Chapter 9: Kite's Weapon
Greyson walked down the halls at a fast steady pace searching for the records room. She remembered that Terrance had showed her around the base and also the all the rooms in the base. She walked past a few soldiers that were left to guard the base, and noticed some watched her while she was walking by. The cat didn't pay them any attention to them as long as they didn't follow her. She had finally reached the outside of the room and saw the guards that were on duty there were out along with Serris. Greyson swiped her identification card and entered her pass code then entered the room.
"Time to get to work." The feline said pulling out a small headset communicator from her pocket before she walked over to the computer.
Summers spends time waiting in his office again for a call from Greyson. The wolf looks over at the piling stacks of paperwork. Paperwork that he neglected because he was too busy going around the base making sure the other soldiers weren't fooling around, but he usually finds at least one soldier goofing off and orders them to cleaning duty which also happened to make the custodian's work easier. The wolf stared at the stack of papers. He groaned as he finally took the first page from the top and looked at it. Summers was indeed a good soldier himself, but when it came to paperwork, he would be almost a lazy as his troops. He skimmed through the page and read that it for some new weapons to be sent to the base and reached over for his pen. Summers tapped the pen a few times on his desk before he signed the document. At that point, he yawned knowing he was bored out of his mind…again, but he also knew that he had to fill out all those papers because it was his responsibility and tried being a good example for the others to follow. Suddenly, the monitor on his desk started beeping. The wolf was fully awake and pressed the button opening the communication link but since there wasn't a visual of the person and the screen showed the insignia of the Cornerian army, Summers waited for the caller to say something. He didn't wait long until he heard a familiar female voice.
"Colonel? Are you there?" The voice asked, "Wesley! It's me, Jennifer!"
The wolf pressed another button on the monitor switching the opened channel to a private line. He didn't have to worry about the door since it was already locked from the inside. "I'm here, go ahead." Summers responded.
"It's good to hear your voice again. For a second I thought you were out giving more cleaning chores to the others." Greyson joked, "So how is everyone? Not giving you too much trouble I hope."
"I would appreciate it if you took this more seriously."
"I know, but it doesn't help to be serious all the time." Greyson said while accessing the computer files, "I was hoping we could talk a little first while I'm searching."
"I take it you found your way around alright. Let's try to keep the conversation to a minimum." The wolf said, "I don't want to risk someone outside hearing you."
"Don't worry, most of the soldiers including the guy in command are out on a mission, so I practically have this place all to my lonesome."
"Where did they go to?"
"Out to go capture Starwolf. You'd think that for a mission that important you would want as much help as you can get."
"That is strange."
"But what's stranger is that the commanding officer of the base is only a lieutenant but has a rank slightly higher than me."
"Corneria is in a bigger mess than I thought." The colonel sighed.
"I see you haven't changed how you felt about them." The gray cat said, then she finally passed through the firewall protected files, "I'm in."
"Good, now run a search for alter users."
"Alter users…Wesley, nothing's showing up."
"Try another search for recent prisoners or experiments dealing with alters."
The feline typed in some key words as she started more searches, however nothing was working. "It's no good, I can't find anything."
"Keep trying. There has to be something!"
"Okay, I'll keep on…wait, I think I found something. There have been a reports of a lot of people that have gone missing."
"Missing?"
"Yes, missing, gone, nowhere to be found. And especially around this area!"
"Then why haven't they looked for those people?"
"According to the records, it says that they were victims of the Aparoids and just left at that. But it gets worst, more reports of disappearances come months after the Aparoids were destroyed."
"What kind of zoo is Pepper running down there?" Summers thought to himself, "Look into it. We may have found something big. Search for any reactivated factories or labs."
"Okay, but what for?"
"Who knows how this alter power is formed. For all we know, it could be artificially produced…"
"You don't think that they would use those people in experiments do you?" Greyson asked as she stopped and waited for the results to appear on the screen. She only found silence from the black furred wolf. The monitor displayed the results of her search, but it wasn't what she was looking for. "I didn't find any, but there was an explosion that had hit a lab a few days ago. The only thing missing is a blaster."
"A blaster?"
"Yeah. As to what caused it, one of the computers overloaded and exploded causing a fire. There weren't any casualties. The guard that found the computer when it overloaded, however, was burned but he's okay."
"Look for anything else."
"Right, give a minute and…" The feline said searching more through the computer, "Here's something, a mineral processing plant on MacBeth has been reactivated, yet no investigations were held."
Summer closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair rubbing his eyes out of frustration, "And I thought the soldiers here were lazy…"
"Should I keep searching?"
"No, that will be enough for now. Contact me when you find something else."
"Understood." Greyson said while logging off the computer, "It was nice to hear your voice again, even if it was under these circumstances."
"I understand it's going to be hard being away but this is only temporary."
"I know, I know."
"Jennifer, take care."
"You too." The feline said as she removed her headset communicator and placed it back into her pocket. She heads out the door and begins walking down the hall thinking to herself, "What could've happened to all those people?"
The small fleet of Cornerian ships waited in position all expecting the fox criminal to try and escape in an Arwing. The soldiers were in their fighters ready to be launched, and all the battleships ready with their weapons online. The Cornerian lieutenant waited on the flagship awaiting chance to order the attack. The retriever sergeant was also in the same ship working at the communications station. Terrance's gaze went around the silent room with the exception of the sounds of engines running and the sound from the controls then went to the doberman hound that waited looking out the window at the Great Fox.
"Lieutenant, are you sure it was a good idea to arrive out here before Starfox told us to?" The retriever questioned.
