like these you give and give again
It's times like these you learn to love again
It's times like these time and time again
*Foo Fighters – Times Like These*
Just outside Prairie City, Iowa
"Please tell me you called them," Sharp grumbled at the copper husky. Kassian nodded with a proud expression plastered onto his muzzle.
"Comms came back up late last night, and I was able to patch a call through to Destroyer eight. They should be coming to pick us up really soon."
"You gave them the coordinates?"
"Sorta," Kassian replied, scratching the back of his neck. "I gave them a description of the area we are stranded in."
"What, cornfields?" Sharp snapped. "We're surrounded by fucking cornfields! How the fuck are they supposed to distinguish one fucking cornfield from another?!"
"Relax, Sharpie," Kassian chuckled, pulling out a cylindrical stick from the human's backpack that was sitting comfortably on the kitchen counter. "I told them to look for the red flare. We'll be fine."
"Unless the Commander is fucking colorblind!"
"Sharp, chill," Kurt commanded. "They know what a flare is, regardless of its color. You're too paranoid."
Sharp opened his muzzle to protest, but the female husky quickly butted in and placed her paw over his nose.
"Go lie down Sharpie," Christina pleaded. "You need some rest."
"I'm fin–"
"Please," she interrupted sweetly. Sharp hesitated, but eventually lowered his ears and trotted over to the unoccupied couch. He placed a paw over his eyes as he let his head rest on the armrest after throwing himself onto the upholstery.
"I'll go wait outside and see if I can find 'em," Kurt announced, swiping the red flare from the copper husky's paw. He limped to the back door of the kitchen and stepped outside, and after his tail feathers disappeared around the doorframe Christina trotted over to the vulpine who was still sound asleep on the sofa.
"How's he doing?" Kassian asked.
"He's still in rough shape, but he'll live," Christina replied. "There's nothing I can do to improve his condition. We just need to sit tight and wait for that Destroyer to pick us up."
Kassian nodded and slipped back into the kitchen. Christina crouched down and ran her paw through Brendan's jet black hair, smiling all the while. Although he was critically injured, she couldn't help but express her affection with him. Even when injured and asleep, he still had the faint trace of a smile plastered onto his abused muzzle. Her heart fluttered when his smile seemed to grow with every stroke the husky made on his hair.
"Chris, quit playin' around," Sharp muttered abruptly.
"What?" the female husky asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Pullin' my tail," he responded.
"I'm nowhere near your tail."
Sharp's eyes instantly shot wide open, then less than a second later he had bolted up and looked towards the end of the couch where his dark tail was lying. Seeing nothing, he hesitantly stood up and looked behind the couch, and what he saw could have made his eyes grow even larger if they would have allowed him to.
Sitting behind the couch, curled up into a ball with an absolutely terrified expression was what looked to be a human child. A little girl to be exact, with unkempt long blonde hair and light blue eyes. She couldn't have been older than seven, and was extremely short and thin. She was staring at the husky with the face of sheer terror, clutching her vulpine stuffed animal tightly.
Sharp nearly gasped at the sight, then slightly tilted his head towards the female husky. "Chris," he whispered almost silently with clenched teeth. "Chris, get over here, now."
Christina hesitantly stepped around the couch, and at the sight of the human child she instantly froze up. The little girl saw the other husky, and this time she was not subtle with her dissatisfaction. She whimpered and started scooting away from the couch, then once her back pressed up against the back wall she curled back into her knees, visibly trembling in the process.
Christina activated her translator and spoke in the most reassuring voice she could muster. "Hey, it's alright."
The little girl's head instantly bolted up at the sound of hearing a familiar language from the canine. "He… Hello?"
"Hi," Christina grinned. She was about to continue but was stopped when she heard a growl resound from behind her. She glanced at the source of the noise, then nearly gasped at a female canine face strikingly similar to her own, but the eyes were smaller, and the biggest difference was that the canine was standing on all fours. Christina tried to take a step forward, but the blonde husky instantly bolted around her and stood in front of the human girl, attempting to guard her.
"Bell!" the girl squealed, abandoning her safe haven to hug the domestic husky. The smaller canine stopped her hostility towards the humanized husky and nuzzled closer to the human.
"She yours?" Christina asked. The human child nodded.
"What's your name, sweetie?" Sharp asked in a surprisingly warm tone that even caught Christina off guard.
"Emily," the girl answered softly.
"Where's your parents, Emily?"
"I don't know," she replied pitifully. "They went to the city yesterday, and they haven't come back yet."
Sharp looked over at Christina who had an expression of guilt and regret. She inched closer to the human and the dog and crouched down near them, then held out her paw. Emily tensed up and buried her face into the canine, but Bell lowered her head and sniffed the paw. After Bell had deciphered the smell, she stood up and nuzzled closer to the humanized canine with her tail wagging.
"Good girl," Christina grinned, petting the domestic canine's head.
"My doggy likes you," Emily giggled, calming down slightly. "You're like a really big doggy. What's your name?"
"My name's Christina," she replied. "That's Alex," she added as she poked a paw at the darker husky.
Emily stood up, still with her stuffed fox tightly grasped in her arms, then slipped alongside Bell and started scratching behind her ears. "Why are you here?" she asked, not making eye contact.
"Our ship got shot down," the husky responded. "We needed a place to stay for the night."
"Oh, you can stay here as long as you want," Emily said with a grin. "My daddy won't mind."
Christina cringed as the human girl smiled again and continued to pet her companion. The female husky placed a paw on Emily's shoulder and exhaled slowly.
"Honey, I don't think your daddy is coming home," she explained with a heavy heart.
"Of course he is," Emily protested. "He just went to the store to get food. Mommy is too."
"Emily, sweetie, I think we did something really bad."
"No, daddy said you guys are really nice," she said with a smile. Christina raised an eyebrow almost instantly.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't be silly," she giggled again. "You're from Corneea, right?"
Christina's muzzle instantly opened wide as she cranked her head around to the larger husky. "How does she know?"
