A/N: Sorry about the delay with this one. Got stuck in writing towards the end of this chapter, and hopefully it doesn't seem too forced.
So, good news for you guys, I really don't have anything to rant about this time, so I'm gonna let you guys off now. As usual, tell me what you guys think of this chapter, and I'll see you next update. Take care fellas!
For every piece to fall in place
Forever gone without a trace
Your horizon takes its shape
No turning back, don't turn that page
Come now, I'm leaving here tonight
Come now, let's leave it all behind
Is that the price you pay?
Running through hell, heaven can wait
Long road to ruin there in your eyes
Under the cold streetlights
No tomorrow, no dead end in sight
* Foo Fighters – Long Road to Ruin *
North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
"You heard me!" the soldier shouted again. "On your fucking knees!"
Kyle secretly winked to the others, then dropped to the ground just as the human soldier instructed. The rest of the team followed suit, placing their paws over their heads as well.
The wolf-dog was approached first by one of the soldiers. Even though Kyle was facing away from the soldier, he could still make out a faint reflection on the window of the soldier's frame slowly advancing towards him, still with his weapon raised at him. He was heavily equipped with a full vest and helmet, along with a very dangerous looking automatic rifle with what looked to be a handle on the top where the sights were located. Kyle glanced over at Austin, gestured to the reflection with his eyes, and then waited patiently.
The soldier took step after hesitant step towards the tall, but rather slim humanized canine, continuing to point the barrel of his M16 towards his head. "That's it," the soldier sneered quietly. "Good dog… just stay there, and I promise nobody will get hurt."
"I don't," Kyle muttered inaudibly, knowing the human couldn't understand him. The soldier kept inching closer, then finally was close enough that his boots were within inches of the canine's tail. Snickering, he gently kicked the bushy appendage aside so that he could practically stand on top of his captive.
Kyle took his opportunity and attempted to mess with him. After his tail had gotten kicked away, he flicked it back and patted the human's leg with it in a somewhat playful manner. The soldier didn't take any offence to it, per say, but he made sure it was out of the way by kicking it again just a little harder than before. All in the same motion, the canine batted the human's leg one again, a bit harder just like he had done. Kyle couldn't keep a straight face as the human growled at him.
"Oh, playful little shithead, aren't ya?" the soldier smirked, prodding the back of the canine's head with the barrel of his rifle. Even though Kyle had heard the English language before on his translator, he couldn't help but smirk at the blatantly obvious accent this human had. He seemed to be more vocal about his vowel inflection, especially on the 'a' and 'o' sounds, and it was quite humorous even in the situation he was in.
"Hey serge," another soldier piped up in the same accented inflection, nudging DJ's raised elbow with his own rifle. DJ growled and curled her eyebrows down, prompting that soldier to chuckle. "Check out this feisty little bitch, eh?"
"Ah, so they let the chicks play along too, eh?" the sergeant next to Kyle snickered. "Be gentle with her," he added and winked at the shepherd hybrid. Kyle growled faintly in the back of his throat and batted the human's leg once again, much harder than the previous attempts. The soldier glared at him for a brief moment, then let a sly smirk crease his pale lips as he transitioned his glance to the shepherd.
"Oh, so he's yours, eh?" he asked tauntingly. DJ tried to speak up, but Austin quickly butted in and gently set a paw on her knee, then once she glanced over at him he shook his head subtly. DJ nodded in disappointment as the soldier chuckled once again.
"You've got quite a nice mate over there," he sneered, kicking at Kyle's tail once more. "Stay in line and do as I say, and I promise I won't do anything to her… yet…"
Kyle kept his anger at a minimum, then after inconspicuously winking at DJ, he smacked the back of the human soldier's knee with his tail again, and it was hard enough to make the soldier grunt and falter almost unnoticeably. He growled again and glared menacingly at the brown and beige husky hybrid.
"So that's how it's gonna be, eh?" the sergeant snapped, harshly poking his head with the muzzle of his rifle. "I don't have a problem with it. I'll have no trouble tying you up and having you watch helplessly as I fuck your little bitch's brains out."
DJ whimpered and lowered her ears, which gave the soldier all the ammunition he needed to continue his verbal assault.
"You fucking dogs deserve every minute of this hell we're about to put you through," he growled. "You started this war, and we're finishing it; starting with you and your bitch over there."