"Of course I am." Serris replied with his tail wagging with anticipation, "Pepper said himself that this fugitive is dangerous and I just want to guarantee his capture."
The sergeant narrowed his eyes at the hound because he knew the real reason he wanted to capture this criminal so badly then return to Corneria to receive a promotion.
"Lieutenant, the Great Fox is starting to change its position." Reported an avian soldier.
"Keep an eye on them." The hound ordered, "Make sure they don't try anything funny."
"Yes sir." The soldier answered.
"What are they up to?" Serris wondered.
Kazufox sat in the seat of the Arwing checking the systems and controls. He saw that everything was working in order and then grabbed the controls ready to try and make his escape. Suddenly, Slippy's voice came over the radio.
"Wait! Don't go! We can help you get through this. We want to help-"
Kazufox smashed the radio with his alter hand.
"This is it. It's now or never." The fox said to himself. The alter fox powered up the engines but he noticed something. The fleet of ships outside was disappearing from view. He then figured out that the Great Fox was moving away. "Why is the Great Fox mov-" Before he could finish his thought, he heard voices shouting out to him.
"Hey! Wait a minute!" Falco called out.
Kazufox didn't hold any longer and launched himself out towards the exit of the Great Fox's hangar. Falco and Krystal arrived to the hangar too late to stop the vulpine.
"Damn!" Falco cursed, "He already took off!"
"What do we do now?" Krystal cried out.
"We'll have to go out there after him. He won't make it on his own!" Falco said as he jumped into another Arwing.
Serris waited and he started to lose his patients. He wanted to order the attack as soon as he could so he could return a hero in the army. "What's taking him so long!" He wondered.
"Lieutenant! An Arwing has been launched!" The same avian soldier exclaimed.
"Launch all ships!" Serris ordered, "Don't let him get away!"
Terrance sent the order to all the other ships to launch the fighters. The fighters were soon swarming out from the ships all heading towards the Arwing even though it had a head start.
"For your sake and the sake of these soldiers, don't let yourself get caught by this man." Terrance prayed.
"The Arwing has been launched." ROB said.
"Fox, the ships are starting the attack." Slippy informed.
"No! It's still too soon." Fox said.
"Two more Arwings have been launched." ROB reported.
"Two more?"
"Falco and Krystal." Peppy figured.
"Fox, should we stop them?" Slippy asked.
"No. Let them go. That should but some more time. ROB, is the Great Fox in position yet?"
"Negative, in only a few more minutes the Great Fox will be in front of the fleet." ROB said.
Kazufox flies his Arwing away from the fleet of ships knowing that he wouldn't even last. The squadrons of Cornerian fighters were unable to catch up to the ship but were still in range as they began to open fire. Kazufox was easily able to dodge the path of the lasers and using barrel rolls to deflect some of the shots.
"Wow, this thing handles just like a Wolfen. Even better." The fox realized as he fired the boosters getting even further.
"Commander, the target is getting away." One soldier said over the radio to the lead dog in command of the fighters.
"Not for long. Take aim and fire." The commanding dog pilot said as he began to lock onto the ship. He line up the Arwing in his sights ready to fire. "I've got you now."
Suddenly, another Arwing flew right in front of his ship causing him to draw back and lose sight of the Arwing they were pursuing.
"Commander! It's the Starfox team!" Another pilot cried out.
"What do they think they're doing!"
"Sorry, but we can't let you guys take him in." Falco said to himself as he flies in the stream of laser fire doing a barrel roll all the way through. "Ha! Not even a scratch." The bird gloated.
"Falco, stay focused." Krystal said as she chased one of the stray fighters.
"I won't miss this time." The dog commander said pulling the trigger on his ship. Krystal's Arwing then moved in the way taking the hit but it only did minor damage to her left wing.
"Hey Krystal, you okay?" Falco asked.
"Yes, let's keep going." The blue fox said as she continued to shake up the other fighter ships by only flying right in front of them.
"What the hell are they doing!" Serris roared, "Whose side are they on!" The doberman was in a rage.
"Lieutenant, the target is escaping." A lizard soldier reported, "What should we do?"
"Inform all ships to go after him! Launch the missiles! Fire the lasers! Do whatever it takes to not let him escape, I want that fur brought in alive!"
The sergeant repeated the words to the other ships informing them of what they needed to do. The ships began to fire the engines and start after the Arwing all the while firing missiles and lasers. Some of the missiles had reached the Arwing. The small ship tried to escape and dodge the missiles, however, the laser fire made it difficult to dodge until some of the missiles exploded near the Arwing causing it to shake violently.
The Arwing's alarms were going like crazy showing the damaged areas, which was mainly the left wing and G-diffuser had been damaged. Kazufox was shaken up but still tried his best to escape the best he could constantly firing the boosters and trying barrel rolls to deflect the laser fire.
"Sir, the Arwing has been hit." Another avian soldier reported. "A few more hits should immobilize it."
"Excellent." Serris grinned, "Continue firing!"
"What? Lieutenant! The Great Fox has moved in the line of fire!" The female dog soldier reported, "Sir, if we fire now then there's a good chance the Great Fox will likely be hit."
"Too bad Serris, I never thought you deserved that promotion anyways." Terrance thought to himself feeling slightly relieved.
The doberman's anger was boiling. He knew what it was really about, he felt that since they couldn't get the bounty on the fugitive, they would make sure they would stop the military until they went back to get collect whatever was left of the criminal themselves. He wasn't going to let them get away with anything that would show him up on a mission of such importance. He knew his future was at stake.
"Sir?"
"Open fire!" The doberman ordered, "I don't care what you have to do, fire! Fire everything we've got! I don't care if Starfox is in our way or not, that's their problem!"