"My daddy told me," the human explained. "He works for this really cool space place, and the other day he sent a really big sa… sata…"
"Satellite?" Christina asked.
"Yeah, that!" she said enthusiastically, but then her smile faded almost instantly afterward. "When he came home, he told me that it didn't work, but he was gonna send another one really soon. I don't think he needs to anymore, because you guys came to visit!"
Sharp let out a long breath of air through his nose, then stepped around the couch and knelt down by the two females. "So, the satellite didn't work?"
"Nope," Emily replied. "Daddy said it messed up really bad."
"I knew it," he muttered under his breath.
"We all did, Sharpie," Christina added. "We all messed up."
"Are you gonna leave soon?" Emily asked abruptly. Sharp instantly nodded his head.
"Sorry sweetie, but we need to leave."
Christina bolted up and grabbed the larger husky's arm, then forced him on the other side of couch and spoke to him quietly. "We can't just leave her here."
"We can't stay here either," Sharp replied in his own quiet voice.
"Sharp, she's waiting for her parents to come home, and we probably killed them."
"I know–"
"Then we can't just leave her alone. We need to take her with us."
"Are you insane? They won't let a human on the ship."
"What choice do we have Sharp?" she questioned. "She'll die if we leave her. We can keep her on board until we can find someone willing to take her. It's all we can do."
Sharp opened his mouth to protest, but then he glanced over at the little girl who had found her way to the couch Brendan was lying on. She had a cheesy smile creasing her lips, and eventually reached over and started gently messing with the vulpine's ears.
"Alright," Sharp said in defeat. "You can take care of her. We just need to wait until–"
"Hey Sharpie," Kassian shouted from the kitchen. "You might want to see this."
Sharp slowly limped from his position and trotted up to the copper husky, who was messing with what looked to be a human laptop. He looked back to make sure Christina was entertaining the human child (which she was), then slipped alongside the other husky and stared at the screen.
"Where'd you find this?" Sharp asked. Kassian pointed to a drawer at the very end of the counter, then transitioned his gaze back to the screen.
"That's not important," Kassian remarked. "What is, however, is the stuff I just found on this. Check it out."
Kassian opened a file on the screen, and after Sharp had activated his translator he began to read the words off the screen aloud.
"National Aeronautics and Space Administration employee log; Garrett Hendersen; October 15th, 2035," he started, and towards the end he donned a skeptical voice. He turned his gaze to the copper husky and gave him a confused and doubtful stare.
"Keep reading," Kassian pleaded.
Sharp groaned softly and picked up where he left off. "Bad news. Our latest project – "First Contact" – has failed. The worst part is we have no idea what happened. We never even made it to our marker before we lost our satellite's signal. It just vanished off of our radars. I even told them we should've just stuck with our satellites instead of trying to use the Cornerians' technology."
"That explains how it got here so fast," Kassian muttered under his breath as the dark husky kept reading.
"Colonel Justin Trent, our advisor for this mission I guess, completely flipped shit. He was going on and on about how we might have crashed into Corneria, and if we did, we might have hit a populated area. We're still not sure of his speculations, however."
Sharp rubbed his eyes and shook his head faintly. "He's always been paranoid. Wonder how that affects his heart condition… No matter, he's just paranoid. I mean, what are the odds of us hitting a populated area? I'd probably go as far as saying a billion to one. Hell, I don't know."
"Obviously this guy was wrong," Kassian stated. Sharp completely ignored him and kept reading.
"Trent said he was going to go talk to the President. That's at least a day drive to get to D.C, and he'll have to get clearance so that's probably another day tacked onto it. He's probably going to ask for tightened security all over the nation, cause if he's right about us hitting somewhere populated, we may have a fight on our hands.
"And, well… hopefully these Cornerians can accept an apology for us accidently doing something of this magnitude. I mean, there was nothing we could do. We completely lost our signal with the satellite right before our designated marker for it to enter Cornerian orbit, and knowing our luck we did hit the planet with the lack of control we had. I just hope–if Trent is right of course–that God will have mercy on us. I know I sure don't want a fight on our hands, because I have a hard time believing we'll ever win if it does boil down to a fight. We don't even want a fight in the first place. I pray Corneria has an ounce of forgiveness and understands this situation we've found ourselves in… for our sake."
Sharp put his wrist down and stared at the copper husky with wide eyes. "Oh my god."
"This whole damn time," Kassian added. "Wolf was right this whole damn time."
"What have we done?" Sharp asked rhetorically, resting his head in his paws as he laid his elbows on the counter. "I can't believe we did this. I can't believe we are still doing this. We need–"
Sharp was cut off as the kitchen door slammed open with Kurt in the doorway. "They found us! Let's go!"
Sharp nodded, then trotted over to Brendan and lifted him off the couch. As he was walking out the door with the crippled vulpine, Christina knelt down to Emily's level.
"You're leaving already?" she asked sadly. Christina nodded, but then showcased a reassuring grin.
"Yes, but I want you to come with us."
"But, my daddy will be worried," the little girl said shakily.
"We'll take good care of you, I promise," the husky responded. "We'll hold on to you until your daddy comes to get you."
"You know where he is?" Emily asked sweetly.
"Yes," Christina lied to keep the girl's hopes up. "I'll make sure you're safe. I promise."
"You promise?"
The husky nodded in approval. Emily let out a slight smile, then bent down to the blonde canine who was sitting perfectly calm and still and started to scratch behind her ears. "Can Bell come too?"
"Of course, sweetie," she responded warmly. Emily smiled wider, then followed the light gray husky out of the house and towards a small transport ship. Christina helped her into the back, and after Bell jumped into the back with her she shut the hold and slipped into her appropriate seat.
"You guys don't look too hot," the pilot of the transport ship announced. The plot was a medium sized gray pit-bull, dressed in the iconic Cornerian Military uniform, and he looked as though he hadn't slept in weeks. Sharp grunted and slouched in his seat.
"I noticed," he replied in an annoyed tone.
"Hey, don't feel too bad, buddy," the pit-bull said in an assuring tone. "I've got some news that you'll want to hear."
