Command Tower

Remnant Base of Operations

Southern Sandstorm Regions / Titania / Lylat System

0903 Hours

No one dared to speak, what could be said? Almost everyone in Lylat had threatened to skin someone in an argument but no one meant it literally. But to actually go through with it, to actually kill a person and forcefully take one's pelt, such an atrocity was unheard of. Wolf was the first to regain movement, but that movement was violent, almost feral.

Wolf snarled a nonstop barrage of foul language as he stomped his way over to the dead Grand Officer, unholstering his sidearm with a deathgrip. Before anyone could register what the ex-con was doing, Wolf unloaded his sidearm's magazine into the Officer's body. Not yet satisfied, O'donnell grabbed the corpse and threw it against the window, lashing out with his claws to vent off his newfound rage.

"He's dead Wolf, Stop." Fox tried to calm his old rival down, but the canine refused to here only stopping when the window actually broke and the body fell out of the tower.

"Wolfens or no Wolfens, I would have fought for Cornaria during the war if I knew the Empire was this twisted," Wolf growled, his rush starting to wear off making him weak in the knees. "I was expecting metal slave collars and bad conditions, not actually skinning someone. I'm no saint, but this goes too far even for a war criminal like myself."

"Then let's end it, for once and for all," Fox stated, setting a hand on Krystal's shoulder to provide support. "Falco you and your team return to base, we're going to need all the hands we can get for the evacuation. ROB, Land the Grand Fox as close as you can to the base's entrance. No reason to force the Cerinians to walk through that sand anymore then they need to."

"You got it, Fox, Blue Flight returning to base," Falco replied.

"Acknowledged, Hot Zone Landing procedures commencing. Estimated time till Vehicle deployment is seventeen minutes." The robot's voice reported.

"Let's get down there and get what we came for!" Fox rallied the rest of the ground team, summoning the elevator.

Subterranean Remanent Slave Colony

Southern Sandstorm Regions / Titania / Lylat System

0926 Hours

The Cerinians were terrified when their robotic jailors suddenly shut down and all the cell doors opened, so much so that they refused to give in to the temptation of escape. Then again, there was still a handful of Militia serving as jailers and they all still had the thick, heavy collars locked around their throats.

The so called jailors were startled when the automated security inexplicably shut down, but quickly turned their confusion into malice, intimidating compliance out of their captives with shock batons and whips. When they heard the elevator arriving they backed out of their assault on the Cerinians, working their way to the elevator looking forward to the reinforcements.

The thugs never got a chance to realize that the were walking into Wolf's line of fire until it was too late. The mighty roar of the Hellfire amplified as it echoed across the underground prison. Now the Cerinians were truly terrified, never hearing such a warcry before and unaware what it meant.

With the threat eliminated, Krystal laid down her carbine and withdrew the collapsed form of her staff. After a hesitant breath to collect her strength and nerves, Krystal took a step forward and spun around extending her staff before firing a bolt of fire upwards creating a beacon.

Curiosity peaked by the familiar sound, cautious muzzles slowly began to emerge from the open cells. When their eyes found one of their own standing strong and free wielding her staff they all realized that the impossibility that was being set free, had just begun.

Kyle stood up once he was done searching on of the jailors' bodies for anything useful like a key or intel. He turned around to regroup with the others and immediately froze in shock: Slowly making its way to Krystal was a herd of white and blue fur. All the eyes looked so tired and hurt, so helpless, but at least there was a reborn sliver of hope to offset the submission.

A crowded formed in front of the elevator platform, staring in disbelief at Krystal as if they had seen a ghost. Quietly one of them asked in their native language if Krystal was indeed real. With a tear of joy in her eyes, Krystal responded in her native language before seizing the person who asked her in a tight hug.

After a small pause at Krystal's improper behavior, the Cerinians began to finally rejoice at the development, reuniting among themselves and bringing families back together since their jailors split them apart.