There was silence from all the soldiers in the room. "Understood sir." The female soldier said. Terrance reluctantly sent out the transmission ordering all ships to open fire.
"Fox, they've stopped firing." Slippy said.
"Good, they won't fire if we are in the line of fire." Peppy said.
"Actually, I was thinking that if we had to, use the Great Fox as a shield." Fox said.
Peppy looked at Fox about to say something about his past treachery handling the Great Fox on the Aparoid homeworld, but before he could the ships began to shake violently knocking everyone to the floor.
"Whoa…what hit us?" Slippy said holding his head.
"Incoming missiles from the Cornerian ships." ROB reported.
"What? Why are they firing on us?" Peppy wondered before the ship started shaking again.
"Damage on portside hull of ship." ROB informed.
"At this rate the Great Fox will be torn apart!" Slippy panicked.
"Hold on…just a little bit longer…" Fox said gritting his teeth.
"Man, this is too easy." Falco said as he continued flying in front of the Cornerian fighters.
"Falco!" Krystal cried out, "The Great Fox!"
"What?" Falco wondered as he looked back at the ship seeing that the Cornerian ships were firing on it, "What does Fox think he's doing?"
Falco flies back towards the mothership with Krystal following close behind.
"Commander, the Arwings are heading back to the Great Fox." One pilot reported.
"Good, let's continue the chase." The dog commander ordered.
"Sir, the target is out of range of our fire." Another pilot said.
"Damn! All we can do now is pursue and see where the target is heading. We may find his base of operations."
"Yes sir!" The other pilots said in unison as they followed the commander's ship after the Arwing.
More missiles were fired from the Cornerian battleships. Most of them had hit the Great Fox while some went after the lone Arwing. The starboard side of the Great Fox had been severely damaged after taking many hits and was falling apart.
"Fox, we'll be destroyed if we take any more hits." Peppy said.
"Can't we just contact the leader of the attack and tell him to knock it off?" Slippy wondered.
"Don't bother. If they didn't want to hit us they wouldn't have fired." Peppy reminded, "And I doubt that the idiot in charge even cares."
"ROB, can't we move the Great Fox in time?" Fox asked.
"Yes, but there is lower than a fifteen percent chance of escaping before the Great Fox sustains critical damage." The robot informed.
"Oh no!" Slippy cried out, "More missiles are heading this way!"
The missiles from the outside were approaching fast towards the Great Fox and were heading straight towards the hull of the ship. Avoiding the hit seemed impossible since the ship was too large to avoid it. Suddenly, the missiles were destroyed one by one.
"What happened?" Slippy wondered.
"Fox, is everyone alright?" Krystal's voice asked over the radio.
"Hey Fox, what were you thinking!" Falco's voice shouted.
"Guess I wasn't." Fox responded.
Falco and Krystal flew around shooting down all the missiles but they didn't notice the few missiles that had managed to pass by them on the way over. They were able to stop all the missiles heading directly towards the Great Fox.
"Lieutenant, if we continue to fire then the Great Fox will be destroyed." The lizard soldier said.
"I don't care! They're only helping the criminal escape anyways." The doberman scolded.
"Are you suggesting we destroy the Starfox team!" The avian soldier questioned. The other soldiers except Terrance looked up in surprise.
"As far as I see it, they're traitors and they're just as Venomians!"
"That's a pretty big accusation." The retriever said, "If you do attempt to take out Starfox, then Pepper will have you stripped of your rank in an instant. Not only that, but you may be the one tried for treason. So unless you want to be a simple soldier in the infantry or worst, I suggest you stop this at once."
Serris' glare met with the sergeant's eyes. He knew that the golden haired dog was right. The room was filled with silence as the other soldiers were looking around at the two canines then towards each other wondering what was going to happen next.
"Fine, call off the attack." The lieutenant finally said, "Tell all ships to stop firing. We're heading back to base."
The retriever smiled to himself knowing that he really got under his fur this time. He then sent the order to call off the attack and to return to base.
"Commander, the target is no longer on radar." One pilot said.
"Blast, we've lost him!" The dog commander complained.
"Commander, we have orders to return to base." Another pilot informed.
"Alright," The commander said, "let's head ba-"
"Commander! Incoming missiles! And they're from our own guys!" Another soldier yelled out. The squad of fighters managed to avoid the three incoming missiles as it darted past them.
"Is everyone okay?" The dog commander asked.
"Everyone is here sir."
"Good, then let's head back to base." The canine said as he turned his ship around. The others followed in the same manner.
Kazufox continues to try and escape in the Arwing not looking back. The vulpine checked the radar and besides the Cornerian fighters still tailing him, he was safe. He finally figured he was out of range since they stopped and had gotten away, but then the radar showed that three missiles were still locked onto him.
"Dammit! These guys are just as bad as Wolf's group!" The fox cursed. He tried his best to out maneuver the missiles. The Arwing turned up and the boosters were fired to try and get away but it was no good. The fox then turns the ship around and flies directly towards the missiles and starts shooting at them. He manages to damage one of the missiles. As he flew past, the missiles tried to turn and follow but the damaged one exploded taking out the other two missiles.
"That takes care of those missiles." He said breathing a sigh of relief. The radar then showed that one of the missiles had survived. He tried to fly away from it the best he could but then the damaged wing caused the ship to move too slow. The missile had hit the Arwing totally destroying the left wing, G-diffuser, and even damaged the engine as well. The Arwing went through space spiraling out of control. The alter fox screamed out as he flew through space with no control over the ship, the systems alarm was going off in the red. Damage was critical.