Kyle's rage almost surfaced, and the only way he could channel it was to continue harmlessly patting the human's leg with his tail. His last swat at him sent the soldier over the edge.
"Fuckin' cut it out!" he commanded, kicking the appendage much harsher this time. Kyle fought through the pain and lashed out while the human's leg was still somewhat suspended in the air. He grabbed his ankle and took it out from underneath him, then after he fell to the ground he snatched the weapon from his hands and threw it with the force of a baseball swing at the soldier perched in the doorway. The expert throw hit him right in his unprotected neck, causing him to sputter and fall to his knees.
Austin took advantage of the commotion and clamped his paw down on the third soldier's forearm. He managed to fight him off of his rifle, and as he held him back Mark sprang up and decked the human with a heavy right paw. He was pretty sure he heard the human's jaw break before his unconscious body impacted the ground.
Kyle fought with the human hand to hand for a little bit, considering the sergeant managed to pry the hybrid off and commenced a fist-fight with him. The canine dodged a hook from the human, then launched a flurry of jabs at his midsection. Once the soldier doubled over in pain, he lashed out and connected with a huge uppercut that sent him staggering backwards into a window. The glass cracked when his heavily dazed body impacted it, and to put the finishing touch on the intruder, Kyle kicked the human's chest harshly, causing him to go careening out of the recently shattered window.
"Get your shit and RUN!" Kyle barked, swiping his gear from the far wall, and as he hastily strapped it around his frame he bolted from the living room and burst out of the kitchen back door. Panting loudly, he sprinted across the rather small backyard, vaulted over the rather short wooden fence, then snuck around the forest with his team closely pursuing.
"They're following us!" Austin announced, adjusting the intensity of his carbine. He set it at a well-balanced level, which allowed for quick and powerful bursts of laser fire, but required a moderate level of cool down as a result. As he started launching lasers at the advancing troops, the humans' loud gunfire replied. Each member had found a safe haven behind a tree, and as the human bullets impaled the trees, they quickly constructed an improvised plan as was their specialty.
"Derrick, there's a clearing over there," Sabrina announced, unsheathing her pistols and commencing her cover fire. "Pick 'em off."
The sandy vulpine nodded, crouched low and managed to sneak away from the commotion, and then found that nice clearing away from the trees perched on top of a moderately taller hillside. He exhaled in relief, pulled his weapon off of his back and set it in the grass gently, and then flicked a switch on the side, causing the stock of the weapon to extend backwards about six extra inches. He pulled a magnifying scope out of his bag, then after strapping it to the top of his compact marksman's rifle, he laid on his stomach and scoped out the battle.
Lying on his chest caused waves of pain to wash over him because of his presumably cracked ribs, but after a few deep breaths he disregarded the pain. He slowly pitched his rifle towards a human soldier that was preoccupied with inserting another ammunition clip into his rifle, then after he let out most of the air in his lungs…
CRACK
Derrick's DMR buckled slightly as the laser shot sprang out of the weapon and lodged itself right underneath the human's ear. He didn't even wait for the corpse to fall to the ground as he had already scoped out another target. Another quick squeeze, loud crack, and silent yelp of pain later, he had successfully taken down another soldier.
"Derrick's got covering fire," Alex remarked, readjusting the collapsible grip on his sub-machine gun. "Sabby, go flush them out."
"No, I got 'em," DJ announced, then after slipping behind another tree she examined the gear strapped to her belt. She pulled a red sphere off of it, then after pressing a button on the side, she lobbed it over a fallen log where some human soldiers were camping out. Not even two seconds after the grenade impacted the ground, it detonated in the familiar and iconic pale blue glow, vaporizing a few of their opponents instantly.
Derrick saw the explosion and snickered to himself, then gasped as he saw something rustle behind where Sabrina was hiding. He saw the human soldier pop out of his cover, and without a moment's hesitation the vulpine fired; ripping a hole in the human's chest. He fired another laser just below his neck line just for good measure, then as soon as the corpse fell he packed his rifle away and quickly rushed down the hill towards the cheetah.
"Thanks," she smiled, brushing off some dirt from her jacket. "You've got one hell of a shot with that thing."
Derrick smiled and opened his muzzle to respond, but was silenced as a blood curdling scream emanated from behind the trees, then only a few seconds later a loud explosion was heard from that same location. Sabrina instinctively held her shotgun up to her chest and charged after the source of the shriek. Derrick held back with the other two vulpines and lupine, watching as the cheetah disappeared behind the trees.