"What?"
The canine let out a quick burst of air though his nose, then turned his eyes to the husky and smiled.
"We might have a way of getting out of this mess."
Outskirts of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
It was damn near impossible to stay quiet with the sounds of breaking twigs, rustling leaves, and the copious amount of Cornerian weaponry and equipment clattering together on their respective owners. That sound was excruciating to the Cornerians' ears, not because it was particularly loud or anything like that, but it was overly obnoxious and repetitive since that was all they heard for over five minutes straight. Over that extended time period, they have seen nothing but trees – changing colors due to the impending climate and season change. It was a rather beautiful sight, seeing the numerous trees scattered all around flatlands and on the tops of cliff faces blooming with every color known to man or Cornerian, but they couldn't stop to admire the scenery. Not in the situation they were in.
Kyle, as to be expected, was leading the pack. Armed to the teeth with a highly versatile carbine rifle, numerous explosives and small EMP charges, and a thin but effective ballistic vest that mimicked the color of his flight suit, the hybrid was not someone you wanted to mess with. He knew how to use his specially ordered carbine, and not just in one way like typical soldiers would know how to use their particular weapon. Not only that, but he had various other forms of concealed weaponry at his disposal, and he was damn good at using them too.
Surprisingly, the next soldier in line was the sandy brown vulpine Derrick. It was surprising because he's usually the one to bring up the rear. Although he was armed fairly well compared to the hybrid in front of him, he still wasn't one to take the front lines. He was talented in combat–don't get mistaken that he isn't–but fighting on the front lines was not his forte. He'd be the one to hang back and take his opposition down from a distance, which was how he was so successful as a bounty hunter years before signing with the CDF. When he was a bounty hunter, he had gotten quite a bit of fighting experience, and when you become good at something, there will be others that are hired to take you down too. Ironically, the person hired to kill him years ago was standing closely behind him.
In fact, his long-time combat partner and even closer friend Sabrina that was trotting closely behind him was a close quarters specialist despite being a bounty hunter much like himself. She was not equipped with any rifle of sorts, but what she did have was a sawed-off shotgun from her days as an aforementioned bounty hunter long ago. She had to get special clearance from the CDF to use it during combat, but they would be stupid to not let her use it. In her non-illegal arsenal, she had dual pistols that were surprisingly accurate, as well as a homemade beam sword made entirely of pure energy, glowing in the same color as her sky blue eyes.
The "twins" were closely following the pack as well. "Twins" is implied, because Mark and Alex were practically brothers. They had been friends for as long as they could remember, and although their personalities contrasted sharply, they couldn't be any closer. Their starkly contrasting fur colors could argue the twin factor, but in combat they complemented each other perfectly. Alex was the distance fighter – eliminating his opposition from extreme, almost unheard-of distances. And to him, his polar opposite Mark complimented his distance warfare with some brutal hand-to-hand combat. Mark was built like a heavyweight boxer, and rightfully so with his line of work, but Alex… not so much.
Rounding out your dedicated combat specialists, we have the blonde lupine Austin quietly sneaking behind the line of soldiers. With all of the heavy weaponry assault squadrons are always carrying around, it's almost obligatory to have someone like Austin in the group. A talented engineer specializing in energy weaponry and mechanics, Austin is irreplaceable for Kyle's group. Although he may be relegated to the back for constant reparations and strategizing, he can hold his own on the front lines if brought to that extreme. He's always armed with his own weaponry he designed himself – consisting of a rifle that can vary in terms of the intensity of the projectiles launched, and a long beam sword made of the same technology and energy.
And finally we have DJ – a near six-foot-tall sleek black Labrador with a brawny, almost masculine shepherd stature. Embracing her tom-boyish attitude and her unnaturally large size compared to other female soldiers, she found herself in the highly entertaining and rather rewarding job of an explosives manager. Armed up to her always greasy and matted hair with explosive charges and highly destructive weaponry, she absolutely loves the sight of watching things go up in flames. Her affinity for machinery is also a very valuable asset, and often times will find herself working with Austin in reparations or brand new inventions at times.
Ten minutes have gone by now. And for Sabrina, she was starting to become a little edged. She could've sworn she had seen that same granite textured gray rock twice before, and a few moments later when she had transitioned her gaze to a tall cliff face peeking out of a canopy of colorful trees, her presumptions had been affirmed.
"We're going in circles, Kyle," she groaned, letting her head hang on her shoulders. Kyle stopped, cranked his head around in all directions, and then growled to himself.
"You're right," he admitted. "We've been here before."
"Where do we need to be going, anyway?" DJ asked. Kyle picked his nose up and sniffed a bit, prompting the two contrasting vulpines to start snickering to themselves, then after he had deciphered his surroundings he pointed off to the right.
"Coast is that way," he announced, then waved his paw in the direction of his destination as he traversed the hilly and somewhat treacherous terrain. After Austin had carefully hopped down a rather sudden decline of elevation, he pulled his wrist transmitter up to his eyes.
"I'm getting worried," he announced in a low voice. "The Destroyer stopped transmitting a while ago."
"No, we stopped transmitting a while ago," DJ corrected. "There's no signal here in this god-forsaken wilderness."
"You picked a brilliant place to land, Captain," Alex remarked.
"Not much choice I had in that matter," Kyle muttered under his breath, inaudible to the other soldiers.
"Did you guys hear that?" Derrick suddenly blurted out softly, and if he had resulted to talking, there obviously was something up. Kyle instantly halted, along with the rest of his crew, but even though they were not moving, they could still hear the sound of crunching leaves and snapping branches. They immediately took refuge behind nearby trees at Kyle's command, then listened in as the sounds became louder.
Kyle saw what it was. A team of five soldiers, all more than adequately equipped, silently working their way through the wilderness with their rifles raised. He silently propped his rifle against the tree trunk, then unsheathed a small combat knife and tightly grasped the hilt with the blade facing away from him. To his luck, the soldiers started splitting up, and one of them was slowly inching his way towards his hiding place. He held his breath to make absolutely no noise whatsoever, then right when the soldier came within range he pounced – driving the blade into the soldier's neck. He used his free paw to cover the soldier's mouth to prevent him from crying out, then twisted the blade which instantly silenced the soldier's muffled choking.