The blast knocked the Arwing towards the ice planet of Fichina. The ship soon flew down towards the planet. On the surface of the frozen wasteland, the desert coyote who went under the name 'Christian' stepped outside of a dark gray tent in a blue coat and saw the Arwing falling like a shooting star.
"What in the world?" The aged coyote said in wonder as he ran over to try and find where the ship was going to crash.
The Arwing continued to fly out of control as a fire started inside on the controls. The smoke was starting to suffocate Kazufox. The alter fox removes the straps and then used his alter to punch a hole through the cockpit and jumped out. He fell to the ground and only used his arms to cover his head to brace for the fall. He went along the snowfield rolling but slowing down at a rapid yet steady pace until he came to a complete stop. The Arwing soon crashed in another snowfield on a cliff and had exploded. Kazufox lost his alter focus and returned to his natural form. He looked up weakly and saw a blurry figure running towards him. He could only make out the person was some kind of coyote or at least that's what he thought.
"Kite…?" Kazufox said before fading into darkness.
"I'm glad you two arrived here." Summers said to the two soldiers standing in front of him. One was a male greyhound with short light gray fur and the other was a female parrot with green feathers and red hair that reaches the base of her neck. "The reason I called you two in here is because I have an assignment for you two."
"What is it colonel?" asked the greyhound.
"I'm sending you two on a scouting mission to MacBeth."
"MacBeth? Why there?" The parrot asked.
"Call it a hunch, but I suspect there might be possibly Venomian activity at one of the mines. And I suspect that many civilians may have been taken as prisoner there to work at the plant. Your mission is to find out what is going on there."
"Mind if I ask where you got this information?" The greyhound questioned. The only answer he received a stare from the wolf. The two knew that what they were about to get themselves into was going to be big, but they didn't know how big.
"This is a dangerous mission, so be careful out there." Summers continued, "As the best surveillance team I have, I expect to hear something going on down there."
"Yes sir!" The two said in unison as they saluted.
"Good, now you'll both have to excuse me, I have to check on a prisoner."
In the hidden base that Jetters was stationed at, he rushed into the control room seeing everyone working at their stations. Everyone was trying to find out what had crashed and so close to the base.
"What's going on!" The leopard said impatiently demanding to know. Soon enough, Darian and Suichi entered the room.
"A ship crashed landed in the area." A monkey soldier answered, "We're working on where it landed."
"Hurry up!"
"We have a location." Said a lizard soldier, "Approximately four and a half kilometers away. Should we send in the Rebirths to examine the area?"
"No, I'll go see what it is for myself." Jetters said, "If the pilot did survive, I could always use another punching bag. Prepare my snow transport and I'll bring Metalfists along with me."
"You mean that big ape?" Suichi questioned, "Why not just bring us?"
"I can handle things on my own. And I suggest for your sakes you don't talk about Metalfists like that." The leopard smirked.
"And why not?" The rodent asked. He then felt a large hand grab his head and turn him around. The mouse was staring in the face of a large ape with strangely gray hair and long teal colored hair and a metallic yellow headband on his forehead.
"Raaaagh!" The gorilla screamed at the rodent as he started to lift the mouse up and squeeze on his skull.
"Gah! Okay, okay! Get him off me!"
"Alright, call him off!" Darian said as he tried to pull the gorilla off. It wasn't until Jetters nodded to the gorilla that he released the mouse dropping him to the floor.
"Hey Suichi, you alright?" The horse asked.
"Yeah, but how can that guy be so strong!"
"One of life's mysteries not meant for the likes of you idiots to know. Besides, I need someone to take my calls while I'm out." Jetters said with a smirk as he walked out with the gorilla following.
"Who does he think we are? We're not his secretaries!" Darian sneered.
Down in the prison cells on Katina, a brown-feathered eagle lies on his bed thinking how he survived whatever happened on Fortuna and about Ralph's picture.
"I don't get it…Ralph never goes anywhere without that picture." Shawn said to himself. He sighs to himself as he spends another day in his prison and that it would be only a matter of time before they would try and have him executed or some other punishment. His thoughts were broken by the sounds of the door leading to the prison cell opened. Some soldiers were accompanying an old dog soldier in a higher-ranking uniform.
"Get up, pirate." The old hound commanded, "Time to talk a little walk."
Shawn only stared at the old dog, a brown furred hound at that, but then turned away. The old dog nodded to one of the guards as he opened the cell door and the other guard aimed his blaster at the avian.
"I won't tell you again to move it." The officer barked.
The eagle then got up and started walking where they were leading him. He didn't know how long they would keep him prisoner, but he wanted to see the look on the old man's face once Ralph and the others came for him and he was at their mercy.
Back at Corneria, the Starfox team met with Lieutenant Serris in his office. Terrance was standing to the side observing as the two sides argued over the incident that had taken place earlier.
"Explain to me again why you let that criminal escape!" The doberman demanded.
"Only if you first tell us what you plan on doing to him." Fox said.
"What do you think! We're going to lock him up!" Serris yelled, "How many more times do I have to say that!"
"Look, I'm sick of you sounding like a broken record!" Falco exclaimed, "We know what you say you're gonna do. We've seen the powers that kid has and we want to know you want him so bad."
"Because he's a dangerous criminal!"
"Could you explain to us what he has done?" Krystal asked.
The doberman was stunned for a moment since he didn't know himself the reason he was after the young fox other than it was Pepper's orders. "I don't have to explain myself to the likes of you mercenaries!" Serris screamed as he rose from his chair and slamming his paws on his desk.