Sabrina slid to the ground near where the tall shepherd hybrid was crouched down, then instantly realized she was in a lot of discomfort. The right side of her flight suit looked singed and burnt, and the right jacket sleeve was rolled back so that she could apply pressure to a large gash covering the entirety of her forearm.
"Frag grenades," DJ squeaked, attempting to craw away from the blast site, but instantly fell back down and howled in pain. "Ah, fuck! My arm!"
"I'm gonna get you out of here," the cheetah assured, pumping her shotgun each time she fired towards the humans. Kyle had reestablished his cover behind a tree near the two females to provide cover, so Sabrina took her opportunity and tried to patch the shepherd up to the best of her ability.
"Just hang in there DJ," she said, tightly wrapping some bandaging material around her long and deep wound. It seemed as soon as she would finish a layer of the bandage, it was already soaking through with the shepherd's blood.
"I'll get her out," Kyle suggested as Sabrina finished her patch job. He quickly transitioned from the cover of trees, then flung the shepherd's uninjured arm over his neck as he slowly but carefully snuck through the cover of trees and back to where the numerous colored vulpines were keeping watch over the battle.
"Kyle… I can't… feel my arm," DJ grunted, relying almost entirely on the wolf-dog for support. Kyle used his left arm to support the tall hybrid, and used his free right arm to blind-fire backwards towards the human soldiers with a small handgun.
"You'll be ok DJ," Kyle assured, holstering the weapon as he supported the female with both arms now. "You're alright. We're almost out of here."
Alex pulled a small cylinder from his belt, then pulled the pin on it and hurled it clear over the cheetah. As soon as the object hit the dirt, it puffed out a large white plume of smoke, instantly providing copious amounts of cover. Sabrina recognized his tactic, then instantly slipped her weapon onto her back and ran full speed towards the rest of the group, and with her incredible speed she was there in a matter of seconds.
The group ran for what felt like miles before taking a sharp turn towards a cliff side, then instantly turned to their equipment to scale the rock formation. Mark instinctively launched a hook towards the top, and after it had lodged itself onto a nearby tree branch they immediately took to climbing. Kyle took advantage of his unusual strength and kept a good hold on DJ after he had strapped his vest in and waited for the automated mechanism in the hook to pull him up.
"Thank you," DJ said weakly, loosely holding on to the wolf-dog with both arms, including her severely injured one. Kyle gave her a warm grin back as he shifted the tall shepherd in his grasp.
"Soldiers have to look out for one another," Kyle remarked. "I'd never leave a perfectly capable soldier behind."
"But… my arm," she whimpered, letting the hybrid gently set her boots on the ground before he disengaged his harness. Kyle tossed the end back down to the awaiting soldiers, then trotted up to the tall shepherd and gingerly grabbed her injured arm.
"Looks to me it's just a nasty gash," Kyle assured, gently prodding at the bandaging. "Nothing broken."
"Other than my pride," she muttered, lowering her ears. Kyle fought to contain his laughter, then picked his muzzle up and started to examine her singed flight suit.
"Hey, stuff like that happens," he stated, picking at her blatantly ruined suit. "It wasn't your fault."
"I got too overzealous," DJ admitted. "I should've fell back as soon as I destroyed that little bunker they had."
"But you did a fantastic job at flushing them out," Kyle grinned. "Not to mention you saved us from getting flanked. You may think you screwed up, but you showed how courageous you are. I really like seeing that from my squadron members, especially in a situation like this."
"But I almost got you in trouble," DJ argued, lowering her head. "I mean, back at the house… I… I almost got you killed. And during that battle, you should've just left me there. It wouldn't be worth it to sacrifice yourself to save an incapable soldier."
"Absolutely not," Kyle responded, again examining her arm. "Never in a million years would I let a soldier get left behind, especially someone like you–"
He immediately cut himself off and lowered his ears, trying to seem unfazed by his admittance by focusing his eyes onto her injured arm. DJ smirked almost unnoticeably as she batted his leg with her long tail.
"What was that?" she asked in a subtle taunting tone. Kyle continued to examine her arm, but then sighed and transitioned his grip to her wrist, holding her paw tightly.