Sabrina was less than subtle with her attack. As soon as the soldier that was trotting up to her tree came into range, she popped out like a blur and blasted the human's chest with her shotgun. All of the lasers melted through his protective vest like a hot knife through butter, and without another sound the soldier fell onto his back.
Austin was the next one to lash out with an attack. In a matter of seconds, he had unsheathed his homemade beam sword and kicked himself off of the tree to face the human soldier, then before the human could even process his next move his head was severed from his body. Luckily the intense heat stemming from the pure energy beam cauterized the wound instantly, so Austin didn't have to worry about making a bloody mess.
As Mark dealt with his soldier, Derrick uncharacteristically fumbled with his weapon and accidently dropped it, but when he reached to pick it up he suddenly felt a heavy and harsh boot kick him right in the ribcage. He rolled over onto his back and gasped to try and regain his breath, then suddenly found himself staring down the barrel of a small handgun held by a human soldier. Right as his opportunity came to fire, Sabrina came up behind him and jabbed her high energy beam directly through the back of the soldier, straight through his heart. After she had retracted her blade and let the human fall over sideways, she smirked at the sandy vulpine and clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth several times in a condescending matter.
"Seems I always have to save your tail," she taunted, outstretching her paw. Derrick grinned and allowed the taller feline to pick him up off the ground.
"You're just good at it," he said in his own smooth voice, prompting the feline's tail to start flicking when he looked away. The team regrouped by the wolf-dog, who had just finished ridding his blade of the red liquid.
"That was way too close," Mark announced. Kyle nodded in agreement, then poked his nose towards where he assumed was the coast and spoke up.
"Alright, soon as we get to the coastline, we'll probably have a signal. That's our best bet to call for help." He hadn't even finished the second part of his statement and he was already spinning around and working his way towards the coast. Alex let a quick burst of air through his nose and smirked at the larger vulpine.
"You would think he missed an evolutionary step with the way he relies on his instincts so much," he whispered, but to his surprise the hybrid had heard his remark and replied almost instantly.
"I'd rather make a complete fool of myself than not be effective in combat."
"Which he does make a fool of himself more often than not," Alex added in a much quieter tone, and luckily the wolf-dog didn't hear him. Sabrina couldn't help but chuckle at the smart-ass comments the white vulpine was making, but her giggling faded once she saw the sandy vulpine doubled over with his muzzle contorted slightly as they were continuing towards the coastline.
"You okay?" she asked concernedly. Derrick nodded with an agonized expression, then managed to force a smile once he picked his muzzle back up.
"I'm alright… just banged up," he answered. Sabrina inched a bit closer and playfully nudged his arm.
"Losing your touch, eh buddy?" she said in a somewhat taunting tone. "You were a hell of a lot less clumsy then you were just now back when I was supposed to go after you. You were more… professional, I guess."
"That's because I didn't feel any danger when you were hired to kill me," the vulpine said softly. "I knew I was in danger here, and I guess… I just choked… That's never happened to me before."
"Wait… How'd you know I wasn't gonna go through with your bounty?" the cheetah asked. Derrick exhaled to remove some of his pain, then gave a sweet smile to the feline.
"Because you care for me too much," he answered as if he had been rehearsing it. Sabrina was caught off guard, and in fact she couldn't come up with a witty remark to try and disprove him as she had always done in the past. She did try and open her mouth to protest, but nothing came out as her muzzle slowly shut. Her eyes were next to follow.
"How… how'd you know?" she asked pitifully, not making eye contact with the vulpine. Derrick chuckled to himself, again catching the cheetah off guard as she was not expecting him to show such emotion before. He had always been the quiet one… at least with everyone else.
"It's a little obvious, Sabby," he grinned, making another unexpected action as he wrapped his arm around her. That little affection gesture instantly melted all of her tensions and apprehensions, then as she turned her muzzle she found herself staring into his dark brown eyes. She gasped a little at the sudden spook, but then realized the tip of his nose was within inches of hers. She fought with herself internally for a few seconds, then closed her eyes as she tried to push her head forward.
That was when the shockwave hit.
All seven of the Cornerians staggered a bit, and with Sabrina's loss of focus she actually lost her footing and fell. The boom resounded somewhat audibly, rustling the leaves on the trees with some getting ripped off of their respective branches and drifting slowly to the ground. Kyle instantly took to his instincts again – strapping his rifle to his back and began to run full speed towards the slight gap in the trees where he could see water. About a quarter of the way down, he abandoned all forms of civility and dashed on all fours to his intended destination, carrying much more speed than he would on just two legs. The three vulpines tried their best to keep up with the Captain as DJ pulled Sabrina off the ground.
They tried their best to arrive as quickly as possible to where the hybrid had finally stood upright in a rocky area devoid of all trees. The breeze that hit them when they cleared the canopy of vegetation tasted strongly of salt water, and it was a very refreshing feeling considering they had been wandering in the forest aimlessly for over twenty minutes. Kyle's white tinged fur waved in the sea breeze as he stared out down the coastline with a blank expression.
The other soldiers turned to face what he was looking at, then it seemed as though their hearts fell into their stomachs as they saw the faint trace of a dark plume of smoke rising up into the clouds. The distinct shape of the cloud put a foul taste in their mouths, and as the cloud steadily raised upwards into the heavy cover of stark white clouds, Kyle turned to face his crew with a terrified expression.
"We're fucked."
Great Fox
Wolf's eyes fluttered open, and to his own surprise he found himself alone on the small bed. Sheila managed to sneak out of his tight grasp he had on her after he had fallen asleep, and as he lifted his head up he saw that the bathroom door was shut, and the faint sound of flowing water was heard beyond the door. He heard the husky faintly humming inside, which was all it took to get Wolf's immediate attention.