"We better sweep the complex before we do anything else. See if there are any more survivors or slavers other than what's here." Fox suggested turning to the remaining operators, "Split up and see if you can't find anyone else and destroy those jammers if you can find them. . ."

Subterranean Remanent Slave Colony

Southern Sandstorm Regions / Titania / Lylat System

0934 Hours

"Cell block Echo Four is empty, moving onto Echo Five," Kyle reported over his radio as he continued his search. So far nothing but a lot of empty cold metal cages.

"Alright, Falco and the others just showed up for support, I'm sending Bill to support you," Fox replied over the radio. Kyle was about to ten four when he heard rubble falling, immediately snapping his rifle to his shoulder expecting the worst case scenario.

Silently and methodically, the human made his way to the corner of the structure, ever getting closer to the source of the noise. Putting his back to the wall, he stalked the noise like a hunter would its prey, only stopping when the noise was just around the end of the wall. Mentally bracing for a gunfight, Kyle whipped around the wall with his rifle raised and finger on the trigger.

Only to find a Cerinian pup curled up in the corner shivering and scared.

Instantly lowering his rifle, Kyle mentally kicked himself in the rear multiple times. The pup was so small and vulnerable with no way to defend itself or escape. Here he was, a six and a half foot tall creature covered in armor plating pointing a gun at it!

With a sigh, Kyle flicked the safety on his rifle, quickly remembering what he knew about kids and small dogs he met back home. The first step was to make himself as unthreatening as possible.

That meant opening up a route of escape for the pup so it doesn't feel cornered, so Kyle sidestepped to his right, getting out of the doorway. Next, he kneeled down as best he could to be more eye level with the child rather than tower over it. The pup stared at him with terrified eyes watching his every move.

Slowly and gently Kyle laid his rifle on the ground and pushed it out of his own reach before repeating the process with his pistol. Next, the human pulled down his face mask and removed his helmet slowly to prove that he was flesh and blood and not a robot.

Being as slow and predictable as he could to avoid scaring the child anymore, Kyle crouched his way closer to the pup stopping when he was about half for one of the pouches on his belt. The child froze until Kyle revealed an MRE, a Meal Ready to Eat, Taking a bite out of it himself to prove that it was food and wasn't poisoned in any way, Kyle offered the food to the child and waited for the response.

At first the child didn't budge, still curled up with its knees under its chin. But it's nose began to twitch at the smell of food, reminding the child's brain of its importance. Giving into its basic instincts to survive the child began to crawl on all fours before swiping the ration from Kyle's hand and retreating.

Kyle waited as he watched the pup examine the food more closely before finally taking a nibble, then another, then another. Soon the ration was gone, and the pup looked at the human curiously unsure what to think.

That's when Kyle brought out his canteen, taking a drink to prove it wasn't poisoned before pouring some in his hand so the pup could see what it was. The child was far quicker to make it's way to Kyle this time and graciously accepted the canteen before drinking the life giving liquid as fast as it could without choking.

As soon as the child finished emptying the canteen Kyle slowly reached out, but unlike with the ration, the pup stayed put after drinking the water, almost right next to the human.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay, you're safe. No one is going to hurt you. The bad guys can't get you anymore." Kyle spoke softly, he knew the child wouldn't understand what he was saying, but at least his tone would remain comforting regardless of language barriers. Gently the human began scratching the pup behind the ears, and almost immediately the child's eyes went to the back of its head as it enjoyed the massage.

Gently, Kyle pulled the pup up against his chest so that the young canine's ear was directly on his heart. Taking deep breaths to help the kid relax Kyle smiled in satisfaction as the pup began to close it's eyes, finally trusting the human. After waiting for a few seconds to make sure the child was sleeping soundly against his chest, Kyle picked the pup up and held it so that his right hand was still free. Careful not to wake up the Cerinian, Kyle recovered both his weapons and his helmet before exiting the cell and heading back to the Elevator and to freedom. . .