"I hate seeing my teammates get hurt," he whispered. "It's bad enough Derrick got hurt, but once you did too I had to draw the line. I made sure I took care of that soldier that was threatening you, because if that actually happened, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."
"You really mean it?" she asked, blinking a few times. Kyle nodded and brought the shepherd in closer.
"Yes, and to prevent that from ever happening again, once we get picked up, I'm… I'm telling whoever's in charge that my team and I are going home."
"Are you sure?" DJ asked. Kyle instantly nodded again.
"I may be a leader, but I'm not gonna force this team, filled with people I love and care for, back down here to get killed. Venom's tours were bad enough, but these humans' desperation tactics are too dangerous."
"Agreed," she blurted out, then inched forward and rubbed the hybrid's shoulder. "It's really nice to see someone that cares so much for his team. I mean, I'm the newest one here, and you and everyone else already feel like family."
Kyle grinned and let a burst of air through his nose. "I'm glad I helped. You're a very strong and talented soldier, and to be frankly honest I'm glad I have someone like you on this team."
DJ couldn't help but have the ends of her muzzle curl upwards. She glanced over and saw the twins climb over the ledge, then turned back to the wolf-dog and, after a bit of hesitation, let her head rest on his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Kyle, I… Thank you," she stuttered. "I… I'm just gonna go off on a limb here because I don't know if we're gonna make it out of here, but–"
"You don't have to say anything," Kyle interrupted with a grin, wrapping his arm around her. "I knew what was bothering you as soon as that human started harassing you. And to be honest, DJ, I'm… surprised you feel that way towards me. You're the tough girl of our group; not really showing much emotion, especially something like this."
"I'm sorry Kyle," she whimpered. "I didn't mean to distract you with my stupid mistakes."
"Are you kidding?" he chuckled lightheartedly, making the shepherd raise an eyebrow. "If anything, that really helped me when I was fighting them off. I was getting pissed with that human because of what he was saying to you, and that really helped me in kicking his sorry ass."
DJ giggled at Kyle's attempted accent to mock the soldiers towards the end of his sentence, then shuffled her feet and glanced down. "So, you're… not mad at me?"
"Why would I be?" he smiled, nudging her again. "For the longest time I thought nobody would ever care so much about me, ya know, being a wolf hybrid and all, but… you've shown me that there are people who really care, regardless of what they do or what they look like."
"I never even knew you were a hybrid until the drill sergeant started ridiculing you for it," DJ admitted, brushing some loose hair from her face. "It's the fact that you were just too good at what you did for me not to take a bit of liking towards you."
"Same goes for me; that's why I wouldn't just leave you behind, even if you were hurt… I'm honestly glad I have you on my team Dana, and… I'm just happy I mean so much to you."
"I'm happy you like me too," DJ admitted, finally inching forward and embracing the hybrid tightly. Kyle returned the gesture, then smirked once Alex saw the affection and scoffed with his own smile.
"Fuck me," he grunted sarcastically, shaking his head. "One little mission gone wrong and everybody started admitting who loves who and all that."
"Aww," Mark cooed in a condescending manner, grabbing the vulpine playfully and started shaking his much smaller frame around effortlessly. "Come here you little shit."
The other members of the team who had just scaled the rock formation started laughing as Mark practically crushed the snowy white vulpine in his arms. "Alright, alright, get off me big guy," Alex complained, then once he had control of his arms he smacked at the black vulpine gently.
"Are you alright, DJ?" Sabrina asked as she trotted up to the two hybrids.
"Couldn't be better," she replied happily, retracting her head and pressing the tip of her nose against Kyle's. Utilizing his abnormally quick reaction times, he pushed forward and made direct contact with her lips. DJ surprisingly didn't hesitate and obliged with the wolf-dog's sudden affection gesture, causing the team to yet again burst into a chorus of "aww's".
Alex smirked again and tilted his muzzle towards the blonde wolf, snickering as he kept his eyes transfixed on the newly formed couple.
"Why does that never happen to me?"
CMD Fichina – Cornerian Military Destroyer 8
Fox was startled when he heard a knock at his door. "Yeah?" he called out as he flung his legs over the edge of the bed and sat up, but cringed when he put a bit more force than he should have on his fractured leg. As he bent down to try and rub the pain away, he heard a familiar voice answer him.