Wolf smirked to himself, then silently picked himself off the bed and trotted up to the door. He swiftly tore off his shirt, and as his paws started to slowly pull down his boxers he heard voice outside the door to the living quarter itself.
"That was one hell of a celebration last night," a muffled masculine voice started. Wolf raised an eyebrow at the sudden voices outside his improvised prison, then quickly stepped over to the door and placed his ear against the white iron.
"It was needed, lemme tell ya," another male voice replied with a chuckle. "I'm getting tired of wasting time here."
"You too, eh?"
"I'm not against this, don't get me wrong," the second voice quickly intervened. "I just hate being here. I'd love to do this fighting without me being in it. It's pointless for me to be here because I haven't gotten any missions since the first assault. We're doing fine without more than half of the force that's here."
"I know, we kinda overdid it," he admitted. "The commanders are getting all the action, and hell, even Star Fox is getting more time than we are, and they're not even registered military."
"But they are needed here," the other added. "We'd still be stuck on the first city without them. They have a purpose."
"And not just military purpose," the first voice remarked slyly. Wolf raised an eyebrow and nuzzled closer to the door to hear the voices clearer.
"What?"
"Oh come on! You didn't see or hear Commander McCloud last night?"
The second voice chuckled. "He was drunk out of his skull. I'm amazed he stayed awake with all the drinks he had."
"He didn't stay awake for very much longer after though," the other added smoothly. "He found himself a secondary quarters to stay in."
The first voice grunted in confusion. Wolf heard the paw of the soldier pat down on the other's back as he elaborated quietly.
"He slept with Staff Sergeant Stone last night."
Wolf's eyes widened along with his jaw dropping as the first soldier gasped.
"Are you serious?" the other soldier questioned disbelievingly.
"Well, I saw him smoochin' on Ashley in the break room," he responded. "Those two were absolutely loving each other, and there were times I thought they were gonna break down and do it right there."
Wolf silently hacked repulsively, but still kept his focus on the conversation.
"Not only that," the voice continued. "I think I saw her paw venture down into his flight suit for a split second."
"Was she drunk?" the other asked with a chuckle.
"I'd assume so. Both of them weren't all that subtle with their lust. Hell, I couldn't sleep last night because my quarters was right next to hers."
"And… did they…?"
"That's all I heard," he laughed. "James yiffing and Ash screaming. If I had a credit for every time I heard each of their names called out I'd be able to retire and support my family for generations."
"Damn."
"Yeah, but don't tell anyone about it though," the soldier pleaded. "Cornerian Army code says you can't get tail on duty. Not only will that instantly demote them, but it could get them into legal trouble too. James very well could be arrested for what he did."
Wolf snickered quietly to himself, then continued to listen as the voices passed by his door and continued to get quieter as they continued down the hallway.
"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see James find another love life after what happened to his wife, but now isn't the time to do it. There's too much at stake for him to be fucking her brains out every night."
Wolf listened as the voices became inaudible to his ears, then trotted over to his bedside and sat on it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remove the smirk on his face at the information inadvertently revealed to him. His smile enlarged as his mind pictured James getting carried off, and the rest of the Cornerian troops realizing what the actual situation was and apologizing, then leaving the planet for good.
He could dream all he wanted, but making it a reality was damn near impossible.
The bathroom door opened, and as the steam dissipated it revealed the light copper husky dressed in tight black leggings that showcased her toned legs, as well as a very skimpy and similarly colored tank top. She ran her towel through her excess of hair as she inched closer to the lupine.
"I'm amazed I didn't wake you up with me trying to get out of the bed," she giggled. Wolf shrugged his head and smiled back.
"No, what woke me up was the sound of opportunity."
Sheila tilted her head and stared at him questioningly. Wolf stood up, then placed his muzzle against the side of her fluffed up face fur. Sheila couldn't help but let out a low purr when Wolf started rubbing his face onto hers
"You know the code about sleeping with other soldiers, right?" he asked quietly.
"Duh, everyone does," Sheila replied confidently.
"Not James," Wolf added with a sly smirk. Sheila's maw dropped almost instantly.
"What'd he do?"
"I heard from some of the other soldiers saying he apparently slept with Ashley Stone last night."
"Oh my god," the husky gasped, shaking her head faintly. "Dumbass."
"That's what I was thinking," Wolf chuckled.
"Wait, hold on, what's James having sex with Ash have to do with opportunity?" she abruptly asked.
"Getting his ass out of power," the lupine replied. "If we can tell someone of higher ranking about what he did, we can get him arrested for breaking Cornerian Military rules. That'll get him out of the question, and before we know it we'll be back home and out of the humans' war."
"Well, it's not like we can call Pepper up and tell him the situation when we're here," the copper husky explained. "We'll need a way of communication, and the only way of doing that is breaking out, and that's impossible."
"Well, there's gotta be some way to get out," Wolf stated.
"How?"
"Just say please," a metallic voice from the intercom machine by their front door suddenly spoke, scaring Wolf and Sheila out of their fur. Wolf caught his breath after the sudden spook, then trotted up to the machine.
"Who is this?" he asked.
"Someone who owes you an apology," the voice answered, making Wolf grin almost instantly as he recognized the tone of voice.
"Hey Vince," the lupine replied calmly. "What's this about an apology?"
"Wolf, I… I don't know an easy way to say this," the fox started, blatantly obvious he was searching for words. "Other than… I… I'm sorry. I shouldn't've disagreed with you. I was too dense."
"What'd you do Vinny?" Wolf asked in a low voice, smirking all the while.
Vince chuckled sheepishly. "I had the brilliant idea of looking up the humans' flight logs, and it says right here a satellite malfunctioned the day Corneria City burned. I still can't believe you were right this whole time. Wolf, seriously, I'm so sorry."
"Yeah, yeah, enough with the sappiness," Wolf snapped. "You can suck my dick later, but why haven't you told Pepper this information? Shouldn't he know that this was a mistake?"
"Actually, uh… that's a pretty funny story," Vince chuckled hesitantly. "Before I looked up the information, I had my big revealing moment about the truth of this war, and I tried to talk to Pepper about retracting our troops."