"Then maybe you would care to explain to Pepper why you opened fire on our ship." Peppy said.
"You nearly blasted off half of our ship completely!" Slippy reminded.
"Look, I already said that I would have your ship repaired and free of charge. Now what more do you want from me?"
"Answers." Fox said, "We want to know the real reason you want him so badly."
"Look, it was an order from Pepper. If you want to ask any questions about that, then ask him."
Fox glared at Serris for a minute. He then turned towards the door, "Let's go team." The rest of the crew followed Fox out the door along with two guards. Falco was last to leave after looking back to give a glare towards the doberman.
"Damn mercenaries. Gave me nothing but a headache!" Serris complained sitting back down and holding his head, "And they let that brat get away!"
"It's too bad the colonel isn't here to help out." Terrance finally spoke.
Serris knew exactly whom the retriever was referring to. He glared at the sergeant and yelled, "Get out! Out of my office, now!" The retriever simply walked out without saying another word with the door sliding shut behind him. "Dammit, this isn't good…Pepper isn't going to happy about this at all. Maybe if I brought in Starwolf, no. I need to find him and make sure he's captured, my career is at stake!"
Terrance walked down the hallway with a slight grin on his face. He looked around the base at everyone but didn't notice that he was being followed.
"Terrance." Greyson called.
"Hm?" The retriever wondered turning around, "Ah, lieutenant. I hope things around here weren't too dull. What can I do for you?"
"I heard there was a big mess that happened during your mission. What happened out there and why was Starfox here?" The gray striped cat asked.
"There was a change of plans, we didn't go after O'Donnell. Instead, we tried to capture a criminal that was hiding with Starfox."
"Criminal? I'm sure it was that fox I confronted that day." Greyson thought.
"But we were unable to successfully capture him and he escaped."
"You seem awfully cheerful about all this."
"Why lieutenant, I have no idea what you mean." Terrance said with a smile before turning to walk away. Greyson looked at the canine with a slightly confused look on her face. "Okay Serris, let's see you weasel your way out of this one!" Terrance thought while chuckling to himself.
"I'm still pissed with that loser!" Falco complained, "He had a lot of nerve to open fire on our ship!"
"He was quite rude about too." Krystal said.
"I know." Slippy agreed, "What was the guy thinking?"
"And what exactly were you thinking, Fox? Huh?" Falco questioned, "If Krystal and I hadn't came back you'd probably be space dust by now."
"Sorry, I didn't think they would actually fire on us." Was Fox's only response.
"Then whatever this is must be big if they would open fire on their own allies." Peppy stated.
"I guess we'll find out once we talk to Pepper about it."
"Hey guys, while we're here, why don't we check up on my dad?" Slippy suggested, "He's probably finished analyzing that strange blaster we found." Krystal then looked up in surprise remembering her promise.
"Okay, we'll go see Beltino first then we'll contact the general." Fox said, "I just hope what we did was enough for him to escape."
"Me too..." Krystal said.
Kite drove his dark metallic gray desert buggy as fast as he could. He had managed to escape the military for the moment. Sitting next to him was the tri-colored feline with a red bow on her head, Serena. She had an orange spot over her right eye and a small but noticeable black spot under her left ear with an spotted tail of orange and black with the tip covered in orange. The coyote continued to drive into the remains of several damaged and destroyed buildings before pulling to a stop.
"Alright Serena, wait here okay?" Kite said.
"But Kite, what about you?" The feline said as she jumped out of the vehicle.
"Don't worry, I'm going to help out Kazufox and make sure he's alright."
"Promise me that you'll both come back."
"Hey, you've got nothing to worry about." The coyote assured, "We've handled more dangerous things than this."
Serena watched as Kite drove off leaving her to wait. Kite drives as fast as his car can go. He drives for what he feels like hours but was actually minutes through a desert like field. He then hears an explosion up ahead and a cloud of dust.
"That's them." Kite figured. The desert coyote drove into the battle where Kazufox in his Tri Bullet alter form with only two blades on his back remaining. His left eye was sealed shut to retain the power of his other alter ability. Kazufox was in his regular clothes with the jacket and shirt slightly torn, fighting a group of masked alter users wearing a purple and white military uniform and their alters. Kite drives his way through the crowd causing all the masked soldiers to jump and move out of the way while Kite drives towards Kazufox. The coyote slams on the breaks and goes into a skid, but he was moving to fast to stop in time making Kazufox jump out of the way just barely avoiding the vehicle.
"What the hell were you thinking!" Kazufox yelled, "You almost hit me!"
"Well, sorry for showing up to help you." Kite said jumping out of his vehicle.
"Yeah, lot of good that did. Where's Serena?"
"Don't worry, I dropped her off in a safe place."
"Good, one less thing to worry about."
The two were surrounded by several species of masked soldiers and their alters. These alters weren't the floating hands they were used to fighting against, these were green boxed shaped with holes in the torso, it had light green spring-like arms with red claws while few others had larger shaped bodies and with a head almost like a dragons and with a pair of spikes on each side of its head. The two furs stood in the middle surrounded by the group.
"Hey Kazufox, these guys shouldn't be that tough to beat." Kite said.
"Oh yeah? I would've crushed them if I could even hit them."
Just then, one of the red claws opened exposing a hole and then fired a barrage of spikes at the two. Kazufox and Kite managed to jump out of the way avoiding the shots.
"Ah! My car!" Kite cried out, "If they touch it I'll make them pay personally!" Kite then pulled out his platinum blaster and shot at the alter that had fired, but his shots only passed right through it. "What the?" He gasped in surprise.
"Told you." Kazufox said, "These guys are like ghosts. I can't hit them but they can hurt us."