"It's me," Sheila's faint voice resounded from the other side. Fox's eyes widened, along with the sudden smile that had found its home on his muzzle as he recognized the voice.
"Come in," he responded happily, then almost instantly he heard the knob rustle. Sheila poked her head in the doorway first, then at the sight of the vulpine she grinned.
"How you doing, buddy?" the husky asked cheerfully.
"Well, I've been better," he replied frankly, letting his ears fall back. Sheila exhaled silently as she slipped the entirety of her thin frame into the room, but what peaked Fox's curiosity was a long black case she tried to hide behind her back.
Sheila noticed he was staring at the case with a confused expression, so she transitioned her grip so that the case was in front of her. "I found this on the ship, and I thought you might want to see it."
"What is it?" he questioned.
Sheila kicked the door shut with her foot, then trotted over to the kit's bedside and laid the case on the unoccupied section of the bed. She flicked two separate small locks on the one side, and as she slowly flipped the lid open it revealed a black and dark red tinged guitar. Fox gasped and nearly screamed in delight at the sight of the instrument.
"Wolf always told me how good you are with one of these," Sheila started, lifting the instrument out of the case. The guitar looked brand new, and its sleek and polished appearance only added to its already strikingly beautiful craftsmanship. She held it in her paws like she was about to play it, but only stared at the strings absentmindedly.
"I've always wanted to play, but training for the CDF has been taking up all my time," she continued, running her claws on the strings, just getting a smile out of hearing the strings ring out faintly with the lack of pressure she put on them. "Wolf told me you're really good, and I kinda want to hear you play." She outstretched her arms and practically pushed the guitar towards the vulpine. "Can you show me?"
Fox let a quick burst of air out of his nose and gave a slight grin to the light copper husky. "I'm not much of a teacher," he remarked practically, throwing the loose strap over his neck.
"I just want to hear it," Sheila corrected, crossing her legs and staring at the instrument intently. Fox instinctively checked some of the string's tunes, then after adjusting them to his liking he started to run his digits along the strings in a rhythmic tune.
He started off slow, as was his forte, then closed his eyes and let his head nod along with the beat of his song as if he was hearing the drums in his mind. Sheila stared in awe as the vulpine played one string after another, but was puzzled in how he wasn't singing along. She knew the song he was playing had lyrics, but for whatever reason was not singing them.
Fox got to the chorus of the song, and still was reluctant to sing. Sheila loved to hear his voice, especially since he was still a teenager and still hadn't experienced a drop in tone yet. She thought it was cute, hearing his relatively higher pitched voice sing along while playing, but it seemed he was too distraught to showcase it. He played that same set of chords once more, and then after a relatively different slower riff afterwards, that was when Sheila became impressed with the tod's ability.
He got to the short solo of the song, and Sheila couldn't help but gape at Fox's talent. There was a flurry of strings at one point, and the vulpine played each and every one flawlessly, almost as if he was the one that came up with the melody itself. He had since opened his eyes to see where his fingers were, and stared at them as if he was controlling his blurred finger movements with his eyes. He let a grin out of his muzzle as he played the chorus riff again, then closed out his song with another flawless set of notes.
As soon as the guitar's sounds died down, Sheila instant started clapping. She was startled to hear that she wasn't the only one applauding the vulpine, then immediately turned her gaze to the door where Wolf was standing, clapping along with a wide grin.
"You never seem to disappoint, Foxie," Wolf chuckled. Fox grinned and pulled the strap off of his neck, then let the guitar sit comfortably in his lap.
"That was so awesome, Fox!" Sheila squealed softly. "What song was that?"
"Foo Fighters song, right?" Wolf questioned, shutting the door behind him.
"How'd you know?" Fox asked with a smile.
"I kept hearing their music over the radio back on Corneria when we started getting Earth music," Wolf answered, sitting on the other side of the orange fox. "Plus, that's all you ever seem to play."
"I really like their music," Fox responded pragmatically, rubbing his fingers on the strings, making a very quiet, almost unnoticeable sound as a result.
Wolf chuckled and wrapped his arm around the tod. "There a reason you didn't sing along?"
"I was wondering that too," Sheila added. "Is something wrong?"
Fox set the guitar against the nightstand and sniffed slightly. "I'm just… I'm worried about dad."