"And I see that worked out well?" he asked sarcastically.
"And I ended up blowing up at him and he essentially detained me to my quarters," he continued, trying to withhold his laughter. Wolf himself started laughing and clapped his paws together.
"You're not one to get on someone's bad side, eh buddy?"
"I just hate being proven wrong," Vince stated frankly. Wolf nodded his head, then completely changed the conversation.
"So you're saying you can help us?"
"I can," Vince replied confidently. "I've even got an idea for you two."
"What is it?"
Vince cleared his throat. "Basically… you two aren't the only ones that think this way."
Wolf's eyes shot wide open. "What? Who?"
"The entire crew of the CMD Fichina," Vince responded with pride. "I talked to them before I contacted you two, and all four-hundred something crewmembers on Destroyer eight are totally against fighting. If it wasn't for Pepper's adamant command, they would not be here at all."
Wolf smiled and hummed in approval.
"You're not the only one, Wolf," Vince added smoothly. "You're not the only one with a functioning brain. You've got an entire Destroyer that agrees with your viewpoint, and I want to help you guys get out and get to that Destroyer."
"How?" Wolf asked.
"I've got the entire electrical grid at my disposal," Vince snickered. "They didn't bother to clean out my quarters, and I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve when it comes to messing with their tech. As soon as you two are suited up to leave, let me know."
"Wait, how are you doing this?"
"My job," the vulpine chuckled. "I hacked into the intercom system, killed all comms between Pepper's flagship and the Great Fox, and basically wired myself through to you guys' room."
"How'd you know?"
"Can you stop asking questions and get ready to get out of there, please?" Vince retorted in an annoyed tone. Wolf chuckled silently, positively answered the arctic fox's question, and then turned to face the husky who had just finished brushing her hair.
"And you were set about us not being able to get out," Sheila taunted. Wolf ignored her as he trotted up to the dresser and started pulling out clothes. He slipped a pair of thick, dark sweatpants over his legs, a similarly colored sweatshirt through his ears, and as he sat on the bed to pull on his boots the copper husky sat next to him.
"Now's your chance," Sheila remarked. "We can avenge Nate. We can do what he wanted us to do. I just know it."
"I didn't want to before because of our lack of support," Wolf replied. "If Vince is right, which I know he is, we've got an army against them. This could either go really well, or Corneria will experience her first civil war. I just want to get this point across to everyone, and that may make things worse, but it's a lesser evil. We'll all get killed by the humans eventually if we don't get this point across."
Sheila nodded, then trotted over to the intercom machine and pressed the button on the side. "We're ready Vince… What's the plan?"
"It's simple, really," Vince started. "First off, I'll unlock your door so you two can get out. Secondly, once you two get within range, I can prep two Arwings for launch, and I'll even make it easier for you by programming the Destroyer's coordinates right into your navigators. I've already turned off both of your trackers, so nobody will be able to track you guys to Destroyer eight once you get out."
"God damn Vince," Wolf chuckled. "Making our job easier, eh?"
"More or less," the tod chuckled. "So, on my mark. Soon as I unlock the door, get yourselves some transmitters so that we can stay in touch even after you guys bolt off the ship."
Wolf grunted in approval, then stepped over to the husky. He smiled warmly at her as he pressed the tip of his nose against hers, then after a quick kiss on the lips between both of them they heard the bolt on their door unlatch.
"Good luck out there fellas. Stay safe."
Wolf hesitantly poked his eyes out of the doorframe, the after seeing nothing but an empty hallway, he turned back to the husky and nodded. Both of them snuck out of their quarters quietly, then as they silently but swiftly crept down the halls Sheila spoke up, barely breaking a whisper.
"You get the gear. I've got an idea."
"Where are you going?" Wolf called back as the copper husky started backing away.
"Picking up a package," Sheila replied, then before the lupine could protest she was already winding the corner and traversing another deserted hallway. She made as little noise as possible as she trotted up to a door, then knocked on it softly.
"Fox," she whispered. "Fox, open up."
A few painfully long seconds later the door cracked open. She didn't allow for it to open more than an inch wide as she barged into it and immediately shut the door behind her tail. Fox recoiled in shock at his sudden visitor, but also felt relief and happiness wash over him as he realized who it was.
"Sheila!" he yipped, but the husky instantly shushed him. Fox's eyes widened as he clamped his muzzle shut in embarrassment, then continued in a much quieter tone. "You're ok!"
"Of course I am," she smiled, crouching down and embracing the vulpine warmly. Fox buried his muzzle into her extremely voluminous hair and let a whimper escape through his nose. The husky caught the grief in the fox's tone and hugged him tighter.
"What happened?" she asked. Fox pulled his face away, then lowered his ears as he glanced at the floor.
"I… I blew up at him," he replied shakily.
"Who?"
"My… my dad," he answered in the same tone of voice. "I told him how I felt, and… I… I might as well had just straight up told him I hated him. I don't know what got into me."
Sheila clamped her paws over the vulpine's upper arms and gave him a reassuring smile. "It's alright Fox. You did the right thing."
"But I–"
"No, Fox, trust me," the husky assured. "You did the right thing. Your father needed to know how you felt. He won't change unless you tell him what he did wrong. It needs to come from you."
Fox sniffed slightly and picked his emerald eyes back up to the canine. "Sheila, I… I don't know what to do. I'm scared."
"There's no need to be afraid," Sheila grinned, slowly rubbing the kit's back. "Didn't Nate tell you not to be afraid?"
Fox slowly nodded, then pulled the golden cross out of his shirt. Sheila smiled as the light glinted off of the plain design, then used one finger to lift the small charm up.
"Nathan said this gave him courage," Fox explained. "He gave it to me because I was afraid of a storm. He told me to have faith, and good things would happen to those who had faith."
Sheila gently grasped the tod's wrist, then placed the charm in his paw and closed his fingers around it. "It's very beautiful, and I'd say it's working."
"It is?"