"I know why." Kite said as he pulled out a smaller black blaster and fired on one of the masked soldiers only to have it phase through, "One of these guys is doing all this."
"And we just have to find out which one." Kazufox said as he backed up till he was almost back-to-back with Kite.
"Think you can hold them up a little while longer?"
"Looks like we don't have any other choice."
Another of the alters fired more spikes and the two jumped to avoid the attacks. Kazufox leaped up into the air.
"Let's see how you like Terminating Second Bullet!" Kazufox yelled using up his second attack hitting the ground creating an explosion coving himself in a cloud of dust. The masked soldiers looked to try and find the fox, but then he jumped out towards one and punched him. Unfortunately, the fox just phased through him. "Man, I can't even catch these guys off guard!"
"Wait, if they were able to react that fast then, that means the one controlling them is close." Kite thought to himself. One of the arms tried to grab him but he ducked under it and fired even though it just phased through. He then noticed a pile of rocks nearby. "Kazufox, try hitting those rocks over there!"
"What?"
"Just trust me on this!" Kite yelled moving away from more spikes and dodging the spring arms trying to grab him.
"Fine, Obliterating Last Bullet!" Kazufox yelled as he used up his last attack towards the rocks Kite had pointed to. The arm and floating bodied alters tried to stop the fox but he managed to dodge their attacks and smash the rocks making a large dust cloud covering the entire area. The cloud dust cleared showing all the masked soldiers and their alters still there. The masked soldiers then moved into a group and then quickly dispersed around the two. "Great, now what?"
"Damn, that dust cloud really messed things up. I can't tell which one it is."
"So the one is somewhere here?"
"Yeah, but I can't tell." The coyote said shifting his eyes around the crowd, "They all look alike." He continued watching and started moving some more when he saw more start to attack. Kite fired some more shots while Kazufox tried to hit them with his alter but still no avail.
"Man, it's like shadowboxing!" Kazufox yelled out.
"Shadowboxing…wait, that's it!" Kite exclaimed, "Kazufox, can you bring out that other alter of yours?"
"What for?"
"Just do it! And make it shine as bright as you can!"
"Fine, but this had better work!"
"Don't worry, it will."
Kazufox opened his left eye making it glow brightly as well as his arm. The vulpine lifted his arm into the air while it shifted its shape. He tried his best to get as much power in it as he could, making the arm glow even brighter.
"That's it…keep going…" The coyote said looking down on the ground at the where shadows of the masked soldiers were supposed to be. The soldiers were too blinded by the light to see what Kite was doing. Kite soon found the one that did have a shadow. "Found you." Kite said as he lifted up his platinum blaster. The desert coyote fired and hits the masked refined alter user in the face shattering its mask knocking it down. The others masked soldiers felt the effect of it as their shadows began to slowly return. The light from Kazufox soon faded as he stood in his Shell Shurigun form.
"You got them?" Kazufox asked.
Kite lifts his other blaster and fired on one of the alters and the laser shot hits the floating body alter. "Yep. Got him."
The masked soldiers looked at the dead body and then towards each other. They then began glowing summoning their alters to combine. The floating bodies then lined up and four of the alter spring arms attached the box-shaped ends to the torso making one complete beast. All of the creatures gave a loud roar as spikes popped out from the holes in its chest. They then began to charge at the two with opened hands ready to fire off more spikes.
"You ready?" Kite asked.
"I've been ready." The fox responded. Kazufox strikes the ground flying into the air. His propeller begins to spin sending himself down to the ground and punches the ground making another dust cloud. The masked soldiers have a hard time trying to find the two furs but then red laser shots came out of the dust taking down each masked alter user one by one making the alters on some of the creatures vanish. Kazufox then charged toward one that still had all its parts and punched it directly on the head shattering the entire creature. The spiky alters didn't give up, they detached and reformed to complete some bodies while the remaining floating torsos went flying after Kite.
The coyote fired both of his blaster simultaneously at them. The shots fired from his regular blaster only left small dents in the armor while the other one actually penetrated and even destroyed one.
Kazufox jumped back avoiding a barrage of spikes fired and then jumped towards another spike alter and used his propeller as a boost for speed and with another punch, destroyed half of the alter. Kite continued firing at the torsos until they launched the spikes in their bodies which managed to hit his black blaster destroying it. Kite then fired on with the other blaster doing damage to them. He then saw Kazufox surrounded by the spiked alters and that one of the torsos was flying towards him. Kite noticed one behind him as well and shot it in the head blasting a hole all the way through and fired at the one after Kazufox.
Kazufox had just noticed the one from behind and knew that Kite had him covered and so continued his attack until he had enough and was about to end it. He jumped onto the spring arm of one of the creatures and ran to the head and punched off it flying into the air towards the group of their controllers. Kite looked up and saw what Kazufox had planned but suddenly, felt a sharp pain go into his back. He looked behind and saw the alter he shot was still there and had fired one of its spikes into his back. The coyote was bleeding badly and wouldn't be able to remove it without bleeding even more. He then shot at the creature until it disappeared into nothing then fell to one knee looking back at Kazufox and the bright light that was shining from his arm.
"Don't stop…keep fighting Kazufox…" Kite said weakly as the spike had still remained acting like a plug.
"This is what you guys wanted right? This power of mine!" Kazufox yelled out, "Well here it is! Shell Shurigun Burst!" Kazufox locked onto the group of masked alters as they watched helplessly. Once Kazufox landed, a large explosion, bigger than any he had made before had hit the area. The spike alters then began detaching and falling to the ground and disintegrated. The spike in Kite's back also disappeared causing him to loose blood at a steady rate, but he already had a bandage ready and wrapped it about his body over the wound slowing the rate of blood loss. Kazufox walked over to the coyote and saw him down.