"I know buddy," Wolf said softly, rubbing his paw on the kit's back in a consolation attempt. "I am too. I'm worried that he's gonna get himself hurt because of what he's been doing. And… Sheila told me you snapped at him. What'd you say?"
Fox whimpered slightly and lowered his head. "I… I told him I hated him," he answered pitifully in a faltering voice. Wolf winked at Sheila, then bent over and wrapped both of his arms around the fox's smaller frame.
"You did the right thing buddy," Wolf said reassuringly.
Fox suddenly jerked himself out of the lupine's grasp and hobbled away from the bedside. "No I didn't!" he argued, tears welling in his eyes. "I told my dad I hated him! I didn't say it to make him feel bad; I really meant it!"
"Fox," Wolf called out, but Fox kept on rambling.
"He killed Nathan! He tried to kill you! He's trying to keep me away from all the people I love, and I can't take it anymore! Wolf, I…" he trailed off and let the welled up tears stream down his furry cheeks. "I don't love him anymore. I meant what I said to him."
"Fox, that's not true," Sheila interjected. "You were just upset with him."
"No, I don't love him," Fox repeated in a broken voice, sniffing to try and keep in his emotions. "He's keeping me away from my friends and family, and I… I hate him. He's ruining my life."
"Fox…"
"I just want him to go away," Fox muttered bitterly. "I want him to leave me alone. I… I just want to go home."
Wolf shot up off the bed and hugged the vulpine wholeheartedly as he sobbed into his shoulder. "I want to go home Wolf," he repeated, choking through tears as he buried his muzzle into Wolf's jacket. "I just want you to take me home."
"I'll get you home, Fox," Wolf assured, caressing the back of his head. "I promise."
"I've heard too many promises!" Fox yipped, breaking his hold on Wolf, but as he staggered backwards he buckled because of his fractured leg and fell to the steel floor. He cried out in overwhelming pain and curled his knees into his chest, letting tears drip from his eyes onto the floor.
"Fox…" Wolf said softly, gently picking the injured kit off the ground. He cradled him tightly like a small child for a few moments, then laid him back down on the bed. He used his paw to wipe away a few of the vulpine's tears, then gave him a reassuring grin.
"I won't let anything happen to you," Wolf whispered, rubbing the kit's shoulder to try and calm him down. "I'll do anything and everything in my power to make sure you're ok. You're my brother, Fox, and… I love my little brother."
Fox finally let a wide smile crease his muzzle as he sat up and wrapped his arms around the lupine. "I love you too," he admitted, burying his head into his jacket. For the next couple minutes they sat there, just giving the reassurance to each other that they would be there until the end. Those two were inseparable, and they made sure they stuck together just like a normal brotherly relationship would be like.
To be frank, Fox was somewhat hesitant with Wolf at first when his father brought him in one random day. He had the mentality that wolves were mean and selfish, and rather violent if pushed to that extreme. However, it only took a few days for that assumption to be abandoned. When Wolf wasn't busy training in the CDF, he was at home with Fox, doing the things that his father was never home for anymore. They played sports in the backyard, they watched movies together, and just did everything that Fox loved to do with his father.
Although Fox's first thought was that he hoped the lupine would be gone in a few days, his hope did a complete one-eighty in a matter of those few days to where he never wanted him to leave. Wolf was the brotherly figure he never had at first, and now that he finally had one, he'd give up everything to keep him in his life.
Little did he know he was pushing that extreme.
##########
Two painfully long hours of an uneventful sub-orbital hop across the massive continent later, Danny's Destroyer finally found its home in the airspace of Captain Reeves' last known location. The landscape varied from a beautiful autumn forest, tall and steep cliff faces, wide rivers with various lakes and streams, and the remnants of what used to be a bustling city. Danny's heart dropped when he saw the huge craters in the ground and the miniscule remnants of civilization, then turned to a bridge attendant.
"You've got a search party on standby?"
"Of course," the attendant, a short tan feline replied. "Do you want to send them out, sir?"
"Yes, give them the okay," Danny answered, then turned to face the window as the bridge attendant spoke into his earpiece. Less than a minute later, the hangar doors hummed open as a small transport ship exited the larger Destroyer and made its way towards the heavily damaged surface. He crossed his fingers as he looked away from the streaking transport ship, but right as he was going to sit back down another bridge attendant quickly captivated his attention.
"Sir, incoming transmission," he spoke, poking at his large touchscreen. "It's from Destroyer three."