"Absolutely," she responded warmly. "It takes a lot of courage to speak against your own father. You know what's right, and you won't let anyone get in your way of that; including your dad. It takes courage to admit that."
Fox hesitated, then slowly nodded his head forward. Sheila grinned and embraced his small frame tighter.
"You trust that the right thing will happen, right?" she asked
"I hope so," Fox answered.
"And you trust me, right?"
Fox lifted his head up and stared at her confusedly. "Of course I do. Why do you ask?"
Sheila patted the vulpine's shoulder as a sly grin creased her muzzle. "I want you to come with me."
"Where?" he asked with eyes wide.
"Away from here," she responded. "We can get you out and keep you safe."
"But that's what Nate said," Fox reminded pitifully.
"I know, but I promise–"
"I've heard too many promises, and none of them have come true yet," Fox interrupted sourly, trying to avoid eye contact.
"Fox, please," Sheila stated, using her free paw to lift the kit's muzzle up. "I've never broken a promise to anyone in my life. This is the right choice. You need to come with me."
Fox grunted in negativity and attempted to look away again, but Sheila was right there to catch his muzzle before it fell again.
"Vince has a plan," she added. "I trust him. You trust him. He knows how we can get out of this."
Fox still refused to agree with her. Sheila sighed and let go of his arm, then backed away slowly as the tod stood there with his muzzle pointed towards the floor.
"I'm trying to help you Fox," she continued. "I know how awful you feel, with Nate being killed and you snapping at your dad, but staying here with him won't make him realize what he did wrong. You need to leave him, just like what Nate did, and maybe he'll understand why. It's our only chance."
Sheila turned around and placed her paw over the door handle, but right as she tried to turn the knob she felt Fox's paw press down on her arm. She turned her eyes to him, then almost immediately her heart melted at the priceless expression that found its home on his maw.
"Fine, I'll go," he replied shakily. Sheila smiled in acknowledgement, then crouched down and turned her tail to the vulpine.
"Hop on," she suggested. "I'll carry you to the hangar. We've already got a way out."
"We?" Fox asked.
"Wolf," she responded, and almost immediately she felt the tod's arms wrap around her neck loosely. She clutched at his legs, paying special attention to the fractured one, then stepped out of his room and started sprinting down the hall.
Sheila wound the corner with the smaller vulpine on her back, then as she approached the gray tail that was wiggling out of a doorway she coughed quietly, instantly grabbing his attention. Wolf lifted his eyes up, then it seemed as they dropped out of his skull once he saw the auburn colored fox on the husky's back.
"Fox," he breathed with a smirk. "Good idea She. Here, put this on."
Sheila managed to grab the spare transmitter and slap it around her left wrist, then almost instantly afterward she managed to peel the vulpine's transmitter off.
"Get a different one for Fox," she commanded. "They'll be able to track his."
Wolf obliged and managed to locate yet another spare transmitter, then after helping Fox adjust it onto his wrist he shut the door and pointed a claw down the hallway. As they sped down quietly, Wolf whispered to the husky almost silently.
"I can carry Fox for you," he suggested. Sheila almost instantly shook her head.
"I got him," she replied confidently. "You always get to carry him. I wanna hold Foxie."
"Whatever you say," the lupine chuckled.
Right as Wolf tried to wind another corner, he instantly faltered and almost fell, then quickly pressed his backside against the wall and held his paw out to keep Sheila from running out. He hesitantly poked his eyes around the corner, and after eyeballing the guard to the hangar, he turned his muzzle to the female.
"I'll take him," he assured confidently, then hopped from the wall and charged at the soldier. The canine standing guard didn't react to the surprise attack fast enough, and before he knew it Wolf had practically crushed the side of his face with a brutal right hook. As his unconscious body fell to the ground with an audible thud, he whistled to grab the husky's attention. She too bolted from her hiding spot and rushed after the lupine who had just dashed into the Great Fox's hangar.
Sheila instantly found the nearest Arwing, gently tossed Fox into the open space behind the seat, then secured herself and prepped the fighter for launch. Wolf insured she was set first, then trotted up to the next Arwing in line, but was startled when a large and muscular paw grabbed onto his wrist right after he had opened the cockpit. He quickly transitioned his gaze to the figure, then almost shit himself in fear at the sight of the person.
Wes.
Wolf would've instantly thrown a punch, but when he finally made out Wes' facial expression, he strangely didn't feel the urge to cave the hybrid's muzzle in. He didn't have a face of sheer hatred and animosity towards the wolf as he did back on the surface at Nate's house, but that of a completely unrecognizable emotion. Something Wolf had never seen on the hybrid's face before.
Wes didn't do any other action after harshly grabbing the lupine's wrist. As Wolf stood there with a face of guilt at sneaking out, combined with an inner desire to snap the wolf-dog's neck, Wes stood tall with an indifferent expression. In fact, Wolf had trouble deciphering his emotions, and better yet his thought process. He just stood there like a statue with a blank expression for what felt like minutes, not moving a single muscle. Neither of them made another movement, for fear that would spark a chain reaction between the two that would ultimately end in broken bones and blood loss.
Wes slowly took a step forward towards the Arwing Wolf had just opened, still not loosening his grip or abandoning his blank stare. He stood by the cockpit, and held out his open paw towards the plexiglass windshield and looked as though he would shut it.
Still not breaking eye contact with the lupine, he suddenly reached backwards and pressed the ignition switch.
Wolf's maw instantly dropped as the hum of the engines and G-diffusers emanated from the machine. Wes dragged the Wolf over towards the fighter by his arm gently, then after taking a long look at the Arwing, he lifted his eyes up to the wolf and smirked.
"Go," he commanded calmly, releasing his paw from the lupine's wrist. "Get out of here."
"Wes?"
Wes sighed silently and curled his lips inward, tucking his tail between his legs. "We made a mistake, and the only one that can fix it is you. Please. Get out of here, and make sure you get your point across that we need to leave this planet as soon as possible."