"Hey, you okay?"
"Don't worry." Kite said trying to smile, "Just got hit from behind."
"You need to be more careful." Kazufox said returning to his natural form and helping up Kite.
"Yeah, thanks." Kite said getting up and holding his side, "We got them good, didn't we?"
"Yeah, every last one of those guys." Kazufox said helping Kite over to his buggy, which miraculously was undamaged, "Kite, thanks."
"Heh…sure thing." The coyote said as he was helped slowly into the passenger side, "Think you can get us back to Serena without crashing?"
"Don't worry, I can handle it. You just need to rest." Kazufox said still unaware of the wound inflicted to his friend. He started up the vehicle and started to drive off.
"Hey Kazu?" The coyote said.
"Yeah?"
"I know we fight a lot, and sometimes don't get along right?"
"Well, yeah. It happens sometimes. Why?"
"Heh, even after all those times, we still manage to remain friends." Kite said groaning in pain.
"Kite, where are you going with this?"
Kite only sighed, "It's nothing…man, I really wish I could settle down and live a less dangerous life for once…"
"Hey, sit tight. We're almost there."
Time passed and the sun had began to set. Kazufox continued driving while Kite sat next to him quietly and sound asleep. The coyote was already sleeping when Kazufox finally found the place where their feline friend was.
"Kite! Kazu!" The cat cheered as she ran over towards the vehicle as it came to a stop. The fox stepped out.
"Serena, are you alright?" Kazufox asked concerned.
"Yes. Kite was the one who helped me." Serena said before noticing him sleeping, "What's wrong with Kite?"
"He's just tired. He got hit pretty bad but he's okay."
Serena ran over to the coyote, "We should check on him." Serena placed her hand on Kite's arm and gently rocked him but didn't wake him. His head only slumped to the side. "Kite…are you-" The feline was about to ask but then realized why he wouldn't wake up. "Oh no…Kite!" The cat began sobbing, which broke out into tears.
"What's the matter?"
"It's Kite…he's…"
"Don't worry, he's just sleeping." Kazufox said putting his hand on the coyote's shoulder and started to shake him, "Come on, Kite. Time to wake up." The smile on Kazufox's face soon started to disappear and became replaced with fear. "Kite? Come on, seriously. You're scaring Serena. Kite? Kite!" Kazufox moved his other hand behind Kite's back but felt something wet under the coyote's jacket. Kazufox looked at his hand and saw that it was covered in blood. He moved Kite's body forward and saw the blood stain in the seat and also in his back. He knew why Kite wouldn't wake up…Kite was dead. Kazufox was shocked, he saw the body of his best friend that died sitting right next to him. Serena continued crying, covering her eyes with her paws and dropping down to her knees. Kazufox also fell to his knees with tears streaming from his eyes and yelled out in anguish. It was the last battle the two had and would ever have together.
Kazufox woke up in a sleeping bag. He looked around and saw he was in a blue tent. The fox got up and noticed that his arm and body had been bandaged. Kazufox could hear the crackling of wood and turned to notice a fire from the outside, so he put on the spare parka next to the bed and walked out. The entire ground was covered in snow.
"Ah, you're awake." Said a desert coyote also in a blue parka.
"Who are you?" Kazufox asked the coyote, "I noticed some tech in the tent, are you some kind of scientist?"
"Yeah, I am." The older fur answered. Kazufox then braced himself ready to fight. "Easy, I'm not here to hurt you otherwise I would've done so already." The elder gentleman chuckled.
"Oh yeah? I bet you would if you knew I was a-"
"Alter user?" The coyote said standing up, "I already know about you Kazufox."
"How…Just who the hell are you and how do you know my name!"
The coyote walked over to Kazufox and handed him a cup of noodle soup already heated. He then walked back to where he was sitting and picked up his cup of soup. "Come on. You need to eat. I'm pretty sure you're hungry, and I'll tell you everything after we eat." Kazufox looked at the coyote and just took a seat near the fire. The desert coyote handed the fox a plastic spork to eat, the vulpine took it and began to eat.
Jetters was standing atop of the snowmobile while the gorilla he referred to as Metalfists, drove the vehicle. The leopard looked up into the sky and watched the falling snow beginning to slow to a stop. Jetters soon found the wrecked ship and there wasn't much left of it. He then turned around and saw a cloud of smoke in the distance.
"There they are. So they must've survived the crash…but not for long." Jetters said to himself, "Metalfists, head over in the direction of where that smoke is coming from!"
The gorilla nodded and pressed on the gas pedal and the snow track tires began to accelerate the vehicle.
"Ah…those were good noodles, weren't they?" The coyote asked cheerfully.
"We've finished eating now I want you to answer some questions, like for starters, who are you and why did you help me?" Kazufox asked.
"Gee, you're welcome." The coyote said with a hint of sarcasm, "It wasn't easy stealing from a Cornerian lab. But I did say I'd tell you what you wanted to know. For starters, I helped you because you needed it. And as to who I am, I can't really say."
"Why not? You're planning something, aren't you?"
"No," The coyote said shaking his head, "The thing is I've been looking for you because I have something to give you." Kazufox looked at the coyote with a confused look. "Here, catch." The scientist said tossing a blaster to Kazufox. The fox catches it and examines the object. He sees the silver blaster has a name engraved onto the side of the barrel.
"This blaster…it has Kite's name on it." Kazufox said.
"That blaster you had, I made some changes to it."