"Ah, put 'em through," Danny commanded, then only a few seconds later a holographic female fennec fox appeared on screen, and Danny instantly smiled at the sight.
"Commander Phoenix," he exclaimed softly, folding his paws below his stomach. "How's the situation on your end, sweetie?"
Samantha Phoenix, a relatively younger commander of the CDF, giggled at Danny's friendliness and twitched her extremely large ears. "We're alright over here, sir. We're just combing over the eastern seaboard and looking for survivors."
"We've already done enough damage over there," Danny responded sadly.
"Oh, no, sir, we're not attacking," Samantha corrected, holding her paws up by her chest. "We've got a staff of over sixty medical professionals on board, and we've been searching the destruction for any survivors and attempting to help them."
Danny's muzzle dropped in shock. "You're helping them?"
Samantha sighed and nodded. "Vince Stazac provided me with overwhelming amounts of information disproving the main viewpoint of this war. Since I can't retract my cruiser, I'm just sending down some rescue squadrons to the surface, and they're providing the injured with medical assistance."
The black collie smiled warmly. "Good job Sam. Vince sent me that intel too. My Destroyer is currently picking up a surviving bomber team from Destroyer five's path. Once we get them extracted, I'll set course to help you out, okay?"
"Thank you lieutenant," she grinned, tilting her hips as she let her left leg bend.
"Oh, hey, how's your little sister doing?" Danny abruptly asked. Samantha giggled and brushed some loose hair out of her eyes.
"Fara? She's alright. Safe at home, probably worried sick about me."
"Don't worry Sam," he assured, cocking his ears. "We'll be back home as soon as we can convince General Pepper to stop the war."
"I sure hope you're right," she admitted, nodding her head slightly. "Good luck lieutenant."
"You too Sam."
After the collie closed out the call, the tan feline controller quickly spoke up, continuously staring at his screen. "Sir, the transport found Reeves' crew. Few injuries to a few of them, but all of them are still alive."
"Thank god," Danny muttered under his breath. He attempted to sit down once more, but was interrupted yet again by the bridge door opening. He turned to face the door, and was startled to see three different people already engaged in what sounded like a very important conversation slowly enter the bridge, along with Fox and Sheila closely pursuing the group as they discussed the impending situation. Wolf and Sharp were both talking with the hybrid Kyle, and as soon as Wolf finished his sentence Kyle chuckled and shook his head.
"Damn… it just sounds so… fictional," Kyle remarked, pawing at his forehead.
"That's what I thought," Sharp added frankly. "Now that you see all of this evidence, it's impossible to continue fighting. I may be a soldier, but I have morals."
"That's what my service revolves around," Kyle stated. "If there's no reason to inflict any damage, then I won't do it."
"Amen," Wolf grunted, patting the hybrid's shoulder. "So, what happened to your bomber?"
Kyle let out a long breath of air and spoke shakily which confused the lupine, mainly because Kyle wasn't one to worry about anything. "There was just… too many of them… It was insane; just the sheer amount of resistance we ran into. The Destroyer took care of them after we crash landed, but then… oh god…"
"Kyle," Sharp called out as the brown husky hybrid faltered slightly, and luckily he was quick enough to catch him. The hybrid regained his breath after a few moments of panting heavily, then glanced at the floor once again.
"They… They launched a nuke at Destroyer five. They launched a fuckin' nuke!"
"My god," Danny whimpered slightly.
"That thing that shot it is still out there," he continued breathily. "It'll go after us next if we can't get out."
"Calm down Captain," Wolf assured, rubbing the wolf-dog's back. "We've got a plan."
"Indeed," Danny piped in. "It's just a matter of finding someone willing to listen, but in this situation it's kinda difficult to do so."
"Yeah, but," Wolf started, wrapping his arms around both huskies. "With the people we have on board and the information we gathered about the humans, we'll have no troubles. We just need to explain our respective stories. Sharp, you and your crew's findings with the laptop and the little girl, and Reeves, you and your crew's experience with just how dangerous the humans are."
"This is great," Danny exclaimed with a smile. "We're just so close to ending this–"
Danny was cut off as an unmistakable voice exploded from the Destroyer's communications dock, and it threw the conspirators into overwhelming anxiety as they realized who the voice was.
"Destroyer eight; stand down now, if you know what's best for you."