Wolf couldn't believe his ears. Wasn't Wes the one that had it out for him? Didn't he make his point clear he was going to kill him next time he saw him? It seemed as though he had made a complete one-eighty in character; commanding Wolf to escape and try to potentially end the war. And of all the people that he expected to do such a thing, the one at the very bottom of the list was Wes. Scratch that, James was at the bottom, but Wes was a close second. A very close second.
Wolf let out a smile, then patted the hybrid's shoulder and stepped into the Arwing. Right as he was going to shut the cockpit, Wes placed a paw under the hinge and stared at the lupine.
"Good luck," he said stoically. "You're gonna need it."
Wolf nodded, then after the wolf-dog had shut the cockpit on him, he waited a few extra moments for the instruments to warm up. He glanced over at the husky, then after mouthing the words "follow me" to her, he unlocked his fighter and shot out of the hangar. Wolf instantly located the coordinates to the supposed friendly Destroyer, then after a quick and fancy maneuver, he had set a course for this safe haven.
Wes watched the streaks disappear from his view as they hurtled towards the surface, then after letting out a long breath of air from his nose, he trotted through the hangar doors and back down the hallway. He stepped up to a familiar door and knocked on it with his balled paw.
A few seconds later, an orange vulpine opened the door with his eyes half shut and only wearing his underclothes. It was obvious that he reeked of sweat and hormones, along with a few other smells that disgusted the hybrid, not because of the smells themselves, but because of how the smells came about. James stood there with a confused and somewhat annoyed expression, and behind him in the bed laid Ashley, who was completely covered up by the bedsheets and was sound asleep. Both sets of their clothes were strewn about the floor of the room haphazardly, and another sight that disgusted the hybrid was the sight of a set of skimpy female undergarments that were hastily tucked under the nightstand to avoid it looking conspicuous.
"What's up Wes?" James asked sleepily.
"You broke the code," Wes muttered under his breath with eyes wide. James instantly caught what he was referring to and quickly tried to dissuade him.
"Wes, I–"
"You son of a bitch, you broke the code," Wes announced in a much louder tone, prompting James to hiss at him to try and keep his voice down.
"Wes–"
"You fucked her on duty!" the hybrid snapped. "That's it! You've broken too many damn rules James! You're done!"
As Wes attempted to spin around, James harshly grabbed the hybrid's neck and forced him into the bedroom. He struggled to break free, but right as he did he felt countless jolts of electricity course through his body. He lost control of his muscles as he fell down to the floor, then after James dragged him against the wall after shutting the door he bared his teeth in visible anger.
"The fuck was that for?" he questioned weakly, unable to move a single finger.
"I won't be kicked out for something like this," James snarled. "Ashley is my partner, and I wasn't about to tell her no on something she wanted."
"You betrayed your family," Wes growled back.
"To hell with my family!" James barked, completely irate and inconsolable. "My wife is gone, and my kit hates my guts. I have no family anymore. My kit deserted me just because he can't accept the truth."
"You can't accept it," Wes retorted. "You're too caught up in blind rage to see what the real situation is."
"And when did you let that fucker Wolf and his bitch talk you into this?" James interrogated acidicly.
"Right when you murdered the truth in cold blood yesterday," Wes responded. James took particular offence to that remark, then bent down and slugged the hybrid's muzzle harshly. The smack instantly caused the vixen in the bed to whimper slightly, considering the fact that she had woken up ever since James started yelling.
"I did what we were supposed to do," James stated as blood splattered onto the floor. Wes let a few more crimson drops exit his muzzle as he smirked at the vulpine.
"No, you did exactly the opposite of what you were supposed to do," he responded in a somewhat taunting tone. "You wonder why your kit left you."
"He'll get over it," James quickly interjected, obviously in a state of denial, although he himself couldn't feel it. It was like he was completely blind to the outside.
"No, James, Fox left," he reiterated. "He's gone."
James crouched down and clutched the wolf-dog's bloody muzzle, baring his teeth in the process. "Who?"
"Who do you think?" Wes spat nasally. "Lombardi? Hare? Honestly James, who do you think?"
James dropped the hybrid's muzzle, then after turning away for a few seconds, he lashed out and kicked his skull with his bare foot, resulting in an audible smack. A few of James' feet-claws cut the side of Wes' head wide open, and as more blood rolled out of his unconscious head he stormed out of the bedroom and towards Fox's quarters. After ripping the kit's door open and seeing nothing inside, he cursed loudly and slammed the door shut. One of the guards quickly rushed up to him and started speaking after the door slammed shut.
"Sir, two of our Arwings just launched without auth–"
James lashed out and dropped the soldier with a vicious right paw, and after his body fell to the floor he swiped the soldier's handgun and padded over to his quarters. Another guard saw him and attempted to stop him, but James instantly reacted and shot the soldier right below the neck. The laser shot echoed throughout the otherwise silent hallways, and after that soldier's corpse fell to the floor he kept his course towards his room that Wes was sitting in.
He was someone else. His blood was boiling, and he had absolutely no control of his actions or emotions. The rage coursing through his veins was visible through the burning fire in his emerald green eyes, on top of having the expression of someone who had been driven over the edge. They had escaped with Fox again, and he had finally had enough. It was the last straw. He snapped in half.
James barged into the quarters, and after looking over at the terrified vixen who had wrapped her exposed frame in the bedsheets, he turned his menacing glare to the unconscious hybrid and raised the handgun upwards; taking aim right between his eyes.
The next thing James felt was a surge of electricity stemming from his lower back. He dropped to his knees after releasing the handgun, and seconds later two soldiers effortlessly wrestled the vulpine to the ground. One kept his hold on him while the other pulled out his transmitter and called the bridge.
"Main bridge, ten forty-three, repeat, ten forty-three; we've got an injury in room thirteen."
After waiting a few seconds for a reply, he quickly added to his call in the most stoic voice he could muster.
"Commander McCloud's lost his mind."
Seeing red again…
Seeing red again…
This change, he won't contain
Slip away, to clear your mind
When asked, who made it show
The truth, he gives in to most
So lay down,
The threat is real,
When his sight,
Goes red again
*Chevelle – The Red*