"You bastard, you've got some nerve!" Kazufox said aiming the weapon at the coyote.
"Is that how you thank the person who first created that gun?"
Kazufox was shocked to hear those words and asked, "You were the one who gave this to Kite?"
"Yes. You can think of me as like a guardian angel in a way."
"Great, I feel so much better." Kazufox said rolling his eyes.
"Well just try it, okay?" The coyote said, "I improved it from its original form to have a big power boost. You'll see what I mean. Aim at that tree over there." The scientist pointed.
"Alright fine, but it's just a gun." The alter fox said getting up and walking over to the pine tree. The scientist watched with a smirk on his face. The alter fox aimed the blaster at the tree and fired. The blaster shot a blue laser that blasted a large hole through the tree and the recoil sent Kazufox flying down on his back. The tree itself then toppled over backwards crashing into the snow.
"Whoa! This thing really packs a punch." The vulpine said with a surprised look on his face.
"I told you." 'Christian' said, "I made a complete overhaul to what it can do."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll find out in time, when you most need it. But you can tell it's very powerful than a standard blaster."
"I see what you mean." Kazufox said getting up and brushing off the snow off himself.
"I have something to ask of you." The coyote said, "I wonder how you found one of my disks. The explosive ones."
"Explosive?" Kazufox asked.
"Yes, if they are not removed properly then they are set to automatically overload the machine they're in and cause it to self detonate so whoever found it wouldn't be able to trace it back to me. Each and every single one sends off a signal to me so I keep track of where they are in case the military ever got their hands on it."
"Well, it was when I was out exploring some old building. I found some stuff in it and told Kite about it and we searched it and found a pile of those things. After Kite tried it on his computer, it blew up and he had the nerve to say that I did it! Great to know it was you who made them go boom."
"Yeah." The scientist laughed, "I guess so. But I have one thing to ask you. Could you tell me a few things about why you left the Lost Ground? Why you were at some space station full of pirate?"
"Only if you tell me what you have against the Cornerian military."
"Fine, the reason I know why you're an alter user is because I used to do research on them in the Lost Ground. That was until Andross and his forces invaded and wanted me and several other scientists captured. I managed to escape, but then I found out the Cornerian military was after me too. Not long after that, I found out what they were doing, and turning their captives into lifeless dolls. What they call 'perfect soldiers' and I hated it. So I ran off and I could care less whether or not Corneria fell. They're the same as Venomians. But now for my question."
"Fine, a friend of mine is gone and I'm trying to find her."
"Serena?"
"How did you-"
"I said that I've been keeping an eye on you, so her too."
"So does that mean you know where she is!"
"Sorry," The coyote shook his head, "I don't. I had to run again after those dogs knew where I was and I lost track of things after I left that blaster with you."
"Great…"
"And there's one last thing I want to know. Could you tell me whatever happened to Kite? Like where he is?"
Kazufox went silent and stared solemnly into the burning flame, "Kite…is dead."
The scientist looked up with a saddened expression on his face. "Oh…I see." The coyote said while slowly turning his head to the ground, "I just…had no idea…but somehow, I always knew but just couldn't accept it."
"Yeah, a group with the Corneria's army caused it. I managed to make them pay for it."
"That's good to hear at least…Listen, I don't care what you do with it. Fight and destroy Corneria, or save it. I don't care what happens to them anymore, but just remember to keep that gun…for Kite."
"Yeah, sure." Kazufox said getting up and walking over to the tree that he blasted and closed his eyes. "You seem to be interested in Kite a lot. Why though?"
"Well, what kind of person would I be if I wasn't interested in my own son…?"
Kazufox's eyes opened wide and turned around, but he saw that the coyote was gone. "Kite's…father?" Kazufox then picked up a sound of an engine with his ears. The fox then ran out of the campsite while still hidden in the trees.
The inside of the Sargasso base was in shambles. Everything was almost completely destroyed from the inside. The walls were covered with burn marks from laser fire, parts of the pirates' mechs were scattered around the base. The floors had holes from all the explosives that went off during the battles. The base was literally starting to fall apart. Bodies of both Cornerian soldiers and space pirates were everywhere. Wolf and his crew as well as their Wolfens were seriously worn out and drained, even the hand alters were starting to fail with most of them that had already disappeared.
"Wolf, we can't keep this up forever." Leon said.
"I know…" Wolf managed to breath out with his armor cracked after taking a few laser shots from the Cornerian soldiers, "Those dogs…they just don't give up!"
"We should head out now, they haven't been attacking for about a day now."
"Yes, you're right. We need to get ourselves together and then plan a way to end all this. Tell Panther to get to his Wolfen, we're leaving."
"Hey! Panther!" Leon called out.
Panther was over by his damaged Wolfen looking at it shaking his head, "Oh no, this won't do at all! My ship is a complete mess and my flight suit is ruined! Oh, now what will Krystal think of me once she sees my in this condition? It is unacceptable!"
"Hey lover boy! We're heading out!" Leon said, "Get your tail in your ship and let's go before there's nothing left of it."
"Very well, I really need to repair my Wolfen so it will be beautiful again." The feline said as he started to board his ship with the painted rose on it almost completely scratched off.
"You," Wolf said pointing to a monkey pirate with damaged armor, "those dogs should stop attacking, for now, so I want you to get the others and start cleaning until we come back with back up. In case they do attack, try and keep this base out of the paws of those miserable mutts in case they come back."
"Got it boss!" The pirate saluted.
Wolf jumped into the cockpit of his Wolfen and started up the engines. The Wolfen was launched from the damaged space base with Leon and Panther's following close behind.